MLB- Andy Pettite vs. Pedro Martinez on Yankees-Phillies Game 6

The baseball world’s attention will be riveted on the new $1.5 billion Yankee Stadium, where Game 6 of the World Series between the New York Yankees and the Philadelphia Phillies will pan out. The match has found a microcosm of the rivalry in the duel between Andy Pettitte and Pedro Martinez, both MLB pitching veterans searching for a World Series title. So far, New York is leading the battle, having won 3 of the 5 games played. The team needs only one more win for the title; the Phillies, on the other hand, are struggling to take the series to Game 7. The real show will be between Pettitte and Martinez, who will give their best in the possibly decisive game. The two had faced each other in the playoffs in 1998. Pettitte, who has been with the Yankees since 1995, will return to pitching after only three days of resting, a time period that leaves Yankees fans concerned. Pettitte himself acknowledged his exhaustion after six days of rest for Game 5. “I just couldn't get the ball where I wanted it to go. Mechanically, I felt a little bit off,” the pitcher said of Game 5. But he doesn’t anticipate any difficulties in Game 6.Pettitte said that he feels perfectly in shape to pitch after the three-day rest, the first time he has done so in three years. "I think just mentally people make such a big deal about it because it's just not done very often anymore" he said. Joe Girardi also expressed his faith in the player, in Pettitte’s ability to smooth through the stress of a tense Game 6. After all, it is the veteran’s 40th postseason start and his 13th World Series start in his career. Pedro Martinez, on the other hand, may be facing more difficulty than Pettitte. Martinez is not at home, and the pressure to win the game is huge. He is acting as the Phillies’ last attempt, a final desperate grasp at the title after a start with a 3-1 deficit. 2008-09 has been Martinez’s first season with the Phillies after a long and illustrious career with the Boston Red Sox. The 38-year-old may now be facing the long decline in his incredible career. Possibly one of the best players in the MLB in the modern era, Martinez has won 3 Cy Young Awards in four years and earned a 1.74 ERA in 2000 that set him above the rest of the league. Now, an older and heavier Martinez will be trying to recover that charge in Game 6. During a conference, he was simply thankful that he had the opportunity to pitch such an important game. "I would just have to thank God, not only for the opportunity but for keeping me healthy and blessing me and Andy," Martinez said. "I have such a long career and it's gone full circle, to be able to compete in a World Series, on one of the biggest stages and to just see two old goats out there doing the best they can and having fun with it."