Red Sox: Dustin Pedroia a possible GDP champion
By Rick McNair
Boston Red Sox second baseman Dustin Pedroia is in hot pursuit of a GDP championship and that is not a bad thing.
Dustin Pedroia has an opportunity to lead the league in a category that the Boston Red Sox do have a historical background in being quite adept at doing – hitting into double-plays, or GDP (Grounded Into Double-Plays ).
The last Boston player to garner the coveted title was Adrian Gonzalez in 2011 with 28. Prior to that, you have to drift all the way back to 1988 when Wade Boggs finished first with 23. Boggs also led the American League in batting average, doubles, runs, walks, OBP and OPS.
The double-play has two interesting components and they are often linked. The first is you have to be capable of hitting the daylights out of the ball and the second is being a bit slow afoot. Pedroia easily fits into the first category with Boggs and Gonzalez has a clear handle on both. A-Gone would certainly need Steven Wright to pinch run for him.
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The Red Sox dot the list of American League GDP champions – a tally that was first deemed reasonably important starting in 1939. That was the inaugural year for keeping the GDP ledger for the American League and Boston had Joe Vosmik lead with 27. Vosmik played left field and hit .307 for his career and was far from a speed merchant with 23 steals in 14 seasons.
Bobby Doerr is in the baseball Hall of Fame and twice led the league. Another powerful right-hand hitter – Vern Stephens – also capture a pair of titles. Doerr was also the first to shatter the magical 30 barrier in DP production in the American League. Jackie Jensen had a unique “triple” in 1954. Jensen led the league in stolen bases, sacrifice flies, and “won” the double-play championship. I could not find another player that led in both steals and DP’s – a nice trivia question. Jensen was also a three-time champion in DP’s.
In the 1960’s the Red Sox added Dick Stuart, George Scott, Frank Malzone and Carl Yastrzemski (2) to the list. Stuart could certainly mash, but ran like he was in wet cement. Stuart and Malzone tied for the title in 1963 and there was no recorded post season attempt to clarify a clear winner.
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Jim Rice brought the GDP to an art form and certainly earned the well-respected nickname of “6-4-3” for his wondrous accomplishments. Rice led the league four consecutive years (1982-85) racking up an incredible 131 in the four years. If you saw Rice hit the ball you could understand that number. I have never seen anyone hit a ball as hard as Rice. Jim Ed also is the all-time single season leader with 36
A look at the career leaders for hitting into double-plays show longevity – which would be obvious, but it shows hitting ability. David Ortiz is tied for 53rd place with Chili Davis – the Red Sox batting coach. This tie will probably be broken between keystrokes. The rest of the list is littered with Hall of Fame players, batting champions, Most Valuable Players and names that just about any fan would recognize. This ignominious list is actually reserved for the best of the best.
The active list reflects this talent level and all you need to do is see who is number one – Albert Pujols, with Miguel Cabrera trailing far behind. Pedroia is comfortably way down on the list at 136, but this season his “skill” is certainly representative of just how well he has come back to haunt pitchers. The laser show is certainly back.
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This competition will come down to the final day as currently Cabrera and Yunel Escobar are a scant one ahead of our Pedey. Don’t count out Ortiz who trails Pedroia by a single DP. Escobar is also somewhat of a defending champion since he led the National League in 2015 while with the Washington Nationals.
Source: Baseball-Reference