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Back home Martinez returns to the Dominican for two-game series
Posted: Friday March 10, 2000 03:07 PM
SANTO DOMINGO, Dominican Republic -- Pedro Martinez strolls the streets of Santo Domingo without bodyguards. He is mobbed by kids at sports complexes. He sits down in a restaurant and is besieged for autographs. Through it all, the inspiration of a baseball-mad nation smiles. "The only feeling I get every time I walk around is that the people love me," he says. "They come up and they say, "Congratulations, great year. God bless you. I'm proud of you. I'm proud to be a Dominican." This weekend, he's back in the Dominican Republic with his Boston Red Sox teammates for two exhibition games against the Houston Astros in Quisqueya Stadium. He and his brother Ramon were scheduled to pitch there Saturday. Despite all the money, all the fame and all the strikeouts, Pedro tries to be Pedro. He shuns the trappings of superstardom and sees himself in the youngsters using wooden sticks for bats and water-jug caps for balls. "If you catch it while it's moving, it's an out. If it's dead by the time you come get it, it's a hit or a run," Martinez says. "I still do it sometimes with my little neighbors. I have a lot of fun." He's graduated, though, to much bigger stuff. Last year, he was baseball's best pitcher -- 23-4 with a major-league best 2.07 ERA and an AL-high 313 strikeouts. It was one of the best seasons a major-league pitcher ever had. "I just want to be a normal human being once I leave the field," he says. "When I'm in the field, I'm Pedro Martinez with my uniform on, ready to work like an employee." He says the two spring training games near his birthplace in the Santo Domingo suburb of Manoguayabo don't mean that much to him. They're simply a chance to continue preparing to build on his outstanding season. But for Martinez's fans, it may be a once-in-a-lifetime treat. "For them to see us over there ... that's going to probably be the best gift you can give," he says. "To the kids that go out there and they want to see if we are real or if we are fake or what we do, it's really important to bring the message across that we get to places, that we somehow made it and that they can look up to us." Every team, except Cincinnati, has at least one Dominican on its roster. The Martinez' countrymen include sluggers Sammy Sosa and Manny Ramirez, and young pitchers Bartolo Colon and Jose Lima. And more than 30 years ago, there was Juan Marichal, who was elected to the Hall of Fame in 1983. "Whenever one Dominican establishes himself as a big leaguer, you have to think about a whole island, more than 8 million people thinking about it," Martinez says. But only a small fraction of the thousands of baseball-playing youngsters in the nation of 8.1 million ever will get to the pros. Most will pursue their passion in the island nation about the combined size of Vermont and New Hampshire. Martinez, though, represents the realization of a dream. And he takes his responsibilities as a role model seriously, even donating sports equipment to youngsters. "I don't have bad habits," he says. "I've never done anything for the police to chase me around. I've never gotten a ticket. I try to behave. I try to be as good as I can be for my people so they can respect and also love me. "I'm willing to work and keep my standards and make my people proud." In the United States, Martinez is known for his six-year, $75 million contract and his two Cy Young awards - one in the NL and one in the AL. He is admired for being the All-Star game MVP and pitching 17 innings in last year's playoffs, all scoreless, despite an injury below his right shoulder blade. In the Dominican Republic, he tries to be himself - a down-to-earth guy who hasn't let his riches change him from the playful, outgoing spirit who is still "the little brat" when he visits his family's home. "I don't see why anybody would hurt me, so I don't need six or seven bodyguards," he says. "I just let the people approach me without any risks and they will protect me. "I don't mind playing a little stickball with the little kids or go in the worst neighborhood and just have a cookie with somebody or have a cup of coffee or sit down with whoever's out there to talk." There are times, though, when the crowds become too much. He may scowl when fans get too close to his valuable right arm, a sign to his admirers that it's time to back off. "They don't let him alone, not a second," says Ramon Martinez, Boston's No. 2 starter. "Sometimes, you want to be by yourself. It's hard when all the time, wherever you go, you have people around." Pedro handles it graciously, knowing he once was a youngster with the same aspirations as today's generation - to go as far possible in baseball. He succeeded despite a modest upbringing. "I never lacked food on my table, but I was poor," he says. "I could tell you one thing, though, I was rich in love and that's what's important. "I have everything I need. Everything I could get, I could get right now," he adds. "I know for a fact that you don't need those things. You just need health and you need to have food on the table." Now, though, he can afford to enjoy his food at the finest restaurants. And he can tolerate fans who rush to his table for a glimpse of their hero and an autograph. "You can't say 'no' because that's the whole package you have to put up with," Martinez says. "But they have to respect my private time. I don't mind having them come over, but if I have a spoon in my mouth, please, let me swallow." And then he can put the spoon down, pick up a pen and sign his name, sending a Dominican child who loves baseball and Martinez running back to his table with a big smile.
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