Indy Baseball Chatter: DAISUKE'S PAL MAY COST INDY GRAD IN SHOT TO STICK WITH RED SOX

Tuesday, February 20, 2007

DAISUKE'S PAL MAY COST INDY GRAD IN SHOT TO STICK WITH RED SOX

Craig Breslow had three respectable stints with the parent Boston Red Sox last season and a very strong performance at Triple-A Pawtucket to keep him on the 40-man roster, but his chances of opening the 2007 in the major leagues apparently took a hit when Japanese darling Daisuke Matsuzaka came into the picture.

If this doesn't seem to make any sense since Breslow is a lefty reliever and Matsuzaka a right-handed starter dig a little deeper. The Red Sox also signed established southpaw reliever Hideki Okajima, and Boston Globe baseball writer Gordon Edes says: "As a COD (Companion of Daisuke), Hideki Okajima would appear to be assured of a spot (on the roster)." He is 31 to Breslow's 26, but Okajima also has 10 years of experience in the Japanese leagues, he struck out 63 in 55 innings last season and the Red Sox very much want to impact the Japanese market.

It is not certain Boston will keep another lefty in the bullpen, but if it does Edes says J. C. Romero or Javier Lopez probably will get the first look. He called Breslow, who emerged from the New Jersey Jackals of the Northeast League (now the Can-Am League) in 2004, "the long shot".

Breslow fans should keep three things in mind. First, the odds can't be stacked as deeply against the Yale grad as when Milwaukee dropped him in '04 when he hadn't climbed above Class A. Secondly, the 7-1 record with seven saves to go with 77 strikeouts and only 49 hits allowed in 67 innings last season at Pawtucket (2.69 ERA) plus a 3.75 ERA in his 12 innings at Boston are reasons to hold your head high and believe in yourself. And third, he is a youthful lefthander. Those guys get opportunities, somewhere.

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Bob Wirz

Former chief spokesman for Major League Baseball Commissioners Bowie Kuhn and Peter Ueberroth. Six years as publicity director for the Kansas City Royals, and a background in newspaper, radio and television. Started Wirz & Associates, a sports PR and consulting firm, in 1985. Has written extensively on Independent Baseball since 2003.

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About 'My Nebraska'

It seems almost universally accepted that Nebraskans are friendly, hard-working people.

A native son, who eventually transitioned to the East Coast because it was the best avenue to follow his passion of continuing to work in major league baseball, has published a book to share a lifetime of memories of growing up in the Cornhusker state.

You may have guessed it when you saw the title: My Nebraska. Yes, Bob Wirz, now a youthful 85, is sharing his "rich memories of growing up in rural Nebraska" in the 1940s and 1950s in a delightful 136 pages in the book produced by Dorrance Publishing in Pittsburgh, PA.

Wirz, who got to live his passion of working at the highest levels of baseball and later developing his own sports public relations and marketing company, lovingly empties out his memories of everything from counting millions of tiny trees to playing grass-roots baseball where the age of teammates might run from the early teens to the 50s.

The colorful cover of My Nebraska, which features two paintings from Dunning, NE rancher/artist Laron McGinn that depict the beautiful landscape of rural Nebraska and the ranching lifestyle, sets the tone for the 5 x 8 book also filled with meaningful pictures.

It is "a wistful and endearing love letter to Nebraska filled with memories shared by generations raised in small towns throughout the Midwest", praises Shari Veil, who heads up the journalism and mass communications department at the University of Nebraska.

My Nebraska, a 5x8 paperback, is priced at $19.95 plus $4.00 for handling and shipping. Autographed copies may be ordered at www.WirzandAssociates.com