Dustin Pedroia Announces Retirement

Never be another like him. To me, even though he was not actually on all of the teams, he is the person I most associate with the Sox championship years. (I actually have to remind myself at times he wasn’t on the ‘04 team!)

those last two attempts at coming back took his lifetime average from 300 to 299.... I know 'counting stats', but....

his hall of fame case may have some parallels w that of Bobby Doerr.....

It is hard to imagine him in the Hall, but I imagine he’ll stick through all his eligible years. It exposes a silliness to the necessary numbers: if he’d been adequate for 4-5 years starting in 2018, adding say, 9 WAR and 600 hits, he’d probably be in. But the fact that he won’t make it not because he lacks the excellent portion of his career but the mediocre stuffing is sort of silly.

Happy Trails, Pedey!

I think statistically, Pedroia is very much a “Hall of Very Good” player that will enjoy a run on the BBWAA list but ultimately not make it unless he gets a last year surge. He has solid all-around awards/championship hardware, but really needed the last 3 years to be healthy and productive to make him an appealing candidate to the writers.

He is however a top notch candidate for the Veteran’s Committee. He checks the boxes a lot of the player/manager voters love that go beyond just the stats and awards: franchise loyalty, championship credentials, gritty play, perceived intangibles. He profiles similarly to Veteran Committee second basemen Bobby Doerr, Nellie Fox, Joe Gordon and the lesser Bill Mazeroski.

Happy retirement to Dustin Pedroia. What a great career he had and I hope we see him back working in the Red Sox organization soon as I do anticipate he will make a great coach and do think he'll find his way back into the Red Sox organization along with Tek, Wakefield, Pedro, Ortiz, as a Red Sox lifer.

It's a shame that those last handful of ABs nudged his lifetime BA just under .300. A 2 for 2 performance would have rounded him back up to .300.

It's only cosmetic, though.

Given what we've seen with the writers being aggravated with their choices for HOFers between cheaters and morally questionable characters, I think Dustin Pedroia will look like a breath of fresh air to them.

Is he a slam dunk HOFer? No. But there are so many lesser players in the HOF than Pedroia and he excelled at a position where you don't need to be a major slugger to get in. His defense was top notch, he could hit, he won an MVP award, was a prominent part of 2 championship teams and got a few ABs for a 3rd championship Red Sox team.

I can see the case for Veterans' committee, but I honestly think, although it might take a handful of years, I do think Pedroia might very well get into the HOF through the writers, who like I said, will appreciate having somebody to vote for that wasn't on steroids or getting into trouble. And if you use the character clause, I think he was up there. I know he gets flack for "defending Machado", but if I had to guess, I think all he gave a damn about was winning the game and didn't want a beanball war to get in the way. Plus, he'd probably blame himself for not getting out of the way rather than blame Machado for a dirty slide, not because that was the case, but probably because that's how he's probably hard wired.

So, I do think he'll get in. I think Chase Utley will get in first, but Pedroia will get in, and they'll find it a helluva easier to vote for Pedroia than Robinson Cano with his two black marks against him with the PEDs.

And when he gets in, I would anticipate that before 2030, there will be a #15 hanging from the RF corner along with all the other retired Red Sox numbers (and Jackie Robinson) - and deservedly so!

I wonder about INSURANCE on Dustin's contract. Players must be carried on the 60-day IL to collect the insurance.

If there is insurance, Sox obviously figured something out

I remember driving up to catch a day game up in Portland early in the year in 2005
what a team, I distinctly remember Dustin tattooing the wall a few times.

Godspeed, Pedey. Thanks for the memories.

No doubt you'll take on the next chapter of your life with the same passion and enthusiasm with which you played the game. It just in your blood, in your genes, to give 120% at everything you do.

So much that can be said about this Sox legend.  What a pleasure to have watched him play the game.