Pedro Martinez loved everybody — except hitters.
Believe it or not, there was one hitter the newly minted Baseball Hall of Famer particularly disliked. Throughout their careers, Martinez said, he and New York Yankees catcher Jorge Posada never saw eye to eye.
And Martinez, who used to call Posada “Dumbo” in reference to the backstop’s big ears, isn’t sure why.
What the former Boston Red Sox ace sounds sure of, however, is that if not for Posada mouthing off, the infamous 2004 brawl between the Yankees and the Red Sox might not have happened. Martinez strongly hinted during an interview with SNY this week that Posada insulting his mother helped set off the fracas, in which Martinez tossed a charging Yankees bench coach Don Zimmer to the ground.
“Believe it or not, we competed cleanly,” Martinez told SNY “Daily News Live” host Jonas Schwartz. “I never tried to hit him or do anything. It was just competing, but he was always mad at me for some reason. Then he let it go a little bit too far with the Zimmer incident.
“Between Latinos, you don’t mention anybody’s mother. I did not appreciate that. I know it was in the heat of the situation, but that’s sensitive to Latino players.”
It’s understandable that Posada wouldn’t have liked his pachyderm-inspired nickname, but “that’s no reason for him to want to kill me,” Martinez said. We’d like to say they’ve moved on, but as everyone knows, an elephant never forgets.
Thumbnail photo via Greg M. Cooper/USA TODAY Sports Images
