Clay Buchholz

Red Sox pitcher Clay Buchholz has started eight games in his career.  Of these games, he has pitched two complete.  In one of his complete games, he has pitched a no-hitter.

            Yeah.      

I was vacationing in York, Maine during the night of said no-hitter, September 1^st of last year, with my family and a friend.  We were walking around downtown York when my friend got a text message from someone back home which basically said, “I don’t wanna jinx it by telling you, but something big is happening in the Sox game.”  As big Red Sox fans, we finished up our ice creams and headed back to the hotel.  Upon turning on the crappy T.V. set, we saw this nobody pitcher, Clay Buchholz, pitching at the top of the ninth with two outs.  That wouldn’t have been too surprising, except that the score was 10-0, and when the television turned on, we heard Jerry Remy saying “This kid is one out away from a no-hitter!”  We were amazed.

Well, the rest is, as they say, history.  Buchholz got the no-hitter in only his second major league start, and Red Sox Nation was stunned by another rookie.  This was the number one play in Sporscenter’s Top 10 the next morning, and stupendous enough for Buchholz to be the AL Player of the Week, and the “This Year in Baseball” single game performance of the year.  In the 2007 season, Clay (what a goofy name) ended up 3-1, with 22 strikeouts and, of course, a no-hitter.

  Sports reporters predicted Buchholz could be the next big thing for the Sox.  This season, his record does not seem to live up to his amazing feats of last season.  He is 1-2, but his pitching has not had the best support from Red Sox offense.  For example, his second loss came against the Tampa Bay Rays (just Rays now, not Devil Rays) in a 2-1 ballgame in which he struck out 9.  His pitching allowed only 2 runs, but the Sox hitters couldn’t rally against one of the worst teams in baseball…Bummer.  And his first loss, against the Toronto Blue Jays, was a 2-10 painful loss, in which he only let in 3 earned runs, leading me to believe that the Sox “D” was not as proficient as it should be.  There were two errors by the infielders, and four earned runs by Sox “relief” pitcher Bryan Corey.  So much for a relief.  He did well in his win however, allowing no earned runs in an 8-3 win over the Texas Rangers, along with 6 strikeouts.

Now for highlights of Sox rising stars from the last week: former cancer patient Jon Lester went eight shutout innings with six SO’s in a game won by Kevin Youkilis’s walk-off single.  Speed demon Jacoby Ellsbury has pushed his stolen base count up to eight, and added a triple to his stats.  Everyone’s favorite second baseman Dustin Pedroia is doing well, with a .313 batting average and a whopping 11 doubles, even more than the speedy Jacoby.  I’ll keep you posted with Sox newbies next week, when I take a deeper look at shortstop Julio Lugo.       

Jacoby Ellsbury, Pt. 2

 

Last season, Red Sox centerfielder Coco Crisp was injured late in June.  The World Champions-to-be made a good choice and brought up star Paw Sox player Jacoby Ellsbury.  The young Navajo was the number one prospect in Red Sox Nation at the time, and with a hit in his very first Major League game, he was already proving it.  However, three games later he made waves that affected the whole fan base.

  On July 2^nd, Ellsbury stole second base in a game against the Texas Rangers.  When their pitcher Brandon McCarthy threw a wild pitch, Jacoby took off and got to third.  But he didn’t stop there.  Disregarding 3^rd base coach DeMarlo Hale’s signs to stop, the speedy outfielder hustled straight home, scoring from second base in a play Sox Hall of Famer Johnny Pesky described as “the greatest single play I’ve ever seen in all my years in baseball.”  Pretty impressive for a kid fresh from the minors.

Jacoby has been doing just as much, if less stupendous, damage since then.  After six games with the Red Sox, he was transferred back down to the minors with Coco’s return to health.  In the fall when Major League teams’ rosters expanded to 40 players, Ellsbury was brought back up, and one day later he got his first Major League home run.  By the end of the regular season, Ellsbury had nine stolen bases, three homers, and seven doubles, all in only 116 at-bats.  Jacoby was named the Rookie of the Month for September, and with less than 130 at-bats in ’07, he still qualifies as a rookie this year.  He could be on his way to a Rookie of the Year award.

            In the postseason last year, Ellsbury shined.  When Crisp was struggling in the AL Championship Series, Jacoby was put back into the lineup.  In eleven games, Jacoby got two stolen bases, along with nine hits, including four doubles.  Two of these doubles came in the same inning, the third inning of game 3 of the World Series against Rockies pitcher Josh Fogg.  He was the first rookie, and only the second player, to get two doubles in the same inning of a World Series game.  And as if that wasn’t enough, he got another double in the 8^th.  He was one of only four rookies to ever accomplish this feat, and with a single as well, he became one of three to have four hits in a World Series game, and the first since 1946.  The fact that Ellsbury got two doubles in the same inning is a testament to not only his speed and consistency, but also the Red Sox’s skill to bat through the order in one inning.  Jacoby McCabe Ellsbury (cool middle name) is my favorite rookie in the MLB today.

            Now, it’s time for stats on the rising stars of the Sox so far this season.  Japanese legend Daisuke Matsuzaka is undefeated through three games, with his fourth coming tonight.  My man Dustin Pedroia has 23 hits this season, including five doubles.  Pitcher Clay Buchholz is not doing as well as I had hoped after his no-hitter last season, with an 0-1 record and 6.75 ERA.  Julio Lugo is not doing terrible, with sixteen hits and two doubles.  My Rookie of the Year, Jacoby, is doing very well, stealing four bases while getting nine hits and a home run.  Next week: meet pitcher Clay Buchholz.

 

Introduction and Jacoby Ellsbury, Pt. 1

As a freshman high school student in Massachusetts, I have been a fan of the Red Sox for most of my life.  At least, since I could talk.  I have suffered through the hardships of the 2003 ALDS, then a year later, the greatest comeback in sports history.  Of course, there was also last year when we sealed the deal with a second World Series win in 4 years, proving the 2004 Championship was not just a fluke. 

Last year was an exciting year for the Sox, with such amazing moments as the Mother’s Day Miracle, and Clay Buchholz’s no-hitter.  Fans met such (sometimes disappointing) new faces as Daisuke Matsuzaka, the legendary gyroball pitcher from Japan, new shortstop Julio Lugo, and rising star Dustin Pedroia.

 

In this blog, I will be displaying and discussing all the new players of the Boston Red Sox, and what makes each of them special.  I will try and highlight at least one “rising star” per entry, and each entry will contain stats on each of the new Sox.  Here’s a list of who you can expect to make appearances:

·         Jacoby Ellsbury

·         Dustin Pedroia

·         Clay Buchholz

·         J.D. Drew

·         Kevin Cash

·         Julio Lugo (what a disappointment)

·         And many more!

 

            The Sox are chock full of superstars who give the team its name, like Manny, Big Papi, and Curt Schilling (currently disabled).  But Ortiz doesn’t even play the field, and while Manny is doing great, he is not consistent, as we have seen in the past.  The new kids are often what carry the team.  For example, with Papi’s batting average lower than it’s ever been, J.D. Drew has turned it on, leading the Sox with three homers.  Meanwhile Jacoby Ellsbury is taking Coco Crisp’s place in centerfield for Sunday’s big game against the Yankees.  Also second year pitcher Daisuke Matsuzaka is taking the mound against the Yanks, with three wins under his belt already this season.  Let’s make it four, Dice-K.

           

            Okay, time for the first half of a player spotlight.  This week I take a look at young Jacoby Ellsbury’s beginnings in the Major Leagues.  Last year when center fielder Coco Crisp was injured, the Sox called up a young Navajo Native American from their minor league team, the Paw Sox.  Jacoby Ellsbury became the newest sensation to affect the Red Sox Nation.  The young man from Oregon had already torn up the minor leagues with his blinding speed, and there was even more to come in the Majors.  Ellsbury was named by the Sox as Minor League Base-runner and Defensive Player of the Year in 2006, the year before he was called up.  In 2007, he was the number one prospect in Red Sox Nation, and Terry Francona clearly noticed.  When Coco got injured late in June ’07, Jacoby was brought up to the Majors June 30^th, and got his first Major League hit.  Right off the bat, (excuse the baseball pun) Jacoby was making things happen.  But there was much more to come….  Stay tuned for the next blog entry for more on Ellsbury.