Pedroia, 37, was the American League Rookie of the Year in 2007, and a member of the World Series champions. He was named the AL Most Valuable Player the next season. Pedroia also played on the 2013 and 2018 World Series-winning teams.
Pedroia is the only major league player to win a World Series title, and MVP, Rookie of the Year, and Gold Glove awards in his first two full seasons. Pedroia played in 14 major league seasons, and his 1,506 games at second base are the second-most in team history, behind Bobby Doerr (1,865). Pedroia finishes his career with a .299 batting average and a .365 on-base percentage.
According to the statement released by the Red Sox:
In Red Sox history, he ranks among the top 10 all-time in hits (8th), doubles (6th), runs (10th), steals (6th), extra-base hits (8th), total bases (8th), and at-bats (9th). . . .
[Pedroia's] five games with at least five hits are the most in Red Sox history, and he is the franchise’s only player ever to record as many as six hitting streaks of 10 or more games in a single season (2016). His 25-game hitting streak in 2011 is the longest ever by a Red Sox second baseman, while his 138 steals are the franchise’s most at his position. Pedroia is the only second baseman in Red Sox history to record at least 200 hits and 100 runs scored in a season (2008, '16). He still holds single-season franchise records in batting average (.326), runs (118), hits (213), doubles (54), total bases (322), and extra-base hits (73) by a second baseman, all reached during his 2008 MVP season. Pedroia joins Yastrzemski and Mookie Betts as the only Red Sox ever to reach 100 home runs and 100 stolen bases. . . .
His .991 fielding percentage at second base is the highest in AL history; he owns eight of the 12 highest single-season fielding percentages at second base in Red Sox history, including a franchise-best .997 mark in 2014. Pedroia fielded 439 consecutive chances without committing an error during a stretch from 2009-10 and played 114 consecutive errorless games from 2016-17, both Red Sox records at second base. He also holds Red Sox single-season records for most games (160) and starts (159) at second base, both reached during the club's 2013 World Series championship season.
Pedroia was the Red Sox' starting second baseman in all 51 of the club's Postseason games from 2007-17 . . . During his 2007 rookie season, Pedroia went 3-for-5 with a home run and five RBI in Game 7 of the ALCS, as he still holds the rookie record for most RBI in an ALCS game. He is one of only two rookies ever to homer in Game 7 of an ALCS, joined by Randy Arozarena in 2020. Pedroia homered to lead off the bottom of the first inning in Game 1 of the 2007 World Series at Fenway Park; he is still the only rookie ever to hit a leadoff home run in the World Series.
Fuck yeah!, indeed. What are his chances to get in the HOF, Allan ?
ReplyDeleteI can't find the words to describe how much I loved watching him play.
ReplyDeleteHe's my favourite player since I started watching in 2001.
Many people have put it much better than I ever could.
I hope he stays in some capacity , otherwise there'll be a big hole that'll never be filled.
What are his chances to get in the HOF, Allan?
ReplyDeleteChance? No idea. He was a joy to watch and amusing to listen to, when he was ragging on teammates or Tito, but he's not a Hall of Famer. He was consistently above average at the plate, but nothing really exceptional (only three seasons with an OPS+ above 117 and four seasons above 5.5 WAR).
Agree with Allan - he's not a Hall of Famer, BUT, if there was a HOF for "effort", heart, commitment & getting dirty ..... then that would be a different story
ReplyDeleteVery few have tried harder & that will be my abiding memory of Dustin the Dirty Chicken.
If you refer to his BB-Ref numbers and HOF scores, he doesn't have much chance at all. Had he been able to play the last few years and possibly a couple more, then we might have been having a different conversation.
ReplyDeleteAs I've told a few others, I've owned two Red Sox jerseys with names on the back because my loyalty is with the name on the front. One was Papi's jersey, which I bought in 2003, and the other is Pedey's, which I bought in 2018. I look forward to seeing Pedey inducted into the Red Sox Hall of Fame in the near future, and I do hope that he remains with the team in some capacity as Pedro, Varitek, and Papi have.