The Field of Play

Another topic I want to discuss, though, is the title of an ESPN article that is about Pedro Martinez and what he has done for the Mets since they signed him almost exactly four years ago. It is called “Money for Nothing,” which claims the Mets did not get their money’s worth from Pedro. I say that’s just flat out WRONG.

I am a Mets fan. Anyone who knows me, knows that. Anyone who knows me well understands I am a realist when it comes to rooting for my favorite team. HOWEVER, I will not let Bob Klapisch say that the Mets did not get what they came for when getting Martinez. They got a great deal of what they asked for.

They asked for a great pitcher. They got a great one in the one season they really didn’t need to use him because the season didn’t have too much hope to be had (2005). They got a good pitcher for the following year and a half, and a hurt one for his last one and a half years.

They asked for a great clubhouse guy, and that’s what he was. No big distractions (outside of nagging injuries and that special shoe everyone was waiting for early in his Mets career). People were very nervous that his antics in Boston would follow him to New York. They didn’t.

But mostly, the Mets asked Pedro to be a sign of a new era, the turning of a page in Mets’ history with the turning of pages of his contract. And that is EXACTLY what he did. I’ll remember for the rest of my life my, my Step-Father’s, and my friends’ reactions when i first told them “the Mets, yes, THE NEW YORK METROPOLITANS, actually signed Pedro Martinez!!!” I was in disbelief, and i was in the vast majority of many baseball insiders as well. Carlos Beltran was in disbelief, too. But Omar Minaya signing Pedro convinced him to see what they saw, and thus started the road to a winning atmosphere.

Because of this new feeling in the clubhouse and thus throughout the fanbase, Pedro and the Mets completely blocked out the Art Howe-Mo Vaughn-Roberto Alomar-Jeremy Burnitz years (and that was as hard for me to write as it was to remind myself of those seasons…).

So, Mr. Klapisch, consider more so the fact that Pedro gave the Mets nearly everything they asked for. Because even though baseball is so much a game of numbers, the signing of Pedro by Omar Minaya and the New York Mets sent a message to the rest of baseball, and also the Mets fans who never thought they oughtta believe anymore, let alone gotta believe: the Mets mean business. Do the Mets mean business now? Doesn’t matter. The lone fact that they are even RELEVENT in their DIVISION is nearly all thanks to the signing of Pedro Martinez; the act that recharged the franchise in 2004.

So, thank you, Pedro, for coming to the Mets and allowing us fans  to experience winning baseball over the past 3 seasons. I only hope a future signing can have nearly the same affect on the team.