Guy Pedroia can expect more business at his tire shops in Woodland, West Sacramento and Elk Grove.

The common consumer, an occasional celebrity, the curious.

Three weeks ago, Matt Damon, of the Bourne movie fame and a well-known Boston Red Sox fanatic, stopped by Radial Tire Wholesale in West Sacramento. The topic of conversation? Baseball and wheels, and definitely in that order.

Guy Pedroia owns Valley Tire Center in Woodland, Radial Tire in Elk Grove, and the wholesale store in West Sac where his son Brett runs things.

But it's not clear if the stores specialize in automotive tire needs or are mini-shrines to son and kid brother Dustin Pedroia of the Boston Red Sox, the pride of Woodland who was named the American League's Most Valuable Player on Tuesday.

It's a crowning achievement for the kid from small-town America, who overcame long odds with skill and sheer determination to reach the top of his sport. Pedroia, The Bee's player of the year as a senior at Woodland High School, was deemed too small to play professional baseball and was not picked in the 2001 major-league draft.

The same tag followed him to Arizona State University, where coach Pat Murphy declared that the 5-foot-6 Pedroia had the body of a sixth-grader. The Woodland kid just confidently flexed his biceps and said, "Hey coach, how do you like these guns?"

Pedroia hasn't grown much, but his game has taken him to heights some of the bulkiest players never reached.

Pedroia's résumé includes a World Series ring, the Rookie of the Year award in 2007, and Silver Slugger and Gold Glove awards in 2008.

Pedroia shares the credit for his success.

"All those people there, my family, friends, coaches, teammates," Pedroia said, "they all had a big part in the player I became."

One thing family and locals say about Pedroia is that the kid hasn't changed a bit. He's just a bit more famous and wealthy than he used to be.

"Oh, no," Brett Pedroia said proudly Tuesday afternoon at the wholesale store. "He's still Dustin. He's still our guy."

He's Woodland's guy, to be more specific.

Woodland still has the charm and appeal of small-town America. Main Street includes a barber shop, the 151-year-old daily newspaper, a pizza joint and the tire shop owned by Guy Pedroia. And if locals hadn't heard the good news Tuesday afternoon, the sign out front told them: "Dustin Pedroia wins AL MVP."

At a park near Woodland High School on Tuesday, Ryan Lewis, 11, was taking grounders with his father, Ron. The young fielder had a Red Sox T-shirt. The name on the back? Pedroia.

"Everyone wants to be like Dustin here," said the younger Lewis.

Just before it was announced he was the MVP, Pedroia called his parents, Debbie and Guy, brother Brett and lifelong friends. Everyone, it seemed, was more excited than the player himself.

"Oh, goodness, I didn't sleep at all," Debbie Pedroia said, half out of breath from her Woodland home. "He called me and I asked, 'Did you win it?' and when he said, 'yes,' I started crying, then screaming – 'He won it!' It's just so exciting for all of us."

Bobby Hawke, a Pedroia teammate from their Little League days, spent the weekend with Pedroia in Arizona.

"I saw him Monday, and he was pretty relaxed for being the next MVP,'' Hawke said. "Here I am, one of his best friends, and I am more anxious and nervous than he was."

Those who know him best say Pedroia has handled his fame well.

Rob Rinaldi agreed. He coached Pedroia at Woodland and now teaches and coaches at Pleasant Grove High in Elk Grove. Rinaldi took his 8-year-old son, Ty, to Boston this summer for four days of games, star gazing and spending quality time with the player Woodland old-timers call "The Legend."

"Ty got the big-league treatment," Rinaldi said. "We had dinner with Dustin, spent time with him, and my son got a new jersey every day. And it's just like Dustin to be that good to us. Great guy.

"My son's a big Red Sox fan now. He played Little League this year for the Red Sox. And he wore No. 15 and played second base like Dustin. Imagine that."

Pedroia told family and friends that he will be home for the holidays. Kristy Wright, CEO of the Woodland Chamber of Commerce, said she hopes Pedroia will be the grand marshal for the annual Christmas parade.

But Brett Pedroia also knows what his kid brother will be up to during the holidays.

"He'll be getting ready for the next season, working out, and it's how he's always been," he said. "He's so driven. He had a bat in his hand before he was 2, if that gives you any perspective. This is what he lives for."

Debbie Pedroia said she has never viewed her son as an overachieving mighty might. He is generously listed by the Red Sox at 5-foot-9, about 3 inches too tall.

"I don't think of him as small at all," she said. "Never have. With his heart and desire, he's 6-5 to me, bigger."

Added Hawke, "A lot of people talk about how he's a small player, that he's feisty and all, and he's all of that. But you know what? He's just better than everyone else. This proves it."

Call The Bee's Joe Davidson at (916) 321-1280.