Anyone who has ever played sports at any level has probably heard this from a coach at one time or another: "It doesn't take any talent to hustle!"

I heard this repeatedly when I was playing baseball, telling me that:

A) The coaches appreciated my hard-nosed style of play, the fact that my uniform was always dirty, and the fact that I never gave up on any ball, no matter where it was hit, OR,

B) They recognized that I had no appreciable talent for the game.

Although it's kind of a backwards compliment, like telling your date she's the prettiest girl at the dance when you're the first couple to arrive, there's still a lot of truth to the statement - All it takes to bust it down the line on a ground ball is the desire to do so, and sometimes that little bit of effort makes all the difference in the world.

This is why I love the right side of the Boston Red Sox infield so much. Kevin Youkilis and Dustin Pedroia are both straight out of the Trot Nixon-Mike Greenwell mold. They will dive, run into and sometimes through walls, hustle out ground balls, and always give 100%, a rarity in the world of professional sports, where so many players seem to think it's more important to preen and showboat than to do their utmost to help their team win.

For Pedroia, a little guy who has a home run hitter's swing and yet makes consistent contact with the best in the league, that work ethic has produced a current streak of hits in 28 consecutive road games. Not that impressive, you say? No Boston player has a longer such streak since Tris Speaker in 1915!

To put that into a little historical perspective, the last time a Red Sox player had a longer road hitting streak than Pedroia, Woodrow Wilson was president of the United States and the country was still two years away from entering into World War One. We have had sixteen presidents since then, and at the time of Tris Speaker's streak, Arizona and New Mexico had only entered the union three years prior.

Babe Ruth was a 20 year old kid playing in his first full year in the big leagues, mostly as a pitcher, compiling 217.7 innings pitched and an 18-8 record. Oh yeah, he showed a little promise at the plate too, hitting .315 with four home runs for the Red Sox, who were still four years away from selling him to...well...you know the rest of the story.

Anyway, I bring up this Pedroia streak because the guy is one of those players you hate if he's on the other team but you love if he's on your team, because he's so darned pesky - he's like the bugs buzzing around Joba Chamberlain's head in the playoffs last fall - no matter how hard you try, you just can't get rid of him.
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