Despite Denton’s booze-fueled suspicion that Julian Tavarez was pitching last night (see the previous post for the sordid details), Kason Gabbard stepped quite nicely into the big pants, three-hitting the Royals and becoming the first Sox rookie to throw a nine-inning shutout since “My Name’s Paul, and This Is Between Y’all” Quantrill in 1993.
Me, I’m just happy to see the bats come back after yesterday’s frustration. Home runs from Ortiz, Manny and Li’l Dustin brought in all the runs, and Gabbard just looked amazing.
Speaking of Gabbard, though I’ve noted his resemblance to Stiffler, the more I see him, the more I think he looks like… uh… well let me explain: If you were watching some sci-fi film in which Stiffler was morphing into Seth Rogen, then Gabbard would be, like, the second step in the transformation.
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The ProJo Sox blog has a nice recap of Clay Buchholz’ PawSox debut last night:
At first sight in the clubhouse earlier today, he didn’t look very big. He’s listed at 6-foot-3 and 190 pounds, but it doesn’t appear he’s going to be the type of player who “fills out” as he gets older. Still, he certainly has all the makings of a major league pitcher.
It’s clear he has above-average velocity, which he reached 95 on the gun with ease. His 12-to-6 curveball is nasty. His change-up bottoms out in the low 80s and he’s able to mix in a slider, too.
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A great Manny/Jools story from the Cleveland Plain Dealer:
When the Indians were in Kansas City one year, Ramirez and Julian Tavarez approached two Indians beat reporters and asked if they could borrow $10,000 each.
“We each want to buy motorcycles,” said Ramirez.
They’d already tried to get an advance on their salary from General Manager John Hart. Hart, wanting to keep two of his best players out of traction, said no. The reporters, with about $200 between them, said no as well.
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Lastly, welcome back, Curt Leskanic!
