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With Pedro Martinez starting tonight, and the day still young, I felt it was worth reprising his colorful press conference from yesterday. There's truly something captivating about Martinez, besides him being one of the best (if not the best) pitcher of our generation.

Here's the comments from yesterday. Lots more later on:

Pedro Martinez says he's "older and wiser," but he remains very entertaining. Check out these money quotes from his meeting with the media. Warning, he pulled no punches taking shots at the scribes.

"Because of you guys in some ways, I might be at times the most influential player that ever stepped in Yankee Stadium. I can honestly say that. I mean, I have been a big fan of baseball for a long time, since I was a kid. My first ball I ever got from a Big League player I actually got to purchase in Dodger Stadium in a silent auction, was Reggie Jackson. I was actually a big fan of the Yankees, too.

For some reason with all the hype and different players that have passed by, maybe because I played for the Red Sox, is probably why you guys made it such a big deal every time I came in, but you know, I have a good bond with the people. After playing in New York, I went to realize something: New York fans are very passionate and very aggressive. But after it all, after you take your uniform off and you deal with the people, they're real human beings. It's all just being fans.

I have all the respect in the world for the way they enjoy being fans. Sometimes they might be giving you the middle finger, just like they will be cursing you and telling you what color underwear you're wearing. All those things you can hear when you're a fan. But at the end of the day, they're just great fans that want to see the team win. I don't have any problem with that."

On his rumored meeting with George Steinbrenner:
"I remember quotes in the paper, 'Here comes the man that New York loves to hate.' Man? None of you have probably ever eaten steak with me or rice and beans with me to understand what the man is about. You might say the player, the competitor, but the man? You guys have abused my name. You guys have said so many things, have written so many things. There was one time I remember when I was a free agent, there was talk that I might meet with Steinbrenner. One of your colleagues had me in the papers with horns and a tail, red horns and a tail. That's a sign of the devil. I'm a Christian man.

"I don't like those things. I take those things very serious."

On hearing "Who's your daddy?"
"It really reminds me that God is my daddy. It gives me strength. It keeps me strong and healthy, and I believe I can do anything. And when you have -- I said it before, when you have 60,000 people chanting your name, waiting for you to throw the ball, you have to consider yourself someone special, someone that really has a purpose out there.

"Maybe when I said that quote out of frustration, I had the purpose of maybe hearing it now, hearing it the following few years that I played, because every time I hear it, it reminds me not to make the same mistake. And at the same time it reminds me that God is my real daddy, and he's the one that keeps me strong to compete, just like he does to Mariano [Rivera]. I've seen Mariano when I know his shoulder is barking, and he still succeeds. Men of faith. It's only God who can probably do that for him."

On his tangle with Don Zimmer during Game 3 of the 2003 ALCS:
"We are both, I consider, mature people, Zim more than I am, wiser than I am, and he acknowledged that it wasn't my fault; that it was his fault.

"I never wanted to apologize to you guys because why should I apologize to you guys or come to a press conference and say, I apologize for something I didn't intend to do? It's a normal human reaction to defend yourself when you feel threatened, and that's what happened to me at that point. I had to defend myself, and I know how. Don't let this small body fool you; I know how. I just don't put it into play.

"I mean, that Zim situation is over with. I didn't feel like I had to apologize at that time, give an apology because I didn't feel like I did anything to apologize. But it's something I'm not happy about. It's something I don't condone, and it's something that I don't want to see in baseball."