CLEVELAND -- It was just another night in the life of Pedro Martinez.
He didn't pitch a no-hitter -- although he took another run at one for 4 1/3 innings. He didn't start any brawls -- or even plunk anybody. And his ERA actually exploded all the way up to a near-mortal 1.81 -- the highest it has been all year.
If it had been any other Red Sox pitcher twirling seven innings Thursday in a big 7-4 win over the Indians -- allowing four hits and three runs, punching out 10 -- they'd be erecting a statue of him right now in Kenmore Square.
But by Pedro-esque standards, this was pretty much another standard old night at the office.
Meaning he was merely great. As opposed to, say, superhuman.
He has reached that stage of brilliance right now in which the only pitcher you can compare him to is himself. Because when we talk about men who throw baseballs for a living these days, there are two categories:
1) Pedro.
2) Everybody else.
Face it. He is Tiger Woods. He is Jordan. He is one of those people who dwarfs the rest of his profession.
What he does -- every time he picks up a ball -- is so far out of whack compared with everyone else alive that it's almost humorous.
Unless you have to try to hit him, that is.
"I've faced many pitchers in my life," said Cleveland's David Segui, who stopped Pedro's latest march to history Thursday by breaking up another no-hit bid with a two-run homer in the fifth. "I've seen a lot of guys. And he, to me, might be the best who ever pitched. Who ever pitched. He's pitching in an era of offense. And he still dominates hitters. He dominates, man."
How does he dominate? Let us list the ways:
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Face it. (Pedro) is Tiger Woods. He is Jordan. He is one of those people who dwarfs the rest of his profession.
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The average American League starting pitcher has an earned-run average of 5.13. And this guy's ERA is under 2.00.
Five other starters in the entire league have ERAs in the 3.00s. And this guy has an ERA in the 1.00s.
The average American League starter has a strikeout-walk ratio of 1.65-to-1. And this guy has a strikeout-walk ratio of 8.68-to-1.
And so on and so on and so on. But as his manager, the one and only Jimy Williams, philosophized, "stats don't play. Players play." So if you spend all your time being mesmerized by Pedro's stats -- astounding as they are -- you're missing the point.
The point is: This man is more than a dominator. He's a winner. Why are the Red Sox still alive and breathing in this wild-card scramble, just two games behind Cleveland at this late date? It sure isn't because of Izzy Alcantara or Sang Lee or just about anyone on the roster not named Garciaparra or Everett.
It all starts with Pedro, friends. They are 20-7 when he pitches. They are five games under .500 when anyone else pitches. In other words, every five days, he turns the 2000 Marlins into the '98 Yankees.
"He's the MVP on this club, definitely," said his new teammate, Dante Bichette. "He's so valuable, I don't think you can even measure it. He's our security blanket. That's what he is. That's what he does for our club. He allows our offense to relax. We know if we score two or three runs, that's enough for him.
"We put some runs on the board, and he just goes out there and turns it up. He puts a 97 (mph) on the radar board and blows them away. And that's why he's Pete."
He's practically Pete Alexander to the poor Indians, a team that he's now 9-0, 1.85 against in his career. Until Segui's home run got in the way of another shutout, Pedro was working on a string of 32 consecutive scoreless innings against Cleveland in regular-season games. And in his previous 25 innings against the Indians dating back to the postseason, these guys had 33 strikeouts against him -- and exactly six hits.
"We keep trying to find ways to beat him," said Jim Thome. "And he still dominates. So you lose to him, and you just tip your hat and move on."
Before Thursday, Segui was 3-for-24 lifetime against Pedro, with 11 strikeouts. So that was a lot of hat-tipping. Then he shocked even himself by going 2-for-3 against his ex-teammate, with all three RBI. Suffice it to say David Segui will be running that home run on the video machine inside his brain for the rest of his life.
"To hit a home run off him, I might get inducted in the Hall of Fame," Segui said. "When I tell that story, it will be a 500-footer, a game-winner, and I got carried off the field. Hopefully, nobody will remember it barely got over the fence, and we lost. A home run off of him, you remember that. You remember those at-bats, man. They're special."
That, of course, is because he's special. Pedro has a presence and a charisma about him that are rare in life, not just baseball. He is smart. He is passionate. He's deep. He's fun. And he's the best there is. Which doesn't leave much that he isn't.
But here's a bulletin: Pedro thought of one thing he isn't.
He is not unbeatable, he announced. (See Scott Brosius for further details.)
"How can I be unbeatable?" he mused, after raising his record to 17-5 for the year, 40-9 for the last two years. "I'm only a man. I'm only human. I don't want to give it up. I don't want to lose. But unbeatable? That's impossible. I like it to look to the other team like I think I'm unbeatable. But baseball is a really, really humbling sport."
He had spent the last five days living with the weight of all that humility, too, since Brosius' home run floated into the screen above the Green Monster last Saturday and sent the Red Sox to a crushing loss to the Yankees.
It made you think about the responsibility he carries with him everywhere he goes -- to lift this team to a different plane, to be the dominator every time he pitches and to never, ever lose.
No one else in the sport assumes that load. No one. That isn't fair. But that's Pedro. And he knows that what the world expects from him doesn't change what he knows about himself.
"I'm a winner," he said. "Regardless of what it might seem like if I have a bad game and I lose, I'm a winner. I hope everyone thinks I'm going to win every time, because that means they think like me, that I'm gonna win. But I hope they also remember there are going to be days that I lose.
"Like I said, baseball is a very humbling sport. This is real. This is a man they put out there, not a machine that's perfect."
But he's as close to that machine in his sport as men ever get. Sure, Carl Everett put on a show Thursday night (4-for-5, with a homer, a double and three RBI). Sure, Nomar was Nomar (with his eighth multihit game in his last 11 games). Sure, Dante Bichette thumped another homer, and Derek Lowe closed it out with 1 1/3 shutout innings, and other Red Sox did their thing.
All that's fine.
But it all began with the feeling they took with them when they walked into the ballpark -- the feeling they only get when they know Pedro is pitching.
"Something strange has to happen for him to lose a game," said his longtime pitching coach, Joe Kerrigan. "Something has to happen that's completely out of his control. It has to be a botched double play or a missed call or something along those lines. It has to be really strange circumstances. Because if it's something he can control, he'll win."
Despite all the talk about last October, about slurs and death threats, there was nothing ugly in the air at the Jake on Thursday. There were some names called as he warmed up, Pedro reported, but just "the normal stuff."
So what was really in the air was a certain electricity you only get when the lights go down and the megastars take the stage. And everyone in the arena feels it.
"He's as dominating a pitcher as I've seen in my life," Bichette said. "I faced Nolan Ryan, and Nolan might have had better pure stuff. But this guy paints -- with all his pitches.
"And when you talk to him, his knowledge of the game is incredible. He has great feel for the game. And he doesn't get caught up in any of the surroundings. Segui hits a two-run homer off him to get them back in the game, and what does he do to the next guy? He paints (striking out Travis Fryman with a slider on the black). I'm just glad I got to come over here and watch him pitch some games. It's a lot better than being on the other side. I've had my hat trick against him."
Then again, who hasn't?
"I played behind him in Montreal," Segui said. "And every time he takes the mound, you think, 'Today might be the day you see a no-hitter.' So when he takes one into the fifth tonight, it doesn't surprise you. Heck, people take it for granted. Nobody's got a hit, and it's the fifth inning, and you almost expect that. It's Pedro."
He may carry this team into October. He may not. He may have just three starts left to spin his magic. If things break around him, he may have more.
But whenever he takes the ball, it is time to stop what you're doing and look for the nearest satellite dish. This is more than just baseball appearing before your eyes. This is greatness.
Jayson Stark is a senior writer at ESPN.com. | |
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 Pedro Martinez gives credit to his team for giving him run support and playing strong defense.
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