Dustin Pedroia retires: Red Sox icon calls time on career after 14 years in MLB

After 14 long seasons in the MLB, Boston Red Sox second baseman Dustin Pedroia has announced his retirement. While the MLB star agreed that his career could have ended better, he believed it was time to let go of professional baseball. The 37-year-old, suffering from a knee injury, has not played a game since 2019. Fans reacted to the news on social media, many wishing he had a better end to his career. 

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Dustin Pedroia retires after 14 seasons in the MLB

Dustin Pedroia has officially announced his retirement after a 14-year career.

Congrats to the @RedSox legend. pic.twitter.com/T1gveAApDb

— MLB (@MLB) February 1, 2021

"Could it have ended better and I finished my career the right way? Yeah of course," Pedroia said while speaking to the media. He added that there had been a reason he would be the "first one dressed at 5:30 for a 7 o'clock game", telling his teammates that they never knew if the game could start early. However, he expressed that he had the best time playing, keeping in mind that one never knows which game will be the last. 

Dustin Pedroia retirement: Did his 2017 injury affect his decision?

However, as the complications regarding his knee increased, Pedroia admitted to not being in a good place. "I grinded every day just to be able to play with my kids and just live a normal life," he said, adding that his knee was bad, and he is a young man. While Pedroia planned to play again in January 2020, he learned he would need a partial knee replacement. The COVID-19 pandemic, however, delayed his surgery till December. 

As per Pedroia, he could walk without pain after the surgery, but could not run. If his knee is damaged further, he could face its implications for the rest of his life. "I can't run anymore, but who needs that". 

"It wasn't physically possible for me to continue to play baseball with the partial knee replacement, so once I got that done, I knew". 

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Dustin Pedroia achievements

In 2007, Pedroia was named the American League Rookie of the Year, followed by the AL MVP honour in 2008. He is a four-time Gold Glove winner and has won three World Series with the Red Sox – with whom he spent his entire 17-season professional baseball career. As of now, he is the only player to have received all this in the first two seasons of his MLB career. 

In 2017, however, his knee was affected after Manny Machado took him out at the second base with a hard slide. His play was affected after the incident, the star undergoing multiple surgeries to fix his knee. However, Pedroia struggled, playing only nine games throughout the 2018 and 2019 seasons. He even spoke about the play that put and end to his career, stating that he has moved on. 

"That play could've happened my rookie year. When you play second base and you play second like me, you hang on to the last possible second to get the ball," he said. Furthermore, Pedroia is at peace with everything that could have been done. He played nine games after that, even though 90% of the doctors told him he will not be able to. 

Pedroia also addressed his future plans, putting end to most rumours about him working as a coach. "Right now, my youngest son is 6 and I definitely want to be involved, but I don't know what capacity yet". He currently wants to enjoy being with his family, and be "normal for a little bit". 

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According to his contract, Pedroia has one year remaining in his eight-year $110 million contract. His deal also involves deferred payments for salaries of $2 million on July 15, 2021 till 2024, along with $2.5 million from 2025 to 2027.

Dustin Pedroia stats

During his career, Pedroia hit .299/.365/.439 with 140 homers, 394 doubles, 725 RBIs and 138 stolen bases. Per reports, he is one of only three Red Sox players to make at least 100 homers and 100 steals for the team. The others being Mookie Betts and Carl Yastrzemski. 

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(Image credits: AP)