Big league clubhouses are populated by highly skilled athletes. Every guy who puts on a major league uniform represents tens of thousands of kids who played T-ball and dreamed of making The Show. Some of them know a lot about baseball history. Most know less than the average fan. Just because you are good enough to make it to the big leagues does not mean you spent your childhood memorizing the batting averages of the 1977 Seattle Mariners.
I remember running home from school (10 miles, uphill, I believe) to watch the Giants and Yankees in the 1962 World Series on a black-and-white Philco.
Watching the Sox watch the Tigers and Twins, I wondered what kind of memories they had.
What about you, Clay Buchholz? Any great childhood memories, watching October baseball?
“I wasn’t so into it that I had to watch every game,’’ said the 25-year-old Texan. “When I got to be 13-14, October seemed to be the time that a lot of stuff was happening. The Astros were my team. And the Rangers. I was a big Nolan Ryan fan.
“But the series I really remember the most was when I was in college and the Red Sox were down, 3-0, to the Yankees. That’s the one that comes up in my head.’’
Hmmmm. I’m thinking Buchholz probably wasn’t watching Sox-Yanks on a black-and-white Philco. I wasn’t expecting a Sox kid to start talking about Smoky Joe Wood in 1912, but . . . 2004? Wasn’t that last weekend? Can you get any greener than Clay Buchholz?
I moved to Jacoby Ellsbury’s locker. He’s 26 and grew up in Oregon. Ellsbury was a senior in high school when the 2001 Seattle Mariners won 116 games, only to be wiped out in five games by the Yankees in the ALCS.
“I wasn’t live-or-die with every pitch,’’ he said matter-of-factly. “I’m sure I was probably a little disappointed. But I didn’t watch much TV. I was out and about, playing basketball, doing stuff like that.’’
Time to go to the greybeard. Mike Lowell looks like he could co-star with Morgan Freeman. Certainly he must remember October glory from the old days.
