High School:  Woodland
College:  Arizona State University

* MLB Playing career:  14 Years (Boston)​
* 4 Time All-Star (2008, 2009, 2010, 2013)​
* 2 Time Wo​rld Series Champion (2007, 2013)​
* American League MVP (2008)​
* 4 Time Gold Glove Award (2008, 2011, 2013, 2014)​
* American League Rookie of the Year (2007)

​* Silver Slugger Award (2008)

​* Boston Red Sox Hall of Fame (2022)

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Dustin Pedroia was born and raised in Woodland. He loved baseball and football. He went to Woodland High and began to play both sports. His football career was cut short his freshman year after he suffered gruesome injury playing quarterback.  He shattered his ankle after receiving a hard hit by fellow Sacramento Sports Hall of Famer and NFL All-Pro Linebacker Lance Briggs.

 

After recovering from a complex surgery, Dustin concentrated on baseball. He was the starting shortstop as a sophomore and was phenomenal. He led the state with 52 hits. In his senior season, he batted .445 and was the Delta League MVP and an All-City and All-State selection. He did all of this without ever striking out in his high school career. 

 

Dustin had college offers from everywhere. He decided on national powerhouse, Arizona State.  He continued racking up awards and put up amazing numbers no matter the competition level.  As a sophomore, he earned All-American honors batting .404 with an On-Base Percentage of .472 and an impressive OPS of over 1,000. He had 120 hits and led the team in nearly every batting category.  He followed that up with another incredible season as a junior hitting .393.  In three years at ASU, he was a 2-time All American with a career average of .384, starting all 185 games and was named Most Valuable Player. 

 

In 2004, Dustin was drafted by the Boston Red Sox in the second round. He made his MLB debut in 2007 and earned the job as the starting second baseman and began to shine.  He had a 13-game hitting streak and a 5-hit game against his childhood favorite team, the San Francisco Giants. He batted .317 and was the American League Rookie of the Year.  He was part of a great Red Sox team that won the division and then defeated Cleveland in the American League Championship Series. In the deciding Game 7, Dustin homered and doubled, driving in 5 runs to secure the Red Sox' spot in the World Series.  Dustin started the World Series in grand fashion, leading off Game 1 with a home run. He was only the second player and first rookie to lead off a World Series with a homer.  Boston went on to win the World Series defeating the Colorado Rockies in five games giving Dustin a ring in his rookie season.

 

He had an even better season in 2008.  He was the American League MVP batting .326 with 17 Home Runs leading the league with 213 hits, with 54 doubles and 118 runs scored. I n 2009, he led the league in Runs again.  In 2010, he was an All-Star for the third straight year and had the best day of his career going 5 for 5 with three home runs in Colorado.  In 2011, Dustin had another outstanding season batting .307. and smashing 21 Home Runs while having a 25-game hitting streak.  It was the longest ever for a Red Sox second baseman.   He also won his second Gold Glove award for his outstanding fielding.

 

In 2013 ,the Red Sox were back in the World Series. They led wire to wire, but the season started in a tumultuous time as the Boston Marathon bombings occurred.  The Red Sox and the city came together as they were playing for a bigger cause.  Dustin led the team by playing 160 games and batted .303 in giving the Red Sox their third World Series title in 10 years.

 

Dustin’s career statistics and awards are some of the best ever in baseball. In his 14 years, all with the Red Sox, he was a 4-time All Star, 2-time World Series Champion, American League MVP, 4-time Gold Glove Award winner, American League Rookie of the Year and a Silver Slugger Award winner with a career batting average of .299 with 1,805 hits in over 6,000 plate appearances.

 

He had five seasons hitting over.300 while smacking 140 Home Runs with 725 RBI.  He was the consummate leadoff hitter and a stroke of consistency.  Defensively, he was one of the best second basemen in Major League Baseball being a 4-time Gold Glove Award Winner with a career fielding percentage of .991. 

 

Dustin is inducted in the Boston Red Sox Hall of Fame and will always be remembered as one of the Sacramento area's most decorated athletes of all time earning his induction into the Sacramento Sports Hall of Fame.