If the small town of Woodland, Calif., is hurting for some tourism dollars this year, it can thank its native son and former Sun Devil baseball player Dustin Pedroia.
Last year’s American League MVP and 2007 Rookie of the Year recently went on record in Boston Magazine calling Woodland “a dump” and added, “You can quote me on that. I don’t give a s---.”
I understand the glitz and glam that comes along with being a superstar in one of the largest sports markets in the country, but how are you going to do your hometown like that, Dustin?
He could have just left it at that, but Pedroia felt the need to elaborate on just how repulsed he is by his childhood stomping grounds.
“Everyone wants to get out of there,” Pedroia told the magazine. “You don’t want to stay in Woodland. What do you want to stay in Woodland for? The place sucks. The newspaper there, I don’t really get along with. I come from your town. You should embrace me. I play for the Boston Red Sox. You haven’t had a lot of major-leaguers come out of your city.”
Here is a conversation that should’ve taken place:
Red Sox Public Relations: “Hello?”
Dustin’s brain: “Yeah, hi, is this the public relations department?”
Sox PR: “Yes, it is?”
Dustin’s brain: “We’re going to need you to get down here right away. Dustin is talking out of his ass again.”
Let’s review.
Pedroia bashes the town he grew up in and then displays how fast he can inflate his head as big as a Greyhound.
Dustin’s comments were especially surprising, considering he built his career as the little guy that had to work hard to make it.
Sounds a bit like that small town in northern California.
Not to mention, his parents are still working in Woodland as owners of a tire store.
Good luck with business, by the way.
I’m sure Dustin can help after signing that big extension, though.
Certainly he’s not too big time to help out his own family. Right?
But I’m leaving out the most important people affected by Pedroia’s recent verbal blunder: the kids.
Ignore the sappiness of that last statement and hear me out.
I just remember being a kid and looking up to baseball players like they were superheroes.
It’s hard to imagine all those kids in Woodland with their Pedroia jersey on, watching Sportscenter so they can follow up on their hometown idol, only to hear him call the place where their parents are raising them a “dump” in the paper the next morning.
Personally, I’ve never been to Woodland. Maybe it is the armpit of California. I don’t know.
What I do know is, Pedroia should have enough class to try to uplift the town that his family and many other families call home.
Reach the reporter at emschimm@asu.edu.
