One year ago, he was American League Rookie of the Year; Tuesday, Boston Red Sox second baseman Dustin Pedroia was named the AL Most Valuable Player as the club was well-represented in the 2008 Major League Baseball award season. Pedroia walked away with three major awards while first baseman Kevin Youkilis earned recognition as one of the top offensive performers.

Pedroia earned 16 first-place votes out of the 28 ballots cast by baseball writers, beating Twins first baseman Justin Morneau, the 2006 AL MVP, by 60 points, 317 to 257. He also became the first AL second baseman since Nellie Fox in 1959 to win the award and the ninth player in team history to take home the league’s top honor. the first since Mo Vaughn in 1995. Pedroia also took home Gold Glove honors at his position as well as the Silver Slugger award as the best offensive player at his position.

Meanwhile, Youkilis, who last year took home a Gold Glove for playing error-free defense at first base, was honored as the Hank Aaron award winner based on ballots cast by broadcasters, analysts, and fans. First awarded in 1999 to commemorate the 25th anniversary of Aaron’s accomplishment of surpassing Babe Ruth’s career home run mark, Youkilis is the third Red Sox player to earn the honor in the ten years of the award’s existence, the first since designated hitter David Ortiz in 2005. Youkilis also earned consideration for MVP honors, receiving two first-place votes and finishing third in balloting.

Tags: Babe Ruth, David Ortiz, Dustin Pedroia, Kevin Youkilis, Mo Vaughn

Boston Red Sox ownership’s commitment to remain at Fenway Park for the foreseeable future continued Thursday with the announcement that renovations will continue over the winter months heading into the 2009 season, while also stating that the team has submitted a bid to host the 2012 All-Star Game, the year that the infamous bandbox will turn exactly 100 years old. While the legal capacity of the park will stay at 39,928, which includes those who work at the park on game day, fan seating will increase by 350 and a full house will jump to a crowd of 37,750 for night games. This will entail removing and replacing seats in the lower deck between first and third while installing additional seatings in the upper deck down the first base line. The lower deck will also have the concrete waterproofed between first and third and this effort will continue for the remaining sections of the lower deck after next season. Several other, yet-to-be announced improvements are also planned, though no word has been given whether the old wooden seats in the Grandstand sections of the park will be replaced at some point.

President and CEO Larry Lucchino also announced that paperwork had been submitted to the office of Major League Baseball for Boston to host the 2012 Mid-Summer Classic, last hosted at Fenway Park nine years ago. That contest, won by the American League as Red Sox pitcher Pedro Martinez was named the game’s Most Valuable Player, also featured an emotional tribute to former Red Sox left fielder Ted Williams as part of the All-Century team, with players from both squads surrounding “The Splendid Splinter” and shaking hands with the legendary player for several minutes after he threw out the ceremonial first pitch. MLB has already awarded next year’s All-Star game to St. Louis at Busch Stadium and the 2010 meeting to Los Angeles at Angels Stadium of Anaheim, but no announcements have been made for games played after that. Sites usually alternate year-to-year between American League and National League stadiums, though the 2006 and 2007 All-Star games were played in Pittsburgh’s PNC Park and San Francisco’s AT&T Park, respectively; this allowed the 2008 game to be held in the final scheduled season at Yankee Stadium. Fenway Park has also hosted two other All-Star games, the first time in 1946 and the second time in 1961.

Tags: All-Star Game, Fenway Park, Pedro Martinez, Ted Williams

He may be better known for his discipline at the plate, finishing second in the 2008 American League batting race with a .326 average, but Boston Red Sox second baseman Dustin Pedroia was recognized Thursday for his fielding skills with his first Rawlings Gold Glove honor. Paired on the right side of the infield with 2007 Gold Glove winner Kevin Youkilis, Pedroia appeared defensively in 157 games and made just six errors in 733 chances, one year after making the same number of errors in 625 total chances; he also collected 448 assists and helped turn 101 double plays. Pedroia, who is also a leading candidate for the 2008 AL Most Valuable Player Award, became just the second player in team history to win a Gold Glove at his position; the only other Red Sox second baseman to accomplish the feat was Doug Griffin in 1972. He is also the third Red Sox player to win a Gold Glove in the past four years; besides Youkilis taking home the honor last season playing error-free ball at first base, catcher Jason Varitek earned recognition for his efforts behind the plate in 2005.

Much like Youkilis, who transitioned from third to first in 2006, Pedroia moved from his natural position at shortstop, where he had been named as a first-team All-American by Baseball America playing for Arizona State in 2004, to second to fill Boston’s needs and the change has been near-seamless. Pedroia’s .992 fielding percentage in 2008 was second in the American League only to Oakland’s Mark Ellis and third best in team history behind Mark Loretta (.994, 2006) and Bobby Doerr (.993, 1948). He also became the first Red Sox second baseman since Doerr to finish with as few as six errors in 700 or more chances. At one point this season, Pedroia enjoyed a 61-game streak without making an error, 12 games shy of Doerr’s record 73 straight games at that position, also made in 1948. In the post-season, his defense continued to shine, playing error-free ball in all 11 games for Boston while making 35 assists and taking part in five double plays.

Tags: Boston Red Sox, Dustin Pedroia, Jason Varitek, Kevin Youkilis