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October 6, 2007
BOSTON -- Dustin Pedroia was feeling no pain.
Which, considering that his left shoulder popped out when he dove for a ground ball in the second inning last night, was a bit surprising.
But perhaps it shouldn't have been, because Manny Ramirez's three-run homer in the bottom of the ninth inning turned what would have been a very long and painful flight to the West Coast into a joy ride.
"That was a great game," the exultant Pedroia said in Boston's joyous clubhouse after the Red Sox took a commanding, 2-0 lead over the Angels in their best-of-five, American League Division Series. "That was awesome."
The game was awesome, and so was Ramirez's homer -- a towering shot to left that everybody in Fenway Park knew was gone the second it left the bat.
Manny posed at the plate with his arms over his head. The ball went over the Green Monster. The game was over. And the ALDS may be, too.
"He crushed that ball," Pedroia said. "The swing he put on that ball was beautiful. He's one of the best right-handed hitters of all time.
"Watching him hit, day in and day out, is awesome. He works hard every day. People don't realize how hard he works. And to see his face when all that works pays off -- that's everything."
Ramirez was out of the lineup for much of September because of a strained oblique muscle. Mike Lowell moved into the cleanup spot in the batting order and did a fine job, but, for the Red Sox, having Manny batting fourth is like the Patriots adding Randy Moss to their receiving corps.
"He makes everybody that much better," Pedroia said.
Manny, just by being Manny -- carefree and eccentric -- also keeps everybody in the Boston clubhouse that much looser.
"It's fun to be part of this team with him on it," Pedroia said. "Just being around him every day makes you smile. He keeps everybody loose. It creates an atmosphere where we're not pressing.
"I know, my first five or six at-bats (in the postseason), I was a bit nervous. But, as he'd run out to left field, he'd go past me and whisper something. He reminds us that this game should be fun."
It's fun to watch Pedroia, a leading candidate -- arguably, THE leading candidate -- for A.L. Rookie of the Year. After batting just .191 in 31 games last year, he hit .317 this season in 139 games. Only 5-9 and 180 pounds, he hit 8 homers, drove in 50 runs, and struck out just 42 times in 520 at-bats. He also takes many hits away from the opposition -- most memorably, a diving, backhanded stab of a hot grounder up the middle by Miguel Tejada that preserved Clay Buchholz's no-hitter.
It was while trying to make another diving play early in the game last night that Pedroia's left shoulder popped out.
"He obviously jammed it when he dove," said Sox manager Terry Francona. "Because, when you don't see him get up and go chase the ball down, you know he's hurting.
"But we had not only our trainers, but also our doctor come down and really run him through some strength things down in the tunnel. We were very concerned. But he wasn't coming out of that game. I bet you he's going to be sore (Saturday.)"
Pedroia, like all of the Sox, was feeling good last night, however.
"It came out," he said of his shoulder, "and went back in when I landed."
He grimaced in obvious pain as he hit the ground, but the trainers would have had to drag him off the field to get him out of the game.
"It was tough," he admitted. "I went through that before in spring training. But it's the playoffs, and I'm not coming out."
Posted by Jim Donaldson 
at 1:35 AM | Permalink
