Nov. 12, 2007
TEMPE, Ariz. -
GALLERY
Video of Pedroia's Press Conference
Former Arizona State University baseball student-athlete Dustin Pedroia has been named the 2007 American League Rookie of the Year by the Baseball Writers Association of America.
Pedroia received 24 of the 28 first place votes in balloting conducted by two writers from each of the 14 American League cities. He also received four second place votes and 132 total points and was the only player named on all 28 ballots. Delmon Young of Tampa Bay was second with 56 points (3 1sts, 12 2nds, 5 3rds) with Kansas City pitcher Brian Bannister third with 36 points (1 1st, 8 2nds, 7 3rds).
Pedroia becomes the fourth Sun Devil to win the Rookie of the Year Award, joining Pat Listach (Milwaukee, 1992), Alvin Davis (Seattle, 1984) and Bob Horner (Atlanta, 1978).
Pedroia played three seasons at Arizona State, hitting .384 with and collecting 298 hits. He was twice named the National Defensive Player of the Year and was the Co-Pac-10 Player of the Year in 2003. He was a three-time First Team All-Pac-10 performer, a two-time All-American and was a finalist for the Golden Spikes Award in 2004.
Pedroia batted .317 with eight homers and 50 RBI in 139 games with the Red Sox in 2007. His batting average was tenth highest in the American League and the best ever for a qualifying major league second baseman. Pedroia led all big league rookies with 39 doubles, ranked second with a .380 on-base percentage, and was third with 86 runs scored. He was also second among A.L. rookies with 165 hits, 49 multi-hit games, and 230 total bases.
Pedroia is the sixth Red Sox player to be named as the A.L.'s top rookie by the BBWAA, the first since Nomar Garciaparra in 1997. He is just the fourth A.L. player to win the award while playing the majority of his games at second base, joining Minnesota's Rod Carew in 1967, Detroit's Lou Whitaker in 1978, and Minnesota's Chuck Knoblauch in 1991.
