BOSTON -- Few Red Sox players entered the Major Leagues with the loud entrance of Dustin Pedroia.
In 2007, he was the American League’s Rookie of the Year. That October, he belted a game-turning home run in Game 7 of the ALCS. In his first at-bat of the World Series, he led off the bottom of the first inning with a homer that shook Fenway Park with noise. In that Fall Classic, in which the Red Sox swept the Rockies, Pedroia had an .850 OPS.
Then came the next year. Sophomore slump? How about sophomore MVP?
Yes, little Dustin Pedroia, listed generously during his playing days at 5-foot-9 but at least an inch shorter than that, was the AL MVP. Though his second postseason run ended in Game 7 of the ALCS at Tropicana Field, Pedroia carried his team in that series with a 1.200 OPS.
With his self-proclaimed “laser show” of a bat and his elite glove, Pedroia seemed on a runaway train to Cooperstown. And even fewer people doubted he would get there in 2013, when he played 160 games for a team that finished in last place the year before and won his second World Series ring.
Pedroia was still standing tall -- well, at least as tall as he could -- three years later, when his 10th Major League season was another strong one. In '16, Pedroia had a batting line of .318/.376/.449 with 15 homers and 74 RBIs for the AL East champs.
In his decade of excellence ('07-16), Pedroia slashed .303/.368/.447 with 869 runs and 371 doubles and won four Gold Gloves for his defensive excellence at second base.
Everything changed on a Friday night in Baltimore in April 2017 when Manny Machado spiked Pedroia’s surgically repaired left knee. He never came close to being the same player again, robbing him of getting to the counting numbers that would have made him a much more obvious candidate for the Hall of Fame. Pedroia finished with 1,805 hits, which will feel low for a lot of people evaluating his case.
Sometimes, you have to look beyond the obvious
Pedroia is back on the BBWAA ballot for the second time. A candidate can stay on the ballot for 10 years, provided he gets at least 5% of the votes. Last year, Pedroia received 47 votes for a percentage of 11.3.
Cooperstown won’t happen for Pedroia this year. Instead, he hopes to get the necessary votes to stay on the ballot another year and keep the conversation going.
There have been other players who have made it to the Hall of Fame even though injuries shortened their body of work. Look no further than Kirby Puckett, whose career bWAR (51.1) was just below Pedroia (51.8).
Puckett, playing a position (center field) that carries higher hitting expectations than second base, did maximize his 12-year career, reaching 2,304 hits while belting 207 homers and winning six Gold Gloves. But Puckett, who developed glaucoma that forced him to retire after the '95 season, gives people someone to think about when evaluating Pedroia.
Then there is Jeff Kent. With the second baseman recently gaining election through one of the era committees after striking out in his 10 years on the BBWAA ballot, it makes you wonder if Pedroia’s unique case -- based on peak performance prior to injuries -- could eventually land him in Cooperstown. Kent’s bWAR of 55.4 isn’t that much higher than Pedroia's. In Kent’s first two years on the BBWAA ballot, he garnered voting percentages of 15.3 and 14.0 before topping out at 46.4 in his final year.
The only two players in history to win Rookie of the Year, MVP, as many as two World Series titles and four Gold Glove Awards? Pedroia and Johnny Bench.
Second baseman Bobby Doerr, who teamed with Ted Williams on the great Red Sox teams of the 1940s and '50s, got into the Hall of Fame via the veteran’s committee in 1986. Doerr played 1,865 games versus just 1,512 for Pedroia. Yet Pedroia still had a better bWAR by a nose over Doerr.
Pedroia’s .299 career batting average was 11 points higher than Doerr. Pedroia had way more stolen bases (138 to 54), a slightly higher OBP (.365 to .362) and a comparable OPS+ (Doerr was 115 compared to 113 for Pedroia). This isn’t to say Doerr shouldn’t belong in the Hall of Fame. It only makes a case that the top two second basemen in Red Sox history should both have plaques in Cooperstown.
There was a guy Pedroia played with for parts of three seasons that also looked like a surefire Hall of Famer at one point.
His name is Manny Ramirez. While the expression “Manny being Manny,” and all the zaniness that came with it, took on a life of its own, it sometimes overshadowed what a brilliant hitter Ramirez was.
Along with David Ortiz (Hall of Fame Class of 2022), the right-handed hitter formed one of the most potent power duos in history.
However, it is clear why Ramirez is still on the outside looking in as he enters his 10th and final year on the BBWAA ballot. Twice, Ramirez was suspended by MLB for testing positive for PEDs.
Considering that generational players Barry Bonds and Roger Clemens haven’t been able to get into the Hall due to their association with PEDs (and they never failed an MLB-administered test), it is hard to see a path for Ramirez at this point.
In a 19-year career, including eight ('01-'08) in Boston, Ramirez had a gaudy batting line of .312/.411/.585 with 555 homers and 1,831 RBIs. He was the MVP of the '04 World Series during which the Red Sox won it all for the first time in 86 years. Ramirez also teamed with Pedroia and Ortiz to lead the team to another title three years later.
The third player with Boston ties on this year’s ballot is righty Rick Porcello, who was 150-125 with a 4.40 ERA in 355 career appearances, 351 of them starts. Porcello stunningly won the AL Cy Young Award while with the Sox in '16 with a campaign (22-4, 3.15 ERA) that far exceeded any other he had in his 12 Major League seasons..
This is Porcello’s first time on the ballot. It’s highly doubtful he’ll get the votes necessary to be on the '27 ballot.