Is Pedro Martinez's 1999 ALDS Game 5 Performance or Patriots' Team Introduction at Super Bowl XXXVI a Bigger Boston Sports Moment?

Is Pedro Martinez’s 1999 ALDS Game 5 Performance or Patriots’ Team Introduction at Super Bowl XXXVI a Bigger Boston Sports Moment?

by NESN Staff on Sat, Aug 27, 2011 at 8:30PM

Pedro Martinez’s Game 5 performance during the ’99 ALDS squares off against the Patriots’ introduction before Super Bowl XXXVI in the second round of Boston’s Greatest Sports Moment tournament.

4. Pedro’s 1999 ALDS Game 5 performancePedro Martinez was one of the most dominating starting pitchers in Red Sox history. But Martinez’s most memorable performance came in relief. During the 1999 ALDS against the Cleveland Indians, Martinez left his start in Game 1 after only four innings with back problems, and his status for the rest of the series was questionable. But in the series’ decisive Game 5, with the game tied 8-8, Martinez stepped up out of the bullpen when the Red Sox needed him most. He pitched an unbelievable six no-hit innings with eight strikeouts, giving the Red Sox a victory and a chance to face the Yankees in the ALCS. In a season in which Martinez went 23-4 and earned the first of back-to-back Cy Young Awards, his relief performance in Game 5 was the defining moment for many Boston sports fans.

12. Patriots’ Super Bowl XXXVI introductionKurt Warner ran out of the tunnel in the Superdome as one of the stars of the 2001 St. Louis Rams. Listed as the visiting team, Warner and the Rams had their lineups announced first. When the camera turned to the Patriots’ side, the tunnel looked too crowded for an individual to come running out upon hearing his name. However, only one name needed to be heard: the New England Patriots. With second-year quarterback Tom Brady leading the charge, the Patriots became the first team in NFL history to be introduced as a team before the start of a Super Bowl. The idea was proposed by head coach Bill Belichick and initially met with resistance from the league. But as seen before every Super Bowl since, an idea has become a tradition.