Rather that recap, I'll simply let you all enjoy the ride:
LAS VEGAS -- A pair of Hall of Fame second baseman are in attendance here at the winter meetings, including Joe Morgan and Red Sox legend Bobby Doerr.
Both are at the Bellagio Hotel as members of the Hall of Fame Veterans' Committee and after Monday morning's press conference, Morgan took some time to talk about current Red Sox second baseman Dustin Pedroia.
Morgan has said all along that he loves the way Pedroia plays the game. The Hall of Famer feels the reigning A.L. MVP plays the game with an old-school mentality."To be honest, winning an MVP is great for him but it doesn't change my opinion about him," Morgan said. "I didn't need somebody else to tell me how good he was. I've always said it."
"But him winning the MVP means to me that people are recognizing that every aspect of the game counts - stolen bases, walks, playing defense, doing things for the team," added Morgan. "There was a stretch where it was all about home runs. Even [in 2008] if we had a guy to hit 60 home runs maybe he wouldn't have won, but he was deserving of it. He's good for the game because he plays the game that I know and love."
During the ALCS when the Red Sox were playing the Rays, Morgan and Pedroia stood back-to-back to see who was bigger. It was a toss-up. Both are 5-foot-7.
"The most impressive thing for me, everyone will talk about his offense, I like the way he plays defense," Morgan said. "He catches the ball with two hands. He gets in front of the ball. He's a very fundamentally-sound player. I like that."
Morgan said he feels the game will return to players doing all the little things in the game and there will be less home runs. Pedroia is the guy who is leading that charge.
"He personifies that," Morgan said. "He does everything. And it doesn't hurt [he's a little guy]."
Morgan admitted he didn't immediately think Pedroia was that good when he saw him play during April of his rookie year in 2007. Pedroia got off to a tough start before beginning his charge towards the Rookie of the Year Award.
"When I first saw him he got off to such a slow start," recalls Morgan. "He had that big swing and I'm saying 'Man, he can't hit like that.' Well guess what? He must have the best hand-eye coordination to be able to do that by taking that big swing and still make contact on those high pitches. Obviously when I saw him the second time during his first season, I knew he was going to get better and better."
"You may not have seen the best of him yet. That's my hope that he'll continue to work hard and get better," Morgan said. "You can always improve in baseball. There's not a perfect player because you can always improve if you want to and he does. He'll be a good model going forward for players, especially smaller players."
Doerr, who has said in the past he really appreciates the way Pedroia plays, quickly snuck out the back door.
Bottom Line: Good stuff from Joe... too bad Bobby didn't want to chime it. Doerr has no reason to shy away from discussing Pedroia, he's still the greatest second baseman in Red Sox history and it will take a good 5-10 more years of greatness from The Destroia if the two are to truly be compared.
* * * * Use the buttons below to share this story and help build The Bottom Line Nation! * * * *
0 comments:
Post a Comment