Clay Buchholz

ut Jason Varitek has caught four, starting in 2001 with Hideo Nomo, followed by Derek Lowe in 2002, Clay Buchholz in 2007, and most recently Jon Lester in 2008.  None of those guys are slouches by any measure, however they aren't the most elite pitchers of their era yet either (can't pass judgement on Buchholz or Lester especially as of yet).  And yet, all of these guys have done what some astonishingly elite names such as Roger Clemens, Curt Schilling (who came within one strike of a perfect game with Varitek behind the plate in 2007), Pedro Martinez have never been able to do in some the most illustrious and impressive pitching careers that Major League baseball has ever seen.  With Varitek behind the plate and calling the game, good pitchers become great, and great pitchers can become legendary.  This is not to say that the Red Sox Captain deserves all the credit for his pitchers' success, but it is undeniable that he has a huge impact on the game and the way his pitchers perform.

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ommand, the Sox could likely fill three or four other holes on the roster, and with young arms like Clay Buchholz, Justin Masterson and Daniel Bard waiting in the wings, why add another expensive arm to the rotation.

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It was about 1 year ago when young pitcher Clay Buchholz threw a no-hitter against the Baltimore Orioles in only his 2nd major league start. 1 year later, Buchholz has struggled and is currently 2-9 with a 6.75 ERA; losing 7 straight decisions. After a 11-6 loss to the O's, manager Terry Francona announced that Buchholz was demoted to Double A Portland.

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Remember last postseason when Josh Beckett was making three of the best teams in Major League Baseball look like the Bad News Bears? It was right about then everyone anointed him the anchor of the Boston pitching staff and forecasted a shelf or two full of Cy Young trophies.

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A Fenway experience wouldn't be a Fenway experience if it weren't for certain things: There's the smell of the sausage vendors outside, the cloud of traffic from the Kenmore T stop to the park, all those friendly and amiable scalpers, and, of course, the abundance of easy-to-find, affordable parking. OK, so I made that last part up.

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