Major League Baseball’s revised policy regarding the use of foreign substances by pitchers has dominated the sport’s news cycle this week, but we can assure you no one had a better take on the topic than Pedro Martinez.
Martinez, one of the greatest pitchers of all time, said on MLB Network Tuesday that he liked his baseballs a very certain way when he played. If they weren’t satisfactory when he first touched them, he says he would do what he had to to bring them up to his standards. He had a very eloquent way of describing the process:
Pedro Martinez: "I dictate how I want my balls to be rubbed up." pic.twitter.com/4BZ8H2IEjx
— The Baseball Newsletter (@bbletter) June 16, 2021
We hear that, Pedro. Everyone likes their balls rubbed up a certain way. And if someone else can’t rub them the way you want them rubbed, you just have to do it yourself.
Martinez has delivered some outstanding takes while working as an analyst, but that may be his best.
