PORT ST. LUCIE – All eyes were on the man with the red glove and the Hall of Fame arm.
Pedro Martinez showed up at Mets camp yesterday morning to work out 10 days before pitchers and catchers officially begin spring training sessions. Fresh off his World Championship victory with the Red Sox, the three-time Cy Young winner proved just how serious he is about winning and his work ethic, giving the Mets the emotional jumpstart they were hoping for when they signed him to a four-year, $53 million contract.
“I’m just happy,” Pedro told me, noting he will be a Met for the rest of his baseball life. “I know now where I’m going to finish my career. Hopefully I finish it healthy and that’s why I work so hard.
“I think the new Mets are going to be a new attitude,” he said later. “It’s going to be a team that went from being from last place to a team that will be in the middle of the race.”
Third baseman David Wright, the only Met regular here, was ecstatic. “Being a young player you get a little giddy,” Wright said. “You try to get a clean ball and ask Pedro for an autograph.
“You watch him on TV in the playoffs and World Series, he’s a future Hall of Famer who comes to spring training early and this really sets the tone for us young guys,” Wright added. “This is a new beginning for the Mets.”
It sure is. Season tickets sales are on fire and Mets officials, including Jeff Wilpon, have gotten on the phone with fans to close deals. “It’s really starting to roll now,” Wilpon said of sales, adding tickets for individual games go on sale Feb. 27. “We really appreciate Pedro coming in early. He said he would and he lived up to his word.”
Pitcher Heath Bell, who rollerbladed nine miles to camp as part of his workout routine, was Martinez’ long-toss partner. “To me,” he said, “this means Pedro is really serious about his workouts.”
Martinez was the last Met in the clubhouse after completing his grueling five-hour regimen. As he unpacked he pulled out a pair of long johns and said with a smile about Shea in April, “I know what the cold weather is like.”
In Boston, Martinez once was criticized for not being in camp when he was in the Dominican, attending to his son in the hospital. As he sat in that hospital room, the TV above him blared a report that hammered him for not being with the Red Sox.
“It was very scary, the anesthesia went into his system and it went wrong,” Pedro said of his son. “And the Boston media, I didn’t like that. It felt awful to sit in that room, knowing your family member is laying in bed there and you’re watching on TV and what they are saying and it is not true.
“It was always a lie that I reported late. I was always on time. One time I asked for permission to be late two days and I was given permission and I was late two days, but I reported in shape and actually ended up winning the Cy Young for them.
“The Red Sox don’t need to worry about me no more, I’m not worried about them. I moved on. I went out of their lives. My ex-teammates, I’ll give them a call, I’ll call Jason (Varitek), I’ll call D-Lowe, (Kevin) Millar, Bill Mueller.”
He smiled. He is comfortable here.
“This is where I threw my first inning with the Dodgers,” said Martinez, who drove to his home in Miami after the workout and will return this morning. He said he is here for the duration, although he will go back to Miami “to chill” this weekend. He plans on living close to the ballpark. Martinez will not have to worry about eating at chain restaurants. His sister does the cooking. “It’s all about family with me,” Martinez said. “That’s why I’ve never been in any trouble.”
The Mets are his baseball family now. He’s already the first one home.
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