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Post by Kimmi on Feb 2, 2021 17:46:24 GMT -5
Dustin Pedroia open to managing or coaching in future, but Boston Red Sox star ‘wants to enjoy being a dad and having fun with (his) boys’ firstUpdated 5:48 PM; Today 5:09 PM Good for Pedroia. Kids grow so fast. I'm glad he's taking the time to enjoy being a dad.
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Post by CP_Jon_GoSox on Feb 3, 2021 4:09:11 GMT -5
Recalling Dustin Pedroia’s final game, and humble exit, on a Double A diamond in Portland By Alex Speier Globe Staff,Updated February 2, 2021, 4:32 p.m.
As Dustin Pedroia digested his career, he did not get lost in the awards or the numbers. In announcing his retirement, the 37-year-old second baseman expressed his greatest satisfaction in the manner in which he greeted every opportunity to take the field.
“I played every game,” said Pedroia, “like it was my last one.”
But what did his last one actually look like?
No one realized that an appearance with Double A Portland against the Altoona Curve on May 24, 2019, at Hadlock Field would be Pedroia’s final game. To the contrary, Pedroia appeared to be nearing a return to the big leagues.
While his departure from a game at Yankee Stadium April 17 had set off alarms, Pedroia showed progress throughout May. He spent a week with Portland at the start of the month, and following a week working out with the Red Sox at Fenway Park, he joined Triple A Pawtucket, where he played five games from May 17-22.
“He’s getting close,” Red Sox manager Alex Cora said as Pedroia prepared to join Portland. “He’s in a good spot.”
That was the impression that Sea Dogs infielder Bobby Dalbec got when he received a text from Pedroia around 10 a.m. on May 24 — roughly eight hours before the game.
“He was at the field already,” Dalbec recalled. “He said, ‘Wind is blowing out. Let’s watch some film and hit early.’ ”
Dalbec, who had been struggling to find consistency in his mechanics, arrived around 11:30. Pedroia identified some glitches in Dalbec’s swing, and the two worked to iron them out in the batting cage.
“I kind of tore it up after that,” said Dalbec. “A lot of that was due to him just taking the time to work with me.”
Dalbec wasn’t alone. Pedroia made a point of connecting with his minor league teammates during his rehab assignments that month.
C.J. Chatham, the Sea Dogs shortstop, marveled at the chance to locker next to Pedroia and watch his work at second base.
“I wish it would have been in the major leagues,” said Chatham, “but at the end of the day, being able to be with such a legend meant a lot.”
“He definitely was in the middle of the clubhouse, hanging out with the guys,” said Joe Oliver, Portland’s manager that year. “He was telling stories, listening to stories, interacting. He was in there giving back every ounce that he could.
“It was really nice to sit back and watch the players gravitate to him. He welcomed that. The kids responded to him.”
Members of the coaching staff raved about how Pedroia led by example, preparing meticulously for minor league games as he would at the highest level. Beyond that, he spent hours in the trainer’s room to prepare physically after the half-dozen knee surgeries he’d undergone in the prior two years, a sign of the commitment to his craft that made an impression on younger players.
Despite those dutiful preparations, those around Pedroia realized the steep odds he faced. Mike Antonellis, who had been the radio voice of the Sea Dogs since Pedroia’s first season in 2005, saw how far the veteran was from the player he’d gotten to know as a 21-year-old.
“It was tough,” said Antonellis. “You’d think back to when he was there in ’05 and saying, ‘Wow, this guy has a whole career in front of him.’
“Just seeing his knee [in 2019] — I was able to see him walking around in shorts. To see what that looked like, to see him hit, to see the pain, to see him come out of games, to see the way his at-bats were, you knew this was not going to be easy.”
Yet the difficulty didn’t deter Pedroia — something that offered its own lesson.
“It just shows you can’t let up,” said Dalbec. “If he’s not letting up feeling like that, there’s no excuse for anyone else to let up after being around him.”
Though Pedroia made it through his pregame routines that night, there was a sense that something was amiss. Throughout his rehab, Pedroia had good days and bad, and May 24 was closer to the latter.
“He’s tough,” said Paul Abbott, the Portland pitching coach then. “He’s potentially a Hall of Famer. He’s not going to show anything. I thought he masked it pretty good.
“But just, I don’t know, I think probably he knew something wasn’t quite 100 percent.”
Pedroia grounded into a double play in the first inning, then after making a couple of plays in the field, he struck out on three pitches in the fourth against Altoona righthander James Marvel.
Dalbec, the on-deck hitter, didn’t notice anything in those at-bats. But when Pedroia returned to the dugout, he sought out the trainer and then Oliver.
“He just basically said that was it,” said Oliver. “Nothing glamorous. He just wasn’t feeling right, and he was taking himself out.
“You could see it on his face. He was disappointed and upset that he had to leave the game, because he was really hoping he would be able to play a full game, be productive, and feel like he was making the turn for the right way.” Pedroia put on a brave face, but those at the ballpark that night knew he wasn't right.
At Hadlock Field, the home clubhouse is behind the right-field wall, requiring a long walk from the home dugout.
“I remember him with his bats,” said Abbott, “walking back to the clubhouse, and thinking, ‘Oh, shoot. That’s not good.’ ”
“A few people messaged me that, you know, that could be the last time he plays,” said Antonellis. “I remember thinking to myself, ‘I hope that’s not it.’ ”
Such a conclusion wasn’t foregone. Pedroia had withstood other setbacks that month and over the two-year arc following the Manny Machado slide that ultimately destroyed his knee.
But ultimately, Pedroia’s knee wouldn’t permit him to take the field, giving out completely in January 2020 and requiring a partial replacement.
His departure from the field that night in Portland marked the last game of his 16-year career in the Red Sox organization. It was an inglorious conclusion to a run filled with glory.
Yet in its own way, Pedroia’s time in Portland added to his legacy — a final contribution to a generation of players to whom he has passed the torch.
“Even though it wasn’t the Dustin Pedroia who could be in the Hall of Fame, it was the Dustin Pedroia approach and the way he went about playing the game,” said Abbott. “Having that opportunity to see that caliber of a guy, it’s got to be invaluable for those guys. It’s a memory they’ll have forever.”
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Post by CP_Jon_GoSox on Feb 3, 2021 7:43:42 GMT -5
Mastrodonato: Dustin Pedroia’s contract was a bargain for the Red Sox
By Jason Mastrodonato | jason.mastrodonato@bostonherald.com | Boston Herald February 3, 2021 at 6:00 a.m.
By the time the 2021 Red Sox’ season is over, they’ll have paid Dustin Pedroia a combined $56 million to play in nine games over the past four years.
Do the quick math and that’s about $6.22 million per game.
Not a bad way to earn a living.
But there’s been a popular narrative that the Red Sox signed Pedroia to a terrible contract back in 2013 and it’s been a dark stain on their accounting books ever since.
The narrative is lunacy.
Here’s another way to look at it. From the beginning of his 14-year career until the end, Pedroia was worth an estimated 46.6 WAR, according to Fan Graphs, which also calculates an estimated dollar value per WAR if a team was looking to purchase wins via free agency. By Fan Graphs’ math, Pedroia was worth more than $323 million during his career.
And yet he’ll end his career having made about $139 million, a net-positive of about $184 million for the Red Sox.
Let’s rewind the tape back to 2013. Pedroia was 29 years old and still in the prime of his career. He tore a ligament in his thumb on Opening Day, but was still a top-20 player in the big leagues.
At that point, he had made about $30 million in his career, one in which he had already made four All-Star teams, won three Gold Gloves, a Rookie of the Year, MVP and World Series trophy. He was on his way toward winning another trophy in 2013.
The $30 million he had made in that time was about $182 million less than he was worth, according to Fan Graphs.
Of course, baseball salaries aren’t that simple. Teams don’t add up players’ WAR at the end of the year and assign dollar values to them. (Well, they sort of do, but only in the standard three years of salary arbitration, which at that point was still suppressing player salaries, evidenced by Pedroia making just over $10 million combined in his three years of arbitration eligibility. For a modern-day reference, Mookie Betts made $10.5 million alone in his first year of arbitration, and $57.5 million total in his three years of arbitration eligibility.) Dustin Pedroia career earnings (calculated by Jason Mastrodonato, sourced by Fan Graphs and Baseball Reference)
Undoubtedly, Pedroia was getting the raw end of the deal. That was supposed to change in free agency.
The problem for Pedroia was that he never had any interest in free agency. He made it clear he wanted to play for one team his entire career. He loved Boston. All his kids were born in Boston. He and his family lived just a few steps from Fenway Park. He was playing for one of the best teams in baseball, and he didn’t want to leave.
His contemporary at second base, Robinson Cano, was also reaching free agency after the 2013 season and expected to get a king’s ransom from the New York Yankees. But without Pedroia on the market, Cano’s services were in high demand. The Mariners outbid the Yankees and signed Cano to a $240 million deal.
Talk about a bad contract.
Meanwhile, Pedroia and the Red Sox had been negotiating during the 2013 season. And on July 24, the Sox announced they had signed him to an eight-year contract extension worth $110 million.
“I think it’s a great deal for both sides,” principal owner John Henry said at the time.
His annual average value was still less than that of Ian Kinsler, and eventually less than that of a handful of second basemen who would score big in free agency later on.
“I’m not here to set markets or do anything like that,” Pedroia said at the time. “I want to make sure the team I’m on wins more games than the other teams’ second basemen.”
At the 2013 Winter Meetings, shortly after Cano signed his mega deal to play in Seattle, I asked another team’s general manager if Pedroia would’ve been able to fetch a similar deal. Without hesitating, the GM said, “I don’t see why not.”
What Pedroia lacked in power, he made up for in plate discipline, defense, awareness, situational ability and countless other little things that other players, GMs and coaches still rave about today.
From 2014 through 2017, the last full season Pedroia played, he earned $36 million. Based on Fan Graphs’ WAR calculations, he was worth $116 million while hitting .296 with a .775 OPS and playing Gold Glove defense at second base.
So yes, by the end of 2021, Pedroia will have made a whole lot of money without contributing hardly anything to the Red Sox on the field. But to say it was a bad contract, or that the Red Sox got screwed, is inaccurate.
Cano, Jose Altuve, Mike Moustakas, Kinsler, DJ LeMahieu and Ben Zobrist have each since surpassed Pedroia’s annual average value while playing second base.
The Red Sox have paid plenty of players higher annual salaries than Pedroia, including Chris Sale, J.D. Martinez, Xander Bogaerts, Nathan Eovaldi, Rick Porcello, David Price, Betts, Hanley Ramirez, Pablo Sandoval, David Ortiz, Mike Napoli, John Lackey, Jake Peavy, Shane Victorino, Ryan Dempster, Adrian Gonzalez, Carl Crawford, J.D. Drew and Josh Beckett.
Still, Pedroia would never complain.
“I’m rich as (expletive),” he once said.
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Post by CP_Jon_GoSox on Feb 5, 2021 12:28:34 GMT -5
Chad Finn @globechadfinn · 5m It's ridiculous how many "Pedroia was a bad teammate" emails I've gotten because of that Orioles situation. It was a bad look, but there were more than 13 years of evidence about what a great and beloved teammate he was.
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Post by CP_Jon_GoSox on Feb 5, 2021 12:47:57 GMT -5
Pete Abraham @peteabe · 10m Replying to @globechadfinn It also shows a colossal misunderstanding of the situation.
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Post by Kimmi on Feb 5, 2021 17:13:36 GMT -5
Yes and yes to Finn and PA.
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Post by CP_Jon_GoSox on Feb 6, 2021 4:35:54 GMT -5
Ian Browne @ianmbrowne · 7h Replying to @globechadfinn Nobody who ever played with him thought he was a bad teammate. Quite the contrary. His actions in Baltimore on that Sunday were calling out Farrell and his coaching staff, not his teammates.
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Post by CP_Jon_GoSox on Jun 4, 2021 14:31:38 GMT -5
Pete Abraham @peteabe · 2m #RedSox announce that Dustin Pedroia will be honored before the game on June 25 game against the Yankees.
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Post by CP_Jon_GoSox on Jun 24, 2021 1:22:53 GMT -5
Dustin Pedroia’s return: Retired Boston Red Sox 2B deserves ‘packed house’ at Fenway Park for ceremony Friday, Alex Cora says Updated Jun 23, 2021; Posted Jun 23, 2021
By Christopher Smith | csmith@masslive.com
Dustin Pedroia texted Boston Red Sox manager Alex Cora on Wednesday morning to congratulate him on a “great win” Tuesday. He also wrote, “See you Friday.”
The Red Sox will honor Pedroia during a pregame ceremony before Friday’s game against the New York Yankees.
Pedroia retired Feb. 1 because of a recurring left knee injury. He underwent a partial knee replacement in December 2020.
“Looking forward to it,” Cora said. “It will be fun just to have Pedey there. And obviously it should be a packed house finally at Fenway. That’s what he deserves, right? A packed house at Fenway and it should be fun.”
The 37-year-old won three World Series (2007, ’13 and ’18) with Boston. He was a four-time All-Star and four-time Gold Glove winner. He won the 2008 AL MVP and 2007 AL Rookie of the Year.
“The fact that he’s going to be in Fenway and people are going to be able to recognize a great career, it’s going to be amazing,” Cora said.
Cora was teammates with Pedroia back when it all began for him.
Pedroia went just 10-for-55 (.182 batting average) in April 2007, but he then slashed .333/.389/.467/.856 in 119 games from May 1 through the end of the regular season to win AL Rookie of the Year.
“I think he was the only guy — and (former GM) Theo (Epstein) — who after April thought that he was going to hit,” Cora said. “He kept telling you guys, ‘I will hit. I will hit.’ And we were like, ‘It doesn’t look right.’ But his confidence — and he kept doing things baseball-wise to contribute to win games. He played outstanding defense while he was struggling. And I think that was very important for us.
“He knew he was going to hit. Theo knew he was going to hit. ... He was a winning player from the get-go. He was amazing at turning double plays. He brought energy in every day. ... He went to that road trip (in May), I think it was Toronto and Minnesota, and he just went off. And the rest is history. It was fun to watch.”
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Post by CP_Jon_GoSox on Jun 24, 2021 13:34:39 GMT -5
‘Everybody has their Pedroia stories.’ Here are some of the best tales from the Red Sox star’s rise to the majors By Alex Speier Globe Staff,Updated June 24, 2021, 1 hour ago
Dustin Pedroia’s retirement ceremony Friday at Fenway Park will put a bow on the career of a Red Sox legend: a three-time champion, four-time All-Star, and four-time Gold Glove winner whose place in franchise lore surpasses all of those markers.
The occasion also will offer the opportunity to look beyond the wincingly difficult end of his career, which Pedroia limped through more than three years after a knee injury that ultimately required a partial replacement.
The 37-year-old’s return to Fenway provides the opportunity to recognize all he accomplished and all he invested in his 1,512 regular-season and 51 playoff games. It also provides a chance to consider what preceded the decade-plus that came to be known as the Laser Show — to revisit the insanity, hilarity, and improbability of Pedroia’s ascent to stardom with the Red Sox.
Pedroia shocked everyone with a script (rated R for language and violence committed against baseballs) that still seems more fictional than real.
“Everybody has their Pedroia stories,” said Diamondbacks assistant general manager Amiel Sawdaye, who spent 15 years with the Red Sox in various scouting roles. “There are so many of them.” The path to the Red Sox
Pedroia marched into the office of then-Arizona State baseball coach Pat Murphy in the fall of 2001. The freshman, wearing a white tank top, cut a memorable figure as he introduced himself.
“He’s all of about 145 pounds, white as a ghost, and he flexes his biceps for me and says, ‘Hey Coach, how do you like those guns?’ ” said Murphy, now the Brewers bench coach. “I snapped back at him, ‘You better be able to catch a ground ball, Pedroia.’ He said, ‘Don’t you worry about that. You’ll never have to have another shortstop for the next three years.’ ”
Pedroia quickly won over Murphy. Scouts were another story. He’d been undrafted out of high school, and it wasn’t easy for him to challenge perceptions.
“The earliest memory I have were those awful uniforms at Arizona State,” said Cubs senior vice president Jason McLeod, who was part of the Red Sox’ scouting brain trust in 2003-04. “They were kind of baggy, they wore their pants up, and when you see Dustin at 5 foot 6 or whatever he is, wearing that uniform, it’s not the most flattering look.”
But when Red Sox area scout Dan Madsen, McLeod, and others saw the Sun Devils shortstop play, the impression became far different. He started at short in every game of his three years with ASU and twice was named College Defensive Player of the Year.
“His hand-eye coordination was just uncanny,” said McLeod. “Every ball just stuck to his glove. It never rattled around.”
At bat, though at times looking like a child swinging a sledgehammer, Pedroia also showed a remarkable ability to barrel the ball regardless of location.
“Big stride, swung out of his [rear], but the contact was just ridiculous,” said McLeod. “He hit everybody, hit every pitch, and hit it all over the yard.”
Yet for much of the scouting community, seeing wasn’t believing. Despite his three years as one of the top college players in the country, there wasn’t a frame of reference for a player with Pedroia’s size and skill set.
So in 2004 — a year in which the Red Sox didn’t have a first-round draft pick (sacrificed to sign free agent Keith Foulke) — Pedroia remained on the board in the second round, to be taken with the 65th overall pick. In an introductory conference call after his selection, Pedroia offered a to-the-point self-assessment for Boston fans.
“The Red Sox are getting a player who’s going to play hard every day, loves to win, and whose main goal is to win a championship,” he said.
On Sept. 20, 2004 — after his minor league debut — Pedroia visited Fenway Park to take stock of his future home. He took batting practice before the game.
“ ‘We just drafted this kid; isn’t he supposed to be a little bit meek and respectful?’ ” Red Sox assistant GM Raquel Ferreira recalled thinking. “He came out guns blazing.
“Most kids that come in when we first draft them, even college kids, are kind of reserved and shy. Dustin just came in and said, ‘Yeah, I’ll suit up [in the big leagues] right now.’ He didn’t care. I just remember [Terry Francona] being like, ‘Who the [expletive] is this guy?’ ”
Pedroia watched a couple of innings with Sawdaye — then an assistant in the Red Sox scouting department — in what was then the 406 Club. The conversation turned to the draft.
“He’s going through the whole process, his agent telling him where he’s going to go. He’s like, ‘After Pick 40, I just shut my computer off. [Expletive] this,’ ” Sawdaye recounted. “I said, ‘Yeah, well, it all worked out in the end. You’re in a great spot.’ ”
Pedroia grudgingly acknowledged that, stared at the field for a few moments, then turned back to Sawdaye.
“He said, ‘[Expletive] those other 64 guys. I’m going to get to the big leagues faster than them anyways,’ ” said Sawdaye. “Typical Pedroia, right?” The pro debut
From the outset, Pedroia was on an unusual track. Players typically start their pro careers in short-season ball, with advanced college players in the Sox system reporting initially to the Lowell Spinners. But after Pedroia signed with the team in mid July, he was assigned to a full-season affiliate, the Single A Augusta GreenJackets.
“When he showed up, you could tell he hadn’t played in a while,” recalled Red Sox catching coordinator Chad Epperson, the Augusta manager in 2004. “He was a little soft around the waistline. I was like, ‘Wow, this is our first pick?’
“He came into the office, has an Arizona State T-shirt on, baggy shorts. Honestly, he could have been the batboy. I think he was an inch away from being a circle when he got there. He was kind of sloppy.”
Epperson and farm director Ben Cherington outlined their plans. Pedroia would spend five days doing pregame work with the team — two in Augusta, three on the road in Asheville, N.C. — before his first game.
But Pedroia couldn’t make it five days.
“Day 3, he comes into my office — literally we’d just gotten to Asheville,” said Epperson. “He goes, ‘Why the [expletive] ain’t I playing?’ I was like, ‘Whoa! We just talked about this. It’s Day 3.’ He goes, ‘[Expletive] that! I’m ready! I’m ready!’
“I said, ‘Listen, how you feel about yourself and what this organization wants are two different things. They have a format laid out for you.’ He goes, ‘[Expletive] that! Who do I have to call?’
“He’s livid. He ends up talking himself into the [expletive] lineup. I’ve never seen anything like it. Never seen anything like it.”
Pedroia didn’t merely talk himself into the lineup on July 19, 2004. He went 4 for 4 with a pair of doubles.
At one point, he was on first after a single. Brandon Moss — the 2004 South Atlantic League Player of the Year who went on to play more than 1,000 games in the big leagues — blooped a single to right.
“Pedroia never even stops,” said Epperson. “He goes all the way to third, slides in, bang-bang play, he pops up. Brandon Moss, goofy Georgia boy, jogs back to first base. Pedroia’s like, ‘You’ve got to be at [expletive] second!’ I’m like, ‘Whoa, whoa, whoa, we don’t do that here, buddy.’ He screams, ‘[Expletive] that! He’s got to be at second base!’
“Who the [expletive] is this guy?”
With 17 years of hindsight, he has an answer.
“That is who he was,” said Epperson. “He wouldn’t have cared if it was Ty Cobb over there. He’d have yelled at him. It was crazy.” Pedroia played for the Portland Sea Dogs in 2005.
Pedroia spent just a dozen games in Augusta, hitting .400/.504/.560 with six extra-base hits, six walks, and just three strikeouts in 57 plate appearances before forcing his promotion to High A Sarasota.
Epperson called Todd Claus, the manager in Sarasota, to alert him and try to prepare him for the shortstop’s arrival.
“Remain seated until this ride comes to a complete stop,” Epperson recalled saying. “This is going to be some kind of show.”
Even with advance notice, however, Claus couldn’t believe it when he met the team’s top draft pick.
Claus, now the Red Sox international scouting co-director, recalled, “He shows up, comes up and says, ‘Hey, I’m Dustin Pedroia.’ I look at him and say, ‘No you’re not.’ He says, ‘I’m [expletive] Dustin Pedroia.’ ”
Claus sought out Bill Lajoie, a baseball lifer who was then a special assistant to the GM for the Sox. Claus was new to managing in pro ball, and couldn’t comprehend how the team had used its top pick on this unlikely shortstop.
“I go up to Bill and say, ‘What are we doing, man? I get the whole statistics thing, but he’s 5-6, pudgy, has small hands. This guy is not a big leaguer,’ ” said Claus.
Pedroia’s five weeks in Sarasota forced Claus to reconsider. In 30 games, Pedroia hit .336/.417/.523 with 13 extra-base hits, 13 walks, and four strikeouts. He didn’t commit an error.
“This guy fails every single eye test to a scout,” said Claus. “We scout tools. Dustin Pedroia has skills. To see his skills, you have to see him consistently do it.”
Claus shared that conclusion with Ron Johnson, manager of the Double A Portland Sea Dogs, prior to the 2005 season.
“I said, ‘He’s not going to pass the eye test. You’re not going to get it when you see it. You just have to let him play,’ ” said Claus. “I get a call, like, two months later from R.J. ‘You were right. You’ve just got to let him play.’ ” Becoming Pedroia
Pedroia received an invitation to big league spring training in 2006. The initial impressions again were unfavorable.
“My first impressions? He walked into the clubhouse carrying McDonald’s bags about seven days in a row,” Francona once recalled. “I was like, ‘We need to talk to this kid.’ ”
Eventually, Pedroia would respond by remaking himself physically, making Athletes’ Performance Institute in Arizona a staple of his offseason programs. But in 2006 spring training, he never got the chance to erase that first impression, as he suffered a shoulder strain on a check-swing at the start of the exhibition season.
In Triple A Pawtucket that year, Pedroia struggled initially before his season got on track. Just after he turned 23, the Red Sox called him up for his big league debut in Anaheim on Aug. 22, 2006.
“When I first got called up, we had just lost five games to the Yankees,” said Pedroia. “I remember walking in there and I was the happiest kid on the planet. I remember getting in there and it was not a good environment. Everyone was upset. They had just got beat bad.
“I remember thinking, ‘Man, I can’t wait to play tonight. We’re going to turn this thing around.’ ”
That didn’t happen. Pedroia went 1 for 3 in his debut, but hit just .191/.258/.303 while the Sox went 17-21 en route to missing the playoffs for the first time since 2002. However, the impression he made proved unforgettable.
Ferreira encountered him at Fenway late in that season. A “how’s it going” offered in passing provoked a typically sharp response.
“He said, ‘Really, Raquel? How the [expletive] do you think it’s going? I’m batting .180 right now. I’d say it’s not going too good!’ ” said Ferreira. “I was just like, ‘All right, you little [expletive].’ ”
In that attitude, the Sox saw something significant.
The following year, Pedroia carried a .172 average and .518 OPS on May 1, but he wasn’t resigned to his struggles. He was one of the few people whose faith in his abilities remained unbowed, and he was convinced it was just a matter of time until he turbocharged his career and his team.
“He kept telling you guys, ‘I will hit, I will hit.’ And we’re like, ‘It doesn’t look right,’ ” said Red Sox manager Alex Cora, Pedroia’s teammate from 2006-08.
“But he kept doing things baseball-wise to contribute to win games. He played outstanding defense while he was struggling, and that was very important for us.
“For him to go through what he did, he knew and [GM Theo Epstein] knew that he was going to hit. I don’t know if Tito at one point believed he was going to hit, but he was a winning player from the get-go. He played with the same intensity when he was hitting .140 or .340, and that was amazing. That was cool to see.”
From May 3 through the end of 2007, he hit .335 with an .861 OPS, winning Rookie of the Year honors and, more significantly, a championship. The next year, he claimed the AL MVP award while nearly leading the Red Sox back to the World Series. Pedroia had 1,805 hits in the major leagues.
“It was constant amazement about how he continued to improve and get better,” said former Red Sox bench coach Brad Mills. “He probably worked harder once he achieved all those things.”
Pedroia added to his achievements by being the best all-around player on the 2013 World Series winners. And even when unable to play, he contributed to another title in 2018 as a behind-the-scenes leader. The legacy
Those contributions will be recognized at Fenway Friday, yet the celebration will be about something more. Pedroia will be remembered as a player who seemed like he got out of bed every morning and went straight to the park in full uniform, then went to sleep at night covered in dirt in the same attire — a player who so obviously invested everything he had into every moment at the ballpark and whose contributions to a championship culture were both unique and enduring.
“Extraordinary,” Claus said of Pedroia’s impact. “Guys looked at him with awe, like, ‘How is this guy doing that?’ He impacted the game from the moment he got to the ballpark to the moment he left, and he literally wouldn’t let anyone take time off. That was right up to the end. ‘If you’re not here to help us win, what are you doing?’
“He’s the epitome of competing. He stands for winning, period. That was it. He shows up and he’s an angry little [expletive] who just brought it every single day. He just brought it, man.”
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Post by CP_Jon_GoSox on Jun 25, 2021 1:46:58 GMT -5
Pedroia excited for Fenway return, ceremony June 24th, 2021 Ian Browne
Ian Browne @ianmbrowne
During his impressive career with the Red Sox, Dustin Pedroia had a front-row seat when players like Jason Varitek, Mike Lowell, Tim Wakefield and David Ortiz had their retirement ceremonies.
This time, it will be Pedroia who is the center of attention in a ceremony that will take place prior to Friday night’s game at Fenway Park against the Yankees.
After four years of chronic pain in his left knee, Pedroia retired on Feb. 1.
Pedroia can only wonder what it will be like to get his official send-off from the only team and fanbase he ever played for in his 14-year career.
“I don’t know. I tried to ask them questions about what they’re doing, but they haven’t really given me any answers. I don’t really know what to expect,” said Pedroia. “Obviously I haven’t played in about a year and a half with my injuries and stuff. It should be fun. I’m excited just to see Fenway and get back out there and see the fans and everything. It should be a good time.”
For manager Alex Cora, it will be a thrill for him to see his former teammate and close friend get the applause he deserves from what is expected to be the biggest crowd of the season so far at Fenway.
“It will be fun just to have Pedey there, and obviously it should be a packed house finally at Fenway,” said Cora. “That’s what he deserves. I’m actually looking forward for him to be around. Just the fact that he’s going to be in Fenway and people are going to be able to recognize a great career is going to be amazing.”
Though many of Pedroia’s former teammates are now elsewhere, those who remain (Xander Bogaerts, Rafael Devers, Matt Barnes, Christian Vázquez, Brandon Workman) feel like they are in for a treat.
“He means a lot for us, for the guys that played with him,” said Vázquez. “He taught us to play the game the right way every day, every day to play the game hard. It means a lot for us [to see the ceremony].”
Though Pedroia isn’t working in any kind of official capacity for the Red Sox yet, it is all but certain he will once his kids get older.
He is keeping tabs on the team on television from Arizona and is enthused by its strong start to the season.
“They’re one of the best teams in baseball,” Pedroia said. “Obviously a long way to go, but keep it going and we’ll see where it is at the end. They’re just showing up every day to win a baseball game. That’s what you do, and they’re fun to watch. It looks like the team has come together, and they play the game the right way and it’s exciting.”
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Post by CP_Jon_GoSox on Jun 25, 2021 14:26:12 GMT -5
OMF @omfonweei · 13m Parting line from Terry Francona on @weei who called in to talk "Dustin Pedroia Night":
"When you see him, give him some shit for me"
#RedSox
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Post by CP_Jon_GoSox on Jun 26, 2021 2:47:03 GMT -5
Dustin Pedroia, beloved Boston Red Sox second baseman, receives final Fenway Park salute play 9:23 PM ADT
BOSTON -- Dustin Pedroia returned to Fenway Park on Friday, this time to be showered with appreciation from fans and a collection of Red Sox royalty for the 17-year career that cemented his place as one of Boston's most beloved players.
The Red Sox's undersized big man was honored by the team prior to its latest matchup with the rival New York Yankees, a fitting tribute to a player who at the time he announced his retirement in February was the longest-tenured player on Boston's roster and the only holdover from its 2007 championship team.
With his family looking on, a pregame ceremony began with a jersey-clad Pedroia walking out of the outfield tunnel through smoke and a flash of pyrotechnics as video boards displayed "DUSTIN" and "15" in the outfield.
Pedroia wiped away tears while recorded messages from several coaches and teammates were played. The list included his former coach at Arizona State, Pat Murphy; former Red Sox manager Terry Francona; and former teammates Kevin Cash, David Ross and David Ortiz. Hall of Famer Pedro Martinez joined the festivities in person.
"It's special. My whole career I kind of had blinders on. I worried about each day. I never looked back and thought about what I did, what impact I had," Pedroia said. "To see that today, when I walked out today ... it's special. I did something good." Dustin Pedroia threw out the ceremonial first pitch to current Red Sox manager and 2007 World Series teammate Alex Cora. The longtime Boston 2B, now retired, was honored during a pregame ceremony at Fenway Park on Friday night. AP Photo/Michael Dwyer
Representatives from several of the charity initiatives dear to Pedroia were also on hand, including families and victims of the 2013 Boston Marathon bombing. Their inclusion also brought on emotion from Pedroia, as did an announcement that he would be elected to the team's Hall of Fame in 2022, eschewing the usual five-year waiting period.
After a brief speech, Pedroia threw out the ceremonial first pitch to current Red Sox manager and 2007 World Series teammate Alex Cora. The final nod was given by former wrestler Ric Flair, a friend of Pedroia, who presented him with a championship belt.
It was a whirlwind of emotions for Pedroia, who acknowledged afterward that he visited with Ortiz on Thursday to get advice about his feelings of anxiety about returning to Fenway for the first time since April 2019 during one of his final comeback attempts.
"I've been through a lot. I thought it was too soon for me to come back," Pedroia said. "I just wanted to stay away and deal with it."
He told Ortiz he didn't know what to say to fans to express his gratitude. Ortiz told him, "They already know that."
"That kind of helped me relax," Pedroia said.
The 5-foot-9 Pedroia was AL Rookie of the Year in 2007 and the MVP in his second season. But the four-time All-Star and four-time Gold Glove winner played only nine games over the three seasons following a spikes-high slide by then-Orioles shortstop Manny Machado that took out Pedroia's knee in 2017.
Pedroia had made 11 consecutive opening day starts for the Red Sox, second in franchise history to only Carl Yastrzemski. But Pedroia's career effectively ended with Machado's slide into second base to break up a double play.
He tried to return to form in the four years that followed with the same relentlessness he used to help the Red Sox capture a pair of World Series titles in 2007 and 2013.
It wound up being a merry-go-round of surgeries and setbacks that eventually wore down his body to the point he was told future attempts would adversely affect his quality of life.
Though it was an abrupt end to his time on the diamond, Pedroia said this year that he had no ill will toward Machado or sour feelings about what happened afterward.
Any lingering memories of the incident were overshadowed by Friday's return to Boston.
Pedroia said he has no doubt that he'll don a uniform again, saying "maybe" to possibly managing someday.
"I think everyone knows that," Pedroia said. "It's just a matter of time. I want to raise my boys and make sure I don't miss anything in their life. They deserve that. Then after that, it's go time."
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Post by CP_Jon_GoSox on Jun 26, 2021 3:21:22 GMT -5
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Post by CP_Jon_GoSox on Jun 26, 2021 3:38:15 GMT -5
Jahmai Webster @websterontv · 9h This ceremony was superb. Pedey fighting back tears, many times unsuccessfully when @davidortiz spoke so highly of him. Wake, Mike Lowell, and Jacob Ellsbury also makes an appearance. Tito, Pat Murphy, Pedro, El Tiante. And @ricflairnatrboy . Just incredible.
Alex Speier @alexspeier · 9h Pedroia had been nervous about returning to Fenway for the first time since mid-2019, and has struggled with the conclusion of his career. But he said that being back here for this ceremony brought him the closure that he needed, and it felt like he'd never left.
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