NY Daily News: There was never much doubt that Pedro Martinez relished the idea of intimidating Yankee hitters and plunking them when he felt like it.
On Wednesday he admitted the one guy with whom he considered it personal was Jorge Posada.
On Wednesday’s Daily News Live, Martinez made it clear that he still holds a grudge against Posada, claiming the ex-Yankee catcher carried their running feud too far at one point by insulting the Red Sox pitcher’s mother.
“Between Latinos you don’t mention anybody’s mother,” Pedro said. “And I never forgot that one. To this day.”
Martinez was on the TV show with fellow newly elected Hall of Famers John Smoltz, Randy Johnson and Craig Biggio.
When Daily News Live host Jonas Schwartz asked Martinez lightheartedly if he had a Yankee he preferred hitting the most, Martinez didn’t hesitate:
“Posada,” he said.
When Schwartz asked why, Martinez said, “Because Jorge always seemed to have a bad attitude toward me.”
Under further questioning Pedro admitted to making fun of Posada’s ears at times, saying, “I call him Dumbo, but that’s no reason for him to want to kill me.”
Martinez, who hit Posada only once during his career, then seemed to change course, saying he never tried to hit Posada intentionally. Yet he said the bad blood came to a head during the Yankees-Red Sox 2003 post-season brawl, during which Martinez famously threw 72-year-old coach Don Zimmer to the ground.
“Believe it or not we competed cleanly, I never tried to hit him or do anything,” Martinez said of Posada. “It was just competing. But he was always mad at me for some reason.
“Then he let it go a little bit too far with the Zimmer incident. Between Latinos you don’t mention anybody’s mother. I did not appreciate that. I know it was in the heat of the situation, but that’s sensitive to Latino players.”
Martinez wasn’t clear if Posada’s insult helped ignite the brawl or was delivered after Zimmer had charged Pedro and wound up on the ground.
In any case, the Yankees were furious at Martinez that day when they felt he intentionally drilled Karim Garcia in the upper back. Posada was seen gesturing angrily from the dugout toward Martinez, and soon after the dugouts emptied when Manny Ramirez took exception to a high pitch from Roger Clemens.
In 2013 Martinez told reporters that 90% of the batters he plunked during his career were hit intentionally, but he insisted he wasn’t trying to hit Garcia.
Former Red Sox first baseman Kevin Millar, however, told the Daily News last year that Martinez hit Alfonso Soriano and Derek Jeter back-to-back in another famous incident intentionally in retaliation for Clemens plunking Millar.
“First pitch to Soriano —wham! Up near the neck," Millar said. “Next batter, Jeter — wham! Up near the neck. Pedro later told me, ‘You tell Clemens, he hits one of mine, I take two of his.’”
Listen, Pedro no doubt deserves to be in the Hall of Fame. Not here to discuss his talent. Unbelievable pitcher. But that being said, I hated his guts as a player. Don't mind him as an analyst now on TBS because he can't speak English and it's funny to listen to on TV. And I'm not even mad that he hated Posada and wanted to hit him. That's what rivalries are. I bet Posada would have loved to knock Pedro the fuck out. What I am a little confused by is his reason for hating Posada. In the heat of battle, in an intense rivalry, everything is fair game. Including mothers. Including Latino mothers. I guess that's what baffles me the most. Do white people not care about their moms? Black people don't either? Asians don't? Nah, only Latinos. Latino mothers are ABSOLUTELY OFF LIMITS when talking shit. If Pedro can call Jorge "Dumbo" then Jorge can say he wants to bang Pedro's mom.
Hey Pedro, if we can't make fun of your mom, can we make fun of your daddy? Wait, who's your daddy again?
Ohhhh yeah, that's right.
P.S. I couldn't find a single video of Pedro saying this quote that would embed. NOTHING on YouTube. How in the world is that possible?! That's like one of the best quotes in baseball history. There was a video of it on CBS Sports but it was an MLB video and wouldn't embed. But just click on the link there and you can watch it.
P.P.S. Thoughts on Posada's future chances of getting into the Hall of Fame? It's taking Mike Piazza multiple years to get in and he's arguably the best hitting catcher of all time, so it doesn't look good. There are a few rumors about steroids with Piazza though, and none with Posada. Jorge won four rings, and is now in a long line of all time great Yankee catchers. He was a great player, and a great guy, but I'm not sure he gets in. I'd vote him but I'm biased so take it with a grain of salt.
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