With one swing, Chili Davis ensured he’d forever be linked to Pedro Martinez.
Martinez had one of the best pitching performances in Major League Baseball history on Sept. 10, 1999, at Yankee Stadium. He struck out 17 and allowed only one hit as the Boston Red Sox defeated the New York Yankees 3-1.
The man responsible for the lone hit? Davis, who now serves as Boston’s hitting coach.
“I hit it good,” Davis recently told ESPN.com’s Gordon Edes at Red Sox spring training in Fort Myers, Fla. “It wasn’t a wall scraper.”
Davis’ homer did little but prevent Martinez from firing a no-hitter. It’s still engrained in many Red Sox fans’ memories, though, as Pedro was otherwise downright dominant that night in the Bronx.
“From where I was standing in the dugout for the first couple of hitters, it was kind of like standing on the side of a railroad track watching a train go by,” Davis told Edes.
Martinez amazingly got stronger as the game went on, striking out eight of the final nine batters he faced. Leadoff hitter Chuck Knoblauch, who was hit by a pitch in the first inning, was the only player besides Davis to reach base in what was an absolute gem.
“He was aggressive with his fastball from pitch one to Knoblauch,” Davis said. “He came inside, was crowding, just trying to establish in. I’m 39 years old and I’ve got a Cy Young Award winner out there who knows he’s got a good fastball. I get four at-bats a day. I’ve got to have some kind of advantage.”
Edes asked Davis if it was the best pitching performance he ever witnessed. The former Yankees slugger and current Sox coach couldn’t go quite that far, but it’s clear he still was impressed by the outing.
“Considering I’ve seen multiple no-hitters and three perfect games, by (David) Cone, David Wells and Kenny Rogers,” Davis said. “And on the last day of my first year in the big leagues, before the strike in ’81, Charlie Lea threw a no-hitter against the Giants.
“That’s not taking anything away from Pedro. From the time he left the bullpen and got on the mound for the first hitter, you could tell he knew he was on.”
Pedro won the war. But Chili won a battle, at least.
Thumbnail photo via Twitter/@CSNNE
