AP News
(2009-10-29 00:33:10)
NEW YORK (Reuters) - Pedro Martinez, for many years treated by New York Yankees fans as public enemy number one, is ready for whatever they dish out when he starts Game Two of the World Series for Philadelphia on Thursday.
"Sometimes they might be giving you the middle finger, just like they will be cursing you and telling you what color underwear you're wearing," the 38-year-old Phillies pitcher told reporters before Wednesday's Game One.
"But at the end of the day they're just great fans that want to see the team win. I don't have any problem with that."
The Dominican right-hander, a three-times Cy Young winner had many battles with the Yankees in seven seasons with New York's bitter rivals the Boston Red Sox.
Two of the most memorable came during the 2003 American League Championship Series.
In one game, Martinez was involved in a bench-clearing skirmish in which he pushed 72-year-old Yankees coach Don Zimmer to the ground.
After another, in which New York beat him, Martinez lamented out of frustration that the Yankees were "my daddy."
That comment came back to haunt Martinez, who was serenaded in subsequent visits to Yankee Stadium by derisive chants of "Who's Your Daddy?" - a greeting he is most likely to hear at high decibels on Thursday when he starts against Yankees right-hander A.J. Burnett.
Martinez is 11-11 with a 3.20 ERA in 32 career starts against the Yanks, though he struggled to an 0-2 mark with a 5.93 ERA the past five post-season appearances against them.
The crafty hurler, who went 5-1 with the Phillies, showed what he is capable of by tossing seven scoreless innings and giving up just two hits against the Los Angeles Dodgers in the National League Championship Series.
Martinez left Boston to join the New York Mets as a free agent, but struggled in his last two years with injuries before signing in midseason this year with the 2008 champion Phillies.
"After playing in New York, I came to realize something -- New York fans are very passionate and very aggressive," Martinez said.
"But after it all, after you take your uniform off and you deal with the people, they're real human beings. It's all just being fans.
"I have all the respect in the world for the way they enjoy being fans."
(Editing by Greg Stutchbury)
