Just Wondering

Shank was curious about Clay Buchholz's newborn kid:

Clay Buchholz’s brood just got a little bigger. The former Red Sox right-hander and his wife, Lindsay Clubine, have welcomed their third child. Early Tuesday, Clubine, a former “Deal or No Deal” model, posted the happy news on Instagram with a picture of the whole family in the hospital. “Welcome to the world Jax Daniel Buchholz! You complete us!!” she wrote. Is it just us or does Jax Daniel sound an awful lot like the name of a certain brand of Tennessee whiskey?

Rehash Radio - X

To paraphrase that guy from 'Office Space', "I wouldn't say I missed it":

On with @ZoandBertrand today from 11-1. They are into ripping Buchholz, as usual. Zo down 20 lbs with 30/10. We are all jealous

— Dan Shaughnessy (@Dan_Shaughnessy) May 10, 2016

They are ripping into Buchholz? Who's buying that one?

Wish Granted

Shank, yesterday:

Clay Buchholz (0-0, 11.25 ERA) gets the ball for Boston Tuesday night at Fenway. Anyone feeling good about that?

Here's the box score, with Buchholz getting his first loss of the season.

I wonder how many other times this year Shank will be rooting for a Clay Buchholz loss?

Write the Wrong

Here's Shaughnessy's lede from today's column:

"We had the obituary prepared."

Repeat: "We had the obituary prepared."

The Red Sox were down one run in the fifth inning, and down 2 games to 1 for the World Series. So naturally they were done.

Unreal.

Grafs later, he flip-flops on his analysis from the day before, when he wrote, "If Buchholz is good enough to pitch Sunday night, why didn't he get an assignment for one of the first three games. If he's not good enough to go, why is he getting the ball?"

Today, it's, "In 2007, Curt Schilling taught us that you can win postseason games with a high school fastball if you have sufficient smarts and location. Buchholz was barely able to break 90 on the radar gun, but he was effective for 66 pitches."

Moments later, he writes: "Boston’s winning rally started (naturally) with two outs and nobody aboard in the sixth." 

So the Sox have made a habit of never dying, yet you already "had the obituary prepared?"

 

Bad Pitch

The CHB in his page 3 of the World Series section column Sunday: 

"If Buchholz is good enough to pitch Sunday night, why didn't he get an assignment for one of the first three games. If he's not good enough to go, why is he getting the ball?"

The CHB in his page A1 column Sunday:

"[Peavy] owned the worst postseason ERA (10.71) of any big league pitcher with more than four starts. Peavy is on line to be your Game 7 starter. Gulp."

So per Shaughnessy, Peavy sucks but Buchholz still shouldn't pitch? Or perhaps he thinks John Farrell should look up Al Nipper's number?

I would like to think he actually, you know, reads what he writes. But apparently he doesn't.

Cure All

The CHB doubts Clay Buchholz is up to the task of pitching in Game 4 tonight, comparing him to Al Nipper. Forget, for the moment, that Nipper is a journeyman if ever there were one -- career won/loss of 46-50, and a 4.52 ERA -- whose best claim to fame was being Roger Clemens' drinking buddy, while Buchholz is 58-33 with 3.60 ERA in a higher octane offensive era. 

Instead, let's point out the fallacy, propogated by The CHB, that the pitcher who starts the fourth game is by definition, the fourth best pitcher. 

"If Buchholz is good enough to pitch Sunday night, why didn't he get an assignment for one of the first three games. If he's not good enough to go, why is he getting the ball?"

Well, Dan, there's this little thing called "rest." And it does wonders for injuries. You should know: It also cures hangovers.

A Hazy Shade of Winter (Ale)

Dan Shaughnessy Watch has obtained the lede to the first draft of The CHB's column today:

"It’s good to be back guzzling tall boys on the Sox watch for a few days here in the Bronx."

And the coverup continues.  The CHB believes Red Sox management is lying about the intent of the July players meeting, adding "Once again, the Sox simply cannot just tell the truth."

Shaughnessy, alcohol settling in with full force, then veers to David Page, spending the better part of the piece quoting Tweets from the fired Red Sox strength and conditioning coach, including one where he bashes Clay Buchholz. Way to break the news. By the way, that would be 11-3 Clay Buchholz, who only has thrown six good starts in a row, and has been stellar in 10 of his last 12. If you're going to pick on a pitcher for being out of shape, better to go after one who isn't throwing like Cy Young. 

And Dan, about those Simon & Garfunkel references: They broke up in the 1970s. Just about the time you wrote your last relevant sentence.

Head of Clay

The CHB yesterday on Clay Buchholz's appearance at a charity event at Foxwoods despite medical and team clearance: "No matter how harmless it is ... it looks like a lapse in judgment."

Well, if it weren't for the media like The CHB, no one would even know about it. Certainly no one cares.