Can't say it better than this.Of all the major sports, baseball is the one you could imagine yourself playing. You don't have to be seven feet tall, or impossibly fast on ice skates, or built to withstand collisions with 300-pound linemen. You watch the game, and you can see the players' faces, and the way they stand in the box, and you can see yourself there.
But, of course, that illusion only lasts so long. By the time you hit puberty, you know about athleticism, and, odds are, you know about it because you've learned that you don't have it. It's the other kids who can run the fastest, and jump the highest -- the other ones who move with impossible grace. And as you start become a more knowledgeable fan, you start to recognize that ease of movement on screen -- in the balance of a pitcher who repeats his complex motion, or the quickness of an outfielder who gets to every ball, or the simple ease with which Ken Griffey, Jr., swings a baseball bat.
So you find yourself drawn to players like Dustin Pedroia. A person-sized person, who seems to play the game the way you imagine you might be able to. In him, you see proof that the things you have -- energy, enthusiasm, desire -- can, in fact, make up for the athleticism and talent you will never have.
The thing is, it's a lie. Yes, he's short, like you. But he is not, in fact, great the way you imagine you, yourself, could have been great. He is great the way he is great. What substitutes for his lack of height and muscle isn't desire, but rather quickness, and hand-eye coordination, and supernatural control over four otherwise-ordinary limbs. You may admire him because he seems ordinary, but he is just as athletically transcendent as anyone else on the field. And when that athleticism fades, stolen prematurely by fate and bad luck and Manny fucking Machado, it turns out that all that want-to isn't enough after all.
Which feels like a tragedy. It is a tragedy. But: It's also a reminder that he didn't need to play the game that hard in the first place. He wouldn't have been there if he hadn't been good enough to be there. All the energy -- the extra bases and defensive outs he took not by virtue of athleticism but simply because he thought to take them when others might not have -- it was just the way he chose to play. All the dirt-dog bullshit wasn't a substitute for athletic talent, but a celebration of it.
And, in the end, that's why we all loved Dustin Pedroia. Not because he was a regular dude Just Like Us, but because he was a superstar athlete who felt as fortunate and excited to be one as we would. Watching him turn a double play was like watching Gronk body a safety or Lebron sprint the length of the court to block a layup. You could see how much he loved that his body let him perform these incredible feats. Nobody I've ever watched enjoyed playing baseball more. He deserved to be able to do more of it. I'm glad he did it for my team.
*checks sarcasm meter*Not to mention the fact that it was in an 8-0 game.
I mean it as a compliment. It's one thing to throw yourself at a ground ball with the winning run on third base. Quite another to do it on a ground ball that doesn't really matter.*checks sarcasm meter*
Shit. Not sure if this thing is working or not...
Do you remember the game state at the time, and why that play mattered a lot in an 8-0 game?I mean it as a compliment. It's one thing to throw yourself at a ground ball with the winning run on third base. Quite another to do it on a ground ball that doesn't really matter.
Aaaaaand I'm an idiot.Do you remember the game state at the time, and why that play mattered a lot in an 8-0 game?
The slide was overly aggressive, but in light of the rules that had recently been put in place after the Utley slide, it felt worse than it was. I think Pedroia's response to it was the one everyone else should have, but didn't adopt. His knees were already bad. He'd just had relatively experimental surgery on it that had no guarantees of prolonging his playing time. Maybe Machado sped up his demise, but I don't think he'd have been playing regularly the last couple years or not retiring today had it not happened.How bad was Machado's slide? I just watched a replay and it didn't seem overly unusual, hard slide through the base. Also there's a quote upthread where Pedroia was waiting for it to blow out on him. I'm no fan of Machado, but it seems like the real Dustin Pedroia story is that his career ground down thanks to long-running knee problems, not some Conigliaro-like moment when it was all cruelly taken away.
Well saidPeople here are so much better in their writing than I am, but I wanted to put into words how much Dustin Pedroia meant to me.
Pedey's rookie season was the my senior spring year of college. I remember buying the MLB Extra Innings (even for just 5 weeks so I could watch the Sox in my apartment) and loving the guy right off the bat (even though those first 5 weeks he didn't hit above .200).
Shortly after college in '07 I moved to Boston and went to every home Sox game that year (this isn't an exaggeration). I was new to the town, didn't know anyone, and the Sox were my life. I watched Pedey as a ball player and it didn't take long to see how, "baseball smart," he was. When others would go first to third on a ball off the Monster, Pedey seemed to always score. He could read the ball off the bat so well. I would text my dad during games when someone wouldn't score on a double, "Pedey would have scored on that." My dad was a baseball coach his entire life and understood the game better than anyone I ever knew. We would always talk about Pedroia's baseball IQ.
I remember that play he made to save Laptop's no-hitter vs the O's. That homerun against, "Jeff fucking Francis," was the first World Series game I ever saw in person. To see it with my dad was something I will never forget. I had multiple shirts from the outside Fenway vendors (Pedroia the Destroya was my favorite).
In 2008, I missed one Sox home game and my love for Pedroia the player continued to grow. The kids I taught in my classes all said I looked like him (in reality, it was only our hairline that looked alike). 5'8 and bulletproof was my new shirt I wore from the Fenway vendors. Watching him play was a joy. In 2010 after he fouled off the ball in San Francisco and broke his foot (just a day after his 5-5 3 HR performance against the Rockies) I was so bummed not being able to watch him play. Seeing him pre-game take grounders on his knees as he recovered was just so Pedroia. I remember people saying it was a hardo type move but to this day, I don't think it was. I just think he loved baseball THAT much.
As the years went on, my love for the Sox seemed to be different. Life was complicated now (Dad was sick, job was busy, etc). I still loved the Sox but now I would only go to a handful of games a year. 2013 I was lucky enough to go to the World Series game again with my dad. We sadly couldn't go to the home clincher, but I was there for Game 1 wearing my Pedroia jersey proudly. Another amazing memory of the Sox, Pedroia and me and my dad.
I lost my dad 2.5 years ago - shortly before the Sox won it in '18. Baseball and the Sox haven't been the same for me since (and I don't imagine they ever will be). What I wouldn't give right now to watch Dustin score from first on a double - or even more so, to be able to text my dad when someone didn't score, "Pedey would have scored on that."
Thank you Dustin for all the wonderful memories.
Nice breakdown. I don't think I've ever heard one person ever complain about his contract thoughIn defense of Pedroia's contract, possibly the only complaint anyone ever had about the guy, other than his bad luck with his knee.
* Total career earnings: $138m (including deferred money still to come)
* Total career bWAR: 51.6
* $/bWAR: an absurdly low $2.67m
Even since his contract kicked in in 2012, he rang up 25 bWAR in 2012-20, during which he was paid about $125m, a still very low $5m/bWAR. So on top of all the obvious ways in which we can say how great he was for the Sox, even the answer to "yeah OK but his big contract didn't pay off for the team" is "oh yes it did."
He was a joy to have around, set a great team culture, and I'm glad I watched a ton of games during his healthy years so I can fully appreciate him.
More people bemoaning the cap consequences of his deal once he was unable to get healthy. I think we are unanimous in our appreciation of Petey.Well said
Nice breakdown. I don't think I've ever heard one person ever complain about his contract though
It was regularly quoted around here that when he signed, he did so for a discount. As you correctly pointed out, he earned every penny of it
The little hop to get ready before every pitch which you never saw on TV was always awesome.Pedroia did an interview with Jerry Remy back in 2017 or 2018 on NESN where he ticked off the something like THIRTY things he checked before each pitch as a second baseman in the field. Remy--obv. a second baseman himself--was absolutely in awe.
I wish I could find that video because it was incredible and a perfect example of what a hard fucking worker he was.
One of the last "hometown" discounts the MLBPA allowed. Every damn penny. We. were so damn lucky to witness his era in Boston.Well said
Nice breakdown. I don't think I've ever heard one person ever complain about his contract though
It was regularly quoted around here that when he signed, he did so for a discount. As you correctly pointed out, he earned every penny of it
A lot of us posted in the retrospective thread 2 weeks ago.Dustin would be so pissed to see how few replies there are on this thread.
I think there were more posts on the "Thanks Lenny Dinardo" thread.