'True Red Sox' Pedroia retires after 14 years

Dustin Pedroia's exceptional performance and boundless energy cemented his place as a Red Sox icon. As the longtime second baseman announced his retirement on Monday, he proudly said that he never took a play off -- precisely the quality that endeared him to a generation of New Englanders. A four-timeDustin Pedroia's exceptional performance and boundless energy cemented his place as a Red Sox icon. As the longtime second baseman announced his retirement on Monday, he proudly said that he never took a play off -- precisely the quality that endeared him to a generation of New Englanders. A four-time All-Star and four-time Gold Glove Award winner, Pedroia spent all 14 of his big league seasons with Boston, earning two World Series rings. Pedroia won the 2007 American League Rookie of the Year Award, the ‘08 AL Most Valuable Player Award and the ‘13 MLB Players Alumni Association's Heart and Hustle Award.• Red Sox celebrate Pedroia upon retirement"The Boston Red Sox, to me, it means everything," Pedroia said. "I started my family there; my kids were born in Boston. Every day I woke up and looked to find a way to help our team win a baseball game, and I got to do it in front of the best fans in the best city."Drafted by the Red Sox in the second round in 2004, Pedroia played 1,512 games from 2006-19. The 37-year-old Pedroia finished his career with a .299 batting average, 1,805 hits, 140 home runs, 138 stolen bases, 725 RBIs and 922 runs."I can say so much about Dustin," said Red Sox legend David Ortiz. "It got to the point while I played that I asked myself one day who would be a player that you would buy a ticket to see because it was worth it to watch him play for nine innings? And my answer was Dustin Pedroia."• Dustin Pedroia's 13 greatest quotesRevered for his confidence and swagger, Pedroia had not played since 2019 due to a left knee injury sustained two seasons prior. He has undergone four surgeries since, revealing on Monday that he received a partial knee replacement in December that effectively ended his hopes of returning to the field."Last January, going into 2020, I was still working out and still trying to get ready to come back and play," Pedroia said. "I woke up one morning and my knee was huge. I went and saw the doctors, and everything looked like an explosion went off in there. … I grinded every day just to be able to play with my kids and to live a normal life."I can't run anymore, which is fine. I don't need to run. I'm proud of the way that the trainers helped me, doctors, everybody. But it wasn't physically possible for me to continue to play baseball with a partial knee replacement. Once I got that done, I knew. The team has been great at leading me in the right direction on things to do and how to get better. I'm only 37 years old. I've got a long way to go."The 5-foot-9 Pedroia played the second-most games at second base in franchise history, behind only Hall of Famer Bobby Doerr.


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