Dustin Pedroia: ‘Our infield (stinks)’

I hate Jonathan Papelbon the most, Kevin Youkilis second-most, but next on the Red Sox would have to be Dustin Pedroia. (List does not include Curt Schilling who sits atop this list by a long shot.)

All I hear from Red Sox fans is, “Pedroia was born to play second base for the Red Sox.” First off, that’s a load of crap. Let me guess, Nomar Garciaparra was born to play shortstop for them too? That’s what I thought.

This isn’t some random outburst on one of Boston’s players. He actually said something. And of course, it was stupid. He called out his own team’s grounds crew after misplaying a grounder against the Angels in the ALDS.

"It took a bad hop," Pedroia said. "Our infield (stinks). It's the worst in the game."

Pedroia was obviously peeved, but did not back away from his statement.

"I'm not lying about that. That is true. I think about those things. That stuff upsets me," Pedroia said. "My job is to take 1,000 groundballs a day. Other guys' job is to get the field perfect so we can play baseball."

For starters, would Derek Jeter ever come close to saying something like this? Making excuses on a groundball after losing in the ALDS is not what a leader should be doing. I can’t believe this guy stole the MVP Award last year.

I file this under a typical Red Sox comment. Please, someone tell me different.