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Title: Pedro
Author: Pedro Martinez, Michael Silverman
Narrator: Paul Michael Garcia
Format: Unabridged
Length: 11 hrs and 43 mins
Language: English
Release date: 05-05-15
Publisher: Tantor Audio
Ratings: 4.5 of 5 out of 92 votes
Genres: Bios & Memoirs, Personal Memoirs
Publisher's Summary:
Before Pedro Martinez was the eight-time All-Star, three-time Cy Young Award winner, and World Series champion, before stadiums full of fans chanted his name, he was just a little kid from the Dominican Republic who sat under a mango tree and dreamed of playing pro ball. Now, in Pedro, the charismatic and always colorful pitcher opens up for the first time to tell his remarkable story.
In Pedro we relive it all in Technicolor brightness, from his hardscrabble days in the minor leagues clawing for respect to his early days in lonely Montreal, where he first struggled with the reputation of being a headhunter, to his legendary run with the Red Sox when start after start he dazzled with his pitching genius to his twilight years on the mound as he put the finishing touches on a body of work that made him an icon.
Members Reviews:
The One and Only Pedro
I have been a Sox fan since 1986, when I was in the third grade. This book and year's HoF class are about all I have to look forward to this year in baseball.
That said: after reading this book, it is EASY to see why so many non-Sox fans hated Pedro. After reading through the Expos, I was starting to join that camp: the arrogance, the hypocrisy ("Why does everyone think I'm a headhunter?", followed by yet another plunking story), the whining ("Why did Barry Zito win the Cy Young?") was tough to swallow.
Getting past that, Pedro was simply FIERCE. Not just a fierce competitor, but fiercely loyal to his teammates (and outside of baseball, his family and country). He wasn't anyone to be f'd with, and he made his messages loud and clearin MLB. Some of his stories are like Schwarzenegger in Terminator 2 after John Conner orders him not to kill anyone (he follows orders by gunning down dozens of cops in the feet, knees and elbows). And every player knew that when they went to the batter's box.
There are some GREAT stories in this book--the Secret Service and the Clintons, Pedro's "Dominican salutes" for his new managers, Manny's mammajuana (aside: when is Manny writing his book? Put me on the preorder list for that one--what a nutjob). I am a true believer when it comes to Pedro being sober during the steroids era (his diminutive frame didn't vary much through his career)--just amazing to think about his ERA+. I don't think Boston sportswriter Chad Finn is exaggerating when he labels the 1999-2000 Pedro as the best pitcher in baseball, ever.
The death of his father was moving. Pedro is a sensitive and sincere guy, and he shares his feelings about his country and his family in this book. His reliance on his older brother Ramon as a mentor shows another side to Pedro as well. Nice touch.
Garcia was an okay narrator. He is a very neutral reader (most likely by design), but it's distracting when he doesn't know baseball slang ("3 to 2" is a score, not a count).
For any baseball fan, this title is a must-read. Go Sox, long live #45.
Entertaining story is marred by subpar narration
If you could sum up Pedro in three words, what would they be?
Entertaining, refreshing, candid
What other book might you compare Pedro to and why?
I read Francona, written by the former Red Sox and current Cleveland Indians manager and by Dan Shaughnessy. Francona Shaughnessy offered a very entertaining, well-written and insightful look at eight years of recent Red Sox history.
