Pedroia Ready To 'Unleash' Built-Up Frustration From Last Year
FORT MYERS, Fla. -- You'd be hard-pressed to find anyone on earth with more competitive fire than Dustin Pedroia, so you can bet that the abrupt ending to the 2011 season hasn't sat well with the Red Sox' second baseman.
"We've got a lot of built-up stuff from last year that we're ready to unleash," Pedroia told WBZ-TV's Dan Roche on Wednesday at JetBlue Park. "We didn't play well in the end, and that's the thing that just eats at you. You want to finish in any game you play, and we didn't do that. We will this year."
Despite the disappointing end to the 2011 season, Pedroia said he won't have any added motivation because he's always motivated 100 percent.
"Everyone's different. I mean, I'm driven every year, no matter what the circumstances are," Pedroia told Rochie.
While the infamous September collapse, when the Red Sox blew a nine-game lead over the Rays, is an embarrassing mark on the Boston organization, Pedroia certainly did his part to keep the team afloat in that final month. He hit .304 with four homers, 19 RBIs and an .827 OPS in September, including a homer and two RBIs in the last game of the season.
Still, Pedroia is setting out to make sure this year goes differently for everyone.
"Everyone thought we were gonna win 130 games and just breeze through everything, and that's not how any team sport works," Pedroia said. "You gotta jell together and play together and do everything together and have each other's backs. For the most part, we did that and at the end it just fell apart on us.
"This year, we're gonna definitely pay attention to detail and make sure that that doesn't happen."
