One of the most loved players of the previous era not just in the Boston Red Sox, but all over MLB, Dustin Pedroia, ended his career after several years battling a chronic injury to one of his knees, in which he had to undergo partial reconstructive surgery and to this day he cannot run or play baseball, although he can also lead a normal life off the field.
After news of his retirement was announced, the media and fans generally recalled that sweep Manny Machado gave him at second base in 2017, while he was still playing for the Baltimore Orioles, which saw Pedroia see his season limited to just 105 games and underwent surgery at the end of that season.
However, the sweep that Machado gave Pedroia was just “the drop that broke the camel’s back” for his knee, as Pedroia underwent surgery on his left knee meniscus and a cartilage reconstruction of the same at the end of the 2016 season.
Throughout 2017, Dustin suffered from knee problems and made it onto the disabled list three times for the same cause, with the last one being fatal due to the Manny Machado sweep, from which he was never able to recover, after attempting to return in the following three seasons, without some success.
Pedroia does not hold a grudge against Machado himself, nor does he believe that the Dominican “ended his career,” as he said in his virtual press conference that what happened to him could happen to anyone and that it was just a baseball game that had bad consequences. .