Few moments capture the heated nature of the Yankees-Red Sox rivalry quite like the one between Pedro Martinez and Don Zimmer in the 2003 ALCS.
In the top of the fourth inning, Martinez launched a pitch behind the head of Yankees batter Karim Garcia. The two exchanged a few less-than-friendly words and both benches were warned.
In the next half of the inning, New York pitcher Roger Clemens returned the favor with a ball whizzing by the head of Manny Ramirez. The Red Sox star had to be held back from charging the mound, resulting in a bench-clearing brawl.
In the midst of the action, Zimmer, who was 72 years old at the time, ran up to Martinez to get in his face. The Boston pitcher then grabbed the Yankees manager by the head and threw him to the ground.
Now just over 18 years after this unforgettable night on Oct. 11, 2003, Martinez opened up about his encounter with Zimmer.
Martinez, who was clearly late to the action, explained that he didn’t even see what led up to the bench-clearing scuffle.
“Manny was like angry, yapping, this and that. I’m in the bathroom, so I came out a little later,” the legendary pitcher told Master Tesfatsion in a recent interview for Bleacher Report’s Untold Stories. “When I came out, the brawl was already [happening], because I’m zipping up my pants quickly and I’m trying to get to see what’s going on.
“I see Zimmer rushing towards me and I’m like ‘What?’ He got close to me, said some bad words that I didn’t expect from Zimmer either. He actually tried to jab me. So I pulled it, and that’s why it looks like I grabbed him.”
.@45PedroMartinez stopped by to talk about his anger, the Don Zimmer incident, how he’s treated in New York and more in the latest ‘Untold Stories’ w/ @MasterTes pic.twitter.com/oeNuKuf5cG
— Bleacher Report (@BleacherReport) October 14, 2021
While Martinez maintains that he wasn’t entirely in the wrong, he did say he regrets that it happened.
“In reality, that’s the only blemish I would love to erase from my career. There hasn’t been any other moment where I felt worse,” he added.
This isn’t the only time Martinez has shown remorse for his actions. In his book Pedro released in 2015, the eight-time All-Star pitcher expressed a similar sentiment.
“When 72-year-old Don Zimmer came barreling toward me, I wish I had not grabbed his head and pushed him to the Fenway grass as he stumbled and fell forward,” he wrote. “Some days I feel more people remember me as the angry young man who pushed down a defenseless old man than as the pitcher who won three Cy Young Awards and a world title and wound up in the Hall of Fame. In my entire baseball career, my reaction to Zimmer’s charge is my only regret.”
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