As Phillies' pitching slipped, Martinez got the call

LOS ANGELES - Who says nobody reads the newspapers anymore?

If it weren't for Scott Proefrock's daily journalism obsession, yesterday's masterful pitching performance by Pedro Martinez in the Phillies' National League Championship Series loss might never have happened.

"I go through the newspapers every day. Sometimes it gives you an idea when down the road something pops up," said Proefrock, the team's assistant general manager. "I started to see some things about Pedro working out in the Dominican. They said he was healthy and that his velocity was pretty good."

Proefrock filed the information away, not really thinking the Phillies would ever find themselves in a spot where they needed to sign a future Hall of Famer. That was early in the spring and team officials, rightly or wrongly, were convinced their rotation was going to work.

"We had a little talk about him in spring training, but we had gotten Chan Ho [Park] and promised him an opportunity to start. And we had Kyle Kendrick and J. A. Happ in that same situation," Proefrock said.

Then the season began. The rotation quickly headed downhill, their bloated ERAs on the up escalator, their outings truncated by competitive necessity. Park couldn't throw strikes. Brett Myers and Cole Hamels were frighteningly inconsistent. Kendrick was in triple A Lehigh Valley. Only Happ was himself. Concern began to permeate Phillies meetings.

When Myers exacerbated the troubles by shutting down with a hip injury, it was clear they needed help and just as clear it was going to have to come from someone whose photo couldn't be found in their media guide.

"We had a really poor start," general manager Ruben Amaro recalled after yesterday's 2-1 Dodgers win, slumped in a chair in the small and somber Phillies locker room. "We were, like, 13th in the National League in starting pitching. And we didn't know where we were going to get help because everybody else was looking for it too.

"We were sitting around my office and suddenly Scott said, 'What about Pedro?'"

The question animated Amaro, who recalled having heard similar reports. He jumped out of his chair and called Charlie Kerfeld, his special assistant.

Kerfeld said he had watched Martinez in the World Baseball Classic.

"Charlie said he threw OK there," said Amaro, "so we started to kick some things around. I called his agent, Fernando Cuza, and asked him if we could get Pedro to a private workout in the Dominican."

Martinez agreed and Kerfeld traveled to the Phillies Dominican Republic complex in Guanuma. The veteran pitcher threw there against a team composed of Phillies' prospects. He impressed Kerfeld enough that a week later, the Phils dispatched their other assistant GM, Benny Looper, to watch him throw.

Both reported that he was in great shape and moving well. Most importantly, they said he looked healthy on the mound. "Both Charlie and Benny liked what they saw," said Proefrock.

Martinez was pleased too. He wanted to get back to the major leagues, but not with just any team. He'd been getting a few nibbles from other clubs, primarily the Rays, but had resisted, waiting for the perfect fit. "I think he wanted to pick the spot where he had the best chance to get back to the postseason," said Proefrock. "He knew we were the defending world champions, and he wanted to stay in the National League. We fit the bill for him as well as he did for us."

Amaro and Cuza agreed on a deal and soon the Dominican Care package was on its way to Philadelphia.

"I spoke to Pedro and all of us here just had a very good feeling," said Amaro. "It just felt like a good match. It was low risk, high reward for us."

Despite all their positive assessments, the Phils still weren't entirely sure about the righthander. The last they'd seen of Martinez in the big leagues he was a sore-armed, soft-tosser for the Mets - and a surprisingly ineffective one at that.

"Honestly, we didn't know exactly what we were getting," said Amaro. "But we knew he would compete. And we knew he had a great knowledge about pitching. I think you saw that out there today. When you have veterans who have been through the wars, you feel more confident than you do with guys who haven't been there."

It's worked out well enough that next season, when the Phils have a hole to fill, they might be inclined to check the newspaper help-wanted ads. "Nothing Pedro does surprises me," said Proefrock. "Nothing."