BULLPEN STAR IS ONLY ONE PART OF CRAIG BRESLOW'S LIFE

Craig Breslow is in the news so much these days because of the way he has been getting key outs when he emerges from the Boston Red Sox bullpen. Seven postseason appearances in which the left-hander has allowed only three hits and zero runs tell that story.

The bright lights of the World Series also give the onetime New Jersey Jackals hurler (now in the Can-Am League) an opportunity to bring more attention to his five-year-old Strike 3 Foundation, which has the mission of trying to help eradicate childhood cancer. He shared a story with Hartford Courant columnist Jeff Jacobs on the eve of Game 1 of the World Series.

It was shortly after Breslow was the winner in the ALDS clincher at Tampa Bay, the pitcher said, when he received a video from patients at the Tufts Floating Hospital for Children at Tufts Medical Center in Medford, MA. He and teammate Andrew Bailey, who is on the board of Strike 3, had visited the kids in June. They obviously had not forgotten.

“Incredibly touching and totally surprising,” Breslow told the columnist, in his home state of Connecticut. “It was a really emotional moment for me. I watched it with my fiancée (Kelly Shaffer, who will be Breslow’s wife after November 9) and we both teared up. This is the reason we work so hard in the community.”

Yes, baseball players do have a life beyond the diamond.

WINTER LEAGUES WELL UNDER WAY

Some quick hits from various winter leagues that have started play:

**Bo Schultz (Grand Prairie, TX, American Association) is continuing to do well in the Arizona Fall League. The Arizona prospect has struck out 15 and posted a 2.03 ERA in 13.1 innings covering his first three starts.

**1B-3B Andy Marte (York, PA, Atlantic League)picked up five hits (.357) with two RBI in his first three games in the Dominican Republic. His contract was picked up by the Los Angeles Angels during the season.

**Jason Urquidez (Lancaster, PA, Atlantic) was 4-for-4 in saves with a 0.00 ERA and had fanned six in 4.1 innings in the Mexican League. His contract also belongs to the Angels.

**OF Antoan Richardson (Schaumburg, IL, now in the Frontier League) was hitting .282 with three RBI after 10 games in the Venezuelan League. He played for Minnesota's top two farm clubs last season.

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