He's short on patience

The toughest thing for Dustin Pedroia is the wait.

While the Red Sox are patiently preparing him to take the field for the Single A Augusta Greenjackets -- perhaps as soon as today or early this week -- the organization's top pick in the June amateur draft is itchy to resume playing after a stellar career at Arizona State.

"I haven't played for about a month and a half, between waiting to be signed and the end of the college season," Pedroia said late last week while traveling with the Greenjackets to Greensboro, N.C., for a South Atlantic League game. "I've been doing my running and trying to get into baseball shape. I'm taking grounders and batting practice and long-tossing. They just didn't want to throw me in there and have me get hurt because I wasn't in baseball shape. But I can't wait to get out there."

The Sox are eager, too. The plan appears to be for Pedroia to spend a couple of weeks at Augusta, playing shortstop, then be sent to Sarasota of the Florida State League. The Woodland, Calif., native can play either middle infield position. He has been likened to Anaheim Angels shortstop David Eckstein, a onetime Sox farmhand. But San Diego general manager Kevin Towers recently compared him to former Boston second baseman Marty Barrett. Pedroia patterns himself after Fernando Vina, who plays second for the Tigers.

Considering the Sox sent Freddy Sanchez to Pittsburgh in the Jeff Suppan trade last season, they needed another strong and steady middle infielder when draft day came. When Pedroia was available with the 65th pick, Boston did handstands.

"Based on what a lot of people around baseball said to me -- and some of the stuff turned out not to be true -- I was expecting to be at least a sandwich pick [between the first and second rounds]. A couple of teams had told me they would take me there, " said Pedroia. "But though disappointed, I was so happy when the Red Sox drafted me because of the history and tradition there. That was the main reason I chose Arizona State out of high school. There was such a long tradition of great baseball there, and I feel I'm in a similar situation with the Red Sox."

Last season at Arizona State, Pedroia hit .393 with 24 doubles, 78 runs, 49 RBIs, a .502 on-base percentage, and a .611 slugging percentage. His .384 career average is seventh overall in Sun Devils history, tied with the averages of former Braves slugger Bob Horner and Casey Myers. Former Sox outfielder Kevin Romine owns the school record, at .408. Pedroia, once called "the Pete Rose of college baseball" by Texas Christian head coach Jim Schlossnagle, expects to remain a leadoff hitter. Will he remain a shortstop or move to second? Ahead of him at short at Sarasota is Hanley Ramirez, widely considered the Sox' No. 1 prospect, who after recovering from a wrist injury is on a tear, hitting .362 in his first 14 games in July and .297 overall. Also in the organization at shortstop is Double A Portland's Kenny Perez, who is having a fine season (.281).

"Right now, I just want to get in there and start hitting the ball and getting my uniform dirty," said Pedroia. "I should be able to handle the pitching. We faced a lot of excellent pitching in the Pac-10, so I think that was good preparation."

Wisdom of the elders

A highlight of the three days of festivities leading up to last Wednesday's Triple A All-Star Game in Pawtucket, R.I., was an event at the Rhode Island Convention Center in Providence featuring Johnny Pesky, Dom DiMaggio, and Bobby Doerr. The trio, dubbed "The Teammates" in a book of that name by David Halberstam that detailed their devotion to Ted Williams right up to the end of his life, spun timelesss baseball tales that entertained 1,200 fans -- including members of the International League and Pacific Coast League all-star squads, who surrounded "The Teammates"' afterward, awaiting autographs. "It was heartwarming to see how interested those kids were in what they had to say," said Sean McDonough, the event's MC . . . The hottest player in the Sox system remains lefthanded outfielder Brandon Moss at Augusta. Through Thursday, the 20-year-old was hitting .414 with 3 homers and 16 RBIs in July, and .364 with 10 homers and 83 RBIs overall. He was leading the system with 17 steals . . . While the focus is, and rightly should be, on 24-year-old catcher Kelly Shoppach, because he's in his first year at Triple A (.236, 12 homers, 89 strikeouts), keep an eye on Portland Sea Dogs backstop Jeff Bailey, who is having an excellent offensive year (.314, 12 homers, 52 RBIs). Bailey, 25, formerly in the Marlins system, has caught 54 games and played 31 in the outfield. The true test will be how he makes the jump to Triple A . . . While Pedroia is yet to play, the Lowell Spinners already have benefited from Boston's third-, fourth-, and fifth-round picks, all pitchers. Lefthander Andrew Dobies, out of the University of Virginia, had struck out 11 and walked just one in 4 2/3 innings through Thursday; lefty Thomas Hottovy of Wichita State had struck out 10 and walked none in his first six innings; and righthander Ryan Schroyer of San Diego State was 2-0 with a 2.25 ERA in four starts . . . Also in Lowell, there's no denying that Anibal Sanchez throws hard. After missing all of last season with an injury, Sanchez has been gunned at 95-96 miles per hour. He has a 1.82 ERA and has struck out 33 in 29 innings. Sanchez, 20, hails from Venezuela . . . Because we love the name, kudos to Beau Vaughn for his 5-1 (2.01 ERA) start at Augusta. Vaughn, a 6-foot-4-inch, 230-pound 23-year-old righty, has allowed only one run in his last 13 innings, during which he's struck out 14.