"I thought to myself, 'This has got to change,' " Pedroia said. " 'I've got to do something.' "
The card show was in Medford, he thinks, but he's not certain. It was a cab ride, and sure enough, the cabbie had his radio tuned to the sports talk station, and everybody it seemed, hosts and callers, were making sport of Pedroia.
"Those guys were crushing me," he said. "I'm thinking, 'This is tough.'
"I get to the signing, and this guy comes up to me with a baseball and says, 'Hey, I want you to sign "Dustin Pedroia ROY '07." ' "
The acronym is shorthand for "Rookie of the Year." Pedroia was hitting about a buck eighty at the time.
"I said, 'Dude, what are you, drunk? Get out of here, man,' " Pedroia said. "The guy says, 'No, I'm serious.'
"I said, 'Hey, buddy, if I sign this and win Rookie of the Year, I want that ball.' He goes, 'No problem.' "
Fast-forward to August, and another card show.
"The same guy shows up," Pedroia said. "He didn't want anything signed. He just showed me the ball. A really good guy. He had his little son with him, he had my jersey on, I'm thinking, 'This is pretty cool, this is what it's all about.'
"Kelli was with me. I go, 'Honey, there's the guy. This guy's great.' I was going nuts."
Pedroia is telling this story in a hotel suite in New York, a few hours before Craig Biggio, who played second base for almost as long as Pedroia has been alive, presented him with the American League Rookie of the Year trophy at the New York baseball writers dinner.
"In April, when everybody was crushing me, there were people who still believed in me, and that's what made it special," Pedroia said. "He just said he loved the way I played, the way I take everything personal. He said he wasn't the most talented guy when he played - I got the whole high school story - but he said he really appreciates the way I play.
"I don't know his name, but he said he's coming to spring training and he said when he gets there, he's going to give me the ball. I'm going to sign another one for him and his kid."
Ignition and recognition
It's Denver in October, the day before Game 3 of the World Series, and Pedroia is walking into the players' entrance at Coors Field for that day's workout.
