'Without A Doubt' Pedro Wants To Wear Red Sox Hat Into Cooperstown
BOSTON (CBS) -- Pedro Martinez is eligible for enshrinement into the Baseball Hall Of Fame next year, and there's very little doubt that he will get in the first time his name appears on the ballot.
And though the choice isn't up to him, there's also no doubt in his mind which cap he wants to wear when he's enshrined with the rest of the greats of the game.
"Boston. Without a doubt, Boston," Martinez told GQ magazine in a recent interview.
Martinez spent seven great seasons in Boston, amassing 117 of his 219 career wins, and winning back-to-back Cy Young awards in 1999 and 2000. He captured the pitching Triple Crown in 1999, winning 23 games to go with his 2.07 ERA and 313 strikeouts. He had a way with those K's too, as he's the franchise leader with 72 10-strikeout games.
Not to mention, he helped end that 86-year title drought in 2004, pitching seven shutout innings in Game 3 of the 2004 World Series against the St. Louis Cardinals.
Whatever you do though, don't call it a "curse" around Pedro. He famously said he'd drill Babe Ruth in the backside in 2001, and touched on those comments again in the GQ interview.
"You know, what I said about Babe Ruth was more to get the media off me about the curse [of the Bambino], and it's too bad nobody ever gets the other part. I said that I didn't believe in curses, that the Bambino was a good man and I don't believe he left curses for anybody, that he did a lot of good things for the community. I just knew this way I could get the media away from me and not have to talk about the curse any more. I said that about him, but I have all the respect in the world. He's the symbol of baseball, and I don't want to disrespect the Bambino, ever."
Always a bit of a prankster on the days he wasn't focused on the mound, Martinez talked about all the fun teammates he had in Boston as well. He said Kevin Millar and Curtis Leskanic could make him laugh all day, but no one was funnier than slugger Manny Ramirez -- not even David Ortiz.
"Papi's funny, but not like Manny," Martinez said. "You look at Manny doing his thing, and you just laugh."
"Manny being Manny. If you look back at everything that Manny did…[laughing] How can you catch a throw from Johnny Damon, and even dive for it? That's just crazy!"
Over his 18-year MLB career, Martinez went 219-100 with a 2.93 ERA playing for the Los Angeles Dodgers, Montreal Expos, Boston, New York Mets and Philadelphia Phillies.
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