Reggie Jackson is the last baseball player that I remember capturing the imagination of New York, the way Pedro Martinez is now doing.
Reggie came to New York to play for the Yankees in 1977, and proceeded to take the town by storm. He craved, and performed at his best under the intense pressure that New York City abounds in. His biggest feat is the 3 consecutive home runs in 3 consecutive swings that he hit in the sixth game of the 1977 World Series to help the Yankees beat the Dodgers and win the Series. He told everybody that they would name a candy bar after him, . . . and indeed they did, the Reggie Bar. He feuded with everyone, from manager Billy Martin to George Steinbrenner, the controversial principal owner of the Yankees . But in the clutch, "Mr. October", as Reggie was nicknamed because of his outstanding performance in five World Series, was the man to go to.
Reggie was not re-signed by Steinbrenner after the Yankees lost the 1981 World Series to the Dodgers. This really angered the gods, who proceeded to punish the Yankees and Steinbrenner by giving them 14 consecutive years of fairly bad teams. I was heartbroken, and stopped following the Yankees altogether until the late '90s, when the very good and very professional teams of the Joe Torre era made the Yankees very appealing again.
Pedro has the same kind of "chutzpah" that Reggie had. He is not just a natural leader, but like Reggie, one that does his best under the intense pressure that most mortals just cannot handle. The New York Mets the team I started to follow around the mid '80s after my broken heart healed, signed Pedro Martinez this season with huge fanfare and even bigger expectations, and Pedro has so far been nothing short of great.
Yesterday Pedro pitched the first game of the Mets - Yankees series taking place this weekend in Yankee stadium. He won the game, allowing only 2 runs and 6 hits in 8 innings. As it so happens, I missed most of the game because this was the first time my wife and I were able to go watch the new Star Wars movie, which I have been very eager to see. The movie is quite good, but frankly, I have to go see it again because while these incredible battles were going on between the Jedi Knights and the various manifestations of the Dark Side in screen 4 of the Crown Royale, my mind kept wandering to the arguably bigger battles taking place in Yankee stadium, not just between the Mets and Yankees in the field, but also between Pedro and the Yankee fans taunting him by chanting "Who's Your Daddy?".
Pedro, May the Force be with You through the whole season. I have tickets to the Mets - Phillies game this coming Thursday in Shea stadium, and if the Force is with me, I'll get to see Pedro pitch that game.
Just out of curiosity, did you like the previous two Star Wars prequels ("The Phantom Menace" and "Attack of the Clones") and how do you think the new one compared to them?
Any thoughts on the prequel trilogy (1-3) vs. the original trilogy (4-6)?
PS - I don't know if you caught it but the American Film Institute gave George Lucas a lifetime achievement award for his movies. It was broadcast on USA Networks. Some parts were very funny, some parts were very cheesey. Looks like they're showing it one more time tomorrow (see below) if you want to rev up the Tivo to catch it.
http://www.afi.com/tvevents/laa/laa05.aspx
Posted by: Bill Higgins | June 25, 2005 at 03:20 PM
Bill, I liked Revenge of the Sith better than Phantom Menace and Attack of the Clones. But, I did not think that those two earlier "prequels" were as bad as most of the reviews they got.
I think that the real problem is that we are comparing today's versions of Star Wars to the original trilogy. Nothing remotely like the original Star Wars in 1977 had ever been done. It was incredible. It really changed movies in a huge way. The prequels, especially "Sith" are good, the special effects blow your mind, but . . . we are so used to great special effects that we are blase about them. In 1977, it was all really fresh and original.
Posted by: Irving Wladawsky-Berger | June 25, 2005 at 03:40 PM
Like any serious baseball fan, I carry around with me memories of all the great performances I've seen over the years - pitchers especially, because I'm more interested in that than offense.
And I have to say that in all the years I've watched baseball, the best game I've ever seen pitched - bar none - was the 17K game that Pedro had against the Yankees in '99. Apart from one hit - a home run to center by Chili Davis - it was like Pedro was pitching to Little Leaguers. I've never seen anyone so utterly dominate a team since.
Pedro may not be the biggest guy, and definitely won't have the longest career, but there's no one I'd rather pay to watch. I was disappointed he left Boston, but wish him the best. Enjoy him while he's a Met, b/c he's about the best we'll see.
Posted by: stephen o'grady | June 26, 2005 at 06:30 PM
Boy do I miss Pedro. He came to Boston and left us after accomplishing what he said he'd do when he first arrived = win it all.
I'll love Pedro forever. Go Mets! (but only through the pennant ;-))
Posted by: Margaret O'Connell | June 26, 2005 at 08:50 PM
hahah that was a good blog. pedro's not very highly regarded by bostonians anymore ... everytime i'm at work i see the street vendors selling anti-pedro shirts now along side the more explicit anti a-rod and jeter ones.
i still need to see the new star wars. since you want to see it again, maybe we'll go this weekend ?
Posted by: zara | June 29, 2005 at 01:47 AM
I know i'm having a good day when i get to read IWB blogs on autonomic computing, programming UIs, AND Pedro Martinez!
As a Sox fan, I miss him, too, as much for his athleticism as his swagger. Perhaps he needed the limelight of New York. Buena suerte, Pedro!
Posted by: Martin LaMonica | June 30, 2005 at 03:17 PM