Dustin Pedroia Retires (2/1/21)

Not to anyone's surprise, star Red Sox second basement Dustin Pedroia called it a career today. The baseball equivalent of Dave Cowens of the Boston Celtics hung up the spikes when his problematic knee wouldn't allow him to be Dustin Pedroia anymore. He was the ultimate underdog from 2006 to his last game in 2019. He missed a good portion of 2017 and nearly all of 2018 and 2019. It was time for him to step away before he did any permanent damage to his knee. We'll miss Dustin for sure and hopefully see him in Cooperstown.

                                                             Thanks for the memories

Pedroia came up at the end of 2006 and hit .191 as a backup to Mark Loretta and fill-in for Alex Gonzalez. Fans at the time didn't see him doing much despite his reputation for spraying base hits all over the field in the minors. 

                                                                Pedroia in 06

At the beginning of 2007, Pedroia was struggling to hit as the starting second basemen. Fans and radio personalities were calling for him to be demoted in favor of backup second basemen Alex Cora....yes, THAT Alex Cora. Dustin then suddenly transformed into Bobby Doerr as he captured AL Rookie of the Year honors with .317 batting average, 8 homers and 50 runs batted in. He teamed with fellow rookie Jacoby Ellsbury as a 1-2 punch in the post-season that helped the Red Sox win the World Series.

                                                         World champs

Pedroia looked like the next great second basemen when he bettered his stats in 2008. He led the league in runs, hits and doubles and captured American League MVP Honors. Injuries to Josh Beckett and Mike Lowell derailed the Red Sox in their quest to repeat as World Series champs although it was Pedroia's leadoff home run in Game 7 that accounted for Boston's only run of that game.

                                                           Pedroia's Game 7 homer

Pedroia led the league in runs scored in 2009 for another Sox team that made the playoffs but his injury woes started in 2010 when he tore a knee that ended up limiting him to just 75 games. Pedroia had a good bounceback season in 2011, taking a backseat to his partner Ellsbury's MVP runner up season. After Bobby Valentine stunk up the 2012 Red Sox, Pedroia was an integral part of the 2013 World Series run. A bad wrist sapped him of his power but he still managed to hit .301 out of the three spot for the eventual world champs.

                                                    Pedroia's last real hurrah in the World Series

As with the rest of the team, Pedroia had a down year in 2014 (for him that is) as he hit "only" .278 as the Sox plummeted into last place. The bad knee once again limited him to just 93 games in 2015 but had one last good season in 2016. He hit .318 with 15 homers including a go-ahead shot against the Angels in Anaheim. Dustin also made a Spiderman-esque romp to home plate in Tampa to secure Boston's 11th win in a row in September of that season. If fans want to remember Dustin as the player he was before he retired, that's the season they should think of.

                                                            Mr. Mookie approves

The knee clearly bothered him in 2017 as he appeared in 105 games for the AL East champs and he was never the same. He appeared in just 3 games for the 108 win World Series champs in 2018 and just 6 in 2019. He didn't play at all in 2020 and finally called it a career on the eve of the 2021 season. Its a shame things ended how they did but rarely does a player go out on top like David Ortiz. Someday Dustin may be enshrined in the Hall of Fame, he may not. He was always fun to watch for the last 14 years. Goodbye Dustin, and thank you.