Dustin Pedroia hit his 1,500th career hit in today’s game against the Rays. To celebrate it, here’s a look at his first season with the Red Sox.
Nine years ago, the Red Sox were trying to rebound from a disappointing 2006 season where they finished in third place and missed the playoffs. That offseason they signed Daisuke Matsuzaka and had some drama with Jonathan Papelbon, since it was planned for him to be a starter, but after showing that he was healthy he ended up being the closer for the team.
Dustin Pedroia was the starting second baseman on Opening Day batting 9th, but he didn’t impress anyone in his first month in the majors. Fans wanted Alex Cora to replace him since he was leading the team with a .360 batting average. Heading into May, Pedroia was hitting a mediocre .172 with a .536 OPS, but everything changed a few days later. Pedroia had a two-hit performance against Johan Santana (who at the time was one of the best pitchers in baseball) on May 5, and never looked back. He managed to hit .443 for the rest of May and started June with a .323 batting average.
By the All-Star break, the second baseman had a .318 batting average with 25 RBI and 21 doubles. From that point forward he became a staple in the Red Sox lineup, both offensively and defensively. The team was trying to give the fans a winning season with a chance at the playoffs and Pedroia was the spark they needed.
Maybe one of the brightest highlights of Pedroia’s regular season came in Clay Buchholz‘s no-hitter, where he made an incredible diving stop to keep the no-no intact. At that moment, we knew that Pedroia was going to be one of the best defensive second basemen of all-time.
By September 10, the second baseman found out that he had cracked a bone in his left hand, but that didn’t stop him and he continued to play until the last out of the World Series.
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The Red Sox finished the 2007 regular season as the best team in the major leagues, tied with the Cleveland Indians with a 96-66 record. Eventually, they would face them in the ALCS and beat them in seven games thanks to Pedroia. In Game 7 of the ALCS, with the Red Sox winning by only one run in the bottom half of the seventh, Pedroia launched a two-run shot into the Monster seats to give the team some insurance runs and a 5-2 lead. It was Pedroia’s first home run of the postseason, but the next one would be even bigger.
After beating the Indians in the ALCS, the Red Sox faced the Rockies in the World Series with Pedroia again setting the tone for the series. The Rockies sent Jeff Francis to the mound in Game 1 and after he threw the very first pitch of the game, Pedroia hit a solo home run over the Green Monster to give the Red Sox an early 1-0 lead. From that point forward, the Red Sox looked more confident than ever to win the World Series for a second time in three years.
Pedroia was awarded as the first Red Sox player since Nomar Garciaparra in 1997 to win the AL Rookie of the Year Award, earning 24 of 28 first place votes. His teammates Matsuzaka and Hideki Okajima placed fourth and eighth place respectively, showing again how promising the future was for the Red Sox.
A year later, Pedroia won the AL MVP Award, becoming the third player ever to win it after being named Rookie of the Year, joining Cal Ripken Jr and Ryan Howard. He has been with the team for almost a decade, becoming an icon and hero for the city of Boston.
In a time where it is uncommon for a player to retire with his first team without ever leaving, Pedroia seems to be an outlier.