In case you missed it, fellow Boston Metro baseball writer and smaht bahstahd Alex Speier had an excellent piece in the Manchester Union-Leader on Texas Rangers reliever C.J. Wilson and his attempts to be the first US-born player to throw the gyroball.

A Sports Illustrated players' poll released last month asked Major League baseball players which MLB players "get the least out of the most talent." The numbers might shock, astound and dumbfound many in Red Sox Nation as Wily Mo Pena and J.D. Drew were number one and two on many players' lists.

Apparently, the rumors of Mark Buehrle coming to Boston are still alive and well in Chicago and all of the chatter has centered on wunderkind Clay Buchholz serving as a major part of the deal. Sox GM Theo Epstein was in attendence to watch Buchholz pitch five innings of no-hit ball on Saturday before being removed from the Portland Sea Dogs game against the New Hampshire Fisher Cats. Epstein's visit could mean a number of different things: from a simple check-up on his top pitching prospect, to a final look before he's promoted to Triple A Pawtucket or possibly even one last look-see before a Boston decision is made on Buehrle.

I personally hope it's one of the options behind Door Number One or Door Number Two as Buchholz is the real deal.

Also in case you missed, here's a look at some stats to take into account when looking at what kind of factor Buehrle will be down the stretch:

Buehrle vs. the Tigers, Yankees, Red Sox and Indians (four possible playoff teams with playoff caliber offenses) over the last three seasons:
29 starts
99 earned runs
182 1/3 innings
8-13
4.89 ERA

Buehrle’s post-All-Star break numbers over the last three years prior to his most recent start:
16-20 with a 4.51 ERA in 45 starts
Buehrle’s pre-All-Star break numbers
28-11 with a 3.52 ERA

Also, since the blogosphere is among the warmest and most welcoming communities in the business, I'd like to welcome CN8 and Out of Bounds Producer Jeb Fisher, who along with Brian DiBello, John Carchedi, 'Coach' Bill Walsh, Phil Burton and, of course, the Bry Guy and Scott Losinger make up one of the most underrated and talented TV staffs in Boston over at the CN8 offices on Amory Street in Brookline. They work hard night in and night out to make 'Out of Bounds' a fast-moving, cutting edge sports discussion show and they succeed a heckuva lot more often than than not.

Fisher's blog is called www.thelefty.net and he's currently engaged in debating the best left-handed starters of all-time in the Boston Red Sox organization. I'm also intrigued by "the Pterodactyl" pitch that Fisher claims to throw on the side.

Here's a piece in today's Boston Metro GameDay by yours truly about Dustin Pedroia and Ian Kinsler, guys that patrol second base for Major League teams now but who were also teammates at Arizona State five years ago. Pedroia ended up winning the shortstop job and Kinsler transferred to Missouri, but both second sackers remember their time together on the Sun Devils' campus well and make sure you check out what the ASU coach Pat Murphy had to say at the end of the piece. Here it is:

Texas Rangers second baseman Ian Kinsler still thinks of Dustin Pedroia every time he sees a Jeep Cherokee.

“The one thing that’s a constant reminder about Dustin from our time at Arizona State is a Jeep Cherokee,” said the Rangers second baseman, currently hobbled with a left foot injury and scheduled to head back to Texas today for an MRI on the balky foot. “He had this jacked up Jeep Cherokee and he loved…he loved it. He used to drive it around everywhere and he absolutely loved that car.

“He used to cram as many people into that thing as he possibly could and to this day every time I see a Jeep Cherokee I think of Dustin Pedroia,” added Kinsler. “He had it raised up with these big tires and he always wanted to be the driver whenever we were going anywhere.”

Both infielders have come a long way since playing the infield together for the Sun Devils in 2002 and cruising around the Arizona State campus in Pedroia’s Jeep Cherokee. The ultra-confident Pedroia has overcome a slow start in Boston to post Rookie of the Year-type numbers with a .323 batting average and a .405 on base percentage that ranks 10th in the American League.

“[Dustin] was a very good player. It didn’t matter where he was playing in the field or where he was hitting in the lineup, he was playing hard whether it was practice or a game and he was giving it his all,” said Kinsler, who is hitting .241 with 14 home runs and 35 RBIs in his second season with the Rangers. “You never know who is going to make it to the big leagues when you’re playing together in college or playing in the minors.

“But Boston taking him in the second round despite [Pedroia] not being that 6-foot-5, prototype ballplayer tells you all you need to know about how they felt about him,” added Kinsler. “It says a lot about Dustin’s ability especially in an organization like the Red Sox. I mean, [Boston] drafts ballplayers.”

Both Pedroia and Kinsler are living their dreams while patrolling infields in the big leagues after playing together for that one spring at Arizona State – with Pedroia going on to have a decorated career with the Sun Devils and Kinsler transferring to Missouri before getting drafted by Texas.

“We were obviously both good, but I don’t think we ever thought that we’d be in the Major Leagues playing against each other…but that’s the way it goes. It’s been a lot of fun watching him play and get better,” said Pedroia. “Offensively he’s a lot stronger from when he was skinny and 160-pounds back then…so he’s gotten stronger and he can hit the ball out of the ballpark more now. He can just flat out hit and play defense and he’s doing great.”

Arizona State coach Pat Murphy has watched both Pedroia and Kinsler – along with Chris Duffy, Travis Buck, Andre Ethier – with a great deal of pride, but has a special little area in his heart for the ultimate underdog named Pedroia.

“He has really willed his way to the big leagues,” said Murphy. “Let’s break it down: he’s 5-foot-6, he can’t run, he’s not strong, his arm is okay, his hands are tremendous but they have to be because his arms are about 11 inches long and so close to his body that he can’t get to anything more than five feet away from him, he’s balding and he doesn’t have a lick of athleticism.

“But once the game starts you see that he’s making a play on everything hit in front of him and he’s just ‘bailing and wailing’ at the plate,” added Murphy. “He’s just a throwback baseball player; his intent [on the field] is very easily seen and he’s putting together a season that could win him the Rookie of the Year.”

 

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