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'''Dustin Luis Pedroia''' (born August 17, 1983 in {{city-state|Woodland|California}}) is a [[Major League Baseball]] [[second baseman]] for the [[Boston Red Sox]]. During his brief career in the majors, Pedroia has won several awards, including the 2007 [[Major League Baseball Rookie of the Year Award|AL Rookie of the Year]] award and the 2008 [[Major League Baseball Most Valuable Player Award|AL MVP]]. He also won a [[Silver Slugger]] as a second baseman, and was second overall in the AL in [[batting average]] in 2008.
'''Dustin Luis Pedroia''' (born August 17, 1983 in {{city-state|Woodland|California}}) is a [[Major League Baseball]] [[second baseman]] for the [[Boston Red Sox]]. During his brief career in the majors, Pedroia has won several awards, including the 2007 [[Major League Baseball Rookie of the Year Award|AL Rookie of the Year]] award and the 2008 [[Major League Baseball Most Valuable Player Award|AL MVP]]. He also won a [[Silver Slugger]] as a second baseman, and was second overall in the AL in [[batting average]] in 2008.


Pedroia is listed by Major League Baseball and the Red Sox as 5'5" (175 cm) and 150 pounds, although a 2003 ''[[USA Today]]'' article gives his height as 5'7" (170 cm).<ref>{{cite web |url=http://www.usatoday.com/sports/college/baseball/2003-02-27-size_x.htm |title=The tall and short of college baseball stars |accessdate=2008-07-26 |work=[[USA Today]] |publisher= |date= }}</ref>
Pedroia is listed by Major League Baseball and the Red Sox as 5'9" (175 cm) and 180 pounds, although a 2003 ''[[USA Today]]'' article gives his height as 5'7" (170 cm).<ref>{{cite web |url=http://www.usatoday.com/sports/college/baseball/2003-02-27-size_x.htm |title=The tall and short of college baseball stars |accessdate=2008-07-26 |work=[[USA Today]] |publisher= |date= }}</ref>


==Early baseball career==
==Early baseball career==

Revision as of 20:15, 30 March 2009

Dustin Pedroia
Boston Red Sox – No. 15
Second baseman
Bats: Right
Throws: Right
debut
August 22, 2006, for the Boston Red Sox
Career statistics
(through 2008 season)
Batting average.313
Home runs27
Runs batted in140
Stats at Baseball Reference Edit this at Wikidata
Teams
Career highlights and awards

Dustin Luis Pedroia (born August 17, 1983 in Template:City-state) is a Major League Baseball second baseman for the Boston Red Sox. During his brief career in the majors, Pedroia has won several awards, including the 2007 AL Rookie of the Year award and the 2008 AL MVP. He also won a Silver Slugger as a second baseman, and was second overall in the AL in batting average in 2008.

Pedroia is listed by Major League Baseball and the Red Sox as 5'9" (175 cm) and 180 pounds, although a 2003 USA Today article gives his height as 5'7" (170 cm).[1]

Early baseball career

High school and college

Pedroia attended Woodland High School in Template:City-state, where he graduated with honors. Pedroia batted .445 his senior year, and was chosen his league's most valuable player. Pedroia was also quarterback for the freshman team at Douglass Jr High. Pedroia once broke his ankle while playing quarterback for Douglass Jr. High.

Pedroia then went to Arizona State University, where he was teammates with current Texas Rangers middle infielder Ian Kinsler. Kinsler and Pedroia battled for the shortstop position; ultimately, Pedroia stayed at shortstop, while Kinsler ended up at second base before transferring to the University of Missouri. In three years at ASU, Pedroia never hit below .347, and had a career average of .384, starting all 185 games. Furthermore, to help ASU recruit better pitchers, Pedroia relinquished the last two years of his athletic scholarship.[2]

Minor leagues

Pedroia was drafted by the Red Sox in the second round of the 2004 Major League Baseball Draft, with the 65th pick overall. Pedroia, the eighth shortstop drafted, received a $575,000 signing bonus.[2]

In two years in the minors (2004–06), Pedroia batted .308 while playing second base and shortstop.

Major leagues

2006 season

Pedroia collected his first Major League hit in his first game in the majors, on August 22, 2006, against the Los Angeles Angels of Anaheim. Pedroia earned his first major league home run on September 9, 2006, against Kansas City Royals pitcher Luke Hudson. He wore number 64 in 2006; at the start of the 2007 season he switched to his current number, 15.

2007 season

Pedroia became the regular second baseman for the Sox in 2007. His defense in 2007 was solid, with six errors and a fielding percentage of .990. Early in the season, though, his batting average was as low as .172 (on May 1); that average, combined with the hitting of teammate Alex Cora, whose 2007 average was above .400 at one point, left Pedroia in a platoon role. Pedroia's batting improved quickly, however: by June 18, his average was .322, aided by a 13-game hitting streak, and a five-hit game against the San Francisco Giants on June 15, 2007. Because of that production, he was named American League Player of the Week for May 28–June 3, 2007, and AL Rookie of the Month for May 2007.[3] His most notable play of the season, though, may have been a diving stop in the seventh inning of fellow rookie Clay Buchholz's September 1, 2007 no-hitter.[4]

Pedroia won the AL Rookie of the Year award,[5] and was selected to the 2007 Topps Major League Rookie All-Star Team.[6]

2007 American League Playoffs

Dustin Pedroia entered the 2007 American League Divisional Series batting .317 with 8 home runs and 50 RBI in 139 regular season games with the Red Sox. In the ALDS, Pedroia struggled, getting only 2 hits in 3 games against the Los Angeles Angels of Anaheim. Though Pedroia struggled in the lead-off spot for the Red Sox, Boston cruised past the Angels 3 games to 0 to advance to the American League Championship Series, where they met the Cleveland Indians.

In the ALCS, Pedroia heated up, batting .345. In the 7th game, Pedroia hit a 2-run homer into the Green Monster seats in the 7th inning and had 5 RBI. He then hit a 3-run double in the bottom of the 8th to help the Red Sox secure the series and a spot in the World Series.

Entering the 2007 World Series against the Colorado Rockies, Dustin Pedroia was one of two rookies starting (with center fielder Jacoby Ellsbury) for the American League champion Red Sox. These two rookies jump started the Red Sox offense. Pedroia only saw one pitch in his first World Series at-bat before he took Rockie ace Jeff Francis' pitch over the Green Monster. This made him only the second player (and the first rookie) to lead off the Series with a home run. The only other player to lead off a World Series with a home run was Baltimore's Don Buford against Tom Seaver and the 1969 New York Mets. After winning the first two games of the World Series, the Red Sox entered Game 3 making history by having two rookies bat first and second in the line-up. Ellsbury and Pedroia combined for 7 hits, 3 runs, and drove in 4 more to help the Sox take the first three games of the Series. The Red Sox won Game 4 and swept the Colorado Rockies to win their seventh World Series title. Dustin Pedroia hit .278 with 5 hits, 1 home run with 4 runs batted in in the Series.

Wrist injury

On November 10, 2007, the Boston Herald reported that Pedroia had played the final two months of the 2007 season with a cracked hamate bone in his left hand. Pedroia told the newspaper that he knew that an MRI and bone scan on Sept. 10 revealed the break, but did not know how it happened. He had surgery on the hand on Nov. 6 and virtually no one outside the Red Sox organization had prior knowledge of the injury.

2008 season

During the 2008 season, Red Sox manager Terry Francona noted that Pedroia, like Mike Lowell and Alex Cora, was willing to play catcher in emergencies.[7]

Pedroia ended the season with a .326 average with 17 home runs, 83 RBIs, and 20 stolen bases. He was tied for the MLB in hits with 213 and led the league in doubles (54), while leading the AL in runs scored (118), making him the first player to lead all three of those categories in the same season since Cal Ripken in 1983. Pedroia came in second in the AL in batting average (.326) behind Minnesota Twins catcher Joe Mauer (.328), fourth in the AL in total bases (322), and seventh in the AL in extra-base hits (73). His 20 stolen bases in 21 attempts helped Pedroia lead MLB in stolen base percentage (.952). With only 6 errors in 773 plays at second base, Pedroia was second in the AL in fielding percentage by a second baseman (.992), behind Mark Ellis (.993, OAK), who had almost 200 fewer total chances.

Following the season, Pedroia won the 2008 AL MVP (the first by an American League second baseman since Nellie Fox in 1959)[8] as well as the AL Gold Glove and Silver Slugger award for second base. He is the 10th player in the history of the Red Sox to capture the AL MVP and the 8th player in AL history to win the MVP, Gold Glove, and Silver Slugger awards in the same season. Pedroia became only the third player in MLB history to win Rookie of the Year and Most Valuable Player in consecutive seasons (others have won both in the same season) joining Cal Ripken Jr. and Ryan Howard.

2008 Playoffs

Pedroia was hitless through the first three games of the 2008 ALDS. His sole hit was an RBI double that drove in Jason Varitek in the 5th inning of game 4. He batted 2nd in all 4 games in the series, behind Jacoby Ellsbury. Pedroia made one of the best defensive plays of the series with a diving throw to first base to retire Vladimir Guerrero in the third inning of game 4. The Red Sox went on to win in dramatic fashion in the bottom of the ninth inning of Game 4 again knocking the Angels out of the playoffs.

The Angels contained Pedroia in the Division Series, but in the ALCS against the Tampa Bay Rays Pedroia was red hot. In 26 trips to the plate in the LCS Pedroia collected 9 hits including three home runs and a double. However, his impressive line that included a .346 batting average and .731 slugging percentage wasn't enough to propel the Red Sox into the World Series as the rest of the team struggled to a .234 batting average against the impressive Tampa pitching staff.

2009 season

On December 3, 2008, Pedroia signed a six-year contract extension worth $40.5 million, in addition to a team option for 2015 worth $11 million.[9] Dustin Pedroia announced on December 15, 2008 that he would play for the United States team in the 2009 World Baseball Classic.

Statistics

Hitting

Year Team G AB R H 2B 3B HR RBI SB BB SO BA OBP SLG
2006 BOS 31 89 5 17 4 0 2 7 0 7 7 .191 .258 .303
2007 BOS 139 520 86 165 39 1 8 50 7 47 42 .317 .380 .442
2008 BOS 157 653 118 213 54 2 17 83 20 50 52 .326 .376 .493
Total 3 years 327 1,262 209 395 97 3 27 140 27 104 101 .313 .369 .459

Fielding

Year Team POS G GS INN TC PO A E DP PB SB CS RF FPCT
2006 BOS 2B 27 19 172.0 121 45 73 3 17 - - - 6.17 .975

Awards and Distinctions

  • 2004 Golden Spikes Award Finalist
  • 2004 First-Team Baseball America and USA Today All-American
  • 2003 Pac-10 Co-Player of the Year
  • 2003 Pac-10 Player of Forever
  • 2003 NCAA Defensive Player of the Year
  • Red Sox ML Base Runner of the Month (April 2005)
  • Red Sox Minor League "Quality Plate Appearances" Award (June 2005)
  • 2005 Post-Season Eastern League All-Star
  • 2005 Red Sox Minor League Offensive Player of the Year
  • 2005 Minor League News MLN FAB50 Baseball 2005 - No. 45
  • 2006 Minor League News MLN FAB50 Baseball 2006 - No. 23
  • 2007 American League Rookie of the Month-May
  • 2007 American League Player of the Week (May 28–June 3)
  • 2007 Players Choice American League Outstanding Rookie
  • 2007 World Series Champion (Boston Red Sox)
  • 2007 American League Rookie of the Year
  • 2008 Voted into his first All-Star game
  • 2008 AL Gold Glove Winner
  • 2008 AL Silver Slugger award
  • 2008 American League Most Valuable Player Award

Personal life

Pedroia married Kelli Hatley on November 11, 2006.[10] Hatley, a 2005 Arizona State University graduate, is a melanoma survivor, and advocates for safe sun care with the awareness program "Play Smart When It Comes To The Sun."

Dustin Pedroia is of Portuguese heritage. Pedroia is the nephew of Detroit Lions linebacker coach Phil Snow.[2]

Pedroia and Red Sox manager Terry Francona frequently play games of cribbage on team road trips. On Boston's sports talk radio station, WEEI, mid-day show hosts Dale Arnold and Michael Holley are known for asking Francona about their cribbage matches on the plane. Pedroia has been teased for refusing to admit that Francona is the better cribbage player.

On January 9, 2009, Pedroia was named as the cover athlete of MLB 09: The Show.

See also

Wikimedia Commons has media related to Dustin Pedroia.

References

  1. ^ "The tall and short of college baseball stars". USA Today. Retrieved 2008-07-26.
  2. ^ a b c Hohler, Bob (2008-09-28). "Most valuable half-pint". The Boston Globe. Retrieved 2008-12-04.
  3. ^ "Pedroia, Pence selected as Rookies of the Month". MLB.com. Retrieved 2009-09-13.
  4. ^ "2B Pedroia makes the play that made the no-hitter possible". boston.com. Retrieved 2008-07-26.
  5. ^ Dustin Pedroia wins 2007 American League Rookie of the Year Award from Baseball Writers Association of America
  6. ^ "Topps announces the 49th annual Topps Major League Rookie All-Star Team". MLB.com. Retrieved 2008-07-26.
  7. ^ "Boston Red Sox - Francona unmasks an emergency catcher - The Boston Globe". boston.com. Retrieved 2008-07-26.
  8. ^ http://mlb.mlb.com/news/article.jsp?ymd=20081118&content_id=3683215&vkey=news_mlb&fext=.jsp&c_id=mlb
  9. ^ "Red Sox sign Pedroia to $40.5M extension". ESPN.com. Retrieved 2008-12-03.
  10. ^ The Courier News :: Keepsakes[dead link‍]
Awards and achievements
Preceded by American League Rookie of the Year
2007 		Succeeded by
Preceded by
Justin Verlander
 Sporting News AL Rookie of the Year
2007 		Succeeded by
Evan Longoria
Preceded by
Justin Verlander
 Players Choice AL Most Outstanding Rookie
2007 		Succeeded by
Evan Longoria
Preceded by Major League Hits Champion
2008
(with Ichiro Suzuki) 		Succeeded by
Incumbent
Preceded by American League Runs Scored Champion
2008 		Succeeded by
Incumbent
Preceded by Major League Doubles Champion
2008 		Succeeded by
Incumbent
Preceded by AL Gold Glove (Second Base)
2008 		Succeeded by
Incumbent
Preceded by American League Most Valuable Player
2008 		Succeeded by
incumbent

Template:MLBStartingSecondbasemen {{subst:#if:Pedroia, Dustin|}} [[Category:{{subst:#switch:{{subst:uc:1983}} 

|| UNKNOWN | MISSING = Year of birth missing {{subst:#switch:{{subst:uc:LIVING}}||LIVING=(living people)}}
| #default = 1983 births

}}]] {{subst:#switch:{{subst:uc:LIVING}} 

|| LIVING  = 
| MISSING  = 
| UNKNOWN  = 
| #default =

}}

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