BOSTON — Hall of Famer Pedro Martinez evoked David Ortiz’s famous “This is our (bleeping) city” line while giving a passionate response about the struggling 2026 Red Sox .
Martinez was here at Fenway Park on Friday, celebrating the 125th anniversary of the first Red Sox home game. He threw out the first pitch alongside Ortiz, Jim Rice, Carl Yastrzemski, Carlton Fisk and Wade Boggs.
Martinez met with the media to discuss a number of topics including the future of the organization and the firing of Alex Cora and Jason Varitek. See the video above.
Martinez on the struggles of the 2026 Red Sox and the future of the organization:
“I feel great,” Martinez said. “Like everybody else, there’s ups and downs. Every team has years where you have ups and downs, confusion. You have a lot of stuff that goes on but, hey, we’re Boston. If there’s something we know how to do — stand up and fight. We have. This is our bleeping city, remember? We waited 86 years and we got our hearts broken in ’03. What did we do the next year? We came back and we fought and we got it.
“The city of Boston is known to be strong and to come back with a vengeance. This team, this city, this organization is gonna overcome everything that we’re going through right now. And I’m extremely positive about it. And if there is anything I can ever do to help out, I pray to God that I’m healthy enough to come and do that for the city of Boston because I love my Bostonians and we’re gonna be there just like they are for us. Regardless of how much we struggle, this fan base is always there for us and we’re gonna be there for them and we’re gonna turn it around somehow and I hope the players feel committed just like I am.
“I hope everybody, the organization — management, everybody just stays committed to changing whatever is wrong with us. And I’m positive that we’re gonna do it. This is Boston, not any other city. This is Boston. We’re used to doing this and going through this. I hope it doesn’t last too long but we’re gonna do it.”
Martinez on the front office’s decision to fire Jason Varitek as game planning and run prevention coach:
“To be honest, I’m not gonna go into details without knowing why because I haven’t really been inside the offices,” Martinez said. “I’m pretty sure they’re gonna let me know. There’s gotta be a reason because Tek means so much to this city just like every one of us. Like David, all of us that won it in ‘04 and all the legends that were out there.
“To me, Tek is a legend here. And I’m not gonna go into details because I don’t know. If I knew, I’ll tell you straight up, too. I’ll tell you why, but I don’t know.
“But very unfortunate that I don’t get to see my battery mate out there, giving me a hug or probably receiving the baseball from me when I threw it today.”
Martinez on whether he’s talked to Alex Cora after the former manager was fired:
“I have, I have,” Martinez said. “I haven’t talked to Tek yet. Tek is not a phone kind of person. Cora is a little bit more. I was able to reach out. But they all know. They will soon be in baseball. That I can tell you. Every one of those coaches probably will be in baseball, not too long. Cora could have easily been in baseball if he wanted to, but he chose to rest, and I really respect that. I know what it’s like, and I really like the fact that he went to his family to take care of his family first until he finally gets back to baseball, if he does.”
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