Inch by inch, respect grows

DUSTIN PEDROIAMorgan is a fan

When Dustin Pedroia swings and misses, he air-conditions the entire Back Bay.

When Dustin swings and connects, the ball might head for the Citgo sign.

"I never swung that hard," says Joe Morgan.

That would be Joe Morgan, as in Hall of Fame/Big Red Machine Joe Morgan, not "Six, Two, and Even" Joe Morgan, although it's a safe assumption our Walpole Joe did not attack each and every pitch at which he decided to offer with the same vigor as the current Red Sox second baseman.

No one does.

Well, Gary Sheffield might, so let's amend that to "no one who could look Spud Webb in the eye does," OK?

Big Red Joe was just like everyone else when he first saw Dustin Pedroia.

"I didn't like him," he acknowledges. "I didn't see how he could swing that way and be successful."

Big Red Joe is now a paid-up member of the Dustin Pedroia Fan Club.

"He hits the high fastball as well as anybody," Morgan maintains.

Laughably listed at 5 feet 9 inches, Pedroia is, in reality, 5-6 and change (pennies). But the little guy has plenty of what you call your pop in the bat. He had 73 extra-base hits while slugging .493 this year. He hit two home runs in Game 2 of this American League Championship Series and he hit two balls off the Wall in Game 3 that would have been home runs in many major league parks (the Wall giveth and the Wall taketh away, remember).

Let's just say he gets his rips.

Given the way he swings the bat, his contact percentage is absolutely astonishing. You look in the record books and see fellow 5-6er Nellie Fox striking out a paltry 216 times while knocking out 2,663 base hits and you go, "Whoa," and then you realize that he choked waaaay up on a bottle bat and was Mr. Single (2,161). He didn't walk all that much, either (38 times a year on average). He did what he did for a long time and he is a deserving member of the Hall of Fame. But the way he played the game was pretty much the way you'd expect a 5-6 guy to play.

It's doubtful that Dustin Pedroia has even heard of Nellie Fox, but it's a guarantee he wouldn't want to play like him. Nellie Fox was a dutiful little table-setter, and a very good one. Dustin Pedroia has more of a Joe Morgan in him.

Joe Morgan, now that would be a very interesting role model for Dustin Pedroia. Joe Morgan is also 5-6, and Joe Morgan also had what you call your pop in the bat - serious pop.

Consider Joe Morgan's back-to-back MVP years of 1975-76. He won it in '75 with 50 extra-base hits, 107 runs, 94 RBIs, 67 stolen bases, 131 walks, and an on-base plus slugging percentage of .974. He was just getting warmed up.

His 1976 season was one of the great second base performances of all time. He was 31 years old and at the peak of his considerable athletic powers. We give you, therefore, 62 extra-base hits (27 homers), 113 runs, 111 RBIs, 60 stolen bases, 114 walks, and an OPS of 1.020. Oh, and, of course, throw in a Gold Glove each year. That's some serious second basing for a squirt of 5-6.

It might be a little too much to ask of Dustin Pedroia, who for starters doesn't have extraordinary speed, to match those numbers. But let the record show that Dustin Pedroia led the league in both hits (213) and doubles (54), and Joe Morgan never came close to either of those figures (his doubles high was 35 in 1973). So it comes out differently.

Big Red Joe does love watching Pedroia play, and what fascinates him is Pedroia's amazing bat speed.

"Very few people can get on top of the high fastball the way he does," Morgan marvels. "You see it, but you can't get around on it. You can hit the low fastball much better. Pedroia is different."

Now, we have two pretty good baseball people managing these teams, and one thing Terry Francona and Joe Maddon agree on is that Dustin Pedroia is one quality (little) baseball player.

"He's one of the very best players in the game," says Francona. "I think, that as people around him will tell you, he has to play with a chip on his shoulder. His motor is always running, and I'm sure that's because he's been told from a very early age that he couldn't do things, and he continues to want to prove that he can."

Maddon sees that tribute and raises the ante.

"He played in 1910, 1920, 1930, all the way up to the present day," says the Rays skipper. Maddon next alludes to an HBO piece he once saw featuring Joe McCarthy talking about an unnamed Yankee who didn't know his batting average or the team's record. "And the guy walked away, and [McCarthy] said, 'That's what I love about him; he just comes to beat you.'

"And then I saw [Pedroia's] comments in the paper regarding their loss yesterday where he was complimentary of us, but I could sense from his attitude he's just about beating you."

No doubt some serious baseball people scoffed at the idea of Dustin Pedroia becoming a major leaguer, let alone a star, but Theo Epstein is here to tell you that on draft day the Red Sox had the opposite fear.

"We got him in the second round," Epstein points out. "We were afraid he wouldn't fall to us. To this day, he goes around saying that we cheated him out of money by not taking him in the first round. But I think he'll be making up for that - very soon.

"But he will say whatever he thinks to whomever he wants. To explain why this is endearing, that's a hard sell until someone is around him for five minutes."

There is talk he could be the MVP. That would be nice. But he's already the Red Sox MEP (Most Entertaining Player). And it goes without saying he's the HSP (Hardest-Swinging Player).

You heard me: 5-6.

Bob Ryan is a Globe columnist. He can be reached at ryan@globe.com.