"Derek [Jeter] and me were just talking about it in the clubhouse" after Game 5, Pettitte said yesterday. "Just how strange this is, after all the battles with him being in Boston. I know I've faced him a bunch of times . . . and then to come full circle, this many years have passed, him with the Phillies and me back over here. It's going to be neat."

It is baseball history, waiting to be written. It is a singular matchup and an improbable one.

Pettitte, 37, has won more postseason games than any pitcher in major-league history. Martinez, 38, has three Cy Young Awards. And neither man had a job in baseball when the calendar flipped from 2008 to 2009.

Pettitte was toast. After he admitted to using human growth hormone and then faded at the end of last season, no one was going to pay him the $16 million he earned with the Yankees in 2008. He waited as long as he could, then took a $5.5 million deal a couple of weeks before spring training began.

Martinez had to wait even longer. He pitched in New York last year as well, going 5-6 with a 5.61 earned run average for the Mets. He reached the end of a four-year, $53 million contract and, like Pettitte, waited for the phone to ring. It didn't, not until the Phillies signed him to a $1 million deal in July.

"Two months back, I was sitting at home not doing anything," Martinez said. "None of you were thinking of me whatsoever. And today I am here, probably pitching in one of the biggest games ever in the World Series - two great teams with a whole bunch of legendary players."

Martinez will face several Hall of Fame-caliber players: Jeter and Alex Rodriguez (setting aside the steroid issue) would be locks. Johnny Damon, Jorge Posada, and Mark Teixeira have had superb careers.

Pettitte will face former National League MVPs in Jimmy Rollins and Ryan Howard. Chase Utley has a chance (maybe two games' worth) to break Reggie Jackson's record of five home runs in a World Series in the new Yankee Stadium.

Martinez pitched superbly against the Yankees in Game 2, but it will be that much tougher to keep such a smart bunch of hitters off-balance with his infuriating mix of pitches. Pettitte admitted he never felt comfortable pitching in Game 3, and now he will be going on short rest.

Facing a pitcher in a similar situation, the Phillies pounced on A.J. Burnett to win Game 5 and extend the Series. Utley is suddenly red hot. The guy hitting behind him, Howard, is ice cold. One at-bat after Utley tied Jackson's record with a home run, Howard tied Willie Wilson's record of 12 strikeouts in a single World Series. The Yankees have been able to shut Howard down, but they have the uneasy feeling that can't last forever.

The Phillies are counting on it.

"We can win it easier if he hits," manager Charlie Manuel said.

Both offenses have come alive after two games with strong starting pitching. The Yankees have averaged seven runs over the last three games, while the Phillies have averaged just over five.

"Offense is starting to pick up, actually on both teams," Manuel said.

It is up to Martinez and Pettitte - "two old goats out there, doing the best they can," as Martinez put it - to try to reverse that trend and give their teams a chance. They first faced each other in 1998, but have never started the same postseason game before. They have grown older, won titles, dealt with injuries, and faced the possible ends of their brilliant careers.

"Pedro . . . was the best pitcher for a lot of years when I was [first] over here with the Yankees," Pettitte said, "the best pitcher that I had ever seen for a stretch: the velocity that he was throwing with, the command. What's helped [the two of] us be able to stick around is, when you see our velocities go down a little bit, he knows how to pitch."

They both do. They both know how to handle big-game pressure. Neither will be fazed by the glare of the spotlight or the roar of the crowd. They are the perfect choices for a game that could decide the World Series champions.

"I look at this situation as a blessing," Martinez said. "I mean, what else would I want?"

What more could any baseball fan want?

Other than a Game 7, that is.

Contact columnist Phil Sheridan at 215-854-2844 or psheridan@phillynews.com.

Read his recent work at http://go.philly.com/philsheridan.