The Red Sox second baseman threw it back to his All-Star days with last night’s performance.
For the better part of a decade, Dustin Pedroia was regarded throughout baseball (not just New England) as one of, if not the best second baseman in the game. At age 33, the Red Sox veteran will miss out on his fourth straight All-Star game, meaning those days are firmly behind him. After 12 years of playing through injury, the wear and tear of the game have caught up.
But that doesn’t mean Pedroia is no longer the lifeblood of the Red Sox. Pedey is now the undeniable veteran presence in a locker room that relied on David Ortiz’s leadership for so long. He’s the longest tenured Red Sox by about six years, is one of just five other players that remain from the 2013 World Series, and is the only player left from the 2007 World Series. He’s still the engine that moves the other 24 guys in the locker room.
Now and then, Pedroia will remind us of that player that electrified Red Sox Nation in the early stages of his career. Monday night’s performance in Arlington was another one of those Renaissance moments.
He did it all for the Red Sox, going 3-for-5 with four RBIs in the club’s 7-5 extra inning victory. His night started with a two-run single to give his team a second inning lead. In the sixth, he added another RBI with his second single of the game, plating Tzu-Wei Lin after a wild pitch scored a run to give the Red Sox a lead.
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The four RBIs jump off the scoresheet, but the quality of his defensive plays made him the most valuable player on the field that night.
In the ninth inning, Carlos Gomez hit a soft roller to third baseman Deven Marrero, who charged and threw past first baseman Mitch Moreland. Pedroia, prepared as always, was there to back up his first baseman. With Gomez turning for second after recognizing the errant throw, Pedroia collected the ball as it caromed off the brick wall in Globe Life Park and made one of the plays of the year.
Somehow, he was able to lay out with his bare hand and deliver a strike to Moreland who then applied the tag on Gomez’s shoulder. After Craig Kimbrel gave up a rare game-tying homer in the ninth, Pedroia delivered exactly what the team needed heading into extras.
It’s no surprise then that Red Sox manager John Farrell, who has been with the team for most of Pedroia’s 12-year career, was hard-pressed to find a better single-game performance.
"“Pedey had such a tremendous night,” Boston manager John Farrell said, as seen on NESN’s Red Sox postgame coverage. “He’s had a lot of great seasons here, a lot of great games, but tonight might be one of the better games he’s played in a Red Sox uniform. He was the right man in the right spot at the plate, he was everywhere defensively.”"
Pedroia’s reaction? Just another day at the office for him. When asked about his performance by ESPN’s Scott Lauber, he said he was “just backing up the base.” As for Farell’s claim that the Rookie of the Year, MVP, and four-time All-Star had never played a better game, Pedroia was equally nonchalant.
"“I don’t know,” he said. “He’s seen me play a lot. I just try to play the same every night, you know what I mean? That’s it. Show up to the yard to compete and try to win a game.”"
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If there’s one thing we’ll always be able to count on with Pedroia, even as his body starts to slow and the miles accumulate, it will be his determination to compete night in and night out. And while regular trips to the All-Star game are behind him, he’ll be putting up highlight reel plays for a long time.