BOSTON -- We have before us the two rookies of the year. On the one hand, there is Troy Tulowitzki, built like Cal Ripken or even a young Troy Glaus, 6-foot-3, with 23-home run power, a gun for an arm and underestimated athleticism that got him 130 more chances than any other shortstop in baseball -- such athleticism that two teams that do defensive data claim the difference between Tulowitzki and the second-best defensive shortstop this season was greater than the difference between No. 2 and No. 9. As a rookie, he has assumed the leadership role of the National League's most talented team wth his quiet fire.On the other, there is Pedroia, who is three or four inches shorter than his listed height of 5-9. Where Tulowitski was the seventh selection in the 2005 draft, arguably the best in 20 years, one that included Justin Upton, Alex Gordon, Ryan Zimmerman, Ryan Braun, Cameron Maybin and Jacoby Ellsbury, Pedroia was the 66th selection the previous year. Many scouts spit on Pedroia's tools and laughed at a 5-5 guy who couldn't run, had an uppercut swing and, well, just produced."I have fed off that stuff all my life," says Pedroia. "I love it when people tell me what I can't do. Which happens all the time."As Tulowitski is the Rockies' quiet leader, Pedroia has become the energetic catalyst of the Red Sox, on and off the field. Most little guys with complexes annoy teammates; Pedroia's teammates love him, because, as Alex Cora says, "he laughs at himself and makes everyone laugh with him." Always the first guy on the field every day, Pedroia is Boston's Red Bull, ready to yell at opposing players and play as hard as anyone in the sport.Oh yes, and perform. "I remember all those people who hated me and wanted me outta town at the end of April," he says, because after hitting .191 in his 2006 stint and .182 in April, he had those tools scouts and talk-radio shock jocks calling for Theo Epstein's head for inserting a midget and allowing Mark Loretta to walk. When the season was over, his .317 average was the highest of any rookie second baseman in history. His .823 OPS was second among qualified rookies to Tulowitzki's .838, and 100 points higher than Delmon Young's .723. For those of us who love the rare Pujols-eque skill of having more walks or extra-base hits than strikeouts, Pedroia had 48 extra-base hits, 47 walks, 42 strikeouts, bringing him to 54/54/49 in his major league career after having 125 walks, 111 extra-base hits and 77 strikeouts in the minors.Then there's the matter of his hands, which look like those of a 9-year-old. In the major leagues, he has played 164 games at second base and booted four ground balls, with his other five errors on throws or dropped throws. After he signed in 2004, he played on horrible infields in Augusta and Sarasota and did not make an error, and in his minor league career made seven errors at shortstop and seven at second -- at each position, three on ground balls. "He's a physical freak," says Red Sox infield coach Luis Alicea. "His hands are tiny and they are simply great."Watch how he makes the backhand flip to Julio Lugo. "I'd never done it much," Pedroia says. "I was a shortstop. So I had to learn it." Every day in spring training, every day of the season, he and Cora have gone out early and worked around second base. Now, Pedroia is one of the best at that art, as he is at turning the double play, with a great deal of help from Cora, not to mention the fact that no third baseman in baseball gets the ball to the second baseman in a more consistent area with a more consistent velocity than Mike Lowell.When he struggled in April, hitting too many balls out over the plate in the air to right field, he worked and worked and worked to get up and hit those balls on a line. "I really didn't have to tell him anything," says hitting coach Dave Magadan. "He knows where he needs work, and does it. He contradicts every rule -- heavy bat, big uppercut swing ... and he's a tremendous hitter." "He thinks," says David Ortiz, "he's me."Besides the obsessive drive to be extraordinary and the chippy drive to get there, what stands out is Pedroia's hand-eye coordination, statistically manifested by the extra-base hit/strikeout totals for a little guy with a big swing. Pedroia was a very good tennis player as a kid -- no surprise -- and one Red Sox official took his spring training eye exam after Pedroia and recalls that the eye doctor said Pedroia had the best eyesight he'd ever tested. "I love it when people say I can't do something," Pedroia says. "It fuels me. ... 'I'll show 'em' is how I go about things."The problem with the scouting term "good athlete" is that it's meant to measure how fast someone runs a 60-yard dash, or how high he jumps. A baseball player who is a good athlete is someone who has more walks and extra-base hits than strikeouts, someone who doesn't miss ground balls, someone who plays baseball well. Scouts loved Ruben Rivera because he could run and jump and take unforgettable batting practice. Problem is, he couldn't play baseball. Dustin Pedroia can play baseball. Really play.