BALTIMORE -- Dustin Pedroia, who received a Rolex watch from Manny Ramirez for winning the Rookie of the Year Award in 2007, plans on getting something special for his good friend for hitting his 500th home run Saturday night. He wouldn’t reveal what it’s going to be, though.

Pedroia was excited for his buddy's accomplishment.

"It was great because you know how hard he works," said Pedroia. "You can tell the last three or four weeks that he wanted to get it over with. To see it happen is special. There’s not a nicer guy, there’s not a guy who cares about everybody as much as Manny does. It’s awesome. It was awesome to watch."

Alex Cora, who was inserted into Saturday's game as a late-inning replacement for Julio Lugo at shortstop, Cora didn't see Ramirez's homer. He was stretching in the tunnel when he heard a loud roar.

"It was amazing," said Cora of the accomplishment. "As soon as I heard the crowd I went out. Like Tito always says, Manny’s so genuine and you can see the joy. He was relieved, too. He doesn’t show it, but you can tell all this weight came off his shoulders."