As the Red Sox begin the playoffs, it is time to look back a bit. When the question arises about the most consistent Sox player of the late 00's and early 10's, there can only be one answer, and his name is Dustin Pedroia.
Because he is not particularly outspoken off the field, Pedroia, now completing his seventh season as Boston second sacker, is sometimes overlooked. But as one of the survivors of the 2011-2012 shakeup, it is time to look at what Pedey (one of his many nicknames) has contributed to the team.
It may have been forgotten that when Terry Francona inserted Pedroia at second at the beginning of 07, there were many doubters. Though he had excelled at short and second at Arizona State, he was only a second round draft choice with two years of minor league experience. He started quite slowly at bat, hitting .172 in April while being platooned with Alex Cora. But his bat soon exploded, and by mid-June he was at .322 and his platoon days vanished. Soon he had AL Player of the Week and Rookie of the Month honors under his belt. The highlight of his season was a five-hit game against the Giants in June. He finished the year at .317 with 39 doubles and an on base percentage of .380. Pedroia cemented his Rookie of the Year selection by homering in his first at bat in the World Series against Colorado, the first rookie to ever do so. He finished the Series with a .278 average, 5 hits, a homer and 4 rbi's as the Sox swept to the World Championship.
Pedroia was even better in 08. His .326 average was accompanied by 17 homers, 83 rbi's and 20 stolen bases while leading the majors with 213 hits and 54 doubles, scoring 118 runs. In the field, he commited only 6 errors and became the first AL second baseman in nearly 50 years to win an MVP. Only two other players- Cal Ripken and Ryan Howard- have won the ROY and MVP in successive seasons.
Sox fortunes waned a bit after 08, but Pedroia remained consistent. Outside of 2010, when a broken bone in his foot limited him to 75 games, only once has he batted less than 600 times. He is constantly in the 20-stolen base range, captured two Gold Gloves, and been a league all-star selection four times. His .302 lifetime mark and .454 slugging percentage puts him at or near the top for major league second basemen.
Perhaps because of his size (he is listed as 5'8" and 165 pounds) Pedey owns the reputation as a hustler who seldom misses a day in the lineup. Though not officially team captain, he is obviously the boss on the field. He is not as vocal or media-concious as a David Ortiz, but he shows as much inner toughness as any Sox player of the past decade. I criticized Pedroia at one point last year for not speaking up enough about the team's many sorry performances. However, he probably realized the situation on the field and in the dugout were beyond repair. Despite playing through some minor injuries, he was a huge contributor to the 2013 resurgence, leading the league in plate appearences and batting .301 with 42 doubles and 84 rbi's.
Other players may get more ink, but Pedroia has to be considered the soul of the team. Still at the relatively young age of 30, he already ranks high on the list of the Bosox' all-time contributors. A continued strong performance by him will go a long way as the Townies enter what could be a very interesting postseason.
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