The myth of MLB: The Show

We've all seen the commercial -- Dustin Pedroia standing in his living room, irate, demanding that MLB: The Show fix the glitch that has his virtual likeness unable to hit the high, inside fastball.

"That (expletive) is funny, huh?" Pedroia said today. "They did a good job with that. When they told me they wanted me to be on the cover, I was like, 'Man, that’s cool to be on the cover, but then you've got to do the commercial, and I don't really like doing anything (like that).'"

(That's an interesting thought coming from a guy who did this, this and this, but OK.)

"When I got there and started doing the cover," he said, "I was like, 'This is going to be pretty funny.'"

Here's the funnier thing: Pedroia can hit the high, inside fastball -- and Pedroia's virtual likeness can hit the high, inside fastball, too.

"They did it because, in the game, that's my highest hitting – high and inside, I'm hitting .480 or something ridiculous," he said. "So they're like, 'We're going to do the commercial like this – and then in the game, that's your hot spot."

That's not quite true to life. The way Pedroia swings does make him a little susceptible to high heat. But based on the Inside Edge data in the Red Sox Annual, the high, hard stuff is far from his biggest weakness.

A year ago, he hit .286 (but slugged over .500) on pitches up and in -- and he hit .418 and likewise slugged over .500 on pitches up and over the middle. It was down and in (.257 batting average) and down and away (.264 batting average).