The hamate bone, firstly, is one of the bones that takes a lot of wear and tear when batting, and since it's his left hand, it really took a lot of battering. It's also at the base of his glove hand--imagine how catastrophic it would have been had a line drive hit it. According to the Herald, when he had surgery to remove the bone on Tuesday (November 6), it "crumbled". That isn't supposed to happen, by the way.
One of the biggest "wow"s about this is that he kept it quiet. He found out on September 10, and didn't let the media find out until yesterday. Thankfully, though, he said that the soft cast he's now wearing "won’t affect my offseason workouts at all".
(It occurred to me, while voting for the "This Year in Baseball" awards, that Pedroia made a huge diving, sliding catch onto that hand while preserving Clay Buchholz's no-hitter on September 1. Could the play that wins Pedroia the Defensive Play of the Year [take a minute to knock on wood here] be the one that broke a bone in his wrist?)
As we all know, Pedroia had a terrible slump early in the season. I, personally, was a supporter of the starting-Cora-over-Pedroia idea, and I've been shown time and time again just how wrong I was: ever since August, he's been a RotY favorite. And mine.
His regular-season batting average. Let's all stare at this for a minute or so.
Regular-season OPS (on-base percentage plus slugging). Let's stare at this, too.
Playoff OPS. Staring is optional, but recommended.
Regular-season walk-to-strikeout ratio. These are in the right order, I promise.
RBIS from game 7 of the ALCS. Yes, from a single game.
Batting average at Fenway, regular season. Why can't we play at home more often?
This number's in pounds. The kid is worth twice his weight in gold.