Red Sox 2B Pedroia selected AL MVP

NEW YORK - The next time someone doubts him, Dustin Pedroia will have a pretty good answer.

He can just hold up his AL MVP award.

Told forever that he was too little to play with the big leaguers, Pedroia added to his ever-expanding trophy case Tuesday.

The Boston second baseman with the meaty swing easily beat out Minnesota slugger Justin Morneau, Red Sox teammate Kevin Youkilis and record-setting closer Francisco Rodriguez in a scattered ballot that saw five different players draw firstplace votes.

"I'm not the biggest guy in the world. I don't have that many tools," he said. "If you saw me walking down the street, you wouldn't think I'm a baseball player."

Generously listed at 5-foot- 9, Pedroia has quickly piled up a huge stack of hardware. Earlier this month, he won the Gold Glove and the Silver Slugger.

He was the 2007 AL Rookie of the Year and capped off that season with a World Series ring.

"I had to overcome a lot of things to prove people wrong, and so far I've done that," the 25-year-old Pedroia said on a conference call from his home in Arizona. "I have to find a way to have that edge."

Red Sox general manager Theo Epstein suggested, kiddingly, how he'd motivate Pedroia in the future.

"I think I might have to remind him that there's still some scouts who think he can't play," he said.

Pedroia drew 16 of the 28 first-place votes cast by members of the Baseball Writers' Association of America and finished with 317 points. He was even left off one ballot, while Morneau and Youkilis were listed on every one.

Pedroia led the AL in hits, runs and doubles in helping the Red Sox win a wild-card berth. He batted .326 with 17 home runs and 83 RBIs and also stole 20 bases.

Pedroia became the first AL second baseman to win the MVP award since Nellie Fox in 1959 with the Chicago White Sox.

No position has produced fewer MVPs, just 10 overall since the AL and NL awards were first presented in 1931.

Pedroia was the fourth second baseman to win the AL MVP award, along with Fox, Joe Gordon (1942) and Charlie Gehringer (1937). Six second basemen have won the NL honor, with Jeff Kent, Ryne Sandberg and Joe Morgan doing it most recently.

Pedroia became a fan favorite at Fenway Park with his scrappy approach.