SEA DOGS COACHING STAFF SET TO RETURN IN 2009
Arnie Beyeler Returns For His Third Season as Sea Dogs Manager

Portland, Maine- The Boston Red Sox have announced the coaching staff for the 2009 Portland Sea Dogs. Arnie Beyeler will return to manage the Sea Dogs for a third season. Beyeler will once again be joined by pitching coach Mike Cather, back for his third season with the Sea Dogs, and hitting coach Dave Joppie returns for his second season with the team. Jon Jochim will serve as the team’s Athletic Trainer in 2009. Mike Hazen, Boston’s Director of Player Development, made the announcement.

The 2009 season will be Beyeler’s ninth season as a minor league manager and third with the Portland Sea Dogs. Beyeler, 44, joins Carlos Tosca as the only managers in the Sea Dogs 15-year history to manage the team for three seasons. In 2008, Beyeler led the team to a 74-66 record and the team’s fourth consecutive playoff appearance. In two seasons as the Sea Dogs’ Skipper, Beyeler has recorded a 145-138 record and led the team into post-season play each year. Beyeler recorded his 500th managerial win on August 21, 2008 against the Altoona Curve. He is the ninth manager in franchise history.

Prior to joining the Sea Dogs in 2007, Beyeler served as the hitting coach in 2006 for the San Diego Padres Double-A affiliate; Mobile BayBears. In the fall of 2006 he served as a coach under former Sea Dogs manager Todd Claus with the West Oahu CaneFires in the Hawaiian Winter Baseball League. He previously spent three years managing in the Texas Rangers organization, where he led the Stockton Ports to the California League playoffs in 2003 and 2004.

The 2009 season will mark Beyeler’s sixth season in the Red Sox organization. Previously Beyeler managed Boston’s New York-Penn League team, the Lowell Spinners, in 2000 and 2001 and skippered the South Atlantic League Augusta Green Jackets in 2002. While in the Red Sox organization he managed current Red Sox players Manny Delcarmen, Jacoby Ellsbury, Justin Masterson, and Kevin Youkilis. Prior to his time with the Red Sox, Beyeler spent three years coaching in the Yankees organization including two seasons with the Eastern League Norwich Navigators (1998, 1999). From 1992-1996, he served as an area scout for the Detroit Tigers.

As a player, he was a middle infielder in the Tigers system from 1986 to 1991 reaching as high as Triple-A Toledo in 1991. In 584 minor league games over six seasons, he batted .254 with 69 stolen bases. His best season came in 1987 where he hit .285 in 127 games at Single-A Fayetteville.

Beyeler is a graduate of Wichita State with a degree in communications. He earned all-conference and all-region honors during his stint with the Shockers. He also has a degree from Lamar (CO) Community College. Beyeler resides in Ponte Verda Beach, Florida.

Mike Cather, 38, returns for his third season as the pitching coach for the Portland Sea Dogs and fourth in the Red Sox organization. Last season under Cather, the Sea Dogs pitching staff posted a 4.29 ERA and finished the season allowing the second fewest home runs (92) in the Eastern League and recording the third highest strikeout total (1,061). Cather spent the 2006 season as the pitching coach for the Single-A Wilmington Blue Rocks. While in the Red Sox organization, he has worked with Red Sox pitchers Michael Bowden, Clay Buchholz, and Justin Masterson. Prior to joining the Red Sox in 2006, he was a private instructor for youth, high school, college, and professional pitchers from 2001-2005. Cather appeared in 75 Major League games over three seasons with the Atlanta Braves posting a 5-6 record with a 3.42 ERA. He was originally drafted by the Texas Rangers in the 41st round of the June 1993 amateur draft.

Dave Joppie, 43, returns for his second season as the Sea Dogs’ Hitting Coach. Last season the Sea Dogs ranked first in the Eastern League in walks (577), third in runs scored (704) and fifth in hitting (.267). Prior to joining the Sea Dogs in 2008, he spent two seasons as the Red Sox Class High A hitting coach, serving as the Lancaster JetHawks hitting coach in 2007 and with the Wilmington Blue Rocks in 2006. In 2007 with the JetHawks, Joppie led the team to a California League best .296 team average. The team also led the league in home runs (217) and hits (1,081). Previously Joppie managed the Florida Marlins Single-A team in Kane County in 2004 and 2005. In 2004 he led the Kane County Cougars to an 83-56 record and Western Division Championship. He was selected as the Midwest League Manager of the Year and Baseball America’s Class Low A Manager of the Year. Joppie has 14 seasons of professional baseball coaching experience, the 2009 season will be his fourth in the Red Sox organization. The Grand Rapids, Michigan native is an NCAA Division II, III, and NAIA basketball official.

Jon Jochim joins the team as the Athletic Trainer in 2009. The 2009 season will be Jochim’s seventh with the Red Sox organization. He spent the 2007 and 2008 seasons as the Athletic Trainer for the Single-A Lancaster JetHawks. In 2007, he was honored as the California League Athletic Trainer of the Year by the Professional Baseball Athletic Trainers Society. Jochim served as the Sea Dogs’ interim trainer at the end of the 2007 season and was with the team when the Sea Dogs won the Eastern League Championship. Jochim has also served as the Athletic Trainer for the Gulf Coast League Red Sox (2006) and the Short-Season Single-A Lowell Spinners (2004-2005). He began his career with the Red Sox in 2005 serving as an athletic training intern with the Gulf Coast League Red Sox. Prior to joining the Red Sox, he was a trainer for the Harlem Globetrotters.

Beyeler will be attending the Portland Sea Dogs Hot Stove Dinner and Silent Auction on Friday, January 9th at the Wyndam Hotel in South Portland, Maine. Former Sea Dog and current Red Sox pitcher Justin Masterson highlights the event. The dinner and auction benefit the Maine Children’s Cancer Program. Tickets are available for $50.00 by calling the Sea Dogs Ticket Office at 207-879-9500 or online at http://www.seadogs.com.

The Portland Sea Dogs open the 2009 season on April 9th at 6:00 PM against the Connecticut Defenders (Giants) at Hadlock Field. The 2009 season in the Sea Dogs’ 16th season in Portland and the Sea Dogs are looking to make their fifth straight playoff appearance. “The Drive for Five” is sponsored by Northeast Delta Dental. Tickets for the 2009 season are now on sale and can be purchased by calling the Sea Dogs Ticket Office at 207-879-9500 or on-line at http://www.seadogs.com.

-Courtesy Portland Sea Dogs

Sea Dogs Nipped Again, Season Comes To An End

Thunder sweep Portland in the N.D.C.S.

(Portland, ME) – Miguel Asencio walked in the go-ahead run in the top of the 9th inning as Trenton scored the game’s final two runs to beat Portland, 5-4, Friday night at Hadlock Field. Trenton sweeps Portland in three games to win the Northern Division Championship series and will advance to the Eastern League Finals next Tuesday.

Trenton’s bullpen did not yield a run during the three games and received three perfect innings from Kevin Whelan and Michael Dunn. Whelan earned the win, retiring five of six batters during innings seven and eight. Dunn fanned two in the ninth to earn the save.

Asencio suffered the loss, allowing one run on three walks in 1.1 IP. In the ninth inning, Ramiro Pena ignited a rally with a 2-out single. Austin Jackson, Carlos Mendoza and Colin Curtis (go-ahead walk) all walked to force in the game-winner.

Portland had three leads, including a 2-0 advantage after the first inning. Jorge Jimenez and Aaron Bates had RBI doubles. Mickey Hall snapped a 2-2 with a solo homer in the second inning. Lars Anderson led of the bottom of the sixth inning with a towering homer off the L.L. Bean boot.

Bryce Cox gave up the tying run in the eighth inning when he hit Franciso Cervelli.

Ryne Lawson worked 4 innings on three runs and five hits to take a no-decision. Jason Jones pitched six innings on four runs and six hits to take the loss for Trenton.

For the second straight season, the Trenton Thunder beat the Sea Dogs in the Northern Division Championship Series at Hadlock Field.

Courtesy Portland Sea Dogs- Chris Cameron

Sea Dogs Fall Again

(Trenton, NJ) – Austin Jackson hit a game-tying three-run home run off Clay Buchholz in the sixth inning and P.J. Pilittere hit a tie-breaking two-out RBI single in the eighth inning, lifting the Trenton Thunder to a 4-3 win over the Portland Sea Dogs in Game 2 of the Eastern League Northern Division Championship Series.

Portland threatened in the ninth inning after Jorge Jimenez singled and Ryan Khoury walked with one out. However, Jose Valdez induced Zach Daeges to hit into a game-ending double play.

Portland had base runners in seven innings and multiple base runners in six of those stanzas, but were 5-for-17 with runners on base, including just 2-for-10 with runners in scoring position.

Mickey Hall laced a two-out, two-run double to snap a scoreless tie for the Sea Dogs in the fourth inning, and Daeges added a run-scoring single in the fifth inning.

Buchholz fanned nine of the first 18 batters he faced, including one in each of the first five innings. He allowed only two singles and a walk in the first five frames and struck out the side in the fifth. However, in the sixth inning, Reegie Corona and Ramiro Pena started the frame with singles before Jackson’s blast on a 2-2 pitch. Jackson, who hit safely in 14 of the last 15 games he played against Portland in the regular season, failed to get a sacrifice bunt down before launching a curveball over all three levels of signage in left field.

Buchholz finished with six innings of three-run, six-hit ball, walking one and striking out nine. Richie Lentz followed with a perfect seventh inning.

But in the eighth inning, Trenton scored the go-ahead run with a two-out uprising. Dave Gassner replaced Lentz and retired the first two batters before walking Chris Malec and allowing a single to Colin Curtis. T.J. Large entered the game, and Pilittere ripped the first pitch into right field for his third hit of the game to plate the go-ahead run.

Portland snapped a scoreless tie off Jeff Marquez in the fourth inning with a two-out rally. Marquez walked Josh Reddick and Iggy Suarez to set up Hall, who smacked a two-run double over the head of right fielder Edwar Gonzalez.

In the fifth, Jorge Jimenez drilled a double to start the frame. One out later, Daeges singled to right for his third hit of the game to give the Sea Dogs a three-run cushion.

Marquez kept it scoreless early, stifling Portland rallies in the first and third frames. Jimenez and Daeges singled in the first, but Marquez got Aaron Bates on a flyout and fanned Lars Anderson. In the third frame, Ryan Khoury and Daeges hit consecutive two-out singles, but Bates flew out with runners on the corners to end the inning.

Humberto Sanchez worked around a one-out double in a scoreless sixth inning. Michael Gardner walked two in the seventh inning, but Wilkins Arias came on to get Lars Anderson to pop up to end the inning.

Arias tossed a perfect eighth but left with one out in the ninth after allowing a one-out single to Jimenez. Jose Valdez relieved and walked Khoury before getting the twin killing from Daeges to end the game.

NOTES: Portland is facing Trenton in the Northern Division Championship Series for the fourth straight season, but lost a Game 2 for the first time to the Thunder – the Sea Dogs won at home in 2005 and at Waterfront Park in 2006 and 2007… Argenis Diaz was a late scratch, taken out of the lineup a half-hour prior to first pitch. Suarez moved to shortstop from second base and Khoury was inserted into the lineup in the #2 hole… The start was the first post-season start for Buchholz since September 6, 2006, when he fanned 10 in six innings in a 3-1 win for the Wilmington Blue Rocks over the Frederick Keys in the Carolina League playoffs… Former Sea Dog Devern Hansack tossed six no-hit innings for Triple-A Pawtucket in its playoff series Game 2 with Scranton-Wilkes Barre – Jon Switzer lost the no-hitter with one out in the seventh inning in relief but Pawtucket beat Scranton 3-1 to tie their series at one game a piece… The series will shift to Portland Friday night at 7 – Ryne Lawson (1-1, 4.06) goes for the Sea Dogs against Jason Jones (13-7, 3.33), who was second in the Eastern League in wins and 7th in ERA in the regular season. Tickets remain for the contest and are available on seadogs.com or at the Sea Dogs Ticket Office at 879-9500

Courtesy Mike Antonellis

Dogs Outdueled in Trenton

(Trenton, NJ) – Edwar Gonzalez drilled a tie-breaking RBI single off the glove of diving shortstop Argenis Diaz in the fourth inning, and the Trenton Thunder did not allow a runner past second base after the second inning to top the Portland Sea Dogs, 2-1 in Game One of the Eastern League Northern Division Championship Series.

Eric Hacker pitched into the sixth inning for the Thunder, fanning six and allowing a run on five hits. He pitched around a leadoff double to Aaron Bates in the fourth inning and left with two on and two out in the sixth inning.

Michael Dunn relieved Hacker and fanned Josh Reddick to end the sixth inning. Dunn left after a two-out walk to Jorge Jimenez in the seventh, and Jhonny Nunez came on to fan Diaz to end the frame. Nunez then pitched 1-2-3 innings in the eighth and ninth frames to close it out.

Kris Johnson worked six innings for the Dogs, allowing two runs (one earned) on four hits with two walks and a strikeout. Miguel Asencio and Daniel Haigwood each fired perfect innings of relief.

Reddick produced Portland’s only run in the second inning to tie the game. Bates led off the inning with the first of his two doubles on the night. Two outs later, Reddick drilled a run-scoring single to right field.

Trenton scored the opening run in the first inning on a two-out throwing error by Iggy Suarez. Gonzalez broke the 1-1 tie in the fourth with a one-out single plating Colin Curtis, who singled to start the inning and moved to second on a groundout.

NOTES: This is the fourth consecutive year the Sea Dogs and Thunder have met in the E.L.D.S. – the home team has won Game 1 each time (Portland in 2005 on a Chad Spann walkoff grand slam)… Red Sox and Yankee affiliates are also meeting in playoff baseball in the Triple-A International League. Pawtucket has former Sea Dog Charlie Zink starting in Game One versus Scranton-Wilkes Barre and former Thunder hurler Chase Wright. Sox and Yanks affiliates Lowell and Staten Island could also meet in the Short Season Class-A New York-Penn League playoffs next week.

Courtesy Mike Antonellis

Sea Dogs Playoff Rotation

This is the seventh time in the 15-year history of the franchise that the Sea Dogs have advanced to the Eastern League playoffs. Portland has advanced to the Eastern League finals on four occasions, and won its first Eastern League title in 2006 by defeating the Akron Aeros.

The first round of the Eastern League playoffs is a best out of five series scheduled to get underway on Wednesday, September 3^rd. Games one, two and five (if necessary) will be played in Trenton, New Jersey. While the Sea Dogs will host games three and four (if necessary). Games three and four are scheduled to be played at Hadlock Field on Friday, September 5^th at 7:00 PM and Saturday, September 6^th at 6:00 PM.

The two division series winners will square off in a best of five series for the Eastern League Championship Series. Should the Sea Dogs advance to the Championship series, Games one and two would be played at the home of the Southern Division winner. The Sea Dogs would host games three, four (if necessary), and five (if necessary) at Hadlock Field on Friday, September 12^th, Saturday, September 13^th, and Sunday, September 14^th.

Tickets for the Eastern League Playoffs are available and can be purchased by calling the Sea Dogs Ticket Office at 207-879-9500. Playoff tickets are priced the same as regular season tickets and range between $4.00 and $9.00.

Pitching Matchups

Game 1 – TRN Eric Hacker (7-4, 2.76) vs PRT Kris Johnson (8-9, 3.63)

Game 2 – TRN Jeff Marquez (1-1, 2.93) vs. PRT Clay Buchholz (1-0, 1.80)

Game 3 – TRN Jason Jones (13-3, 3.33) vs. PRT Ryne Lawson (1-1, 4.06)

Game 4 – TRN George Kontos (6-11, 3.68) vs. PRT Dustin Richardson (7-10, 6.33)(if necessary)

Game 5 – TRN Christian Garcia (0-0 3.38) vs. PRT Dave Gassner (8-5, 5.82) (if necessary)

Courtesy of the Portland Sea Dogs (Thanks to Chris Cameron and Mike Antonellis).

One Word for Rain Delays-Booooooo

At least with snow, you know it’s postponed

It never fails. You sit down with your significant other, and you plan a nice family day at the ballpark. You go on line and order your tickets, take a vacation day, pay the dog walker, fill up your gas tank, and get ready for the next day. You wake up and notice it’s cloudy, so you check the weather forecast and it states “20% chance of rain”. You take the gamble, get everyone packed up, and head out for an afternoon at Hadlock. As soon as you unpack the kids, you feel it, a little drop of rain on your arm. You start to get a little nervous, but hey a 20% chance of rain should mean a little shower won’t last, right? You would think that, but once you get inside, and hand the usher your ticket, you can hear the rain falling, and it’s only 30 minutes to first pitch. Your son and daughter are asking you when they can see the baseball players , and if you say “I don’t know” you are going to have to spend $300 at the concession and souvenir stands to keep this situation from getting ugly. The above situation is fiction, and probably a little dramatic, but it could happen to anyone. So what exactly goes into a rain delay (outside of the rain)? Here is your chance to find out, as I asked Sea Dogs assistant GM Chris Cameron the ins and outs of a rain delay.

The first question I had was how much influence the weather forecasts have? “They obviously play a factor but we do not rely on them. We have seen forecasts that called for torrential downpours and yet it turned out to be sunny. It would be horrible to call a game based on a forecast and have the weather turn out beautiful. We tend to deal with actual conditions rather than forecasts. We do have our own weather satellite system here at the ballpark and we are constantly monitoring it. We can almost tell you to the minute when it is going to start/stop raining”, said Cameron, which makes me wonder if maybe a Sea Dogs intern should be doing the local weather at times. There also isn’t just one person with their finger on the cancel button, Cameron mentioned that it “varies depending on situation. Up until the game starts, in most cases, the decision is up to the General Manager. Once the game is underway the decision is in the umpire’s hands. However, in a situation like Sunday, when it is the last time you play a team for the season, the decision must be a joint decision between the General Manager, the umpires, and the Eastern League office. Eastern League rules also state that in that scenario ‘every effort must be made to play the game.’ Rarely will any type of decision be made without input form the General Manager, umpires, league officials, and the field managers of both teams.”

The time limit is kind of loose. When asked if there was a time limit on these things, Cameron replied “Not really, if there is a chance to get a game in, league rules require that you wait, keeping in mind that you are unable to start an inning after 1:00 AM. You are forced to wait longer in situations like Sunday, attempting to ‘make every effort to play the game.’ The longest delay that we have ever had was 3.5 hours, the fans that waited it out were treated to the first no-hitter in Sea Dogs history.” I also asked if when David Ortiz was in town, if the rain delay treatment was any different. The answer Cameron gave was“No” (direct quote). Some times, games that were scheduled for Hadlock have to be rescheduled during the season at the other team’s stadium, which means for the original home team, “that revenue is lost”. The last thing I asked was in regards to the situation on Sunday, when a double header with first place Trenton was canceled, in other words, no make-up date anywhere. The Sea Dogs are in second place, so I asked if this sort of thing happened often and if it could come back to affect the playoff race, to which Cameron replied “It doesn’t happen often that games need to be canceled. It is unlikely that it will effect the playoff race but the possibility does exist.” As long as game is goes less than 4 and half innings (5 if the home team is behind) your ticket may be exchanged for another of equal or lesser value to any remaining home game, and you can check the status of a Sea Dogs home game by going to seadogs.com or listening to the Dogs flagship station, WBAE 1490. So fear not, you can take another vacation day very soon.

Saturday Morning Quick-Hits Part 2

American League

Mike Lowell’s outburst in the 9th inning summed up the Red Sox night. Dan Shaughnessy wants Manny Ramirez to be shown out the door after he pulled himself out of the lineup right before last night’s game.

The Blue Jays stabbed the Mariners in the heart in extras last night while wearing their throwbacks.

Seattle keeps finding new ways to lose. Just a sad season in the Emerald City.

Jermaine Dye’s 2 run blast propelled he Chi Sox to a much needed win. The Chi Sox are still in first place in the Central.

Todd Jones took the blame for last night’s loss, as he should. The Tigers are now 6 and half games back of the first place White Sox.

Minnesota lost, the game and Carlos Gomez. I can’t for the life of me figure out why he is in still in the rotation and Francisco Liriano is still in AAA. Stop being cheap and give your team a chance, the Twins are still only 3 and half games back of Chicago.

The Angels hung on in Baltimore. Francisco Rodriguez is one step closer to removing Bobby Thigpen from the record books.

The Rangers unloaded on the A’s, and moved into second place in the AL West. Kevin Millwood is headed to the DL, again.

National League

The Mets win again, and extended their lead to 2 games, thanks to Mike Pelfrey and Carlos Delgado. There is word in this notebook that Pedro will be back soon, that the Mets thought they had a chance at Xavier Nady, and that Angel Pagan is going to have season ending surgery.

The Phillies stink out loud. Watched this game, and Chase Utley was getting booed, although he had no comments for Phils fans like he did New Yorkers at the Home Run Derby. Charlie Manuel held a closed door meeting before last night’s game, to unhappy results.

The Marlins knocked off the Cubs thanks to Jeremy Hermida. Former Red Sox prospect Anibal Sanchez is scheduled to return.

The Brewers are human after all, after falling the Astros last night. The Brewers are still in trade rumors, but Doug Melvin likes his team as they are now. Apparently he is unconcerned about his bullpen.

The Cubs promoted Brady Quinn’s favorite Notre Dame target.

The Cardinals couldn’t overcome the Mets. Ryan Franklin has stumbled since taking over for Jason Isringhausen. Chris Carpenter is on a rehab stint.

The Pirates said goodbye to Damaso Marte and Xavier Nady during the game yesterday. The Bucs proceeded to lose to the Padres.

Dan Haren got plenty of offense last night against the hapless Giants. The win got them back to .500 for the season, and keeps them a game ahead of LA in first.

The Dodgers got another strong performance from Chad Billingsley and offense from Nomar Garciaparra to knock off the Nats. Juan Pierre returned from the DL and started last night.

The Rockies won again, thanks to Aaron Cook. Don’t be surprised if the Rockies make no deadline moves and hold onto Fuentes and Holliday.

NFL

Albert Haynesworth signed a one year deal with the Titans. Check out the incentives he has to make to keep the Titans from franchising him again next year.

Lamont Jordan is looking for work.

NBA

Sasha Vujacic re-signs with the Lakers. Ray Allen and the makers of brown suede headbands rejoice.

Former Celtic Ryan Gomes is back in Minnesota.

Delonte West and his tattoos may be headed east, like, Russia-east…

NHL

Former Lightning coach John Tortorella will interview for the vacant Islanders job on Sunday. He should be great with the New York media.

Eastern League

The Sea Dogs got back on the winning track last night, beating Trenton 2-1. Trenton’s starting pitcher, Phil Coke, was removed after the first when he was traded to Pittsburgh.

AHL

Kevin Dineen may still be the head coach for the Portland Pirates next year. Great move by the Sabres organization if this comes true.

Ortiz Says He Feels "100%", Works Crowd Into a Tizzy

Yeah, I took it from my camera phone…

The David Ortiz traveling road show made it’s first stop in Portland Monday, and by all indications and results things went very well. Ortiz finished 2-3 with a walk, an RBI and a run scored in the Sea Dogs 8-2 win. He left the game in the 6th for a pinch runner after blooping a single to right. Ortiz put the crowd in a tizzy from the moment he first appeared (tizzy was used as a tribute to a conversation with NESN’s Jayme Parker in the press box. NESN made a great choice sending her up here as she and her camera man John were tremendous), and he certainly did not disappoint the capacity crowd. When he was on third base in the first inning, he got a standing ovation just for tipping his batting helmet to the crowd on the third base side. It was quite an atmosphere, to say the least. In the post-game press conference, in which the media managed to brave a small family of skunks who hang out by the bullpen, Ortiz said he felt “100%” and was really using this time to “see more pitches and get my timing right” for Friday’s Fenway return against the Yankees. It was quite a big-league atmosphere Monday night, good work by the Sea Dogs Media Relations (Chris Cameron and Jessica Johnson specifically) putting this together fairly smoothly, in spite of the weather and the wildlife.

I will be in Foxwoods the next couple of days, but quick-hitters will be posted just like normal. Also all of the recent podcasts, namely Saturday’s interview and Sunday’s WJZF simulcast, are online and uploaded. Thanks to Talkshoe for working though the technical difficulties.

Tuesday Morning Quick Hitters

Josh Hamilton…..IS GOD!!!!! Oh and by the way Justin Morneau won.

K-Rod could possibly set the Jonathan Papelbon bar VERY high…filing for free agency after the season.

Peyton Manning has “procedure” on a bursa sac on his knee….so many jokes…so little time.

PEOPLE!!!!!! You can buy a WHOLE SEASON ticket for $300…Don’t succumb to Big Papi Fever!!

And now….a little golf….I used to love to watch Tom Watson play golf…I always felt he never got the credit or the notoriety because the era was so dominated by The Golden Bear, but Tom Watson had a sweet swing and played the game the way I thought that game should be played. Maybe that is a recollection of childhood, maybe it’s the truth…more likely somewhere in between..but it is British Open season, and with Tiger on the bench, now is as good as time as ever to look back and remember as Tom Watson plays his last Birkdale.

OOOOPS…Tim Donaghy, allegedly, may not be the only ref involved…SHOCKER!!!

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Monday Morning Quick Hitters

James Posey decision near?

BIG PAPI IS COMING…BIG PAPI IS COMING…Restaurants better stock up….BIG PAPI IS
COMING

Gilbert Arenas takes comfort over cash. Lets face it, Arenas can still feed his family on $111 Million and leave his team room to sign a role player….we’ll see how that works out!?!

Apparently, ESPN is now covering charity games.

2 MLB Teams going in VERY different directions….the New York Mets and the Tampa Bay Rays

Red Sox Fans may need to learn how to pronounce Che-Hsuan Lin