My Orioles start their 2004 World Series Season

[KnightsRule]

Ironically, Schilling started his career with the O's.

Actually Curt started his career with red sox who traded him to orioles with brady anderson for Mike Boddicker way back in the day.  His first pro MLB game was for orioles against red sox.  He tells some good stories about his days first coming up in sox system when roger clemens took him aside and told him he could be a great pitcher in MLB but he needed to do a lot more work in offseason and take game more serious.  It worked!

[Markeymark]

Actually Curt started his career with red sox who traded him to orioles with brady anderson for Mike Boddicker way back in the day.  His first pro MLB game was for orioles against red sox.  He tells some good stories about his days first coming up in sox system when roger clemens took him aside and told him he could be a great pitcher in MLB but he needed to do a lot more work in offseason and take game more serious.  It worked!

Sorry, I didn't have the almanac right here in front of me.

:

[smazza]

o's looked good but they were going up against a washed up pedro

last year he didn't give up a homer ot a right hand hitter

yesterday NL reject javy lopez took pedro deep 2nd inning

[Velcro]

that washed up pedro will get 18 - 20 wins and cy young consideration this year, but will lose out to Schilling

[smazza]

vg-his fast ball topped out at 88

sheriff i remember watching the great O teams from 60 and 70's

the 69 miracle mets were probably greatest story in sports at the time

[smazza]

Pedro's iffy opener

won't lift Sox hopes

Pedro Martinez gives up three runs in six innings last night, but his fastball isn't smoking and questions remain.  

       - An Opening Night start did little to settle the Great Pedro Debate.

Pedro Martinez was good but hardly brilliant for the Red Sox in a 7-2 loss to the Orioles at Camden Yards last night, and that's the heart of the issue surrounding the Sox ace at the moment.

A spring training during which he rarely hit 90 mph with his fastball raised questions about how much dominance Pedro has left in his right arm. He gave up few hard-hit balls while surrendering three runs in six innings last night, keeping the Orioles off-balance with his usual mix of curveballs and changeups, yet Martinez didn't turn up the heat as many Sox watchers had expected.

Pedro's fastball was clocked mostly in the 88-89 mph range, and the highest he hit on the radar gun was 91, a long way from the 95-96 he threw regularly in past years.

Maybe a frigid night at Camden Yards didn't help, but O's righthander Sidney Ponson was regularly hitting 94 mph on the same radar gun.

In any case, one bad inning cost Martinez and the Red Sox last night, as the Orioles scored three runs in the second inning to give ex-Yankee coach Lee Mazzilli a win in his first game as manager.

Otherwise, Pedro shut the O's down, and left trailing 3-1 before the Sox bullpen allowed the game to get out of hand. Still, it was far from a vintage Pedro performance, so the questions will keep coming.

Martinez himself already has tired of them. He stopped talking to the Boston media a couple of weeks ago and skipped out of the locker room last night before it was opened to the press.

Apparently it's a touchy subject with manager Terry Francona as well. He didn't like being asked what he thought of Pedro's velocity on his fastball.

"Every time he throws I don't want to talk about his velocity," Francona said. "I want to talk about him competing. He had a tough second inning. Other than that, he threw very, very well." In that second inning Pedro was his own worst enemy. That is, after Javy Lopez hit a screamer into the left-field seats to give the O's a 1-0 lead.

From there, Jay Gibbons singled hard to right, and then Pedro hit David Segui in the back with a fastball that looked suspiciously like the one he plunked Karim Garcia with in the infamous brawl game in last fall's ALCS.

However, Martinez and Segui are good friends, and Pedro made a point of gesturing toward him when Segui reached first base, as if to say sorry. Segui tipped his helmet in response.

With runners at first and second, Pedro then fielded a slow ground ball from Larry Bigbie and fired wildly past Kevin Millar at first, allowing a second run to score. And when No. 9 hitter Luis Matos followed with a line single to left, it seemed Martinez might be in for a nightmare opener.

Already it was 3-0, runners at second and third and no outs, with the Camden Yards crowd smelling blood. Pedro suddenly became Pedro again, striking out Brian Roberts with a 91 mph fastball, perhaps his best of the night, and then Melvin Mora with an 82 mph changeup.

Finally, he got out of the inning when Miguel Tejada flied out to center, and the O's couldn't touch him thereafter. Pedro gave up seven hits while throwing 93 pitches during his six innings, and afterward teammates like Johnny Damon were praising him, saying, "I thought Pedro did well. He kept us in the game."

Kept them in the game? Pedro is supposed to own the game, isn't he?

Indeed, the Yankees surely took some comfort in watching Pedro struggle to break 90 mph. Even without his best fastball he's going to be tough to beat, but obviously he won't be as dominant if he can't crank his fastball up to the mid-90s anymore.

For the moment at least, it is reason to wonder about the Red Sox. After going essentially injury-free last year, they opened the season last night with two key players, Nomar Garciaparra and Trot Nixon, on the disabled list with injuries that could sideline them until May, and potential No. 5 starter Byun-Hyung Kim also on the DL.

Is that an omen? For all the belief in Boston that the additions of Curt Schilling and Keith Foulke finally will allow this team to take down the Yankees, it is worth remembering that the Red Sox had a little magic at work last season.

They had 40 comeback victories, including 13 in which they trailed by as many as three runs. In addition, they had American League-highs with 23 wins in their last at-bat, 26 one-run victories and 11 extra-inning victories.

That's a testament to grit, and perhaps a little luck. Makes you wonder if they can do it again. Pedro could have made the Sox feel a lot better about such a possibility with a dominant performance last night. Instead his six innings only continued the debate: How much greatness is left

[KnightsRule]

vg-his fast ball topped out at 88

sheriff i remember watching the great O teams from 60 and 70's

the 69 miracle mets were probably greatest story in sports at the time

If his fastball was topping out at 88, what pitch was hitting 91 with? I dont think Greg maddux has ever hit 90 in his life and he has done ok. Pedro will win 15 games and lead league in era. He will miss some starts due to his annual trip to dl before the all star break and will then tear up second half working on his new contract.

[LastKnight]

Speaking of Pedro's contract......I thought he said sign me before the season starts or I will go elsewhere?

[KnightsRule]

Speaking of Pedro's contract......I thought he said sign me before the season starts or I will go elsewhere?

People say stuff. If sox offer him 50 million per year for twenty years do you tjink he will say No I told you I will only sign before the season?  I know you recall years ago when Jeter was not eligible for arbitration and said that George should pay him even though he did not have to and George did not pay him and Jeter played for peanuts, Jeter said that when he is able to leave as a free agent he would do so since George dissed him, well what happened Jeter is still in those ugly ass pinstripes?

[sdgukhsdgl]

Pedro was the not same dominant pitcher he was in the past on Sunday night and that was obvious to anybody watching.  To make assumptions about his season after sunday night is asinine though.  One it was the first game of the season.  Two, the conditions were horrendous.  After spending two months in FL weather to go to baltimore in that blistering cold weather will test any pitcher.  Dont get me wrong I hate pedro and his ugly ass afro/jerry curl/mullet hair but you cant discount him after one shaky start.