Pedroia named AL Rookie of the Year

Pedroia a cut above the rest
Red Sox second baseman named AL Rookie of the Year
By Ian Browne / MLB.com

BOSTON -- Back on May 1, when Dustin Pedroia was hitting .182, it would have been hard to imagine that just a few months later that he'd be taking home an award for his excellence.

But Pedroia never lost confidence in himself, and neither did Red Sox manager Terry Francona.

The diminutive second baseman just kept swinging, and his determined approach culminated in the American League Rookie of the Year Award on Monday. Pedroia became the first Red Sox player to win the trophy since Nomar Garciaparra did so in 1997.

Pedroia was listed first on 24 of the 28 ballots submitted by two writers in each league city and second on the other four to total 132 points. The Rays' Delmon Young finished second behind Pedroia with 56 points, and the Royals' Brian Bannister tallied 36 to place third in the vote. Pedroia's fellow teammates Daisuke Matsuzaka (12 points) and Hideki Okajima (3) came in fourth and sixth place, respectively.

For much of his baseball life, Pedroia has been told that he was too small and that his swing was too big. But Pedroia -- who is generously listed at 5-foot-9 -- knew he wasn't going to grow anymore, and he continually pointed out that his big swing led to success at every level he ever played at.

So Pedroia just kept doing what he was doing, even when things were at their bleakest earlier this season, and he wound up being a key member for a team that won the 2007 World Series.

Pedroia finished 10th in the AL this season with a .317 average. That batting average was the all-time best for rookie second basemen, as Pedroia beat out Jim Viox of the 1913 Pirates by two percentage points.

The 24-year-old Pedroia -- who was drafted by the Red Sox with the 65th overall pick in the 2004 First-Year Player Draft -- led all Major League rookies in doubles with 39 and was second in on-base percentage (.380) and third in runs (86).

After the rough April, Pedroia hit .415 in May, .333 in June, .299 in July, .346 in August and .302 in September.

Following a tough AL Division Series against the Angels in which Pedroia hit .154, he bounced back to hit .345 in the AL Championship Series against the Indians. And Pedroia got off to a most dramatic start in the World Series vs. the Rockie, leading off the bottom of the first inning with a home run over the Green Monster.

Making Pedroia's postseason heroics even more impressive is the fact he recently confided that he was playing with a cracked hamate bone in his left hand, an injury that was diagnosed on Sept. 10.

Though he's known for his offense, Pedroia played excellent defense for the Red Sox all season, making just six errors and producing a .990 fielding percentage.

Yay. he is good!

You suck Red Sox!

Oh, congratulations Dustin but don't forget - cribbage is for old ladies!

catbox_9 wrote:

You suck Red Sox!

Oh, congratulations Dustin but don't forget - cribbage is for old ladies!

I like cribbage!!

Congrats Dustin but I have a question... Is Jacoby still a rookie after this year? I heard he was but I figure cat will know for sure

SoulRat wrote:

Congrats Dustin but I have a question... Is Jacoby still a rookie after this year? I heard he was but I figure cat will know for sure

Jacoby Oh sorry, I think he is. They were saying something about it during the WS and he only played like a month or something like that, but I could be wrong.

No mrsrabelo, I don't think you're wrong, I swear I heard that too :haha: though I could have been distracted by, well, Jacoby

Jacoby distracting???*










*note sarcasm

no.... not much

SoulRat wrote:

Congrats Dustin but I have a question... Is Jacoby still a rookie after this year? I heard he was but I figure cat will know for sure

He most certainly is a rookie next year:

In order to qualify for the award a player must not exceed either of the following, prior to the season under consideration:

* 130 at bats or 50 innings pitched in the major leagues
* 45 days on the active rosters of major league clubs (excluding time on the disabled list or any time after rosters are expanded on September 1)

SoulRat wrote:

catbox_9 wrote:

You suck Red Sox!

Oh, congratulations Dustin but don't forget - cribbage is for old ladies!

I like cribbage!!

I guess 30 is the new 60...

Thank you cat :mwah: And hey! I'm not old! I play cribbage with my grandma :haha:

I don't play cribbage with mine! I try my best to avoid her...

SHIT! I have to see her....even worse her daughter (my HALF aunt) and her son who is even worse (believe it or not) will be there.


Kill me now!

Nah, you'll live... quit complaining! If I have to spend the holidays with my disfunctional family, you can sit with yours

I'll be mine is worse! Let's trade stories and see!

I have to drink just to get through the 2-3 hours a year I have to be in the same house as them... my brother does too

I can't even drink! I have to be the designated driver. Normally I like my mom, but starting about 2 years ago her goal was to get as hammered as possible and make a complete fool out of herself.

Hey! That's MY goal!

And then my mom starts saying really stupid stuff. I mean, I don't care to hear about her sexual habits! And I really don't want to hear her ask her mother (who is 78) "did you ever give my dad a blowjob?"

!!!

Not funny!

And then there's my gay-assed HALF cousin....

catbox_9 wrote:

Not funny!

And then there's my gay-assed HALF cousin....

That most certainly IS funny! My brother and I get all drunk and gang up on my mom... like why she never let us do anything cool... ever.... and then she gets mad at us and won't talk to us :haha:

That sounds fine. Much better than my family. Then there's that aforementioned partial family member....

What's wrong with your half-cousin?

Well... then my dad gets mad at us for making our mother cry on christmas and yells at us like we are two and instead of feeling bad, we laugh at him because he's a redneck... and then my aunt gets drunk and tries to pretend she likes the rest of us, which is hilarious because she's a snob from hell and wouldn't be caught dead with us on any other night of the year, yet she is such a good person because she attends church regularly... then my other aunt who has eating disorders goes in the bathroom and pukes, but she still brings her own bowls to take home leftovers in ... and then we discuss why my gay ass cousin got kicked out of the military... you should come with us, it's always fun :haha:

Your family sounds better than mine.

I don't even know where to begin with that little bastard. He's something like 15 or 16 years old I guess (sophomore in high school). He's a vegetarian, surely gay, and so damn annoying and loud and irritating. He hits my grandmother (I don't care for her, but I don't hit 78 year old women).

He's obsessed with how much he weighs and once at a restaurant he asked the waitress if he should try to diet or try to gain weight so that he could get liposuction.

Then there's his mother who's been 51-50'd several times now...

!!! What did the waitress say??

She just kind of slowly backed away.

And then he insisted on ordering soda water since it's free and healthy (it is?). Of course he spiced each glass up with about 5 packets of sugar....

And the dumb bastard is like in love with my sister. It's either boys or her I guess. If you go to his myspace (I DO NOT use myspace) it's got practically a shrine to her....

most missed memory: being with Katie (my sister's name)
best friend: Katie
idol: Katie

Too bad Katie hates him, too (and tells him that all the time)!

omg

My brother and I HATE our cousin because he was always a spoiled little brat and everyone felt sorry for him because his parents got divorced when we were kids... OH yeah and his father, my uncle, he is a pervert from hell and tries to touch every woman there, including me

Yeah, this kid is a spoiled brat, too. My grandmother admits he's the favorite even though he hits her and stuff. He's left her bruised plenty of times...

What's wrong with that uncle? All those women are of age, right?

That's just disgusting... who the hell hits their grandma??!!

This uncle is a pervert. He went away when we were younger for a "rest" because he kept exposing himself to his neighbor