F*CK YEAH MY LITTLE PONY!!!

It's not breaking news that our very own Dustin Pedroia is the 2009 Rawlings Gold Glove winner at 2nd base. It's a well-deserved honor. Put it on your shelf, Dusty, and hope that your shiny MVP award will be sitting next to it soon.

Speaking of the AL MVP award....it's coming soon. Here are some other dates you may want to jot down on your calendar.

November 10th: Rookie of the Year Announced
November 12th: Manager of the Year Announced
November 13th: AL Cy Young Winner Announced
November 14th: Free Agents are....free
November 18th: AL MVP Winnter Announced
December 1st: Last day to offer salary arbitration
December 7th: Last day for those offered arbitration to accept
February 25th: Red Sox Spring Training Begins!
April 6th: Opening Day at Fenway Park!

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Happy "Talk Like a Pirate" Day

No, no, no not these Pirates (although their logo is fully appropriate)
Yinz see, we're not gowen to talk like iss today while drinking arn dahn at da park.

This is more like itAye, we're goin' t' kick some Blue Jays booty while drinkin' Sam Adams down at the Park Gar. Ahoy, Rays beware, we're comin' t' get you, gar! Where can I find a bottle o'rum?

Talk like a Pirate day is fully legit - so get to it! Here are some fellow blogger friends who have already spread the love

• The Missus Talks Like a Pirate
• Liquor Snob Teaches You to Drink Like a Pirate
  
• Jere recognizes Talk Like a Pirate Day
• Scholars and Rogues Talks Like a Social Media Pirate
  

And Rapscallions, don't forget t' join the Dustin Pedroia for MVP Group on Facebook t' show support for our fa'orite sailor cursin', rum swiggin' Red Sox Pirate Aye, me parrot concurs.

Thanks to SoxyLady friend, Jeff Foulks, for his speedy photoshop work as I'm currently sans image editing software.

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Red Sox Tied for First Place in the Division

As I head to bed tonight, I want to leave you with a little something to put a smile on your face.

Make sure to join the Dustin Pedroia for MVP Group on Facebook!

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The Magic Number Is..........

..........to clinch a playoff spot.

And our hats off to Dustin Pedroia (for MVP) tonight for getting his 200th hit this season in tonight's win against Toronto. He is only the third Red Sox Player to get 200 hits and 50 doubles in a single season. Who were the other two? Tris Speaker (1912) and Wade Boggs (1989).

Make sure to join the Dustin Pedroia for MVP Group on Facebook!

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Dustin Pedroia for MVP

Is there anyone left in RSN who isn't convinced our very own "F@ck yeah" kid should be the 2008 American League MVP?*

Need a little nudging? As of the time of the blog post these are Pedroia's stats in the American League

Offense

• 1st in number of Runs (112)
• 1st in number of Hits (193)
• 1st in BA (.327)
  
• 1st in Doubles (48)
• 1st in 4-Hit Games (7)
  
• 3rd in number of At Bats (602)
• 3rd in Total Bases (300)
  
• Tied for 7th for most games played (143)
• Tied for 10th for Sac Flies (7)
  
• Tied for 12th for OBP (.377)
• Tied for 14th for Sac Hits (6)
  
• 18th for SLG (.498)
  
• Tied for 18th for Stolen Bases (17)
  
• Tied for 22nd for RBIs (78)
  
• Tied for 36th in Homeruns (17)
• Tied for 47th in Walks (45)**
  

Defense

• Fielding Percentage of .991
• 6 errors in 661 total chances
• Turned 89 Double Plays
  

*My dad thinks Pedroia's biggest competition for AL MVP is Rangers player Josh Hamiltion. You know, the guy with the amazing story. More than his story, are his stats which may give Pedroia a run for his money.

Player	TEAM	POS	G	AB	R	H	2B	3B	HR	RBI	TB	BB	SO	SB	CS	OBP	SLG	AVG
J Hamilton	TEX	OF	142	567	90	173	33	5	31	124	309	60	110	9	1	0.372	0.545	0.31
D Pedroia	BOS	2B	143	602	112	197	48	2	17	78	300	45	48	17	1	0.377	0.498	0.33

**Our Destroia doesn't walk much. He's too busy swinging. The Boston Globe had this to say yesterday

Dustin Pedroia has swung the bat 1,114 times this season. He has connected with 1,027 pitches and missed 87. Think about that. It's the best percentage in the majors this season.

Created with fd's Flickr Toys.
1. Dustin Pedroia, 2. Boston Red Sox vs. Chicago White Sox, 3. Dustin Pedroia, 4. Dustin Pedroia, 5. Dustin Pedroia, 6. Dustin Pedroia's double play...Damn!, 7. Dustin Pedroia, 8. All Star Game Parade20, 9. Dustin Pedroia, 10. Dustin Pedroia, 11. Dustin Pedroia, 12. Game 1: Dustin Pedroia leads off the bottom of the 1st with a HR, 13. Jason Kendall, 14. Dustin Pedroia, 15. Dustin Pedroia hacks, 16. Warmup_Pedroia, 17. Jones vs. Pedroia, looking to the ump, 18. Dustin Pedroia -BP-, 19. Pregame - Dustin Pedroia 4, 20. 2008 MLB All-Star Parade, Dustin Pedroia, 21. Dustin Pedroia's Salsa, 22. Dustin Pedroia, 23. Jones vs. Pedroia, applying the tag, 24. Pedroia Throwing to First, 25. Dustin Pedroia 1

Make sure to join the Dustin Pedroia for MVP Group on Facebook!

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Pedroia Kicks Major @ss!!!

Since there is no new news to report on the MikeVP Lowell signing I thought I'd highlight another player who is hoping our MVP will return to a Red Sox uniform.

Dustin "F*ck Yeah!" "Kick @ss" Pedroia.

Not only does he call Lowell his favorite teammate, he points out when the "Big Guys" weren't able to get it done this year, Lowell was there to carry the team.

“He got talked about a lot there at the end, but he didn’t get talked about as much as he should have. When David (Ortiz) was banged up, Manny (Ramirez) was hurt, and J.D. (Drew) was struggling a little bit, Mike Lowell was the guy who picked up the slack and carried us the whole year.”

“This year he was a big influence on a lot of guys,” the second baseman added. “He obviously helped out Jacoby (Ellsbury) when he came up. He made this atmosphere relaxed where a (youngster) could play in that certain situation. He’s part of everything.”

It continues to amaze me the way Lowells teammates speak out about him. At the very least, and I hope it doesn't come to this, at least Lowell knows the fans of Boston want him back and his teammates want him back.

But back to why Pedroia kicks @ss....
He told people yesterday that he's been playing at least since September 10th with a cracked hamate bone in his left hand. This is the same type of injury that sidelined Wily Mo for two months.

“Some days I would wake up and it would be hard to grip a bat,” Pedroia said. “I changed my grip a little bit on the bat and went from there. It was just one of those things you know you have to take care of after the season, but you have to play through. A lot of guys have done that. You definitely don’t want to shut it down and have surgery during the whole thing. We just had to find a way to fight through it.”

YES! Rock on Dirt Dog! I'm not saying it's possible to go out and play (well) every day with an injury but Papi did it this year with his knee and shoulder, and Pedroia did it with his hand. Both guys were major contributors to the World Series win.

Pedroia had surgery on Tuesday to "fix" his hand.....hopefully the pain will be forgotten when he wakes up next week as the American League Rookie of the Year!!!!

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"You’re 5-foot-6, you’re balding and you’re not an athlete…how the hell are you in the big leagues?"

Instead of focusing on last nights loss (although I might come back to it b/c I heard on EEI this morning that Judas Demon was shit talking after the game and I haven't heard/read what he said yet*) I just HAD to post an article about Dustin Pedroia.

I found this article from a post by Beth at Cursed to First who got it from Texas Gal who got it from Hacks with Haggs - man I love the blogesphere. Anyway, it's the best article I've read in a while and really gives you a great perspective into the relationship between a coach and a player. And into the "mind" of a major league player.

http://hackswithhaggs.com/2007/08/26/did-you-hear-the-story-about-pedroia.aspx

Some of my favorite quotes:

He’s really willed his way to the big leagues…he really has. Let’s break it
down: He’s 5-foot-6, he’s can’t run, he’s not strong, his bat speed and his
hands are tremendous because his arms are only about 11 inches long and so
close to his body that he’s not getting to anything hit 5 or 6 inches to the
right or left of him and he doesn’t have a lick of athletic ability…yet he’s
a rookie of the year candidate.

He’s just a throwback, this kid…his intent is very easily seen. He catches every ball that’s hit to him, he makes every throw accurately to get every out, and he centers the baseball on the barrel…that’s his game.

I’ve been trying to figure it out and I can’t. Mike Gallego is a good friend of mine and I used to tell him that he reminded me of Gags. That used to piss Pedroia off. He would say ‘Mike [expletive] Gallego, are you [expletive] me?’ and he would say that all the way back when he was a freshman. Can you imagine a freshman in college baseball reacting like that when you’re comparing him to a Major Leaguer…but that’s exactly the way Pedro is.

He is the most unique player I’ve ever been around and I don’t put anything past him.He moved to the big leagues and he struggled early, and I was worried about him…but the only thing I said to him is to stop being a wimp and to go out there and do it. I said to him ‘Pedro, you’re 5-foot-6, you’re balding and you’re not an athlete…how the hell are you in the big leagues? Figure that out and go get it done.’

Here’s our first meeting: he walks in and I’m in this little cubby hole office that I have in the stadium and he’s just got this plain white cut-off undershirt on. He walks by and he’s this pale white kid who is about 5-foot-6 and 130-pounds and he’s this big hullabaloo recruit. People are coming up to me and going ‘this is your big recruit shortstop?’ I’m like okay and then Pedroia walks by, flexes and then says ‘Hey Murph check out these guns, man.’ The guy has the biceps of a six-year-old, he has no business wearing a shirt with cut-off sleeves and I’m getting blinded by the shine from the head of a college freshman that’s going bald; then he just proceeded to go out and make every play.

*ohhhhhhhhh I just heard. "It's taken a number of players to replace me. I'm Johnny f'n Damon" Get over yourself. Loser.

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K-Dawg!

I was completely ready to name Dustin Pedroia player of last night's game. After all, he hit his fourth homerun and made, without a doubt, the best defensive play of the game. Gabbard threw hitless ball into the 5th but then got into a bit of trouble with the bases loaded. Tony Pena Jr hit a ball that bounced over the head of Gabbard and Pedroia charged it and threw him out at first, leaving the Royals with no runs.



But then rookie replacement for Curt Schilling, Kason Gabbard, pitched a complete game shutout. This was the first time a Sox rookie pitcher had done so in Fenway Park since Clemens in 84 (Paul Quantrill threw one in 93 but in Seattle), and the first time a Sox lefty rookie pitcher had done so at Fenway since Roger Moret in 71. How can you not name this kid player of the game? Since coming in to replace Schill during his days on the DL Gabbard has gone 3-0 with a 3.38 ERA and has 25 Ks!


I think I'm going to have to call it a draw and congratulate our kids (and yes, they are pretty much kids to me Pedroia being born in 1983 and Gabbard being born in 1982) on a game well played!

However, I don't want to forget to mention that both Manny and Papi drove balls out of the park! Woo! That is what I like to see!

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