"Not really," he said. "Ever since I got home ... I couldn't really sleep for three or four nights. I'm always thinking we were so close. I understand we had our injuries and adversity, but it was a sour taste in my mouth and I'm sure in everybody's."

And this is why Pedroia is where he is, looking back at what is arguably the best start to a Red Sox career of any player in franchise history.

Financial rewards or postseason awards be damned, the chase has to go on.

"I'm not the biggest guy in the world," he said, "but I can make up effort in the offseason."

Thursday morning, for example, he woke up in time to join his workout partner, Dodgers outfielder Andre Ethier, to continue a regimen that began a week after the conclusion of the Red Sox's season. In three weeks, both his postseason beard (he says he's growing it all the way until spring training), and fitness schedule head to the next level when he hits Athletes Performance for 11 more weeks.

Normally the second wave of exercise has included a kickboxing class with the two athletes' wives, but on this day Pedroia's schedule put him on a plane to see his family in California for the first time in months. The trip, along with the conference call that came with the Gold Glove honor, served as a brief derailment what figures to be an undeniably focused offseason.

It worked last year, and that was with the delay that came with surgery on a broken bone in his left hand. In Pedroia's eyes, it can be even better. It has to be. In everybody else's view, however, room for improvement when it comes to the second baseman's third year would appear slim.

Again, we're talking about perhaps the best start for any player kicking off their career a Red Sox.

Ted Williams? Dipped slightly in his second year. Carl Yastrzemski's first year was fairly uninspired. And as for other Red Sox players who, like Pedroia, came away with AL Rookie of the Year honors -- Walt Dropo dipped to .239 in his second season; Carlton Fisk's sophomore campaign included a .246 batting average; and Fred Lynn power production in Year 2 dropped to just 10 homers and 62 RBI.

Up until Pedroia came around it was Nomar Garciaparra who served as the standard bearer. After winning the Rookie of the Year, the shortstop finished second in AL MVP voting by pounding 35 homers to go with a .323 batting average.

But, as the first wave of postseason acknowledgements would suggest, the 5-foot-7 second baseman has taken it to a whole new, all-encompassing level.

As evidenced by his latest award, you could start and finish with the defensive side of the equation. Playing just his second full season as a second baseman, Pedroia tied Bobby Doerr for the fewest errors (6) by a Sox second baseman with at least 700 total chances, and made just one miscue in his final 91 games.

It was only the third time in Red Sox history that a player had won Gold Glove honors and Rookie of the Year honors in his first two full big league seasons, joining Fisk and Lynn.

It was no accident. Along with reviewing video of various second basemen, Pedroia could be found in the dugout before any other Red Sox, awaiting the arrival of fellow infielder Alex Cora and then-infield coach Luis Alicea to take a daily dose of extra grounders.

"Obviously I take pride in my defense, it's a huge part of my game," he said. "My biggest thing is defense. I need to be extremely important to my pitching staff. I put in a ton of time with Luis Alicea and Cora from Day 1. It's only my second year playing second base. I took extra ground balls every single day and it definitely paid off."

And then there was the portion of the equation that just might have been the difference in getting Pedroia that AL MVP.

He owned one offensive category after another, leading the majors with 54 doubles, tying Ichiro Suzuki for most AL hits (213), and leading the league in runs (118), and multi-hit games (61). He also finished with the second-most hits in the majors in close and late scenarios.

It all added up to what figure to be some pretty good times. For Pedroia, however, they won't quite be good enough.

"When it's 7 o'clock, or 1 o'clock, whenever we play, I just go out there and play as hard as I can," he said. "That's the kind of attitude I'm going to take every single day of my whole career. I put the blinders on and just work as hard as I can, and hopefully, I'll just continue to be a better player."

Rob Bradford is the site editor for WEEI.com.

Seattle Mariners News News » The little things make Pedroia a Boston giant
The little things make Pedroia a Boston giant
You might think life is starting to get good again for Dustin Pedroia. He has been named American League MVP by the internet baseball community (a small, but telling honor), reeled in the Gold Glove for American League second basemen, and is engaged with the Red Sox in negotiating a contract that would eliminate financial anxieties for half a decade. All of this while now taking home Major League Baseball's AL MVP. You would think, but ... More from WEEI.com Rays pitchers overpower Papi Ellsbury struggles to lead More from WEEI.com