Dustin Pedroia Retrospective

pk1627

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I love the Destroyah. I remember being at a game in Chicago in 2008 with Tom Ricardo. We found our way near the dugout pregame, and Ricardo proceeded to scream at Dustin how he’d win the MVP. Pedroia just stared back with an “I know that” attitude.
 

nattysez

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This article is a nice review of Pedroia at his best and includes my second-favorite Pedroia quote:

Once, after ripping a leadoff single off Wichita State's Mike Pelfrey (now with the Mets), Pedroia shouted at the pitcher as he rounded first, "Ninety-eight coming in, 102 going out!"
My favorite is his response to the Rockies security guard who asked for his ID:
"Ask Jeff fucking Francis who I am."
 

nvalvo

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Four gold gloves and 15 dWAR tell a lot of the story, but Pedroia's years in Boston really messed with my sense of which sharp ground balls a second baseman should be expected to handle.
 

Flynn4ever

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6/19/2010 was the only time I ever saw Pedey at Fenway (I saw him at the Stade Fasciste the next year.) Walk-off hit against the Dodgers after Manny hit a no-doubter for the bad guys. I had just flown in from Japan, flight delay and I didn't even get my bag before hopping a cab to Fenway. So worth it. I wish he had the career he deserved.
 

kartvelo

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Pedroia was right in that 2001-2010 window where I probably watched every inning of 150+ games every year. Just freaking loved watching this dude play, and for me, it’s hard for anything to top this play in terms of what he meant to this team, but also kind of the peak of my Sox watching experience and all of the optimism around young prospects in the mid-2000s.

Yeah, that's the first thing that came to my mind when I saw this thread, too. It's an encapsulation of him. The acrobatics, the giving everything he had, the performance "under the circumstances."
Next I remember the way Mike Lowell was asked about a Pedroia homer and drily responded with something like, "Yeah, it gave us a chance to hear all about the laser show again."
 

CJM

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This article is a nice review of Pedroia at his best and includes my second-favorite Pedroia quote:



My favorite is his response to the Rockies security guard who asked for his ID:
"Ask Jeff fucking Francis who I am."
I was just coming to post that quote. It deserves to be presented in its full glory, as it was published in USA Today:

'You don't know who I am? You don't know who I am?' " Francona says. " 'Ask Jeff f———- Francis who the f—- I am. I'm the guy who hit a bomb and just ended their f———- season."
 

donutogre

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Fuckin' Pedroia. Love this guy, y'all have said it better than I could. I wish he made it back for one more season at some point, but that's the way the cookie crumbles sometimes. These memories are gold across the board.
 

Humphrey

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I hope there's no fanfare involving him showing up and, as someone said, failing the physical. That should all happen under the radar screen.

Don't want some idiot writer penning something like "Pedroia here, feels great, going to give it another try".
 

8slim

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When I was a kid, and first fell in love with the Sox, my favorite player was Marty Barrett. I was short, and small, and liked to play 2B in Little League, so Marty was my guy.

So it won't surprise anyone that years later, as an adult, Pedroia became by favorite Sox player. He checked all the physical and positional boxes, with the added bonus of being an MVP-caliber player and a firecracker personality.

He's a no-doubt Red Sox HOFer. I think he would have made the big Hall had he been able to play another 5 years to compile the counting stats, but alas...
 

Comfortably Lomb

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I hope there's no fanfare involving him showing up and, as someone said, failing the physical. That should all happen under the radar screen.

Don't want some idiot writer penning something like "Pedroia here, feels great, going to give it another try".
Aren't those mindless sports media pieces part of the joy of spring training?

- Physically wrecked Star X is feeling the best he has in years! Out for season re-injuring something by April.
- Lanky multi-tool Star Y put on 25 pounds of muscle this winter! Doesn't hit any better, shows atrophied range in the field, lost a step on the bases, and tears some muscle no one thinks about by May.
 

Humphrey

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Aren't those mindless sports media pieces part of the joy of spring training?

- Physically wrecked Star X is feeling the best he has in years! Out for season re-injuring something by April.
- Lanky multi-tool Star Y put on 25 pounds of muscle this winter! Doesn't hit any better, shows atrophied range in the field, lost a step on the bases, and tears some muscle no one thinks about by May.
Yes, except a Pedroia coming back story would at this point be akin to the Lucy/Charlie Brown football routine. I love the stories when they're not about the same guy multiple times.
 

Adirondack jack

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I loved watching the guy play. He had no fear.
This captures it to me.

In that little 5'6" frame, the guy just poured out competitiveness. He just wanted to win. You want Dustin Pedroia on your team, period.

When the game was on the line, who else do you want at the plate with two out and a runner on 2nd? If your answer is someone beside Pedey, they're a HOF'er.
 

Dusty Petra

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I mourn to see my namesake shuffle off his MLB coil. I came upon SoSH at the beginning of his cycle, and what a beginning it was... ROY, World Series, MVP, followed by a gradual deterioration that came to a sudden brutal end in 2017.

Much as we all despise Manny Machado – and rightfully – it has to be said that by the time Machado came in high and hard, oversliding the base with malice in his heart, Pedroia was already a shadow of his prime. His career was fast and furious and burned out hard.
 

reggiecleveland

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I can't seem to find a clip or transcript, but if memory serves it was Pedroia who (when talking about a famous teammate) helpfully informed the media that "Big Papi" was Spanish for "Large Father." In my head, I remember it as an all-time great deadpan delivery. He was an excellent player who appeared to be having a great time. What a career! What a life!
That was Papelbnon on Letterman
 

Scott Cooper's Grand Slam

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That was Papelbnon on Letterman
Thank you! That has been bugging me. Here's the transcript from The Globe for reference.

Letterman: “What turned [the ALCS] around because it looked like the team from Cleveland was going to prevail? What happened to turn it around?”

Papelbon: “Well, we had Big Papi, aka David Ortiz, the Large Father, whatever you want to call him.” (audience laughs)

Letterman: (laughs) “The Large Father.”

Papelbon: “Yeah, uh, whatever you want to call him, it all translates, you know.
 

mauf

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His 31 ABs in 2018-19 pulled his career BA down from .300 to .299.

Even less sophisticated fans don’t care about BA like they once did, but still, that’s too bad.
 

joe dokes

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His 31 ABs in 2018-19 pulled his career BA down from .300 to .299.

Even less sophisticated fans don’t care about BA like they once did, but still, that’s too bad.
Sort of OT, but Roger Angell (I'm 99% sure it was him) did a piece on a Tiger fan who followed Al Kaline's final MLB season, hoping he could raise his career BA above the .2993 he started with in 1974. Kaline got his 3000th hit late that season, but hit .267 (107 OPS+) to fall to 297 for his career.