Thursday, June 10, 2010

Fear the Boof!

It's the eighth inning. You're down by three runs to an Indians team whose pitching staff boasts an ERA+ of 87, the worst (by a mere two points!) in the American League. Who do you bring in to keep the game close while waiting for your offense to wake up? Might it be...The Boof?

Not that the Sox had much choice: Bonser was out of rehab assignment time and had to be activated, Papelbon is out on bereavement leave, Bard is pitching so much he's risking having his arm file for divorce, and MDC had an aching back that didn't resolve itself until a side session yesterday. Clearly, things were a bit tight in the pitching department, and Boof fills a potential role, despite having not recorded an out since late September of 2008. So, out he went, and the bases filled with Indians, and pretty soon afterward the game was very much out of reach. I'll give Bonser the benefit of the doubt and say that he needed the live fire exercise (and maybe a few other kinds of exercise) to get back into fighting trim. I'll also say - to borrow a phrase my friend Alan - that Boof Bonser is the Towelie of major league baseball. See, they even look a bit alike: