Dustin Pedroia Is A Dick

BOSTON -- If Boston had won on Sunday, the way Dustin Pedroia turned a double play in the sixth inning would have been a highlight.

Instead, the double play that Pedroia could not make in the eighth became an issue. And Pedroia took a couple swipes at the grounds crew because of it.

In the eighth inning, with runners on first and second, and one out, the slow-footed Kendry Morales hit a hard grounder toward the hole between first and second.

Pedroia hustled to his left, but the ball bounced up on him. He could only knock it down and throw Morales out at first. Both runners then scored on Juan Rivera's single.

Two costly runs that Pedroia knows would not have scored if he fielded the grounder cleanly.

"It took a bad hop," Pedroia said. "Our infield (stinks). It's the worst in the game."

Pedroia was obviously peeved, but did not back away from his statement.

"I'm not lying about that. That is true. I think about those things. That stuff upsets me," Pedroia said. "My job is to take 1,000 groundballs a day. Other guys' job is to get the field perfect so we can play baseball." (story courtesy of The Morning Sentinel, whatever the fuck that is)



So much for scrappiness and heart, huh?  This would be funny if it wasn't so pathetic.  I mean come on, the infield is bad?  The grounds crew is the reason you guys lost on Sunday?  Pedroia would have been better off saying the sun got in his eyes on the gounder or the wind took it.  But the grounds crew?  If you're going to blame them, why not take a swipe at the batboys for brings the wrong balls to the umpires, or the clubhouse attendants for not having enough gum and sunflower seeds in the dugout?  Now that I think about it, the pretzel vendor in section 44 only gave 2 packets of mustard to the guy in Row 13, Seat 12 instead of 3 so he's just as much to blame for the loss as those godamn lazy fucking grounds crew assholes, right?

It's sad that this is the team that has been held up on a pedestal for the last 5 years as the pinnacle of what a professional sports organization is supposed to be.  When Robinson Cano fudges a play at second, he doesn't blame anybody.  He blows a fucking bubble of his Bazooka Joe and goes out and makes an even slicker-looking play next time.  When Jeter fucks up a throw from short, he stands right there with the mics and cameras in his face after the game and points the finger squarely at himself.  Say what you want about the money the Yankees spend, but don't ever say they make excuses.  Injuries, bad calls, errors, it all has happened to the Yanks over the last couple seasons and they just kept their nose to the grindstone, fixed their issues, and got back to where they rightfully belong.  And they took every misstep and bump in the road along the way in stride, acknowledged it, and moved forward.

The Boston Red Sox are the most fraudulent team in sports.  They bitch, step back, shake their heads, and mouth off to the umpire at every pitch called a strike when they're at the plate and every pitch called a ball when their on the mound.  They're rosters have now been proven to be full of just as many big-time roiders as any other team in the Steroid Era (and that's not counting all those ex-Sox who haven't been outed- Jason Varitek, Keith Foulke, Trot Nixon, Alan Embree, Mike Timlin, etc.).  And as soon as something goes wrong, they're all collectively looking to point the finger at whoever is closest, be it the umpires, their opponents, or their own grounds crew, who get paid peanuts compared to what they make to do real, actual work at shitty hours, without the benefit of scheduled off-days, signing bonuses, or bonus clauses built into their contracts.

Newsflash, Dustin, your field isn't perfect and neither is anybody else's in Major League Baseball.  Bad hops happen all the time across the league and occassionally they have an impact on the outcome on the game.  Occassionally that game happens to be the one that your team goes on to lose, thereby knocking you out the playoffs, but it isn't your fault and it isn't the grounds crew's fault.  You said "I think about those things.  That stuff upsets me."  Why don't you stop thinking about the field conditions and think about keeping your head on the ball and making the fucking play, and if you don't make the play, for whatever reason, then shut the fuck up.

The fact of the matter is, your team didn't get it done in Games 1 and 2, and your closer didn't get it done in Game 3, where you were still holding the lead, even after the double play that wasn't.  There's nobody to blame but yourselves.  But if you need somebody to share those sour grapes with, I hear Joe Nathan is still looking for somebody to listen to his excuses.

Or you could use your extra free time you have now that you're out of the postseason to study up on the fundamentals of fielding.  I hear those Tom Emanski videos are still pretty good.