Foul Territory
A sports blog with no specific focus, though I like wrestling and baseball
4.08.2005
Long Rest Pedro
Long Rest Pedro is a sight to behold, isn't he? He's a much different animal than Regular Rest Pedro. Long Rest Pedro can fling it with the best of them. He may still have that 100 pitch limit, but on long rest, he might not need that many to get through seven innings as he mows down the opposing hitters with aplomb. Regular Rest Pedro still shows flashes of that brilliance, but it's not as common, and the other team gets to him more often.
Long Rest Pedro always calls to mind, for me at least, the American League Divisional Series of 1999. In the deciding game, the Indians took a three run lead before Pedro, having been removed from an earlier game after stepping awkwardly while covering first, entered the game in the fourth inning. My most vivid memory of Pedro (at least until he invented the Zimmer toss) is the feeling I had when he entered the game that it was over, even though the Indians were winning and he was supposedly nursing an injury. I could just tell, as I watched the game alone in the Naugle dormitory lounge at Messiah College, that there was only one way for this game to end.
I was right, as you'll recall. Pedro came in and pitched six innings of no-hit ball, as the Red Sox rallied to win the game and the right to face the Yankees in the ALCS. That was back when Long Rest Pedro and Regular Rest Pedro were the same dominant force in the American League. When Pedro retires, we'll hold his Hall of Fame induction five years later as we all decide whether or not he had the highest peak of any pitcher to ever play the game. He won't get to 300 wins, or even 250 probably, but we'll still remember him as one of the greats and look fondly back on the time when any time he pitched, a no hitter wouldn't have been a surprise.
Long Rest Pedro always calls to mind, for me at least, the American League Divisional Series of 1999. In the deciding game, the Indians took a three run lead before Pedro, having been removed from an earlier game after stepping awkwardly while covering first, entered the game in the fourth inning. My most vivid memory of Pedro (at least until he invented the Zimmer toss) is the feeling I had when he entered the game that it was over, even though the Indians were winning and he was supposedly nursing an injury. I could just tell, as I watched the game alone in the Naugle dormitory lounge at Messiah College, that there was only one way for this game to end.
I was right, as you'll recall. Pedro came in and pitched six innings of no-hit ball, as the Red Sox rallied to win the game and the right to face the Yankees in the ALCS. That was back when Long Rest Pedro and Regular Rest Pedro were the same dominant force in the American League. When Pedro retires, we'll hold his Hall of Fame induction five years later as we all decide whether or not he had the highest peak of any pitcher to ever play the game. He won't get to 300 wins, or even 250 probably, but we'll still remember him as one of the greats and look fondly back on the time when any time he pitched, a no hitter wouldn't have been a surprise.
Andy, 6:06 PM
