 And where is the Mark Bellhorn update?* Photo taken in July 2008 by Kelly O’Connor/sittingstill.net. Used with permission |
I seem to be in the mood to nitpick.
You’re the online version of a major, daily newspaper. You have writers and others at your disposal to research whatever you are going to write about and then you promote a piece as a research piece on what is going on with former members of the Boston Red Sox. So answer me this: Why is it that you can’t actually do your proper research?
Before I get started on how lousily this was researched, let me just add an aside here: Kyle Snyder was on the 2007 World Championship Boston Red Sox. He played the entire season with them and was on the WS roster, yet they don’t have him on this list. That wouldn’t bother me so much if they were consistent, but David Aardsma, Chad Bradford, Kevin Cash, Bobby Kielty, Cliff Floyd and Tony freaking Clark are on this list. Poor form, boston.com.
They have Roger Clemens on the list. Clemens isn’t with a team and I doubt there is a baseball fan, let alone a Red Sox fan, who needs to know “where he is now”. Brian Daubach is also on the list, but it seems they didn’t update him from last year as they describe him as the “hitting coach for the Nashua Pride”. Given the Nashua Pride doesn’t even exist now, you’d think someone over there could have done a quick search to find out that Daubach is the MANAGER for the American Defenders of New Hampshire.
They are up to date enough with Brendan Donnelly that you find out he suffered a shoulder sprain during ST this year. Which is a step above the most current info they have for many of the players (that being, “he signed with such and such a team in 2009”). But, again, a simple Google search and we find that Brendan went back to pitching on March 6th. Again, this is nitpicking at its best, but why have a piece touted as updates on ex-players if you aren’t going to UPDATE it?
Kason Gabbard is also in this group but they chose to update his status only up to the end of the 2008 season. In case you’re wondering, the Rangers optioned him to AAA Oklahoma a few days ago. Eric Gagne is on there as well and they were surprisingly up-to-date on HIS status. I guess it’s more fun for them to pick on someone like Gagne (who was released by the Brewers this month).
I’m going to advocate for Kyle again. Willie Harris is on this list. Willie Harris played a quarter of a season with the Sox in 2006. Okay, I’m done now.
In their description of Derek Lowe, where there are many things they could have added but didn’t, they mention this as a “memorable moment”. I’m hoping someone stuck it in there as a joke, but it wouldn’t surprise me if they didn’t look at the video and just saw the name and thought they were linking to actual footage of Lowe.
Andy Marte? Andy Marte is on this list? The same Andy Marte who never actually played with the Red Sox? My eyes hate boston.com.
In case you’re wondering about Cla Meredith, he’s still with the Padres and pitching well this spring. He’s also possibly going to be their late-inning guy. But you wouldn’t know that if you read his blurb on boston.com since they end his update at 2006. Why the hell even bother putting it in there?
They let you know what Joe Nelson has been up to. How many of you even knew Nelson was on the Red Sox? The only reason I remembered him is he signed an autograph for my friend Kelly’s nephew back in 2004. We happened to catch him at Fenway once amid his three visits there.
Darren Oliver’s update stops in 2007. I guess it wasn’t noteworthy that the reliever is one of many who was duped by R. Allen Stanford (along with our own Jacoby Ellsbury). Jay Payton is also on the list although I can’t complain about how they covered this one. I just wanted it noted that he still doesn’t have a job in MLB. 🙂
Is it worth noting that in the Carlos Pena update they spelled Haverhill “Haverill”?
This is what happens when I get too much sleep, I have the energy to nitpick boston.com to death. Sadly, I’ve probably missed a lot even though I picked all of this up in a relatively cursory glance at the site.
I need to go scrub my eyeballs and get that all out of them and come back and write something about the kick-assness of yesterday’s game.
(*Bellhorn signed a minor-league deal with the Colorado Rockies at the beginning of March and is expected to start the season with the AAA Colorado Springs Sky Sox.)
Updated to add that I’m terribly disappointed that there is no mention of Mike Timlin. HE is someone I’d like to hear about!