Red Sox missing Dustin Pedroia and his ‘loud voice’ during trying season
Last Monday, as the Red Sox were mired in a long losing streak, Xander Bogaerts received a muchneeded dose of encouragement.
The Red Sox shortstop reached out to Dustin Pedroia, who turned 37, to wish him a happy birthday, and the longtime teammates’ conversation naturally turned to baseball and a losing streak that ultimately went nine games. In a lost season that’s made it hard for Bogaerts to have fun at times, Pedroia, as he always has, provided some hope.
“He said, ‘Keep your head up. This is a tough time for you guys. You guys will make it through this, just continue to grind,’” Bogaerts said. “He’s always a very optimistic guy. He always sees the light at the end of the tunnel. No matter how bad the situation might be at this point, he’s always positive. …
“It’s just always good to have somebody like that who always has your back and you know who’s such a positive influence on your life and career.”
The Red Sox could certainly use Pedroia’s voice these days as they’ve stumbled to a 9-20 record. Pedroia hasn’t played in a game since April 17, 2019, before he reinjured his ailing left knee, which has limited him to nine games since the start of the 2018 season, and ultimately went home to evaluate his future and rehab in Ari
zona, where he suffered another setback last winter.
Pedroia is still at home in Arizona, where there’s been no change in his status. Red Sox chief baseball officer Chaim Bloom told the Herald that “his knee is still not in a place where it makes sense for him to rejoin the club.”
For a team that desperately needs some kind of spark, Pedroia, even if he can’t play, is sorely missed.
“Whenever Pedroia’s in the clubhouse, you know he’s here,” Bogaerts said. “It’s not like, ‘Hey, is Pedey here? Or, when is Pedey coming?’ No, when Pedey’s here, you definitely know the moment he steps foot into the clubhouse. He’s just so confident, loud but in a good way.
“If there’s no music on in the clubhouse, Pedey might as well be like the music because he’s just loud, outspoken and just always with that high energy and obviously that carries on to other guys and you also get more amped up for the day. So that’s really one of the things we do miss from him, because he has that special ability that he’s so hyped up always.”
And then there are those cardboard cutouts.
Fans can’t attend games this season due to the COVID-19 pandemic, and the Red Sox are one of many teams to offer fans the option to have cardboard cutouts of themselves in empty seats inside the ballpark. At Fenway, there are fan cutouts in the Green Monster seats, but behind the Red Sox dugout, there are cutouts representing the players’ families. That’s where you can find cutouts of Pedroia and his three sons Dylan, Cole and Brooks, naturally, in the front row.
Assistant general manager Raquel Ferreira helped make sure Pedroia, who was drafted by the Red Sox in 2004, was represented. When the Red Sox blasted out a message in their internal messaging system to ask who was interested in a cardboard cutout, Pedroia was on board.
With an assist from Pedroia’s wife, Kelli, who took a picture of him and their boys as she was pulling into their house after grocery shopping, the cutouts were submitted.
“His wife had said, ‘How about we send 10 of him so we can place him all around the park and he can torment them?’” Ferreira said. “But we settled on one with Dustin and the kids. … It was funny because they looked like they were in a lineup all together. That was actually one picture of the three boys and Dustin just standing there waiting for her, so it looks like they’re looking at the team. …
“She had sent me a bunch of other funny pictures of him which would have been hilarious if we used, but maybe we’ll still decide to use them all around the park, who knows?”
Placing Pedroia in the front row wasn’t exactly done on purpose, but it made sense. When Mitch Moreland first saw a picture of Pedroia staring back at him while walking out to the field earlier this season, he knew he had to “lock it in.”
“You’re not going to hide Dustin in the back row,” Ferreira said. “I know everybody misses him. I miss his loud voice, I miss his sarcasm, I’m sure the guys miss him in the clubhouse, I know he still keeps in touch with guys and everybody just around the park misses him. He’s been here for so long and he’s been part of this family for a while.”