September 02, 2007
High Praise
The Boston Globe reports on some broadcast chatter involving Clay Buchholz:
It was in the middle of the third inning, Sox broadcaster Joe Castiglione said, when Hall of Fame pitcher Jim Palmer leaned in from the visitor's broadcast booth. "Palmer said, '[Sox hitting coach] Dave Magadan told me Buchholz reminds him of me,' " said Castiglione, who observed all the usual broadcasting superstitions and didn't directly mention that a no-hitter was in progress, behavior that was imitated in the Sox dugout.
Photo: Cliff Welch/Icon SMI
They're certainly the same size. Both are six-three. Buchholz is listed at 190 pounds, Baseball Reference has Palmer at 196. And they have similar deliveries. To the left you see the classic Palmer leg kick. Buchholz's leg kick can be seen in the video below, at about 3:01 in (2:42 on the count down clock). The angles aren't the same, but you can see they're close.
In The Neyer/James Guide to Pitchers: An Historical Compendium of Pitching, Pitchers, and Pitches
, they list Palmer throwing a high fastball, slow curve and a slider. Buchholz used the first two effectively last night, plus a good change-up. There's a great quote from Tom Seaver in that section, too, saying how Palmer is a master of flicking his glove into batter's line of sight. Does anyone know if Buchholz does that as well?
Palmer did throw a no-hitter early in his career, although not this early. It's an apt comparison, one the Red Sox hope holds for many years to come.
Posted by David Pinto at
09:57 AM
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Other than maybe spring training when would Magadan have faced Palmer?
Just as long as we don't have to see Clay in his tighty-whities everytime we turn on the tv. (Remember those Palmer Jockey ads?)
re: jim palmer's no hitter
noticing reggie jackson's ops of 1.115 in the no-hitter boxscore, i do believe that was the year (1969) that reggie had an enormous number of homers at the all-star break and everyone though he might assault the Ruth/Maris record of 60/61 for a season.
Reggie cooled off in the second half (or they pitched around him) and he ended up with 47 or 49 homers for the season.
It was the beginning of the Reggie legend, and the start of an oakland 1970s dynasty.
Those were two very fine teams, the 69 As and the 69 Orioles. Both excellent defense and pitching, and both good at getting walks and waiting for the strategic home run. Maybe Earl Weaver was a wee bit better at it, as the Orioles were in the middle of their 60s-70s dynastic run....
Jim Palmer had wonderful mechanics as a pitcher. You really enjoyed seeing him pitch. He made it look effortless.
--art kyriazis, philly (reminiscing on baseball I saw as a kid)
yankee fan
for your information there happen to be some of us who would really REALLY love to see quite a few baseball players in tighty whitys. and calvin boxer briefs. and brief briefs.
every time we turn on the TV
or change the channel