Congratulations to the Pedroia family, and especially to Dustin on being called up to the Bigs with the Boston RedSox. From some Rhode Island news site:

Rookie infielder Dustin Pedroia was in the starting lineup for the second straight day since joining the Red Sox, but at a different position.

Pedroia, who started at shortstop Tuesday night, replaced Mark Loretta at second base last night.

In his debut Tuesday night, the diminutive Pedroia stung the ball twice. In his first at-bat he was robbed of a two-run single on a leaping grab by shortstop Orlando Cabrera, who turned the bases-loaded, one-out smash into a rally-killing double play.

“I was nervous going up to hit. When I hit it I thought it was a single and two runs and we were ahead,” said Pedroia last night. “When he caught it, I felt like my heart stopped. It happened so fast.”

Pedroia, though, notched his first big-league hit in his next at-bat, a line single to center in the fourth.

“That was cool,” said Pedroia.

In his other at-bat, Pedroia whiffed on a 2-and-2 pitch with two on and two out in the sixth.

Pedroia’s debut came in front of his parents, his fiancée Kelli Hatley, and a couple of friends. He said he was expecting a larger contingent early next week for the three games in Oakland because he grew up in northern California, in the Sacramento area.

That’s freakin’ awesome!

Edit: My claim to fame here is that I played baseball with Dustin’s older brother, Brett, while growing up and all throughout high school. Dustin was always the pesky little brother that wouldn’t go away, but his persistence paid off. He was always a scrapper, and I distinctly remember that our high school coach was very impressed with him at a young age, and would set aside time specifically to work with him.

Anyway, best wishes to Dustin, and here’s wishing to a long and storied RedSox career!