At some point in 2007, I read an entire blog entry about Clay Buchholz where the writer continually referred to him as “Taylor”. When this was pointed out to him, he responded by taking down the entire entry. I assumed that he had heard about an up and coming pitcher named Buchholz and ran with it, mixing up the names when he did a Google search. The cherry on the sundae was that he spelled Buchholz wrong (and differently) throughout the entry. Sometimes it was Buccholz, sometimes it was Bucholtz but not once was it Buchholz. It is a pet peeve of mine when people can’t spell someone’s name correctly. It bothers me in all aspects of my life (people are constantly spelling my last name wrong) but it really gets me when you devote yourself to something like, say, a baseball team enough to follow blogs (or write your own blog) and post on message boards about it and you can’t take the time to find out how a player spells his name.
I know there are times when I make typos aplenty on this blog (and it will be amusing if some make it through this entry). I go out of my way to triple check everything I write before I hit the “publish” button, but a lot sneaks through, so my criticism isn’t about the random typing mistake someone might make. If you are writing in a public forum and you want people to take you seriously, it behooves you to learn the proper spelling of another person’s name.
Well now everyone will, hopefully, get plenty of opportunities to spell Buchholz out as the Red Sox claimed Taylor Buchholz, last with the Toronto Blue Jays, off of waivers. Before they get the name right, though, be prepared for many, many writers who go out of their way to mention that the Buchholz boys aren’t related. As if with all the attention Clay has garnered in the last three years the fact that he had a relative who also pitched might have been missed. It will be amusing if Taylor took number 61. The press would go crazy for it with the “Everyone with an old Clay Buchholz jersey can wear it again” cracks. In any event, I’m just pleased that the moves the Sox are making thus far involve pitchers. Along with claiming Buchholz, the Sox traded Dustin Richardson to the Florida Marlins and got left-hander Andrew Miller in return.
Where it seemed last year the Red Sox were looking for veterans to help the bullpen get it together, it looks like maybe this time around they’re going with youth. I’ll wait until Spring Training before I decide whether I think this is a good idea but, as it stands, so far I don’t think it’s a bad one.
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