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Generously listed at 5-foot-9, 180 pounds, the gritty rookie connected an 0-1 pitch from Colorado Rockies left-hander Jeff Francis to send Boston on its way to a 13-1 rout.
"You always want to set the tempo, let the other team know you're here to play," Pedroia said.
The drive barely cleared the wall and bounced back onto the field, but umpires quickly signaled it was a home run and there was no argument.
"I was just trying to get around the bases. I didn't know if it went out
-- I was trying to trick 'em," Pedroia said. "I was excited."
Perhaps folks tuning in on television for the first time this postseason were taken aback by the mighty mite, but he was simply picking up where he left off Sunday.
Pedroia homered, doubled and drove in five runs during Boston's Game 7 win over Cleveland in the AL championship series. All from the leadoff spot, too.
Three nights later, he joined Baltimore's Don Buford as the lone players to homer starting Game 1 of the World Series. Buford connected off New York Mets Hall of Famer Tom Seaver in 1969.
"I'm usually a singles, doubles guy. Every once in a while I'll run into one," Pedroia said. "It's not like I'm trying to hit home runs."
Handed the starting job at second base before the season, Pedroia got off to a terrible start. He was stuck in a bad slump at the plate and some wondered whether he could be a productive hitter at the big league level.
But he stayed with his hefty hack and soon began to break out.
"That's just who he is," Red Sox captain Jason Varitek said. "Once he found out who he was again after he struggled early on, that's who he's been all year."
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A leading contender for AL Rookie of the Year, Pedroia batted .317 with eight homers, 50 RBIs and 39 doubles, finding his niche at the top of the lineup.
He batted .154 in Boston's first-round sweep of the Los Angeles Angels, then found his stroke again in the ALCS by going 10-for-29 (.345) with three doubles.
"He comes out of his shoes, that's for sure," Boston closer Jonathan Papelbon said.
Pedroia added a bases-loaded walk in a seven-run fifth. Before that, he became the 18th player to hit a leadoff home run in any Series game. The last to do it was Johnny Damon for the Red Sox in Game 4 of 2004. Boston went on to win and sweep St. Louis.
Pedroia was the 31st player overall to homer in his first career at-bat in the World Series, a list that includes teammate David Ortiz. Pitcher Jose Santiago, who accomplished the feat for the Red Sox in 1967, was on the field before Wednesday night's game as part of a tribute to Boston's pennant-winning team from the "Impossible Dream" season.
Barry Bonds, Jose Canseco, Roger Maris and Hall of Famers Brooks Robinson and Mel Ott also homered in their first Series at-bats.
Pretty impressive list. Now it includes Boston's pint-sized power threat, who walked out of Fenway Park in a white sweat shirt Wednesday night and was barely recognized by fans filing into the street.
Just a regular-looking guy -- until he swings the bat.
[Associated Press;
by Mike Fitzpatrick]
Copyright 2007 The Associated Press. All rights reserved. This
material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten or
redistributed.
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