Brad Penner-USA TODAY Sports
He may be small in stature, but Dustin Pedroia is huge on toughness. In the first game of this season, Pedroia tore a UCL ligament in his left thumb, an injury that would require surgery. So what did Pedroia do? He agreed to have surgery … after the season ends.
Yes, Dustin Pedroia has played 157 games for the Boston Red Sox this season with a tear in his thumb, and he will continue to play into the playoffs. This isn’t the first time Pedroia has played through significant hand injuries.
During his rookie campaign in 2007, Pedroia played nearly two months with a fracture of the hamate bone in his left hand. That season ultimately ended with a World Series title followed by offseason surgery to repair the damage to that bone. Last season, despite the team having a terrible record, Pedroia played a decent number of games despite a torn finger ligament and broken finger that, yes, required offseason surgery.
Now one can say Pedroia is injury-prone, but you can also say he is the pound-for-pound toughest guy in baseball. The Red Sox have dealt with a bunch of injuries to their pitching staff this year. Andrew Bailey and Joel Hanrahan were lost for the year, and Clay Buchholtz was lost for three months during the season; but night after night, Pedroia has been taking his place out at second base.
Pedroia is a true leader, both in emotion and for what he does each night on the diamond. Regardless of his numbers, he is probably the Red Sox’ MVP this year as he has his eyes on a second World Series ring in his career.
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