Hall of Famer Gammons on Pedro

Read the whole article. Here's some scary stats for Mets fans:

...Remember, in 17 starts on normal (4 days') rest, his 2004 earned run average was 4.995, or 5.00; his three outstanding postseason starts were on seven, eight and seven days' rest, while his weaker start was on a fifth day of rest. And, remember, he didn't pitch on four days' rest from June 13 to July 27 and was given 10 days off at the All-Star break. From 1997 through 2002, Martinez had by far the best strikeout-walk ratio in the game but in 2003-2004 he ranked ninth. He led all major league pitchers in lowest OPS year after year, but in '04 he was ninth in the American League, right behind Freddy Garcia and Jake Westbrook. When Red Sox fans howl about their rivalry with the Yankees, remember, in the past two years, the Red Sox were 24-16 against the Yanks when Pedro didn't start, 3-9 when he did....

Another Gammons gem: ...Someday they'll [Mets] figure out fans want winners, which entails performance, not promises and glowing talk-show praise leading into a Jets game.

One last gem:..."We would have spent three years with a great deal of anxiety," says one member of the [Sox]front office. "Pedro is very good, but losing Pedro and Derek Lowe means we have to replace 400 innings and a 4.60 ERA."