Older, Wiser, Better? Pedro vs. Pettitte

NEW YORK -- Pedro Martinez and Andy Pettitte both used the same word to describe how they felt about getting the assignment to pitch Game 6 of the World Series: "Blessed."

Martinez, understanding the similarities between the pitchers go beyond their statistical resumes, added another description: "Two old goats out there doing the best they can and having fun with it."

With the Yankees looking to close out their 27th World Series title on Wednesday night, they'll turn to the 37-year-old Pettitte, while the Phillies will lean on 38-year-old Martinez to try to force a Game 7. The matchup would have plenty of drama because of the situation in the series, but it certainly has an added bit of texture because of what could be the final major league game for either or both of these iconic pitchers.

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Martinez and Pettitte have each seen better days, but neither is a has-been. Martinez pitched brilliantly in one of his playoff starts this year, and pretty well in the other, in Game 2 of the World Series. Pettitte is 3-0 with a 3.24 ERA in four playoff starts, including victories in both of the Yankees clinchers so far this postseason.

Both are pitching well -- on the biggest stage -- at a time when their careers each looked as if it might be over, which is why they both said they feel "blessed."

Pettitte considered retiring two years ago, before returning to the Yankees, specifically because he wanted to try to win another championship.

"I just feel very blessed, very fortunate to be able to have this opportunity," Pettitte said Tuesday.

Martinez had not publicly said he was considering retirement, but it may have been forced upon him. He sat out the first half of the season, waiting for a team that made him what he deemed a suitable offer. Just when he may have been ready to slip out of the collective consciousness of Major League Baseball, Martinez signed with the Phillies at the All-Star break. Since then, he's pitched better than just about anyone could have imagined.

"I look at this situation as a blessing," Martinez said. "I mean, what else would I want? I'm doing the job I love. I'm doing something not everybody gets to do. If you consider the fact that I was, two months back, sitting at home not doing anything. None of you were thinking of me whatsoever. None of you were asking me questions, and today I am here, probably pitching one of the biggest games ever in the World Series."

Further adding intrigue to the matchup, Martinez has said that he will probably retire if the Phillies win the World Series, and there's a reasonable chance that Pettitte might call it quits if the Yankees win.

Before that, though, there is the matter of this game, which will be not be decided by a debate about career totals amassed over the past 15-plus years, but by which pitcher can bring more to the table on this November night at Yankee Stadium.

Each faces some issues.

Pettitte will be pitching on three days' rest for the first time since 2006. The issue of a pitcher's rest between starts has been debated ad nauseam throughout this World Series, punctuated by CC Sabathia's success and A.J. Burnett's failure. Pettitte, though, is older than both of them, so it remains to be seen how his arm will react.

"I really don't think there's that big of a difference ... I guess you'd probably fatigue a little bit quicker than you normally would, just because your body gets so into a routine of pitching on every fifth day and then you're shortening your rest time a little bit," Pettitte said.



Yankees manager Joe Girardi has said all postseason that the Yankees limited their pitchers' workload in September specifically so they could pitch them on short rest in the playoffs, if necessary. He hasn't really had much of a choice -- Chad Gaudin is the No. 4 starter -- about sticking to his big three. Girardi said he'll be watching Pettitte closely, but the signs that he may be losing it are no different, whether he's on three or four days' rest: lack of velocity, lack of command. Pettitte said he felt like he had nothing in his previous start, on six days' rest, and he still pitched well enough to win, so that's encouraging for the Yankees.

As for Martinez, he is pitching on five days' rest, but that's still short compared to what he has been doing. His previous three starts, including his final one of the regular season, were on at least 10 days of rest.

"I've got no choice but to expect that it will help me," Martinez said of the more typical rest time. "I feel really good. I feel like I had enough time to rest, plus the previous two outings with all those days, I guess this is just a makeup for all those days of rest I had."

Tale of the Tape
	Pedro	Pettitte
Regular season	219-100, 2.93	229-135, 3.91
Postseason	6-3, 3.22	17-10, 3.91
World Series titles	1	4
Cy Youngs	3	0
All-Star Games	2	8
Age	38	37

Martinez is also going to be asked to pitch against the same team in back-to-back starts for the first time all season. While that may not have been a big deal to him when he was 28 and firing 97 mph fastballs, now that he has to rely on trickery, it may be even more difficult to confuse a lineup of veteran hitters a second time in a week.

"It's such a good team, you just go out there and do the best you can, adjust to the moment as they develop and pray that you do an acceptable job and come out of it healthy," Martinez said. "That's all you can do."

Martinez used an array of slow, slower and slowest -- rarely hitting 90 mph -- to hold down the Yankees for six-plus innings in Game 2.

"I expect it to be more of what he did last time, mixing up pitches," said Yankees hitting coach Kevin Long. "Hopefully he doesn't bounce back as well. You feed off emotion, and a lot of guys it's hard to come back and be as good as they were the prior outing if they're maxed out. He was really into that last game, so hopefully it drained him a little bit."

Both pitchers will definitely need to rely on their wits and experience to wade through the opponents' powerful lineups in this game.

When it's over, we'll see which one was more "blessed," after all.