"Then you turn on the TV and everyone is talking about what he's not doing and what he should be doing.
"It might affect some players, but Dustin is fine. He's got his ugly green shirt and his ugly white-on shoes today. That's a good sign."
Cora is right about one thing: Although Pedroia's average doesn't reflect it, he is swinging the bat well. In his first crack at Indians starter Paul Byrd in Game 4 Tuesday, he stroked a ball down the third base line that would have been a hit, but Casey Blake made a nifty play to snag it. Pedroia followed with a ground single in the third inning, grounded out to short in the fifth, then screamed a line drive in the seventh that appeared headed for right field before Asdrubal Cabrera leaped and snared it.
"It was a nice play," Pedroia said. "I'm sure his arm is sore from the whiplash he got from catching it. I wish he was a little shorter."
While some members of the Red Sox continue to gnash their teeth over their hitting woes, the rookie second baseman has convinced himself to move on. Yesterday he arrived at the park just after noon, sat down and ate a bowl of Apple Jacks, then delighted in beating Eric Hinske in an outdated video football game before calmly addressing his hitting slump.
"I know I'm swinging the bat well," Pedroia said. "In Game 1, I almost took C.C. [Sabathia's] head off with a line drive. If that one gets through, and a couple from the other night, then I'm hitting .400 and I'm great."
It's that kind of positive self-talk that has gotten the diminutive Pedroia to the major leagues in the first place.
Last week, after he was crushed in a pair of cribbage games by Terry Francona in the manager's office, he walked back dejectedly to his locker. Told Pedroia had his head down from getting beat, Francona cracked, "That won't last long."
He was correct. Pedroia was at his manager's door the following day with a new deck of cards and a new strategy on how to exact some revenge.
