The Cleveland Guardians and old friend Terry Francona come to town on Friday for a three-game set.
How hotly contested is the American League East? The Red Sox are 13-13 to start the season, which puts them down at the bottom of the division. By comparison, the Guardians are 12-13, which is good for second place in the AL Central.
But the Guards are 3-7 in their last 10 games, including dropping their most recent series to the Colorado Rockies, and the Sox are 5-5.
Here’s the weekend slate and probable pitching matchups:
Friday (7:10 p.m.): RHP Nick Pivetta vs. RHP Shane Bieber
Saturday (4:10 p.m.): RHP Garrett Whitlock vs. RHP Zach Plesac
Sunday (1:35 p.m.): LHP Chris Sale vs. LHP Logan Allen
On this day
With the NBA playoffs in full swing, it’s astounding to look back through sports history and see how much things have changed.
April 27, 1963 is the perfect example, as it was the day two NBA players faced off in the same inning of a Major League Baseball game.
When Gene Conley started that day for the Boston Red Sox, he’d already made history as the first player to win an NBA championship and MLB championship. He faced Jackie Robinson in his playing debut, squared off against Ted Williams in the 1959 All-Star Game, and spent his winters guarding Wilt Chamberlain.
Conley became a World Series champion with the 1957 Milwaukee Braves, then won three rings with the 1959-61 Boston Celtics. Funny enough, when the Celtics won their first championship in 1957, Conley was on a basketball hiatus to focus on baseball; the Braves paid him thousands to take a break from hooping. The Phillies would later try to get him to do the same, but his Celtics coach, the legendary Red Auerbach, didn’t care how that he spent his summers on the mound.
Doubling up worked out pretty well, though; to date, he stands alone in that achievement, and since Michael Jordan’s baseball career never panned out, he probably always will.
Speaking of Jordan’s baseball career, Conley pitched into the fifth inning against the Chicago White Sox that day, and since it was the pre-designated hitter era, he also went 1-for-1, collecting a double and scoring a run.
On the mound, the decorated athlete allowed four earned runs on four hits, walked six, and struck out two, but when he faced four batters and was unable to record an out in the fifth, his day was done.
But in the bottom of the fourth, Dave DeBusschere took over for Chicago White Sox starter Ray Herbert. He faced Carl Yastrzemski, Dick Stuart, Lou Clinton, Frank Malzone, and Eddie Bressoud before getting out of the inning.
During the White Sox offseason, DeBusschere was an All-Star forward with the Detroit Pistons. He was significantly more successful on the court than the diamond, and left baseball behind after two major and two minor league seasons.
DeBusschere would go on to win two championships with the New York Knicks, in 1970 and ’73. After a 12-year career that included six NBA All-Defensive First Team honors, he was elected to the Naismith Memorial Basketball Hall of Fame in 1983. He’s also remembered for being the Knicks director of basketball operations who drafted Patrick Ewing first overall in 1985.
While DeBusschere and Conley didn’t line up for any plate appearances, that contest is a vastly underrated moment in sports history. The amount of time, hard work, and energy that athletes put into playing at the highest level of one sport is enormous; two, even not entirely at the same time, is beyond comprehension.
“When I look back, I don’t know how I did it, I really don’t,” Conley told the Los Angeles Times in 2008. “I think I was having so much fun that it kept me going. I can’t remember a teammate I didn’t enjoy.”
To date, only 13 athletes have played in both leagues. And on that day in 1963, two of them played in the same game.
Injury updates
Chris Martin’s rehab appearance with Triple-A Worcester has been pushed back from Thursday to Friday, but not due to complications with his arm. Julian McWilliams of the Boston Globe reports that Martin had a stomach bug this week, and the Red Sox wanted to give him an extra day to recuperate.
So far, Martin has made seven appearances for the Red Sox, including three games finished. In seven innings, he’s allowed two earned runs on eight hits, walked one batter, and struck out two.
The Red Sox signed Martin to a two-year, $17.5 million contract this offseason.
Around the league
Fans around the league were clamoring for their favorite team to trade for Pittsburgh Pirates outfielder, Bryan Reynolds, but the 2021 All-Star is officially off the market. Instead of jumping ship, he just inked the largest contract extension in Pirates history an eight-year, $106.75 million deal through 2030.
Matt Strahm, who posted a 3.83 ERA over 50 appearances (44 2/3 innings) for the 2022 Red Sox, has a 2.42 ERA over five games (four starts) for the Philadelphia Phillies. Despite only making 25 starts out of 157 total games between 2016-21, Strahm was vocal about his belief that he could be a regular in the rotation. Perhaps, the Red Sox should’ve given him a chance.
