Hardware score

"I'm not the biggest guy in the world," Pedroia said on a conference call from Arizona. "I don't have that many tools. If I'm walking down the street, you wouldn't think I'm a baseball player. I've had to deal with it my whole life. That's just been instilled. I have to do everything to prove [people] wrong."

Pedroia hit .326 with 17 home runs, 83 RBIs, and 118 runs, finishing second in the AL batting race. But he cleaned up everywhere else. He became the first Red Sox player to win the MVP Award since Mo Vaughn in 1995, and the first Sox second baseman ever. He is the first AL second baseman to win since Chicago's Nellie Fox in 1959.

"I really didn't know what to expect," Pedroia said. "I was just excited . . . having my name in with all those players. You look around the league, there are a ton of great players. For me to be in that category was an extreme honor for myself."

He was driving to work out with the Dodgers' Andre Ethier when his phone rang. He smiled upon hearing the news. Then, unusual for a player who has never been afraid to speak what's on his mind, he wasn't quite sure what to say. All he knew was that he ought to turn the car around and skip the day's session.

Pedroia was named on all but one of the 28 ballots cast by the Baseball Writers Association of America. He totaled 317 points, followed by Minnesota's Justin Morneau (257), the 2006 winner, and Sox teammate Kevin Youkilis (201). Pedroia got 16 first-place votes, with Morneau getting seven, Youkilis two, Joe Mauer two, and Francisco Rodriguez one.