Pedro Martinez says he regrets tossing Don Zimmer to the turf in a bench-clearing brawl in the playoffs six years ago.

Scheduled to pitch for the Philadelphia Phillies against the New York Yankees in Game 2 of the World Series, Martinez touched on several topics in a colorful news conference before the opener last night.

Martinez, 38, says he might be the most influential player who ever stepped into Yankee Stadium, because of the way New York reporters portrayed him as a villain when he was pitching for rival Boston.

Martinez also says his ugly altercation with Zimmer, then a 72-year-old Yankees bench coach, in the 2003 America League Championship Series was a disgrace for baseball.

Designated-hitter or no DH in the World Series? Just decide, darn it!

Baseball fans want a clear-cut answer on the designated-hitter dilemma that pops up every October. Whether they will stay awake to watch the games this week, nearly half say no.

Those were the findings of an Associated Press-Knowledge Networks poll released, with fans predicting the New York Yankees would win the championship and Alex Rodriguez would be voted MVP.

Cincinnati's Dan Driessen became the first World Series DH in 1976, and the issue has split baseball ever since. Fans seem equally fractured, except for this slight agreement: about three-quarters want an all-or-nothing solution.

The poll found 38 percent want no DH in the Series and 34 percent favor full-time use. Only 28 percent liked the current way -- a DH in AL stadiums but not in NL parks.

No surprise, Philadelphia and former Pirates slugger Matt Stairs wants to keep it. He figures to get a few swings for the Phillies at Yankee Stadium once the Series opened last night.

"You're talking to a guy who has served as DH most of his career. I wish baseball would go strictly DH," Stairs said.

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