Pedro Ups the Ante

Well, contrary to my post earlier this week, the World Series may officially be on now that a home team (the Cardinals last night) has lost a game. Unfortunately for the Cardinals, the series may have started after it effectively ended for them. The Cards now trail the Red Sox three games to none and each game from here on out will be a potential elimination game for them.

In other news, Pedro Martinez likely upped his asking price with his strong outing last night. As we all know, Pedro, like many of his Red Sox teammates is eligible for free agency after the end of the World Series. Coming into the year, Pedro and former teammate Nomar Garciaparra were locks to compete for the largest free agent contracts this offseason. However, Nomar was traded and ruined the chemistry in another clubhouse (while his departure from the Red Sox simultaneously caused them to gell) and likely cost himself millions. Pedro, on the other hand, because of durability and age questions, may have cost himself some money earlier on in the year. But last night’s strong performance on the game’s biggest stage may have earned him a few extra dollars. Or at least it likely caused George Steinbrenner to be willing to bid up Martinez a million or two more in hopes of making him more expensive for the Red Sox to retain.

Am I the only one waiting for Joe Buck to comment on the “Slam-a-lam-a-ding-dong” signs that seem to be everywhere in Busch Stadium?