The end of Game 3 in 2013 is the play I always remember from Pedroia. The amazing reaction and dive to field the grounder hit up the middle, and the perfect throw to Salty. Not the best executed play from there, but hey, they won the series.

Loved when they threw him into the cleanup spot in 2008 and he promptly went 4 for 4 in back to back games. Leading to Ozzie Guillen saying, "I never thought I'd have to intentionally walk a jockey."

You summed it nicely Jose.

NESN article about his best moments. Between what I wrote and the first couple of comments we hit everything on the list...except the play in the Buchholz no-no. Can't believe I forgot that. My best friend was going through a divorce and we went out for steak and beer at Longhorn's. Wound up stuck at our table all night because we didn't want to mess it up. I remember for the 9th inning the entire kitchen staff was standing in the bar watching.

Jeter always got a good reception in Fenway, and plenty of Yankees fans admired the hell out of Pedroia. He was the ultimate redass player, and the game needs more of those.

I know I've mentioned it here before, but one of the things I loved seeing Pedroia do was when he dove for a grounder he would spin his whole body around just right so that once he had the ball in his glove he was perfectly oriented to make the throw.

Loved when they threw him into the cleanup spot in 2008

IIRC, for awhile there(like 40-50 games type of thing) didn't he have some Ruthian numbers when batting cleanup?

Well, friends, we had quite a ride with our little buddy, didn't we? So many memories to look back on. First there was our pal Rally being livid (IIRC) about Pedroia not being picked until the second round, as he saw him as one of the top talents in the draft. Then we got to follow him through the minors, arguing with other fans about whether he was a future utility player or a starter or an all-star. After his quick ascension through the minors and his arrival in the big leagues, we got our first taste of doubting Dusty (big mistake). A weak initial showing in 2006 then a couple of rough months in 2007 made it look like maybe the naysayers were right. But the diminutive one would not stand for those who say nay. Yay, he said. He claimed the second base job, won the Rookie of the Year and helped the team to a World Championship. The next year: MVP. Yay indeed.

From there, it was just year after year of excellence. Gold glove defense and very good offense, and just an all-around terrific talent to watch on a daily basis. Sure, some people got carried away and compared him to Derek Jeter, even said he was better than Jeter. (Let's not sit around and point fingers about who did these silly things, Google boy.)

In the end, I think it's safe to say that Pedroia had as good or better of a career than any of us could have hoped for. Sure, his career got cut short at age 33 by a dirty slide from a jerkface-dirty-slider-swing-follower-through-basher-foot-stepper-onner-at-first-baser. But really, what did everyone think the Muddy Chicken had left in him? He had missed 27 games in 2014 and 59 games in 2015. He was a small guy playing second base, a position known for cutting careers short (although that's in dispute).

Dustin Pedroia, a teeny tiny little man, played an amazing second base for the Red Sox from 2007 to 2017. He racked up 51.6 WAR during his career, more than 1,800 hits, almost 400 doubles, won 4 gold gloves, took home an MVP and a Rookie of the Year, and played an important role on two world championship teams. I don't know if that gets him into the Hall of Fame, but like my friend Jose, I'm not sure I really care. He was a great player and a joy to watch. Thank you, Dustin Pedroia.

Mighty Quintana - Pedey going ape when they put him in the clean-up spot is one of the first things that come to mind for me. It so perfectly sums up the kind of player he was. Along with leading off the 07 WS with a HR.

Unforgettable. Definitely one of those players who it is easiest to appreciate when they are on your team and you get to see their greatness manifest every day in so many different ways, some big and some small. Probably annoying as hell to play against, too.

HOFer in our hearts, anyway. That's what matters.

Dustin Pedroia strikes me as one of those players who might sneak into the HoF late in his candidacy, or maybe get waved in with the right Veterans Committee. His career is a bit short, but he still ends up 22nd in BBRef WAR at the position all time, between HoFers Bid McPhee and Bobby Doerr (and ahead of HoFers Fox, Evers, Lazzeri, and Schoendienst) -- plus his OPS+ of 113 is pretty good for a 2B. It won't hurt any that ballot-geddon will be in the rear view mirror when he's eligible. Of course, the inconsistent treatment players at the position get (Whitaker, Grich, and Randolph are still not in, and Kent is likely to join them, all of whom have more WAR, as do Utley and Kinsler who will likely struggle) makes this no slam dunk and then some.

It'll be interesting, for sure.

Pedroia was the rare kind of hitter who could totally sell out, give a max effort swing, and still have good enough bat control that he was tough to strike out. That’s what allowed him to have good power for his size. I always though if he could keep the same skills in a 6 foot plus body, he would have been Pujols. To be clear, I mean STL Pujols, not Angels Pujols.

Whenever I think of Pedroia I think of how he got off to such an incredibly slow start, not unlike the slow start of Willie Mays. And Francona kept saying to the media something like “I can’t wait to start seeing what everybody saw.” It was an impressive show of patience by Francona and resilience by Pedroia — for each man, one of their defining qualities.

For many of us, I think, the grieving over the end of Pedroia’s career ran its course years ago. This is just a paper transaction. It’s like we can finally do what the wife has been after us to do, take the book off the nightstand and put it back on the bookshelf where it belongs, in a position of honor alongside those other great books. On my bookshelf I shelve Pedroia next to Francona.

Francona is too big to fit on your bookshelf.

For those who may not have seen it, Dan S did a Dustin Pedroia timewarp, which uses ZIPS to predict how Pedroia's career might have turned out if not for the injury: https://blogs.fangraphs.com/zips-time-warp-dustin-pedroia/

A little disappointing but not surprising that he wasn't exactly likely to be a HOF lock regardless of the injury.

The rise of Dusty coincides with some of the best chats we ever had here. I even remember some great comments on him when he was drafted in 05 and the dreaded Eckstein was mentioned.

For me - the Clay no-hit play, a ridiculous opposite-field Fenway homer on a Sunday afternoon once v TB, the Game 3 2013 WS play was insane as well as his 07 and 08 season, and just his general awesome play at second

I really thought he was a sure-fire bet for 3000 hits and the HOF 4 years ago.

Loved watching him dearly.

Hope you are all well these days, miss you all like sleep.

Take care

PHIL! Doing as well as can be expected here. Hope you and yours are well.