Eric Wilbur: Boston.com Tipping Point?

[chrisfont9]

Eric Wilbur wrote one of the most wretched columns in recent memory today, straight from the Larry Lucchino ex-player hatchet job category. Some jewels:
 

 
Perhaps it’s not fair to make judgments based on a mid-March spring training game, but we’ve seen this all before when it pertains to one Jacoby Ellsbury. Shockingly, the former Red Sox dreamboat center fielder won’t be in the lineup Monday when Boston gets its first look at the Yankees, sidelined with tightness in his right calf. According to reports, he was slated to start and bat leadoff during the matinee in Tampa. Fla.

 
Nope, not really fair. It's been documented to utter exhaustion here that Ellsbury has missed significant time over the years due to contact injuries, and otherwise has been reasonably durable for a CF and base-stealer. But it gets worse:
 

 
 
There’s no denying Ellsbury can be a dynamic player when he’s healthy, or at the very least, when he and agent Scott Boras deem he’s fit to play. Since Day One on the Red Sox’ roster, questions swirled when Ellsbury would jump ship for the biggest deal, a matter which came to fruition over the winter when the Yankees were swindled into thinking that either Ellsbury’s (ahem) breakout season in 2011 was the norm, or that he might not miss more than 30-35 games in a season with the various tweaks, pulls, and bruises that plagued his time in Boston. He played in 134 games last season, the most since his (ahem) MVP-worthy season of 2011.

 
What's the "ahem"? A subtle hint that Ellsbury was juiced? Because anything of the sort, without reliably-sourced information, is so far below the standards of journalism ethics that Wilbur should be fired on the spot. Even if he's just a blogger.
 
All of this raises the question, do I get anything from reading the Globe anymore? I'm of that age group which grew up thinking of the Globe Sports as the holy grail of sports coverage, so even though I understand the modern world reasonably well, it's a little hard to let go completely. But if someone out there can name something the Globe does that you can't find anywhere else, I am all ears.
 
On, and the cherry on this shit sundae has to be Cafardo's latest mailbag, which I really, really don't know why I would ever read.
 

 
Not a question, just a comment. I just love it when you can work the word "MOOT" into a sentence!
Fran G., Middleboro
That's a moot point.

 
Wow. That's gold. Surely there's a resort in the Catskills that could use him for its Sunday afternoon slot.

 

[Smiling Joe Hesketh]

Eric Wilbur was a common topic of disdain over on the BSMW forum when I was active there. He might well be the worst writer that Boston.com has to offer, and that's saying something.
 
He's not really a sports columnist, so it's probably best just to ignore his drivel. He's beyond terrible.

 

[chrisfont9]

Eric Wilbur was a common topic of disdain over on the BSMW forum when I was active there. He might well be the worst writer that Boston.com has to offer, and that's saying something.
 
He's not really a sports columnist, so it's probably best just to ignore his drivel. He's beyond terrible.

I guess the best thing about reading a column of his is the commentary, which is so universally condemning that it actually reaffirms my faith in the basic goodness of humanity.
 
But what else do they have to offer? I can think of one true asset at Boston.com: Pete Abe. I guess I'll at least bookmark Extra Bases, even if I ditch my main boston.com link.

 

[Curt S Loew]

Yeah, I started reading this ridiculous article and I had forgotten to look who wrote it.  I scrolled up, saw Wilbur and said, "that explains it".   Wonder how the site's new owner feels?

 

[joe dokes]

 

[HillysLastWalk]

SJH nails it.  Never will I consciously click on an Eric Wilbur article.

 

[joe dokes]

Imagine if the people that paid you also ran away from you at light speed:
 

About the Author

The Boston Sports Blog is written by Boston.com's Eric Wilbur and is a unique blend of commentary from the perspective of both a fan and journalist. Wilbur is a longtime observer of Boston sports and is always up for a healthy debate. The opinions expressed are his own. He is not part of the Globe sports department.

 

 

 

[chrisfont9]

 
The opinions expressed are his own. He is not part of the Globe sports department.

Nope, we bear no responsibility for the guy who we publish on the front page of our website.

 

[Lose Remerswaal]

 
, the former Red Sox dreamboat center fielder won’t be in the lineup Monday when Boston gets its first look at the Yankees,

nice fact checking

 

[JayMags71]

To say "Eric Wilbur is scraping the bottom of the barrel" is unfairly insulting to barrels.

 

[Nite Vizhun UV]

I guess the best thing about reading a column of his is the commentary, which is so universally condemning that it actually reaffirms my faith in the basic goodness of humanity.
 
But what else do they have to offer? I can think of one true asset at Boston.com: Pete Abe. I guess I'll at least bookmark Extra Bases, even if I ditch my main boston.com link.

 
Nope, Pete Abe sucks. Chad Finn is the only writer worth reading there.

 

[glennhoffmania]

He played in 134 games last season, the most since his (ahem) MVP-worthy season of 2011.
 

 
So in the last two years, he played more games in 2013 than in 2012.  Great point.

 

[mabrowndog]

Wilbur has maintained a longstanding tradition of dredging the depths of sportswriting douchebaggery, exemplified by his 2009 diatribe on Matsuzaka and his 2012 rip job on Adrian Gonzalez. The thing is he's such a horrible writer, the only time I click on a link with his name on it is when it's been highlighted in a thread over here.
 
He sucks. He's an asshole. He works for the same company that still keeps Shank in its employ. Nothing in this post is the least bit surprising.

 

[The Gray Eagle]

He makes a good point though. Ellsbury will never win the big one, he is too soft. And sitting out a spring training game is an affront to decency. He should be fined and suspended for his disgusting actions.

 

[MyDaughterLovesTomGordon]

Really, there's no way ANY team could win the Series with Ells on board. I'm psyched we got rid of him so we can get back to winning championships around here!

 

[Patriot_Reign]

was it wilbur who wrote an anti-weei or d&c article a couple years ago, and actually called in to talk about it? 
I remember him not doing such a good job of backing up his points.
(and no, I'm not talking about that other caleb guy or whatever his name was)

 

[Rusty13]

 
About the Author

The Boston Sports Blog is written by Boston.com's Eric Wilbur and is a unique blend of commentary from the perspective of both a fan and journalist. Wilbur is a longtime observer of Boston sports and is always up for a healthy debate. The opinions expressed are his own. He is not part of the Globe sports department.

 
That's hilarious.  He must basically work for free.

 

[nattysez]

Nope, we bear no responsibility for the guy who we publish on the front page of our website.

 
 
This reminds me of the time RSDD had a picture of a lynching on his site.  When people deluged the Globe complaining about being offended, their response was "Come on guys, it's just a blog."
 
They have no sense of journalistic responsibility at Boston.com.  
 
Wilbur is a troll.  That's all he is.  And he gets clicks, so he stays employed.  He's the worst of the worst.

 

[Van Everyman]

Wilbur has maintained a longstanding tradition of dredging the depths of sportswriting douchebaggery, exemplified by his 2009 diatribe on Matsuzaka and his 2012 rip job on Adrian Gonzalez. The thing is he's such a horrible writer, the only time I click on a link with his name on it is when it's been highlighted in a thread over here.
 
He sucks. He's an asshole. He works for the same company that still keeps Shank in its employ. Nothing in this post is the least bit surprising.

So...to play devils advocate for a moment...and putting aside his snarky tone...do we really disagree with his ultimate judgments on Dice K and Gonzalez?

I mean, I get that he's an asshole. And that the longer Wilbur has been there, the more bitter and Shank-like (possibly a redundancy) he's become – prone to using facts (the Sox are playing poorly and Adrian Gonzalez is playing poorly and not a friendly interview) to draw causal conclusions (that Gonzalez isn't a leader and may be a clubhouse cancer).

But was his conclusion necessarily wrong in either of those cases?

 

[JayMags71]

Perhaps he was correct in those cases. That said, his column in the aftermath of Aaron Hernandez's arrest was transparent click-bait.

 

[mabrowndog]

So...to play devils advocate for a moment...and putting aside his snarky tone...do we really disagree with his ultimate judgments on Dice K and Gonzalez?

I mean, I get that he's an asshole. And that the longer Wilbur has been there, the more bitter and Shank-like (possibly a redundancy) he's become – prone to using facts (the Sox are playing poorly and Adrian Gonzalez is playing poorly and not a friendly interview) to draw causal conclusions (that Gonzalez isn't a leader and may be a clubhouse cancer).

But was his conclusion necessarily wrong in either of those cases?

 
It wasn't a matter of his conclusion being wrong or right, because any writer/blogger/reporter/columnist who trends toward negativity is going to be right a certain percentage of the time, especially when the subject is sports. The problem with this guy is that he makes personal assumptions about his subjects, takes pot shots at them and launches subtle character attacks despite having absolutely zero skin in the game. He's not covering the Red Sox beat nor has he ever done so, and he doesn't have regular access to players and staff nor has he ever had such. And while I'm generally not keen even when beat writers and actual insiders assail their subjects, I can at least respect that their vantage point gives them a unique eye and ear to the topic. 
 
Eric Wilbur is basically a younger version of Jay Mariotti without the domestic violence conviction.

 

[Lose Remerswaal]

 
 
 
Eric Wilbur is basically a younger version of Jay Mariotti without the domestic violence conviction.

 
Are you sure about this?
 
I'd love a column entitled "Why are we not talking about Eric Wilbur's domestic violence convictions?", and then you'd click through and the column would read:  Because he has never been convicted of domestic violence.
 
I'm sure everyone would perfectly understand that this probably means he's never committed domestic violence.

 

[Van Everyman]

So, again, not to take Wilbur's side on any of this—in particular because I don't read Wilbur much anymore at all—but my sense is that he's not a talentless asshat so much as a guy who hit a ceiling within the Boston.com/Boston Globe organization a long time ago and essentially chose the easy way out: to play up the grumpy "columnist knows best" angle to make himself valuable to the organization if not the readers. Which makes sense when you think about the struggles papers and their online presences have gone through in the decade or so since Wilbur has been at the paper – it does generate clicks for better or worse.

But my memory of his pieces early on was that he showed some potential. Since I think they're all not online anymore I can't confirm exactly, but I seem to recall he took a similar approach when it to using public information (and to be fair, probably gossip and inside info fed to him by the likes of Cafardo/Shank/etc.) to draw inferences and conclusions. The difference, as I recall then, was that his conclusions were altogether more balanced. Not so anymore. Which, again, is why I don't bother reading him for the most part.

 

[Smiling Joe Hesketh]

Anyone who uses a player's 0 for 8 day as a basis for character assassination (and that's what Wilbur did in his Gonzalez hit piece linked above) is by definition a talentless hack.
 
He's really the absolute nadir of the company as far as I'm concerned.

 

[Corsi]

You do understand that there is zero chance that the Red Sox repeat, right?
 
Last year was fun, but it’s not going to happen again. Not this year, anyway.
 

http://www.boston.com/sports/columnists/wilbur/2014/03/the_new_impossible_dream_a_red_sox_repeat.html
 
 

HAPPY OPENING DAY, PEOPLE.
 

 
Why the hell Boston.com publishes this jerkoff is beyond me.

 

[ernieshore]

I saw that headline big and bold on the top of Boston.com and couldn't believe it. They put out the Cubs-inspired "Wait 'Til Next Year" article for the defending World Series champs on the morning of Opening Day?...what a joke. 

 

[soxfan121]

Probably because people post links of his work that drives clicks to their site. 
 
Thank you for helping to keep Eric Wilbur employed. 
 
EDIT: response to the Clickmaster General, Corsi.

 

[joyofsox]

In an article about offseason jersey sales:
 

Interestingly, Robinson Cano (No. 9), Prince Fielder (No. 16), and Jacoby Ellsbury (No. 20) are the only two on the list who switched teams in the offseason.
 

 

 

[Smiling Joe Hesketh]

I won't link to it because it's yet another pile of vile garbage from Wilbur, but Boston.com just infected my FB page with a link to his latest opus, this time dedicated to trashing Clay Buchholz.
 
I can't believe Boston.com thinks he's someone to promote. He should be treated like the creepy uncle in everyone's family, you know, the one no one likes to acknowledge.

 

[rmurph3]

I suggested this last week in the Cafardo thread: Wilbur may very well be the absolute bottom of the Boston media totem pole. It's like someone took your classic internet troll (think ESPN.com comments, not SoSH) and gave him a microphone.
 
The notion that he's a peer of Chad Finn is ridiculous, in anything other than a yin/yang sort of way.

 

[riboflav]

C'mon guys! He's being provocative. 

 

[Smiling Joe Hesketh]

C'mon guys! He's being provocative. 

 
In the same way leaving a turd in a glass of champagne is provocative.

 

[Don Buddin's GS]

Wilbur has Ben ready to open the "Fenway Park Tag Sale" with Ue, Lester, Peavey, Lackey, Badenhop, Doubie, AJ and maybe Drew supposedly headed elsewhere: http://www.boston.com/sports/columnists/wilbur/2014/07/in_progress.html