Shawn Green, the gifted young outfielder from the Toronto Blue Jays, is the nephew of a Harvard professor, Marc Kirschner, Green said is head of the cellular biology department.
''His wife is my mom's sister,'' Green said. ''His sons were my closest cousins. We all grew up together. Two of them went to Harvard, and another went to Northeastern.''
Made for some pretty cerebral family reunions, no?
''Our family is kind of the opposite,'' Green said, ''but we have good times together.''
Green, who took part in Monday's Home Run Derby, said he was thrilled at the chance to meet Ted Williams.
''He's someone I wanted to meet for years,'' Green said. ''I just loved watching tapes of him. He's the guru of hitting.
''I spoke a few minutes with him. He gave me a few pointers, like drive the ball up the middle. It was a pretty short conversation, but the fact he threw some advice at me is something I'll never forget.''
Doctors orders?
Fred Claire, the former GM of the Los Angeles Dodgers, has taken a great deal of heat for trading Pedro Martinez to the Expos for second baseman Delino DeShields, the first of two trades GM Dan Duquette made for Martinez, the first with Montreal, the second with the Red Sox.
But another member of the organization has stepped up and claimed some responsibility for the deal. Team doctor Frank Jobe, the orthopedist famed for his advances in elbow and shoulder operations, told Ross Newhan of the Los Angeles Times that he influenced Claire to make the deal.
Jobe had performed surgery on Martinez's left (non-pitching) shoulder, which he had separated while swinging a bat in the minor leagues, and warned Claire that Martinez would be susceptible to more shoulder problems. That, coupled with questions about Martinez's stamina, led Jobe to endorse a deal.
''I don't think I said, `Get rid of him,''' Jobe said. ''I'd never say that, but the circumstances kind of spoke for themselves. He had a delicate stature to start with, and there were obviously questions about his stamina. It's a judgment call, but you had to kind of wonder, `Golly, is this kid going to break down?'''
Martinez, a reliever with the Dodgers, is in his fifth season without missing a start. Jobe, who performed surgery last summer to repair Ramon Martinez's rotator cuff a year ago June 30, said he believes Pedro's older brother will be back before the end of the summer.
''They may be slim and skinny,'' Jobe said of the brothers Martinez, ''but they're tough people.''
Martinez's next start
moved up a day
Jimy Williams said yesterday that it's likely he will move Pedro Martinez up a day in the Sox rotation, at the pitcher's request. The Sox had planned for Martinez to start here Monday night against the Florida Marlins, which would have given the Sox ace five days' rest, one more than usual. But Martinez said he preferred to take his regular turn.
''That could happen,'' Williams said of Martinez going Sunday. ''We try to protect him as much as we can.''
Coach's corner
Williams, added to the American League coaching staff by manager Joe Torre, coached third, which came as something of a surprise to him. He said in Atlanta last weekend that Torre would use his regular base coaches, Don Zimmer and Willie Randolph. ''The people in Boston would just love that, to see me coaching,'' Williams said with a laugh. ''Do you think they'd have something to say about that?''
During batting practice, Williams hit ground balls, as is his custom, to shortstops Nomar Garciaparra, Omar Vizquel and Derek Jeter. Taking grounders with them was Williams's son, Shawn.
Zimmerman is the
unknown All-Star
The Rangers' Jeff Zimmerman figured that if he were to pitch in the All-Star Game, Joe Average American would turn to Mrs. Joe Average American and all their little Average American offspring and ask, ''Who?''
No household name, he. But American League hitters are painfully aware of the rookie Texas reliever, whom Torre selected by virtue of his 8-0 record, 0.86 ERA, and laughable .106 opponents's batting average.
Now there are several rags-to-riches stories on these teams, but it might be hard to top the sage of an undrafted Canadian (Carsland, Alberta, pop. 500, and ''no traffic lights'') pitcher whose father put together a team he would drive 8-10 hours into the States for the purpose of giving his boy a chance to play competitive baseball; who faxed resumes to all 30 major league teams, with Texas being the only respondent; and who is both the first All-Star to come out of the wild-and-woolly Northern League and the first major leaguer to come out of the French League, something which, almost undoubtedly, no American fan even knew existed.
Speaking of France, Zimmerman must have at least eaten well, right?
Wrong.
''I had no money,'' he explained. ''I subsisted on baguettes and water.''
Amazing stuff. Even more amazing has been his first-half performance. ''He's nasty,'' said fellow Ranger and All-Star Ivan Rodriguez. ''He's tough to catch. He throws very hard.''
''He throws very hard and he has great late movement,'' added the Indians' Kenny Lofton. ''That's a tough combination.''
''Being in the All-Star Game isn't even a dream come true,'' said Zimmerman. ''Where I came from, you would never have that dream. The NHL, maybe.''
Driven batty
Roberto Alomar arrived at Logan Airport late Sunday night missing an important piece of luggage: the carry bag containing his and Manny Ramirez's bats. After waiting for his missing bats at the Continental Airlines luggage carousel, Alomar figured his lumber had been stolen.
Welcome to Boston, Hub of the Universe.
''They weren't my favorites, but I brought my lumber,'' Alomar said. ''I saw them come up in the plane when I was sitting down in first-class. When I went to get my bags, I didn't see them. Maybe somebody stole them, I don't know.''
Alomar said that he and Ramirez each packed two bats in a bat carry bag that was marked with their numbers, 12 and 24.
''Maybe it was an easy target,'' Alomar said. ''I just hope they enjoy my bats.''
Bart Swain, the Indians' director of media relations, indicated new lumber may be on the way, courtesy of the club's equipment manager.
''With a bat bag, it's kind of obvious what it is,'' Swain said. ''The bats clang around inside and it says `Rawlings' on the outside. So it pretty much screams out what it is.''
A job half-done
Torre said he chose Williams and White Sox skipper Jerry Manuel to join him in the American League dugout as a way of showing appreciation for their hard work this season. ''Jimy and I go back a little ways,'' Torre said. ''We've had so many in the St. Louis area, but I really respect what he's done. With Jerry Manuel, I think the recognition goes to Bruce [Bochy, the NL manager] and myself because we were in the World Series and everybody pays attention to the Mike Hargroves and people like that, but I just felt the managers who have to start dealing and rebuilding and stuff like that, it's sometimes a thankless job and you wind up on the short end of this thing.
''But he's done a great job in Chicago, I feel, and I just wanted to have him come over here and enjoy this a little bit.''
Man of his words
Former Red Sox great Carlton Fisk, who was named AL honorary captain, said that Juan Gonzalez of the Texas Rangers made a mistake by not participating in the All-Star Game. ''I, over my career, haven't held my tongue in the proper places,'' Fisk said. ''I've always given my opinion, and my opinion on this: I think he is totally out of line in refusing to come to the All-Star Game. Refusing to be recognized as one of the greatest players playing the game today. I don't know whether that's an attitude or selfishness on his part, but it is, when you consider what kind of player he is, what kind of statistics he has on the board at this time and not allowing the rest of the league or the rest of the world to see his talents. I think, down the line, he may regret that decision.''
A thorn in Rose's side
With nearly two dozen Hall of Famers sitting beside him, Bud Selig said yesterday that as long he's commissioner, Pete Rose can pretty much forget about reinstatement to baseball.
The occasion was the launch of voting for baseball's All-Century team. While Rose is among the 100 players on the ballot, he wasn't invited to the news conference, held prior to last night's All-Star Game, and won't be asked to any ceremonies if he's among the winners.
''I don't think there's anything I would do to change what Bart Giamatti did,'' Selig said, referring to the former commissioner who kicked Rose out of baseball.
Because of the lifetime ban he signed with Giamatti in August 1989, Rose is ineligible for the Hall of Fame.
Rose, in Boston on a corporate appearance, declined comment when Selig's statements were relayed through his business agent ... Although getting a ticket for the All-Star Game was nearly impossible, fans came in record droves to the John Hancock All-Star FanFest at the Hynes Convention Center in downtown Boston. This weekend, the event was sold out on back-to-back days, a FanFest first.
Compiled by Gordon Edes, Bob Ryan, and Michael Vega of the Globe Staff. Material from The Associated Press was used in this report
