A Hero Swims Among Us
“Do you know who I am?” Clay Buchholz asks as he slaps esophagitis in the face. “King Kong ain’t got nothing on me!” he yells before doing his best Ron Burgandy cannonball. Next thing you know ninjas drop from the trees and start to kidnap hostages at the Stoli sponsored charity pool party hosted by WAAF’s Greg Hill. Clay with no hesitation leaps from the pool and starts karate kicking the ninjas in a fashion that would make even Steven Seagal jealous. Not a hostage was harmed and the ninja blood was mixed with the tears of the unicorn that Buchholz found and the chemical combination was found to cure all known diseases. Hallelujah!
That’s how I expected the story to go when I read Craig Calcaterra on Hardballtalk call Buchholz noble and “maybe even a little brave” for attending this charity event. Calcaterra was defending Buchholz against the evil morning radio show “Toucher and Rich” who tweeted an opinion-less statement just laying out the facts. “Clay Buchholz didn’t travel w the team to the west coast, but was at a vodka-sponsored pool party at MGM Foxwoods last night. Details NEXT”. This was simply stating the facts of the story while teasing the audience to tune in. Calcaterra then picks on the lowest hanging fruit, twitter, to make a case against Boston and “neanderfans”. It’s simple target articles like that that try to make Boston look bad. They claim that Boston media blows things out of proportion (which is often true) but by blowing that out of proportion it perpetuates the problem that you’re trying to address.
Don’t get me wrong; charity is great. I’m all about charity. But brave? Clay showed up to a charity pool party that (I assume) other people pay to go to. A 27-year old going to a pool party? My hero! I have no problem with him going. I’m just surprised that people are defensive about objections by fans or even the media. Don’t you think based on last year’s collapse and this year’s golf date with Josh Beckett that people get concerned with this pitching staff’s off day activities? Any time a player is on the disabled list fans are concerned about their health.
Even Greg Hill’s twitter says “I love how Clay Bucholz is being ripped for attending a charity event after a game. Is he supposed to lie prone at home all night?” To which I say, no of course not. But Buchholz was in the hospital less than 24 hours before the event. Maintaining his body and health is part of his job. I’m sure he didn’t even drink. That’s not the point. Just because you have the opportunity to do a public event doesn’t mean you have to. Relax. Recover. Return. There will always be events like this in the off-season, or even during the all-star break.
I’m glad that Bucholz is helping with charity. But going to a charity pool party isn’t heroic. If spending quality time with Stoli is noble, I should be named Pope because there are none nobler than I.