Red Sox great Dustin Pedroia unsure if he’ll make Baseball Hall of Fame, but pleads his case anyway
“I don’t know what the criteria is. I’m just proud of what I did as a player, and I respected the game and I loved baseball, man.”
Dustin Pedroia’s baseball career was cut short after then-Baltimore Oriole Manny Machado slid hard into his knee at second base in 2017.
The legendary Red Sox second baseman ended up playing over 100 games that season, but he wasn’t the same player. Pedroia logged just 31 at-bats between 2018 and 2019 before undergoing what ended up being career-ending knee surgery. He officially retired in 2021 after playing his entire 14-year MLB tenure in Boston.
Despite his playing career ending sooner than it should have, fans have discussed whether or not Pedroia should be inducted into the Baseball Hall of Fame.
It’s a fair question, but it’s hard to imagine a world where a majority of writers vote for him on their ballots.
Pedroia’s Baseball Hall of Fame status is currently unknown, but he’s about to become a Red Sox Hall of Famer. He’ll be inducted into the team’s Hall alongside Trot Nixon and Jonathan Papelbon at Fenway Park on May 29.
Ahead of his team Hall of Fame induction, Pedroia pled his case for the sport’s Hall on Rob Bradford’s “Baseball Isn’t Boring” podcast.
“Somebody came up to me and asked me the other day, ‘Oh, you’re gonna get in the Hall of Fame!’ I’m like, ‘Well, I don’t know that, man,’” Pedroia said. “I kinda just said to him, ‘Listen, man. I played as hard as I could every day and I didn’t take one play off.’
“I won three World Series, I won one as a rookie leadoff hitter (in 2007). I won one as a three-hole hitter (in 2013) and played the whole year with a torn UCL on my thumb and no one’s ever played another game, let alone 179. And then I won one when I blew my knee out and I had to help my teammates and communicate with them and lead them and help them and do whatever I can, not on the field (in 2018). … I won every award there is except Comeback Player of the Year. I just couldn’t get through that knee thing.”
Pedroia is often remembered for his “dirt dog” playing style, something that was always reflected defensively; he has a career .991 fielding percentage.
However, his offensive statistics probably aren’t considered Hall of Fame worthy. Pedroia finished his career batting .299 with a .805 OPS (1,805 total hits), 140 home runs, and 725 RBIs.
Trophy-wise, though? As he explained, he has almost every piece of hardware a baseball player is capable of winning. Pedroia won Rookie of the Year in 2007, Most Valuable Player in 2008, and was a four-time All-Star. Pedroia also won four Gold Gloves, one Silver Slugger, and has his three aforementioned World Series rings.
If he had been able to play a few more at least semi-healthy years, it’s reasonable to assume that statistically, he could have made a stronger Hall of Fame case for himself.
“I had a great career, man,” Pedroia said. “And I’m so proud of it. I played with unbelievable players and the people that helped me along the way were amazing.
“I did it right and I think people respected that because when I started playing baseball, I was too small. I wasn’t good enough. Everything, it was always a negative. And by the end, they all looked at me like, ‘That’s the best player on the field.’ And I’m pretty sure for a lot of the games in my career, they said that then. I don’t know what the criteria is, I’m just proud of what I did as a player and I respected the game and I loved baseball, man.”
Whether or not Pedroia will make baseball’s Hall of Fame cut remains to be seen. But if nothing else, he’s a Red Sox Hall of Famer for life.
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