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.
My favorite is his response to the Rockies security guard who asked for his ID: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!"
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."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.
I was just coming to post that quote. It deserves to be presented in its full glory, as it was published in USA Today: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."
Agree on all counts. And it still gets me upset just thinking about it.One of my favorites during his entire career. So much fun to watch play the game. Fuck Manny Machado.
Aren't those mindless sports media pieces part of the joy of spring training?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".
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.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.
This captures it to me.I loved watching the guy play. He had no fear.
Yup, I’ll miss this man. He was my favorite for a long time. Fucking Muddy Chicken.My favorite profile of Pedroia is the Sports Illustrated cover story Tom Verducci wrote in 2011. The writing is overly wrought, but Verducci sure did capture the essence of the man.
https://vault.si.com/vault/2011/08/15/the-muddy-chicken-hits-it-big
That was Papelbnon on LettermanI 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!
Thank you! That has been bugging me. Here's the transcript from The Globe for reference.That was Papelbnon on Letterman
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.
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.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.