Thursday, May 23, 2013
While working on the Sea Dogs game story (they lost Wednesday night to Reading, 13-4), I glanced at the Red Sox game on the press box TV, and watched Clay Buchholz and Austin Jackson battling each other with bases loaded in the seventh.
That brought me back to three years ago. Remember when Buchholz was sent all the way back to Double-A in 2008, to work with pitching coach Mike Cather?
Buchholz pitched for the Sea Dogs in the Eastern League playoffs that year. In Game 2 of the series with the Trenton Thunder (Yankees affiliate), Portland and Buchholz had a 3-0 lead, until Jackson took Buchholz deep with a three-run homer in the sixth.
"The curve that Jackson hit, I don't see anybody sitting on a curveball like that," Buchholz said at the time. "He's in good company; the only other person that's ever done that to me is Jim Thome."
Trenton scored again in the eighth and won the game, and eventually the series.
Buchholz moved on and eventually back up to Boston. Jackson was traded to the Tigers.
Buchholz won Wednesday's showdown, striking out Jackson. In the 9-pitch at-bat, Buchholz did not throw one curve.
TweetKevin Thomas covers baseball and basketball for the Portland Press Herald/Maine Sunday Telegram. He wisely moved to Maine in 1994 after working for the St. Petersburg Times. He is married to Nancy and they have nine children.
Follow his thoughts on the Boston Red Sox and Portland Sea Dogs on Clearing the Bases
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