#15 - Dustin Pedroia

What’s that Turtle doin’? This card illustrates a not uncommon minor problem on the checklist, at least when cards are viewed as part of a set, rather than just singles in a Team or Player Collection: it is nearly identical to the card preceding it.

I would say this card is better than the Konerko card however, for two reasons - the wrinkles, and the eyes. The wrinkles of Pedroia's uniform supply the viewer with a perception that he just leaned in towards the Plate, and set his bat in preparation for the pitch. There is a sense of motion for the whole thing.

The image is also cropped/zoomed in a fair bit farther than the previous one, though still not quite as much as the Jeter card on the previous page; we can see the belt, but just barely. One result is Pedroia's left hand is sliced by the frame edge, but that is worthwhile because with the tighter zoom, we are able to see Dustin's eyes, focused on the pitcher, completely clearly. I only sometimes would be willing to trade in a view of a baseball players eyes on his card for a better action shot - it had better be a darn good action shot. Pedroia's eyes, combined with the line of his eye black and the brim of his batting helmet, lead us, also, off the side of the card and out towards the soon-to-be-released baseball. We are ready for the pitch, too.

At first glance, this card shares another similarity with Konerko's - some sort of bonus gear on Pedroia's left elbow. Is he nursing a minor arm injury back to 100%? This makes me turn the card over, hmm, he played in 141 games in 2012, so, perhaps, perhaps not. However the black piece of athletic gear there is not an actual brace intended to support the arm muscles, but rather is simply a pad some batters wear on the elbow that faces the pitcher. Probably a good idea for a batter that has a stance with as much 'lean in' as Pedroia is displaying here.

+Bonus points for the shiny sunshine spot on the top of the batting helmet, and the way blurry fans with the blue shirts contribute to the image behind the helmet. This almost gives Pedroia a halo effect, which seems fitting for such a popular player.

Uniform Hero? Yes. Pedroia claimed #15 in his Rookie season, although he had to wear #64 during a brief call-up the season before, illustrating a bit of how uniform #s work in MLB.

Where’d the egg hatch? Dustin was drafted in the 2nd round by the Red Sox in 2004 and debuted in 2006, though his official Rookie year was 2007 - when he won Rookie of the Year.

How about the migrations? There have been none. In his sophomore campaign in 2008, Pedroia won an AL MVP, neither fact all that surprising given his neighbors on this checklist. Unfortunately, his entire career has been intertwined with cycles of injury with more 'shortened' seasons than 'everyday starter' seasons. 2018 saw his lowest point yet - only 11 At Bats when another injury comeback process did not work out.

Nevertheless he has had an excellent career in MLB with plenty of postseason success to enjoy as well. He is signed through 2021 and will surely see more MLB action in his future as I write, just before 2019 Spring Training.

Don’t flip over real Turtles.

Another this-is-what-you-want-to-see-on-the-back-of-a-baseball-card baseball card back. Topps adds a nice tip o' the glove to the offensive highlights displayed in the stat columns, with the text comment. The only downer is in the G column, which leads one to wonder how many League Leader in Italics there could have been on the card with more full seasons of play, rather than the 4 we do find.

Can the Turtle Catch the Rabbit?

CAREER CHASE: With 560 runs, Pedroia is 1,735 away from Rickey Henderson's all-time record of 2,295.

Here we have a new record to consider, though it is the second from All-Time Great Rickey Henderson. Pedroia has largely batted 2nd in his career, fitting for such an excellent hitter. Early in his career he was productive at stealing bases and has one 20-20 season. Top-of-the-order guys are going to score more Runs; Pedroia has also led-off and batted 3rd a fair bit each, as well.

But as we have seen, injuries tell the tale and to break an All-Time record, good luck with health is very important. In 2018, Pedroia scored one Run, bringing his career total to 921.

Subspecies? As one would expect for such a shining light of MLB, Pedroia appears in both Opening Day and Chrome, though with this same basic image each time. There are no other variations of this card. But since we all like looking at cards more than reading about them, let's take a short break from the Sea Turtles and check out some of his other cards issued in the 2013 Sea Turtle sets - because I really liked each of these:

How's that for a 'Superman' card?

Yes, I like stadiums on my baseball cards. One of Pedroia's 2012 teammates has a very good one later on in the set. And speaking of stadiums -

This is one of the few "Patch" cards I have ever kept for my Permanent, Personal Collection, though it looks like I will have to assemble a 9 card Pedroia Player Collection now too. Before I moved to Michigan and became primarily a Tigers fan, I was a Red Sox fan thanks to a Massachusetts-bred neighbor when I was very young, which combined well with watching the 1975 World Series, including seeing all of Game Six, live. That left a mark.

I have been in awe of Fenway Park ever since and it is one of my life goals to see a game there. Once upon a time I was in Boston, during baseball season, with the Red Sox on a home stand right then, and staying with a friend across the street from Fenway, even - all to see this All-Time Great rock band I love probably more than Baseball. There were even day games going on - I could double dip, I hoped, game in the daytime, rock concert in the night time. Fenway at last! Unfortunately, this was in late September during a Pennant Chase, and there was no get-up-early-and-wait-in-line-for-a-Day-Of-bleacher-ticket as at many MLB stadiums. All the Red Sox tickets had been sold in advance and were quite more expensive than just sticking to the plan of seeing my boys from San Francisco in the Boston Garden. Sigh.

2012 was the 100th Anniversary of Fenway Park and the Red Sox wore the patch replicated on the above card. I also picked up the 2012 Factory Set Special Fenway Edition with a little packet of authentic dirt from Fenway affixed to a card. Maybe when I finally take in a game at Fenway some day, I hope, I won't look at cards showing Fenway stadium quite as wistfully.

Bling That Shell With all the star power on this early portion of the checklist, there are still multiple cards to pick from on this 2nd page that appear in Opening Day. I went with the Pedroia card, once again likely because it is the one I pulled from a pack: