NESP Forum

::sigh::

http://mlb.mlb.com/news/article.jsp?ymd=...Id=rss_bos

For all the attention that little Dustin Pedroia gets for his big bat, his emergence into an elite second baseman has too often been lost in the shuffle.
But that changed in dramatic fashion on Thursday, when Pedroia, the sparkplug of the Boston Red Sox, was officially awarded a Rawlings Gold Glove for his defensive excellence. Pedroia nabbed the honor for the first time in just his second Major League season. He is just the second Red Sox second baseman to earn a Gold Glove and first since Doug Griffin in 1972.

The skinny: A little love for the local kid? Maybe, but there's no doubting what the Woodland scrapper brought to Boston in becoming an overnight New England legend. The diminutive Pedroia, listed generously at 5-foot-9, carried the Red Sox after Manny Ramirez was traded in the summer and led them to a wild-card berth. Pedroia also led the A.L. in runs (118) and doubles (54), was tied for the league lead in hits (213), was second in hitting and fourth in total bases (322). Batting all over the Red Sox's lineup and playing Gold Glove defense, the Pride of Woodland should be Boston's 11th MVP.