Makes You Wonder Why He's Here, Then

Shank's on his annual semi-vacation known as Red Sox spring training, Shank talks to Aroldis Chapman, bullpen ace:

Catching up with Red Sox fireballer Aroldis Chapman, who’s dreaming of a third World Series ring

FORT MYERS, Fla., — Speed thrills.

Every kid who picks up a baseball wants to throw hard. It’s a measure from the first time we step on a baseball diamond. Throw hard. Make ‘em swing and miss. Sit down, chump. Who’ll be next to try to catch up to the heat?

There’s a reason everybody lines up for the radar gun underneath the stands at ballparks around the world. Kids want to impress each other. Young men show off for their girlfriends, maybe ripping a rotator cuff trying to crack 76 miles per hour on the speed detector.

Your Boston Red Sox have the world record-holder, the Gas God from the Altar of Speed: lefty reliever Aroldis Chapman.

It’s all relative of course. There was no measure for the the fastballs of Walter Johnson, Bob Feller, or Nolan Ryan, but since there’s been reliable calibration, Chapman is the fastest of all. In September of 2010, he threw a pitch in a big league game that was clocked at 105.8 miles per hour.

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Acknowledging that the 2025 season was the season of his career, Chapman’s says he going for a third World Series ring in ’26.

“That’s the goal that this organization has and that’s my goal,’’ he said.

Does anybody really believe this is the goal of the Red Sox front office? They lowballed Alex Bregman, who signed with the Cubs because they offered him more money than the Red Sox, and yesterday Sam Kennedy preposterously claimed that “If Alex Bregman wanted to be here,” Kennedy said, “ultimately he’d be here.” You can't have it both ways, Mr. Kennedy, and the notion this is a World Series contender when they can't be bothered to land key players is laughable.