Daddy issues are haunting the Red Sox

Maybe it is true. Maybe the Yankees really are Pedro Martínez's daddy, as he jokingly said last month.

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By the same line of reasoning, they are also Johnny Damon's daddy. And Manny Ramirez's daddy.

In the same house of horrors where Grady Little let him pitch too long last October, Martínez pitched well but ran out of gas in the sixth inning, as the Yankees beat the Red Sox for the second straight game, 3-1.

What once looked like a classic series between these old rivals now looks like a mismatch because Curt Schilling's ankle injury may keep him from pitching again in this series.

The Yankees showed patience in scoring one run in the first inning, then they made Martínez work until John Olerud solved him for a two-run homer in the sixth in front of a hostile crowd chanting "Who's your daddy?" and worse.

Paternal domination and filial subservience were in the Bronx air, although not nearly that polysyllabic.

Nothing that happened matched the terrible collapse in the seventh game last fall. That one will burn until the Sox dispose of the Yankees, which is sure to happen one of these centuries.

And probably nothing could ever match the bizarre episode last year when Martínez flung aside the onrushing Don Zimmer like a martial-arts master.

Last night the howling hordes were concentrating on remarks Martínez made after losing to the Yankees on Sept. 24.

"I can't find a way to beat them at this point,'' Martínez said. "You have to give them credit. They didn't beat my team. They beat me. They're that good right now. They're that hot. I just tip my hat and call the Yankees my daddy.''

If you think about it, just how unprofessional was that comment? Opponents and teammates know Martínez as a character who yammers away on the bench between starts, who sets his own work hours, who places yellow police crime-scene tape around his locker area to keep reporters away.

Not coincidentally, Martínez, who turns 33 on Oct. 25, is one of the great pitchers in the history of the Red Sox, having won 182 games and lost only 76 with an earned run average of 2.71 in his major league career.

Most players reacted as if Martínez had violated some ancient samurai code. It is hard to imagine Roger Clemens calling any other team his daddy. But that is why Pedro is Pedro.

"I guess I put more credence in his pitching the last 10 years than I do one sentence when he was a little frustrated,'' said Terry Francona, the Boston manager.

Kevin Millar, the tone setter in the Red Sox' clubhouse, said on Tuesday: "He goes out and wins the game and throws the way he's capable, it looks like he's a genius. Only time will be able to tell. It was kind of funny. I don't know where it came from, because I thought I was his dad, like I told you, and he left me.''

Millar tried to explain Martínez: "Pedro is very misunderstood in the media, along with Manny Ramirez, but Pedro is a phenomenal teammate and a really intelligent and funny guy. This guy is a clown in the locker room. We have a lot of fun with him but this is also a three-time Cy Young award winner.''

His postseason records are also good, except for last October's painful series against the Yankees. In a recent article in Sports Illustrated, Tom Verducci wrote that Martínez assumed he was coming out of that seventh game after seven innings until Little told him: "I need you for one more. Can you give me one more?''

Martínez tried, hauling his 180-pound, 5-foot-11 frame out to the mound. But Martínez said: "Your energy level drops. As soon as you think you're out, even for 30 seconds, you get tired and out of focus.''

The article also depicts Little saying to Martínez after the game, "Petey, I might not be here anymore.'' Unfortunately, Little was more prescient about his future than about when to remove a weary ace.

The Pedro watch continues. Last month, Francona sent Martínez out for the eighth inning with a one-run lead and the pitch count at 101. After the Yankees thumped him, Martínez made his now-famous "daddy'' comment.

The remark was immortalized on a T-shirt showing a Yankee logo and a red baby pacifier with the words: "Hey Red Sox ... Who's Your Daddy?" When Red Sox fans complained of the tastelessness of the T-shirt, Major League Baseball withdrew approval of the product.

It is very important to maintain good taste in this rivalry, with its quarter century of fights and collapses and vile chants from the stands.

Martínez has heard worse things than "Who's your daddy?'' He pitched bravely and he pitched well last night and should not be ashamed. The Yankees have been spanking an entire league for three quarters of a century.