Pedro Mania Comes Home
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Pedro Martinez will hopefully bring a big smile to the home crowd.
After making his Phillies debut last week at Wrigley Field, Pedro Martinez will make his home debut Tuesday night at Citizens Bank Park.
The righty is no stranger to CBP. He pitched at the Phillies home ballpark four times but Tuesday night will be different because he will be wearing Phillies pinstripes for the first time.
Phightins faithful won’t be happy to learn that the friendly confines on CBP were never very friendly to Pedro. (But let’s be honest we were probably happy at the time as Pedro was getting shelled by Phillies batters.)
In his long 18-year career Pedro has pitched at 42 different Major League ballparks. Only at the new Busch Stadium in St. Louis and the old Mile-High Stadium in Denver has Pedro posted a higher ERA than his career 7.85 ERA at CBP.
Pedro still posted a 1-1 record at CBP but he was knocked around for 20 hits (a .278 opponents batting average), four homers, 16 earned runs and eight walks in 18.1 innings against the Phillies at CBP.
The only positive on Pedro’s career line at CBP was his 25 strikeouts against Phillies teams known to swing and miss.
But it should be noted that the dominant Pedro of the late 1990’s and early 2000’s never pitched at CBP because the ballpark wasn’t built yet.
So don’t expect too much from Pedro Tuesday night. But who knows maybe now that he is healthy the future Hall of Famer can channel some of his old magic and give the home crowd something to cheer about.
Posted Tuesday, Aug 18, 2009 - 11:47 AM EST
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