"PEDRO Martinez on the mound against the Yankees tonight in the World Series should be great theater.

I'll be the first to admit it: I didn't give Pedro a chance in his first start of the postseason against the Dodgers in the NLCS. I said he was done after four innings -- he's not going to make it. And he totally turned my head. I apologized on national TV and said, "He is a great warrior." Pedro allowed just two hits over seven shutout innings, all the evidence you need he can still handle a big game.

Of course, there is history between Pedro and the Yankees (who lost 6-1 to the Phillies in Game 1 of the World Series at the Stadium. I was part of that 2003 Yankees team that faced the Red Sox in the ALCS. Who can forget the bench-clearing brawl in which Pedro tossed aside Don Zimmer?

Stuff happens in games, but Pedro is notorious at throwing at guys. He's a guy you hate, but you want him on your team. He was that good. There are things in the game you just don't do, and he kind of overstepped those boundaries from time to time, but that's when Pedro was rolling. That's when he was so exceptional.

As an opponent, you could deal with that. He didn't put anybody in the hospital. He scared everybody, and that's what a lot of people have done. Roger Clemens did the same thing. He put the fear in people. Once you put the fear in people you've got the advantage.

But this isn't the same Martinez from five or six years ago. Now he's got a little craftiness to him.

He knows how to pitch. He's not afraid to come inside and drill you with an 89-mph fastball. That's not going to hurt anybody, but it's going to get your attention. And guys will flinch and jump back.

After that game against the Dodgers, I wonder: Is Pedro going to be able to repeat that? It's a different ballclub. It's not L.A., and the Dodgers weren't hitting on all cylinders at that time, either. "