(Image credits: Jared Wickerham, Getty Images)
With baseball on hold, many questions coming into the 2020 season remain unanswered. For the Red Sox, one of those seemed to be a question only one man had the answer to, and unfortunately, it’s a question that’s been weighing on him for over a year now. In the last two seasons, veteran second baseman Dustin Pedroia has played in just 34 games for the Red Sox. At 36 years old, he’s both the oldest and longest-tenured member of the team. Pedroia’s career was turned upside down on April 21st, 2017 in a game against the Baltimore Orioles. Then Oriole Manny Machado took what became to be an infamous slide into second base, colliding with Pedroia and taking him out. While there remains much speculation as to whether the slide was intentionally dirty or not, a fair debate considering the reputation Machado has gained for himself as a player over the years, it’s the impact the slide had on Pedroia and his career that remains most important. April 21st, 2017 marked the beginning of a nightmare stretch of injury, surgery, and uncertainty for Pedroia. After entering the 2019 season with the mindset of a road to recovery, his knee injury only worsened. Pedey had just 20 at-bats in 6 games played last season, with only two hits and one run to show for it. With his best years behind him, many began to call for him to hang em’ up once and for all, and to “quit being selfish,” in the name of the team.
Any true fan of the Red Sox knows how ironic the statement “quit being selfish” in regards to Dustin Pedroia is. It’s as if some people forgot just how much Pedey means to this franchise, what he’s accomplished in his fourteen years in Boston, and most importantly, how much the Red Sox means to him. While growing old and injuries are inevitable, looking back, can you really blame Pedey for wanting to believe in himself and end his career on a high-note?
Pedroia’s first full-season in the major leagues came in 2007. Listed at 5’9” and 175 pounds, he surely did not look to have the physical-makings of an MLB superstar. Batting 9th in the lineup for the Sox, Pedroia did not impress many in April 2007. As a matter of fact, many fans were calling for none other-than Alex Cora to take his place at second base, as he led the team in batting average coming off the bench. Still, Francona stuck with his guy. After all, as baseball fans hear every year: “it’s only April.” Knowing the kind of player and person Pedroia is now, at age 23 in his first-full season in the major leagues and with the fanbase already doubting him, one would have to believe all the doubt only helped Pedey push himself more.
On May 5, 2007, Pedroia put-up two-hits against All-Star and Cy Young winner Johan Santana, who at the time was still in the prime of his career with the Minnesota Twins. After that performance, it was like a switch turned on. Pedey went from an abysmal .182 BA, OBP of .308, and OPS of .544 in April, to batting .415, with an OBP of .472, and an OPS of 1.072. Quickly, the rookie began turning heads.
With the Red Sox coming off a lack-luster season in 2006, Pedroia became an essential piece in the road to the 2007 World Series. His offensive production never faltered from May to October, and his defensive skills at second were equally-impressive. Memorable plays such as that diving-stop to keep Buchholz’s no-hitter alive are forever ingrained in Sox fans’ memories. In his first taste of October baseball, Pedroia continued to shine. In the 2007 7-game ALCS against the Cleveland Indians, Pedey had 10 hits and 8 runs in 29 at-bats. His most memorable at-bat of the series came in Game 7 at Fenway in the bottom of the 7th when he launched a 2-run homer, his first postseason home run in his career, into the Monster to help the Sox lock up a trip to the World Series. While his first career home run surely was one he won’t forget, it was his second postseason home run I don’t think any of us will ever forget.
Twenty-three years old, his first World Series at-bat in his career. Jeff Francis took the mound for the Rockies in Game 1. Pedroia served as the leadoff hitter. Francis throws his first pitch and BOOM. The game had barely even started and the rookie smacked one into the Monster, putting the Sox up 1-0 instantaneously. In retrospect, that home run felt like the icing on top of the cake for his Rookie of the Year season. After sweeping the Rockies, Pedroia was both a World Series champion and AL Rookie of the Year, earning 24 of the 28 first place votes that year.
A year later, Pedey joined the company of Cal Ripken Jr. and Ryan Howard, becoming the third player in MLB history to earn the AL MVP award just a year after winning Rookie of the Year. While Pedroia’s 2007 campaign was impressive, his 2008 season was simply unforgettable. He led the MLB in hits with 213, as well as doubles with 54. He was the AL leader in runs with 118, with just two fewer walks than strikeouts, and sat at the top of the stats column in nearly every category for a star-powered Red Sox team. He made his first All-Star game appearance in 2008, as well as earning his first of four Golden Glove awards, and a Silver Slugger. A workhorse at the plate, it was at second base where Pedey really shined. At the young age of 24, he showed an evident natural defensive talent. In just a few years he not only became one of the best defensive second basemen in Red Sox history, second maybe only to Bobby Doerr, but also one of the best defensive second basemen in the league. And while some of his greatness can be credited to his obvious defensive talent, much of the credit goes to mentally the kind of player Pedroia was and still is.
From the very beginning of his Red Sox career, Pedroia embodied the meaning of the word “grit.” As is often the case with smaller athletes, people doubted him from the very beginning. It’s as if you have more to prove, regardless of talent. While he may only be 5’9”, he had both the game and personality of a 6’7” man. Playing alongside a larger-than-life figure like David Ortiz for 11 years of his career, it’s impressive how quickly Pedey became the heart of the Red Sox in his career. “That guy is one of the best teammates you can have. I’ve never seen anybody like him before and I never will. He shows up the same way every day. There’s no excuses. There are no doubts about him. When I go back to my country, I get questions about him every day. I tell the truth: he’s a trooper and a great teammate. That guy...he’s like my brother. We’re family,” Ortiz told NESN back in October 2013, prior to their emotional World Series run. After Ortiz retired in 2016, many looked to Pedroia in a newfound leadership role within the Red Sox clubhouse. Entering 2017 now at the age of 33, he had been with the Red Sox for 12 seasons and evolved into a veteran presence for a stream of newcomers. A narrative emerged in 2017 within the media that Pedroia did not welcome the idea of becoming a leader, and believed there was no leadership within the Red Sox clubhouse at all, following the retirement of Ortiz. Between this sudden-idea Pedroia was not the team player everyone thought he was in addition to the start of his injury woes, it seemed some of the Sox fan base had reached a turning point with the once-beloved Pedey. However, to no surprise to any true fan, his words were misunderstood. “It’s not one leader. And everybody always says that. It’s me, it’s Mookie Betts, it’s Bogey, it’s Jackie, it’s Benny. It’s our team. So we have to be together and know that,” Pedroia told ESPN in February 2018 at spring training. Coming from a fan’s perspective, I’d rather see a veteran player like Pedey leading by example rather than just talk. Allowing for those young guys to have just as much of a leadership presence in the clubhouse as him is not only a respectable move as a teammate, but one that shows long-term concern for the future of the team. And if there’s anyone who has shown how much they care about the Red Sox and his teammates in his career, it’s Pedroia.
I understand the frustration fans feel the past couple years with Pedroia and his belief he has another season in him. While it’s obvious his body is telling him no, he continues to push himself. Why does that surprise anyone though? His attitude throughout this long-winded nightmare brings me back to that idea of “grit” once again. Dustin Pedroia is a gritty player and individual; throughout his entire career, he has shown us just how much he loves the game of baseball and the Red Sox, putting 110% into every play, every at-bat, and now a return to baseball. Quite frankly I don’t care how or when Pedroia decides to call it a career. Growing up, to me he was the heart of the Red Sox, and nothing will ever change that. It’s very likely he’s the best Red Sox second baseman I’ll ever see in my lifetime, and I feel so lucky to have seen him in the prime of his career, as should all fans. No injury will ever overshadow the incredible career of Dustin Pedroia.
Go Red Sox!