Second chance

Though it would be unusual for him to keep the number, Pedroia is mindful of his position, that of a 23-year-old rookie starting for the Red Sox, one of the few position players in recent years to come up through the organization. But it's not just that. Since he found himself dragging last August, mindful of fighting through a wall if he were called up, Pedroia has undergone a radical transformation, shrinking from his pudgy 196 pounds -- at a listed 5 feet 9 inches -- to a svelte 171.

"It was tough on me," Pedroia said. "But, definitely, that's one of the things I learned, is I never want to feel that way at the end of the year, because at the end of the year I want to feel at my strongest. I definitely, definitely made sure that wouldn't happen [again]."

From the exhaustion that came with a strict 2,000-calorie diet to the slightly more forgiving 3,000 calories he's up to now, Pedroia spent the majority of his offseason hours in a workout mecca, changing his body and himself, building what he hopes is a better baseball player.

He did it for many reasons, to rehabilitate his injuries (shoulder and knee), to change his body composition, to feel better moving at second base. Perhaps all that lost weight, all that desire, will change the perception of Pedroia as a player -- make more baseball people draw positive comparisons to David Eckstein, the former Sox farmhand who went on to win World Series with the Angels and Cardinals.

"I kind of figured out what I needed to do to be successful, and that's get a lot faster, get a lot stronger, and make sure my body stays that way throughout the whole year," Pedroia said. "There's no doubt it's going to stay strong and I'm going to stay healthy.

"I knew I was going to get a chance. It's what I make of it. I busted my butt this offseason. It's going to show."

Because when he's remembering where he came from, it's not just Pawtucket.