Speechless
I’ve been trying to figure out what to write about this, and I honestly can’t, so I’ll just dive right in. Clay Buchholz just threw a no-hitter in his second major league start.
Now I don’t know how to follow that up. What the hell can I say? That he was damn good? Of course he was. He had every pitch working, he was spotting them, he was getting swings and misses, there wasn’t much solid contact. He was great. He threw a no-hitter, so you already know that.
His stuff is electric. This is legitimate ace stuff; his 93 mph fastball is pretty much his worst pitch, and it’s extremely good. His curve ball is so good it has even fooled umps on a number of occasions in his first two starts. And his change is a thing of beauty; it’s not one of those that breaks and moves like Hoffman’s or Pedro’s, but it’s exceptionally deceptive, and you can see that reflected in all the hitters that have flailed at it so far.
And while we’re at this, let’s talk a bit about another Red Sox rookie, the man who saved this no-hitter in the seventh. Dustin Pedroia has been exceptional all season, but the play he made tonight might go down as the best of what could be a long career for him. There was no way he should even have gotten to that ball, let alone get himself up and get it to first fast and accurate. But he sure as hell did, didn’t he? The ballplayer that has been defying expectations his entire career brought it to a new level, in the middle of one hell of a welcome party for the Red Sox’ newest toy.
I can’t help it, I’ve been grinning ear to ear since that last curveball buckled Markakis’s knees. This is an incredibly special day - in this season, for this team, for this system. This system which was barren just a few short years ago has produced in incredible fashion for this team in 2007. Where would we be without Dustin Pedroia, Jonathan Papelbon, Kevin Youkilis, Manny Delcarmen, and now Clay Buchholz? Some of the biggest games of the year have been decided by them, some of the biggest moments have been written by them, and this could be the biggest of them all.
Clay Buchholz will be a Red Sox starting pitcher next season. If there was any doubt, it was erased tonight. He will likely have his bumps along the way, and no one knows what the future holds - There Is No Such Thing As A Pitching Prospect. But if there is, you just watched him throw the first great game of his career. Let’s hope that this is the first of many.
Edit: Just because I can’t resist, did you notice who gave up runs 5-8 in this game? It was none other than 2007 Arquimedez Pozo winner Rocky Cherry, traded to the Orioles recently for the corpse of Steve Trachsel. Big night for Buchholz, big night for the Pozos.
September 1st, 2007 at 10:49 pm
In the fourth inning, my roommate and I figured out that there had been walks and a fielder’s choice, but not actual hits. We joked about it, figuring Clay would get touched in the fourth and yanked after the fifth. As the game went on I had fill him in on how not to say what was going on.
We pretended to divert attention by agreeing that Coco could have gotten whatever last hit by the Sox if he were fielding, even though it was down the left field line. “Heck, he could have caught that ball coming in from the Sox dugout.” And Crisp could have stolen home at any point during the night, he was just being polite not to. He can fly like Superman, right?
And Pedroia, does his jersey have permanent dirt marks? I’ve never seen this kid clean once. That was a nice slide into first, and of course with the play later, as sure as Coco is one with the wind, Pedroia is master of the earth.
And Youk is (still) the gravity well of all baseballs. I called the exact pitch he would get hit on last game, he radiates baseball attraction force waves with a wew-wew-wew sound like you might see and hear on classic cartoons like Superfriends. There was that game a week or two ago where he runs to third, pops up to stand, and turns just in time to see the throw from the outfield hit him in the shoulder, and he drops to the ground like he didn’t expect it. How can he not expect it? How can he lip WTF when he gets beaned, shouldn’t he know it’s going to happen by now? And this game is no different. He hits a homerun, but he’s not safe, what does the ball do, but bounce off the Monster back into play, and the fielder throws it in to second, and Youk is there scrambling back, you KNOW he’s going to get hit with the ball. It’s coming. Only by the grace of seeing the umpire twirling his finger in the air and pointing to third does Youk escape contact with the ball. This time.
Go Youk, and Dustin, and Coco. That new kid, though, no one seems to want to talk to him between innings. I guess everyone’s watching the offense. Let’s stand up for the ninth inning, my back needs a stretch.
September 2nd, 2007 at 5:30 am
Granted, I was about 5 glasses into a bottle of Knob Creek at the time, but I cried when he threw that curve to Markakis. It was a thing of beauty.
And that play by Pedroia? I hugged the dog.
Oh what a night. So you don’t think they’ll try and trade Buchholz for someone before the end of the season?