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Rich Hofmann: Pedro's masterpiece goes unfinished for Phillies
LOS ANGELES - The loneliness of the pitcher's mound has been well-chronicled. It is isolated there, an island of dirt amid the green. It is where every play of every inning of every game begins, and it is where so many careers end in failure. The tragic poet in all of us can see the symbolism clearly enough.
We forget, sometimes, about the other view. Because the pitcher's mound also can be the most magnificent perch in sports. It is on those days when the isolation is welcomed, so as not to diffuse the spotlight. It is during those games, those wonderful games, when the pitcher stands up at his full height and looks around and surveys his kingdom. There is nothing like it.
Yesterday, that was Pedro Martinez' moment.
"To us, it's like art," he was saying, after the Phillies wasted his seven shutout innings in a 2-1 loss to the Dodgers. "You enjoy painting that little piece of wood that you're painting, or cloth. It's art. I enjoy every little bit of it. And whenever it gets more difficult, the more we enjoy it.
"I'm that kind of person. I see the crowd going bananas, and it seems like everything is in slow-motion for me. I don't know - I can't get really excited, but I do enjoy it."
Wasted; that is the story of the day. Martinez had not pitched for 16 days and still managed to throw the kind of game that people only imagine in their daydreams. Manager Charlie Manuel's audacious decision to trust in Martinez' heart was entirely vindicated - and as his reward, Manuel is now being second-guessed for pinch-hitting for Martinez in the top of the eighth inning of what was then a game the Phillies led by 1-0.
That's baseball in the postseason. As a manager, you accept the second-guessing or you go work in a shoe store. Manuel said Martinez was done. Martinez said he understood, adding that he could have pitched more but did not know what the after-effects on his arm might have been. Round and round, it will go. There is no answer. It is what the sport is all about.
In all of that, though, we should not forget the moment. Playing in the stadium where he broke into the major leagues, 17 years ago, Martinez threw a double-fisted assortment of pitches at the Dodgers and kept them off-balance all day. Signed in late July by the Phillies, he has already justified the move in a half-dozen ways - and, now, this.
"At this moment, I am enjoying really every single moment that I get in baseball," Martinez said. "As you guys recall, this is the place where I started 17 years ago. I'm very pleased and very fortunate to be able to get one more chance of pitching in this stadium, bringing back the memories, actually getting to shag the balls one more time in that outfield, like I did many times."
His performance really was masterful, allowing no runs and only two hits. He had only one three-ball count all day, to Casey Blake in the second inning. Martinez played a total mind game on the Dodgers, following no discernible pattern with his pitches. His first time up, Martinez threw Manny Ramirez fastballs and got him to pop up foul. The next time, it was two fastballs again and another foul popup. The third time, it was slider, slider, fastball and a strikeout on a changeup that Ramirez swung over. And he did the same kind of thing with everyone.
"I was just attacking the strike zone really well . . . and actually using every pitch in every moment, too," he said. "It wasn't just because I was ahead, I was going to throw this pitch or the other. I was just using any pitch at any count and it worked pretty well."
This might have been it for Martinez in this series, now tied at a game apiece. The way the off-days fall, there is not another obvious spot for him to start a game. The Phillies didn't need him in the first round of the playoffs against Colorado, and this might be it here. If it is, it will be remembered as one special finale, regardless of the ending.
"I can always go to the bullpen and be one bullpen guy," he said, laughing. "If I have to run the bases, that will be my duty. If they don't have to use me, like they did in Colorado, I'll be more than happy, too. I'll be spraying champagne all over you guys."
He laughed again. Martinez has been the happiest warrior since his arrival in Philadelphia. It is as if he has been given a new life somehow, and he cannot help but to exult in every ounce of the experience.
Yesterday really was special, however unfulfilling.
"I said it before, that this is the kind of game that I want to be here for the team that picked me up," he said. "This is one classic example of the things I always wanted to do. I wanted to actually choose the team and actually be there for them in these kinds of situations. To be able to do this really is a joy for me. I am really thankful to them for giving me the opportunity."
And here is a prediction (and also an acknowledgment of the futility of predictions in this kind of series, with all of its tortured twists and turns already):
Somehow, someway, I think we might see Pedro again before this is over.
Send e-mail to hofmanr@phillynews.com,
or read his blog, The Idle Rich, at
http://go.philly.com/theidlerich.
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