This story was excerpted from Ian Browne’s Red Sox Beat newsletter. To read the full newsletter, click here. And subscribe to get it regularly in your inbox.
BOSTON -- In a meet-and-greet a couple of years in the making, Red Sox third baseman Caleb Durbin at last had the thrill of meeting Dustin Pedroia before Wednesday’s game against the Guardians at Fenway Park.
For Durbin, this was no small thing. And no pun intended.
Yes, Durbin is drawn to Red Sox Hall of Famer Pedroia because of the way he overcame his lack of size to become an iconic player for Boston. But that is just one of the reasons.
“Just the way he went about his business,” said Durbin. “From things as far as just how he played the game on the field to how he acted off the field, the way he battled through things is something I wanted to model my game around.”
For Pedroia, who lives in Arizona, it was his first trip to Fenway this season. And not a moment too soon for Durbin, who joined the Red Sox in a trade from the Brewers in February.
When Durbin was with the Brewers, his manager was Pat Murphy, who coached Pedroia at Arizona State.
Murphy long wanted to connect the two, but the timing never worked.
After Durbin finished infield work on Wednesday, he spotted Pedroia in street clothes a little bit in front of Boston’s dugout.
Durbin struck up the nerve to talk to Pedroia, and the two exchanged pleasantries for a few minutes. The mutual respect was obvious.
“He’s a great guy. He’s a legend around here,” Durbin said. “Any time you get to rub shoulders with a guy like that, it only makes you better. Just a cool moment for me.”
In Durbin, Pedroia sees a kindred spirit.
“Durb’s the man,” said Pedroia. “He plays hard. He’s a grinder. He had a slow start, but you know how it is. It’s a full season. I think he’s coming into his own and the fans are seeing who he truly is.”
A little while before Durbin sidled up to Pedroia for a conversation, Boston’s former star second baseman crashed the team hitters' meeting.
“He was joking around with us and being serious at times,” Durbin said. “It’s good to have a guy like that around the guys, around the clubhouse. Lightens the mood up a little bit at this time of the year and good to have him around.”
Considering that Durbin went to a Division 3 college (Washington University in St. Louis) and Pedroia was a standout player at a Division 1 powerhouse at Arizona State, Durbin was a far bigger underdog to get to the Major Leagues than the man he admires so much.
But both players know what it is like to be undersold by scouts and evaluators because of their lack of size.
While Durbin has established himself as an everyday player for contending teams the last two seasons, Pedroia set a high bar by winning the AL Rookie of the Year and MVP in his first two years in the Majors.
In the first two months of the '26 season, Durbin slumped mightily,
bringing back memories of Pedroia’s slow start in '07 before he rallied to win that Rookie of the Year Award, not to mention his first of three World Series championship titles he helped lead the Red Sox to.
Much like Pedroia 19 years ago, Durbin kept his head down and kept working when things were at their toughest. He said he didn’t get texts from Pedroia when he was struggling, nor did he expect to.
“I think he knows how tough this game is,” Durbin said of Pedroia. “Sometimes the best thing is to just let it be. I think he has a pretty good idea -- just from communication with Murph and other mutual coaches and friends -- the type of guy I am, and I don’t think he was too worried about me.”
When the Red Sox went on a 32-5 surge from June 25 to Aug. 7, Durbin had several of the team’s most memorable hits, including a go-ahead homer off Cam Schlittler and a walk-off single to cap a 12-11 thriller over the White Sox in 13 innings on Aug. 6.
To Durbin, Wednesday’s chance meeting with his baseball idol matched his on-field highlights from earlier in the summer.
“It’s super cool. I’ve had some communication with him. Obviously seeing him in person, it’s pretty surreal,” Durbin said.