Pedro Martinez lights the match and the game turns ugly.
By: Hank Kalet
What a spectacle it was, a real black eye on what has been shaping up as a magnificent American League Championship Series.
Game 3 should have been a classic. Two Cy Young winners, likely Hall of Famers facing off, one in his final outing at the place where he first won his acclaim.
Instead, what we witnessed was a massive bit of ugliness.
Pedro Martinez, the great Boston hurler, proves to the world that he is remarkably childlike and not in a good way. Having blown a 2-0 lead and being hit hard by the Yankees, Martinez decided to take matters into his own hands and threw a fastball at Karim Garcia’s head. It was a fit of pique, a tantrum thrown by a spoiled kid who was not getting his way. And it was the spark that ignited the entire mess.
Let’s fast forward a bit. Roger Clemens is on the mound and Manny Ramirez is at the plate. Clemens throws a fastball that tails up and out of the strike zone, but stays over the plate. Ramirez starts walking toward the mound, screaming at Clemens and the benches clear.
Yankee bench coach Don Zimmer, in what may have been the most surreal moment in the post season since Clemens mistook a broken bat for a ball, charges at Pedro who, true to form was hanging out at the edge of the fracas, away from the mess he created. As the 71-year-old Zimmer approaches, smoke snorting from his nostrils, Pedro gets his hands on Zimmer’s head and neck and drives him to the ground.
That, as far as too many Yankee fans were concerned, was tantamount to a mugger beating up their grandfather. Pedro, the Yankee fans are screaming, should have stepped to the side and let Zimmer just motor by. Like that makes any sense. Zimmer would have just turned on Pedro. Pedro could have run, but in the macho world of sports, that would have made him look a pansy and coward. So he did what most people would have done if they saw an angry man built like a bowling ball bearing down on them. He defended himself.
This does not let Pedro off the hook here. What Zimmer did was stupid and immature, but it was in the midst of an already out-of-control situation. What Pedro did the half inning before, however, was premeditated and unnecessary. Dan Schaugnessy in the Boston Globe takes Pedro to task for his behavior, which not only created a dangerous atmosphere, but also took his own team out of the game. What a mess.
And then, the shenanigans were not over. Yankee relief pitcher Jeff Nelson apparently attacked a groundskeeper who was taunting the Yankees and trying to get the Boston crowd back in the game. The ensuing fight was joined by others in the bullpen and oddly Yankee rightfielder Karim Garcia, who jumped the fence and ultimately hurt his hand.
The upshot is that Martinez, Zimmer, Ramirez and Garcia who also took out Sox second baseman Todd Walker with a late, unnecessary slide in the fourth were all fined by Major League Baseball. No word on disciplinary measures for the bullpen fracas, but if it turns out that Jeff Nelson attacked the groundskeeper, he should be suspended for the rest of the series and possibly the World Series. Garcia should be made to join him on the suspended list unless baseball determines he was rushing to Nelson’s defense. Any further nonsense by either team should result in suspensions, as well. This is not the kind of thing Major League Baseball can tolerate.