Dustin Pedroia, You'd Have My Vote

The National League MVP was revealed earlier today. As usual, the award was given to a superstar, home-run-hitting machine in Albert Pujols.

Not that I have a problem with Prince Albert earning his second MVP; I am 100-percent sold on the selection. But as we turn to the American League Most Valuable Player tomorrow afternoon, I suspect that a totally different breed of player will be receiving a new piece of hardware.

I have been an avid Yankee fan for my whole life. So, a ringing endorsement for a hated division foe is not exactly easy to get out of me. But when the American League MVP is announced tomorrow, if it is not Boston Red Sox second baseman Dustin Pedroia, I will consider it a great injustice.

Watching Pedroia from afar, I could tell you that I hate everything and love everything that he stands for at the same time.

His scruffy, rat-like appearance and "idiotic" attitude symbolizes everything I hate about the Red Sox. Yet, at the same time, if I had to give someone an example of a great baseball player, I would point to Dustin Pedroia without any hesitation.

Pedroia got everything he could out of his slight 5'9", 180-pound frame this past year. Like fellow major leaguer David Eckstein and Hall Of Famer Phil Rizzuto, Pedroia has had to adjust to the game by taking what he is given—taking outside pitches the other way and using his speed to get him to where he has to go.

Pedroia's numbers were pretty good this year, considering that he put up similar numbers to some guys almost twice his size. He racked up a .326 batting average with a .376 on base percentage.

In addition, he hit 17 home runs to go along with 83 runs batted in and an astounding (league leading) 54 doubles.

But what amazes me about Pedroia goes beyond his stats. What draws me to this little guy is that he plays the game the way it is supposed to be played.

Too often we see major leaguers taking the talent that they have for granted. Too often, we see guys jogging down to first base, practicing their bat flips, and walking off home runs—as if they care more about getting a highlight on Baseball Tonight than they do actually winning the game.

Watching Pedroia, I feel like I have taken a time machine back to the days of players such as Mays, Williams, DiMaggio, and many others, who ran out every groundball, sprinted to field every hit, and got dirty any time the situation called for it.

Apparently, the saying up in Boston is that the Green Monster "Eats up home runs and spits out doubles." Some point out that Pedroia may not have been as successful had he played in a different ballpark, as he took advantage of the close proximity of the left-field wall to home plate.

But it seems that every ding that Pedroia put into that 30-foot wall came at a big moment (sometimes at the expense of Yankee pitching).

And it could be said that with the departure of Manny Ramirez (one of those Baseball Tonight players) at the trade deadline, a new leader had to emerge from that Boston clubhouse. Well, Pedroia answered that call by not only upping his game, but leading by example.

So while some big slugger may end up getting that award tomorrow, as usual, the efforts of Dustin Pedroia must not go unnoticed.

Years ago, when Joe DiMaggio was asked why he played so hard every game, he replied by explaining that there could always be a kid in the stands seeing him for the first time and that he owed that kid his best.

This is what I think of as I watch Pedroia stretch singles into doubles, dive for balls in the hole, and slide head first when stealing a base.

So from the Bronx to Boston: Thanks Dustin, for giving us your very best.