BOSTON — Pedro had a blast. He implores you to do the same.
The Boston Red Sox retired Pedro Martinez’s No. 45 during a ceremony Tuesday night at Fenway Park, after which the Hall of Fame pitcher was asked what he’d like fans to think of when they look up and see his number stationed alongside the likes of Ted Williams, Carl Yastrzemski and other all-time greats.
“Once they see the number, just think about having fun. Because I am fun, I am having fun and I love to have them here (in my heart),” Martinez said. “I hope that they have the same feeling when they see that number: ‘Pedro? That’s Pedro! Oh, Pedro is always in a parade. Pedro is always happy. Pedro is always playful. Pedro is, you never know what Pedro is going to be.’
“So just go out there, have fun, remember me for a fun guy, a sign of hope, a sign of someone that was always happy and grateful of the things that he had the opportunity to live.”
This past week has been all about Martinez — the “Pedro Parade,” as he playfully called it Tuesday — and his contributions to both the Red Sox and Major League Baseball. It’s been a treat for many fans, perhaps as much as it’s been for the former Boston ace. And there’s an obvious mutual admiration.
“I have the same amount of love and respect for the city of Boston — not only the city of Boston, but baseball in general, all the fan bases, I respect them,” Martinez said. “More than anything, I respect the fan bases, because it’s extremely important that we acknowledge that without the fans, we have no motivation, we have no push.
“Without the fans, we have no fuel to start the engines. I think the fans are the No. 1 fuel that push every player out there.”
Williams, perhaps the greatest Red Sox of them all, once said he wanted people to point at him as he walked down the street and say, “There goes the greatest hitter who ever lived.”
Does Martinez have similar aspirations? Well, such praise would be nice. But it’s not the be-all and end-all.
“It would be a bigger honor to be referred as there is a sign of hope for everyone in this world,” Martinez said. “There is someone that unexpectedly made it further than he ever dreamed, because I never gave up. So I want to represent hope instead of greatness and achievement.
“I would take hope and faith and determination and hard work and dedication over all those things. There is a symbol of dedication, there is a symbol of integrity, there is a symbol of hope, there’s a sign of hope for everyone that is coming after.
“And especially for me, being born in Dominican Republic in a shack and coming from a Third World country, the sign of hope that I want to represent for those people, it’s even bigger. So that would make a lot more sense to me than the individual achievements that I have.”
Martinez’s No. 45 on the right-field facade at Fenway Park obviously represents many things to many different people. A lot of Red Sox fans will remember Martinez as arguably the greatest pitcher in franchise history. A lot of opponents might remember him as someone they hated to face. And a lot of supporters from the Dominican surely will remember him for transcending the game of baseball.
However you remember No. 45, just have fun doing it, please.
Thumbnail photo via Greg M. Cooper/USA TODAY Sports Images
