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"&lt;p&gt;&lt;/p&gt;&lt;p&gt; Dustin Pedroia has played with a torn ligament in his thumb. (Brian Kersey/Getty Images Sport)&lt;/p&gt;&lt;p&gt;&lt;/p&gt;&lt;p&gt;Boston Red Sox second baseman Dustin Pedroia has been playing despite a completely torn\u00A0ulnar collateral ligament in his left thumb, according to reports from the Boston media last night.&lt;/p&gt;&lt;p&gt;Pedroia hasn't missed a game this season with an injury that normally takes about eight weeks to heal. He hurt his thumb sliding into first base in the season opener with the Yankees. Doctors said he wouldn't risk further harm by playing through the injury.&lt;/p&gt;&lt;p&gt;Pedroia was apparently most upset that news of his injury was about to become public.&lt;/p&gt;&lt;p&gt;From the\u00A0&lt;em&gt;Boston Herald&lt;/em&gt;:&lt;/p&gt;&lt;p&gt;\u201CYeah, I\u2019m smarter than a lot of people think I am,\u2019\u2019 Pedroia said. \u201CI understood. You go and come back in eight weeks \u2014 that\u2019s a lot of ballgames without one of the team\u2019s best players, so my job\u2019s to go out there and do the best job I can to help the team win. That\u2019s the way I look at things.\u2019\u2019&lt;/p&gt;&lt;p&gt;...\u201CPeople shouldn\u2019t know if you\u2019re 100\u2009percent or not. It is what it is, and it\u2019s my responsibility to perform well,\u2019\u2019 Pedroia said. \u201CMy mindset is if I\u2019m nicked up, I have to find other ways to perform. That\u2019s the way I think about it. Maybe I\u2019m crazy.\u2019\u2019&lt;/p&gt;&lt;p&gt;&lt;strong&gt;LEMIRE: Red Sox on the rise in latest Power Rankings&lt;/strong&gt;&lt;/p&gt;&lt;p&gt;&lt;strong&gt;GALLERY: Athletes playing through pain&lt;/strong&gt;\nPedroia has played well this season. He's hitting .332 with 14 doubles and three home runs.&lt;/p&gt;"^^<http://www.w3.org/2001/XMLSchema#string>
<http://www.si.com/si-wire/2013/05/29/red-sox-dustin-pedroia-torn-ligament-thumb>