51s reliever makes name for himself
Bubbie Buzachero might have pitched poorly for the 51s this season, allowing 15 earned runs in eight innings, but he made a name for himself in the fourth annual Minors Moniker Madness contest.
Seeded eighth in his NCAA Tournament-style bracket, Buzachero advanced to the semifinals of the 64-player online competition at milb.com before losing to finalist Seth Schwindenhammer.
Schwindenhammer, a No. 15 seed, fell in the finals to Rowdy Hardy, a No. 2 seed who walked off with the Wonderful Terrific Monds III Award.
Hardy, a left-handed reliever in the Kansas City Royals system, defeated Dale Cornstubble, Atahualpa Severino, Stolmy Pimentel and top seed Sequoyah Stonecipher before edging fellow No. 2 seed Mark Hamburger in the semifinals.
Schwindenhammer, an outfielder in the Boston Red Sox organization, also eliminated former 51s shortstop Gookie Dawkins.
Buzachero beat Buddy Boshers and upset top seed Al Albuquerque before taking down Tuffy Gosewisch and No. 2 seed Shooter Hunt to ascend to the semifinals.
Former 51s infielder Callix Crabbe defeated Jordan Flasher before losing to Gosewisch.
■ STILL SPACED OUT -- At 63 years old, Boston Red Sox pitcher Bill "Spaceman" Lee is well past his prime. But he still hurls more than 200 innings per year in various independent leagues in New England and Canada and is scheduled to start for the Brockton (Mass.) Rox of the Can-Am League in the team's Sept. 5 season finale.
Lee pitched for the Red Sox from 1969 to 1978 and went 119-90 in his 14-year big league career.
Known as "Spaceman" for making outrageous comments and smoking marijuana, Lee took some shots last month at late New York Yankees owner George Steinbrenner.
"As far as Steinbrenner's passing? Good," Lee said. "He said I was an incompetent and I was bad for the game of baseball. Well, I'm not a convicted felon like George Steinbrenner, and he'll take that to his grave. Trust me, if hell freezes over, he'll be skating."
■ NO HATS ALLOWED -- Football season is almost here, but Arkansas coach Bobby Petrino still needs to lighten up, considering he basically had a reporter fired for wearing a Florida Gators hat to a recent news conference.
After answering a question from Hog Sports Radio reporter Renee Gork, Petrino told her, sternly, "And that will be the last question I answer with that hat on."
Gork, a Florida graduate who said she grabbed the Gators hat without thinking because it was raining, tweeted Monday that she had been fired.
"Was hoping to publicly apologize to coach Petrino and UA fans on the show today, but I won't get that chance now I've been fired."
Hog Sports Radio general manager Dan Storrs said he wouldn't comment on a personnel matter but added, "We are very biased. We support the Razorbacks 100 percent."
For the record, Review-Journal reporter Mark Anderson, a Florida graduate, doesn't wear Gators gear to UNLV football practices. Only UNR or Brigham Young stuff.
COMPILED BY TODD DEWEY
LAS VEGAS REVIEW-JOURNAL
