2015 Baseball Hall of Fame Inductee Pedro Martinez was on teleconference, along with fellow TBS analysts Ron Darling and Cal Ripken Jr., to preview the Sunday MLB on TBS package.
Here is Martinez on his Hall of Fame induction:
“I’ve always been a fan of expressing what I feel at the time. I had a draft of things and people I wanted to mention that I couldn’t have forgotten that have influenced me and my career and my life. Things I wanted to say to the fan bases, but I’ll be speaking from my heart. I’m anxious to see what it’s going to be like. For Latinos and Dominicans, it’s not every day you get a Hall of Famer. It’s been 32 years for a Dominican.”
“It’s really important to acknowledge that and maybe a lot of Dominicans will show up in Cooperstown. We are different, we are loud, we have drums and merengue and I’m interested in seeing those things. I did not know [the preparation] was going to be so much work.”
Pedro Martinez on the 2015 MLB season’s biggest surprise:
“I was very sarcastic about them, so I have to tip my hat to the Houston Astros. I kept saying no, no, they’re going to land. I was the same way about the Mets, they wouldn’t hold on. Both teams have really surprised me with how they’ve played and how consistent they are.
“It’s no coincidence that probably the best pitcher in baseball is one of the Houston Astros [left-hander Dallas Keuchel]. I was sarcastic about them but they proved me wrong in the first half and now I have to believe the second half they will keep on playing baseball the way they have.”
Cal Ripken was also asked about facing Pedro Martinez in the 1999 All-Star Game in Boston.
“The whole All-Star Game in Boston, there’s a lot of really great memorable moments from that experience. Very rarely do you get pumped up and psyched at the All-Star Game, especially if you’ve had a few under your belt, but the adrenaline was flowing really good. It was fun to be on that side of it,” Ripken said.
“I’m glad I wasn’t trying to face Pedro,” he continued.
“It was a much more fun environment and there was this great excitability different than the other All-Star Games. It was fun to be part of that.”
Paul M. Banks owns, operates and writes The Sports Bank.net, which is part of the FOX Sports Engage Network. Banks, a former writer for the Washington Times, currently contributes to the Chicago Tribune RedEye edition. He also appears regularly on numerous talk radio stations all across the country.
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