"In this city of larger-than-life stories, of heroes and villains, there's nobody quite like Pedro Martinez.

Few pitchers have intersected with the New York Yankees in more big moments, enjoyed a more dominant peak or had more fun playing the role of the bad guy in the Bronx - first with the Boston Red Sox during their two-year postseason quest to overtake the Yankees and then with the crosstown New York Mets.

It was Martinez who threw Yankees bench coach Don Zimmer to the ground during a brawl in the 2003 American League Championship Series - an incident he called "a disgrace" Wednesday and said he now regrets. It was Martinez who famously called the Yankees his "daddy" after one particularly hairy outing, leading to a chorus of "Who's your daddy?" chants every time he pitched at Yankee Stadium after that.

Now Martinez is back for his most unlikely go-round with the Yankees.

Signed by the Philadelphia Phillies in July, the 38-year-old Martinez will pitch Game 2 of the World Series on Thursday night at Yankee Stadium. It's a new twist on an old rivalry that had its last memorable moments five years ago, when Martinez and the Red Sox overcame a 3-0 deficit to beat the Yankees in the ALCS.

"After playing in New York, I went to realize something: New York fans are very passionate and very aggressive," Martinez said. "But after it all, after you take your uniform off and you deal with the people, they're real human beings. It's all just being fans." "