It goes without saying that Pedro Martínez is one of the greatest pitchers in MLB history. He was as dominant as they come, an intimidating force on the mound that wouldn’t hesitate to charge the batter’s box or throw a little too inside when he felt disrespected.
Throughout his career with the Los Angeles Dodgers, Montreal Expos, New York Mets, and Philadelphia Phillies, Martínez turned a lot of heads for both his pitching and his ‘conflict-solving’ skills. But both of those traits were even more notable during his iconic stint with the Boston Red Sox, the team that even retired his number.
Martínez, like all Red Sox’s greats, had no love for the New York Yankees whatsoever. For those who lack context or live under a rock, there’s just no bigger rivalry in all sports than Red Sox-Yankees, so they’re always on the verge of getting physical when they face off.
Pedro Martínez Reveals Lone Career Regret
Ironically, even though they hated each other, Pedro Martínez’s lone career regret came during an infamous incident with the Yankees in the 2003 ALCS, when he took down 72-year-old bench coach Don Zimmer on a brawl.
Roger Clemens threw inside to Manny Ramírez and the benches cleared on a game that was seconds away from getting out of hand since the very beginning, and Pedro didn’t care about pushing down a senior citizen.
“When 72-year-old Don Zimmer came barreling toward me, I wish I had not grabbed his head and pushed him to the Fenway grass as he stumbled and fell forward. Some days I feel more people remember me as the angry young man who pushed down a defenseless old man than as the pitcher who won three Cy Young Awards and a world title and wound up in the Hall of Fame. In my entire baseball career, my reaction to Zimmer’s charge is my only regret (…) All I did was help him fall faster,” Martínez wrote in his book.
That brawl will go down as one of the most iconic in MLB history. But even if some fans remember ‘El Grande’ for that incident with Don Zimmer, most baseball fans will always think of him as one of the greatest to ever do it.
