Pedro Martinez Still Wants Back That Game 6 of Phillies-Yankees 2009 World Series

Pedro Martinez has pitched a lot of games.

Over a career that spanned 18 seasons, Martinez threw in 476 games and won 219. That doesn't include 16 playoff appearances, featuring four divisional series, four championship series and two World Series.

Suffice it to say, the Hall of Famer and three-time Cy Young Award winner has a ton of baseball to his name.

But if he could re-pitch one game in his illustrious career, it would come in his one and only season wearing Phillies red.

Phillies vs. Yankees, Game 6 of the 2009 World Series.

In a Twitter Q&A segment on the MLB Network Wednesday, Martinez, now an analyst, was asked if he could go back in time and re-pitch a game, which one would it be?

Here's his full answer, which you can watch in the video above.

I would love to go to Game 6 - it was my last game in the big leagues - in the World Series for Philadelphia. I would love to actually have the opportunity to go back and pitch that game because I was so sick that day. Everybody was in our clubhouse, but I got it late right after [Game 2] I pitched in Yankee Stadium. I was so sick, I couldn't even … I wasn't supposed to pitch, but I chose to go out there - macho, just like you said, adrenaline and all that. That was my last legit chance to be … a World Series champ.

For unfortunate reasons, Phillies fans remember that Game 6, too, just like Martinez. The Phillies were one win away from forcing a Game 7 at Yankee Stadium. They, of course, were looking to repeat as world champions after the unforgettable 2008 run.

And why not Martinez on the Yankee Stadium mound in Game 6? Playing all those years with the Red Sox and winning a World Series in 2004, Martinez was known as a big-game pitcher and loved throwing in the Bronx with Yankees fans jeering him.

Cliff Lee was unavailable after winning Game 5, shifting the series back to New York. Joe Blanton pitched Game 4. Cole Hamels pitched Game 3 on Halloween night. Had he gone Game 6, he would have been on three days' rest. And, if you recall, Hamels, still young at only 25, was enduring the worst season of his major-league career, a bit of a championship hangover after winning the World Series MVP in 2008.

So it was all Martinez in Game 6. He pitched brilliantly in the NLCS (seven innings of two-hit, no-run ball) after being signed as a free agent in July to bolster the rotation. At the end of his career and no longer vintage Pedro, the 37-year-old was still super effective, going 5-1 in nine regular-season starts with a 3.63 ERA.

However, Martinez's magic ended just short. He lasted only four innings in Game 6, allowing four runs on four hits, two walks and a homer. Hideki Matsui burned him with a two-run shot in the second and a two-run single in the third, putting the Phillies in a 4-1 hole. They never recovered, losing, 7-3, as the Yankees celebrated their 27th World Series title.

Still, it's neat to hear a pitcher with the pedigree and past of Martinez remember a half a season with the Phillies. Game 6 obviously still stings him to this day. After all, it's the one he wants back most - and Philly can appreciate that.