Congratulations go out to Dustin Pedroia for nabbing his first Gold Glove award.
Although the official announcement is not for another 45 minutes, eagle-eyed SoSH folks spotted the Rawlings press release on the news wire. The Globe cites an unnamed "baseball source" rather than just pointing to the wire release- but WEEI credits the sports wire and notes that Dustin has acknowledged receiving the honor.
"I really didn't think about it," he said of winning the award. "I take pride in my defense, it's a huge part of my game. In fact, my biggest (priority) is defense. I need to be extremely important to our pitching staff. I put in a ton of time with Luis Alicea and Alex Cora from Day One. It's only my second year playing second base. I took extra ground balls every single day and it definitely paid off.""I got a lot faster in the offseason," he said. "I put in the time, did all the cardio workouts, speed work, and agility. That really paid off where my range got a lot better and my arm strength got better. I'm not the biggest guy in the world but I can make up with effort in the offseason."
Kevin Youkilis did not repeat at first base; that honor instead went to Tampa's Carlos Pena (who also beat out Youk in the Fielding Bible awards).
Here's how the full slate shakes out in the American League:
- P - MIKE MUSSINA - YANKEES
C - JOE MAUER - TWINS
1ST - CARLOS PENA - RAYS
2ND - DUSTIN PEDROIA - RED SOX
3RD - ADRIAN BELTRE - MARINERS
SS - MICHAEL YOUNG - RANGERS
OF - TORII HUNTER - ANGELS
OF - GRADY SIZEMORE - INDIANS
OF - ICHIRO SUZUKI - MARINERS
on November 6, 2008 2:44 PM
Congrats to Pedy, that is so cool. I got the text this morning.