Has it Been That Long?

It doesn’t seem all that long ago that Dustin Pedroia was a pudgy rookie from Arizona State, struggling to hit his weight. But that, as it turns out was 11 years ago.

Terry Francona’s former cribbage rival hit just .191 in his cup of coffee in 2006. He was off to a .172 start to his rookie season in 2007. There were people who were actually calling for him to be benched in favor of Alex Cora.

For the rest of the 2007 season, Pedey hit .335, and over the next 10 seasons. There hasn’t been a peep about benching him again. He won the 2007 Rookie of the Year Award, and the 2008 MVP, four Gold Gloves, four All-Star selections… and a Silver Slugger to boot.

He set the tone for the 2007 World Series sweep of the Rockies with this leadoff home run in Game One. It’s hard to believe, but Pedroia is the only member of the current Red Sox who was on the 2007 club.

Tracking Dustin Pedroia

• When Opening Day at Fenway hits the bottom of the fifth, he’ll tie Dom DiMaggio for 11th on the Red Sox all-time leaderboard in games played. If he plays 148 games this year, he’ll catch Jason Varitek for 10th.
• He’s currently 10th in runs scored, 114 behind Hall of Famer Harry Hooper.
• Pedroia’s 1683 career hits has him 9th on the Sox all-time list – just 24 behind Hooper for 8th.
• He’s 8th in total bases, needing 382 to catch Hall of Famer Wade Boggs for 7th.
• He needs six doubles to catch Hall of Famer Bobby Doerr for 6th in that category.
• His 133 career home runs have him tied with Kevin Youkilis and Trot Nixon for 18th.
• He needs 25 RBI to catch Boggs for 17th in club history; and 28 to catch Nomar Garciaparra for 16th.
• You may not think of Pedroia as a speed guy, but he’s tied for sixth in team history with Larry Gardner. He’s 7 shy of Heinie Wagner for 5th, and 34 behind Carl Yastrzemski for 4th.
• Lastly, his 523 career extra base hits has him just 14 behind Manny Ramirez for 8th.

How High Can He Go?

Actually, if he can stay relatively healthy, pretty high. Dustin Pedroia will turn 34 on August 17th. He’s signed to a team-friendly contract through 2021.

If he can put together four more years at a production level near the one we’ve come to expect, he’d approach the top five in franchise history in a number of categories.

• An average of 137 games a year would put him at 1945 games played, good for sixth, just 8 behind David Ortiz.
• 90 runs a year would get him to 1222 for his career, which would get him 4th place, just behind Jim Rice’s 1249.
• 167 hits a year would get him to 2349. That puts him in fifth, 24 hits shy of Dwight Evans.
• If Pedroia can get 37 doubles a year, he’d reach 523 for his career.  And that would put him one behind David Ortiz for third in team history… and just one behind Ted Williams for second.
• In total bases, 246 a year would get him to 3471. That would pass Wade Boggs and Bobby Doerr to get into 6th.
• 63 RBI a season would get him to 924 – passing Jimmie Foxx and Manny Ramirez for seventh.
• Finally, an average of 51 extra base hits a season would get him to 730. That would move him past Ramirez, Doerr and Boggs to get into 6th place.

Pedroia will start his 12th big league season when the Red Sox meet the Pirates on Monday. (You can get tickets at http://www.PurchaseTix.com)