Pedro Martinez tipped his cap and called Tom Brady his daddy. Figuratively speaking, of course.
Martinez tossed Brady a few pitches in the batting cage behind the Boston Red Sox’s dugout at Fenway Park before Monday’s home opener. The New England Patriots quarterback, who threw out the first pitch to David Ortiz during a pregame ceremony, impressed Martinez with his swing.
“He’s got a pretty good swing,” Martinez told the Boston Herald’s Michael Silverman this week. “He’s a tall, lanky guy. He pulled everything. He told me that was the first time he took batting practice in such a long time.”
Brady isn’t a stranger to the diamond. He played baseball in high school and was drafted by the Montreal Expos as a catcher in the 18th round in 1995. It shouldn’t come as a surprise that Brady barreled up a few of Martinez’s offerings, as the former Red Sox hurler surely was grooving his pitches to the QB.
“His bat sounded really powerful on that one hit,” Martinez told Silverman. “He took me deep, so we stopped there. Time to go.”
Patriots head coach Bill Belichick also attended Monday’s home opener. He, Brady, owner Robert Kraft and president Jonathan Kraft carried New England’s four Super Bowl trophies onto the Fenway Park field, drawing a huge response from the crowd.
Martinez was among those most excited to see Belichick and Co. He admires Belichick greatly, according to Silverman, and doesn’t believe New England’s DeflateGate controversy had much to do with the Patriots’ Super Bowl success last season.
“There’s no crying in football,” Martinez said. “Deflated balls, my ass.”
Thumbnail photo via Twitter/@BostInno
