All Hail King Petey

You know what? The Phillies might just pull this one off.

I’d thought this series was a done deal when the Yankees elected to go with CC on short rest in Game 4 (which I might add shows an alarming lack of faith in the rest of the staff). Yet somehow Jimmy “the False Prophet” Rollins are the rest of the Philly squad have managed to bounce back.

I must admit that I am loving this World Series. Game 2 in particular was awesome, the atmosphere at Yankee Stadium during the Jay-Z and Alicia Keys performance was incredible. I must also admit that once the Yankees made it 3-1 my attention began to wander and the all too familiar, and slightly hypocritical given the Red Sox expenditure of last, “well, they just bought themselves another championship’ barbs began to enter my vocabulary. But Philadelphia are at least making a series of it.

Ultimately I’m enjoying this 2009 World Series for what it is; a battle between two hugely talented yet hugely flawed teams both in possession of some of the best fans in baseball.

One thing stands out especially, and no its not Chase Utley’s Ruthian stats or Cliff Lee out-classing CC Sabathia at every turn. No, 2009’s Fall Classic should forever be remember for signalling Pedro Martinez’s return to the big stage, in what may well be his final hurrah.

Petey has been incredible. Even if his 7k performance in Game 2 wasn’t enough to convince the world that this is beyond all doubt the greatest pitcher since Koufax, we have witnessed the return of the “greater interview in Sports”.

Pedro has turned in some great quotes, from his proclaimations of his own ‘specialness’ to his announcement that he is the Yankee’s most feared adversary, everything out of the man’s mouth has been pure gold.

This is what we’ve all been missing since Martinez was at his dominant pinnacle in Boston. The arrogance, the confidence, the real Pedro!

Given Pedro’s performances down the stretch with Philly I see no reason why he won’t stick around in MLB for at least another couple of years, and I welcome it whole-heartedly. This man is one of the reasons I fell in love with this game, a loud, exciting character that truly captivates an audience. What’s more I’d love to see the guy get to 250 wins.

Give me an over the hill Petey over CC and Cliff any day of the week.

Right, that’s it, love-fest over. I’ll be back to slagging off the Yankees again soon.