Celeb chef hits a curveball

It's Thanksgiving, and Michael Schlow just can't give enough gratitude to the shoulder injury over 20 years ago that ruined his once-promising baseball career.

After all, it paved the way for his current gig as a celebrity chef, author, and co-owner of two hugely successful Boston restaurants.

In the mid-1980s, the New York-born and bred Schlow was an up-and-coming right-hander with a fastball that touched the low 90s. He played for a small college in Connecticut and had the time of his life.

"The only reason I went to college was to play baseball," says Schlow, who helped start Boston hotspots Radius and Via Matta with Christopher Meyers and was named one of Food and Wine magazine's "Best New Chefs" in 1996, the esteemed annual ranking of the top 10 new chefs in America.

"My teammates and I weren't too committed to our classes, to tell you the truth. It was all about playing."

But the fun ended for Schlow at the age of 20 when he blew out the shoulder and lost the zip on his fastball that had scouts noticing him.

"My story was just one of the same stories you hear about 100,000 other kids," Schlow says. "You get hurt and that's that for your baseball career. It's unfortunate, but it's life and you have to find something else to do."

Schlow found it at the Academy of Culinary Arts in southern New Jersey, where he learned the ins and outs of what it takes to be a world-class chef and managed to play a little baseball, too.

"There was a community college connected to the Academy and we were allowed to participate in sports if we wanted to," Schlow says. "I'd lost a solid 10 mph off my fastball, but I could still hit, and I figured I could play first base or left field.

Schlow's friends framed his image in a faux baseball card for fun. (Courtesy Michael Schlow)

"I know the other kids were mocking me behind my back, because I was the first culinary school student to try out. But I ended up batting fourth and hitting around .400."

Schlow has been batting a lot better than that in the restaurant business.

After cutting his teeth in the industry in New York under famed restaurateur Pino Luongo and moving on to chic Manhattan eateries such as Coco Pazzo and Le Madri and Sapore di Mare and 75 Main on Long Island, Schlow scored in Boston by reopening Caf Louis and then starting Radius and Via Matta.

Chef Schlow on the scoreboard. (Courtesy Michale Schlow)

"There's a definite similarity between what I went through in cooking and what baseball players have to go through," Schlow says. "My training was becoming as good as I could be with no money, sleeping on floors and working for the best chefs.

"The funny thing now is that I'm old enough that even if I had made it to the Major Leagues, the reality is my baseball career would be long over by now. But my life as as a chef and restaurateur is just starting to bloom."

Part of his success came with his 2005 cookbook "It's About Time: Great Recipes for Everyday Life," which spawned a cross-country book tour that allowed Schlow to pursue his favorite hobby.

"I tried to go to as many ballparks as I could," Schlow says. "And it's a great way to see America. "I'd never been to Wrigley Field or the old County Stadium in Milwaukee, I went to Camden Yards for the first time, and in Los Angeles, I noticed they were serving high-end Japanese food at Dodger Stadium, which I thought was so fantastic."

And a few years later, after doing a favor for some high-rolling friends in Boston, Schlow was repaid with a surprise gift: throwing out the first pitch at Fenway Park.

"Even though I'd grown up loving the Yankees and watching them duke it out with the Red Sox, I'm a baseball fan above all that," Schlow says. "So to throw out the first pitch and have my name on the scoreboard and not throw it in the dirt and actually throw a strike was a huge thrill."

Schlow says he's never far from baseball, even when he's "in the weeds" at Radius, scrambling with his dedicated staff to make things perfect for the customers.

"There's the competition, first of all," Schlow says. "In baseball and in restaurants, you're always trying to perform at your highest level. And there's so many symbiotic lines between sports and cooking, too. In my kitchen, we all wear the same uniform and if one guy goes down, we just don't do as well.

"Just like in baseball, we all sweat together as a team."

THANKSGIVING RECIPES Here's a little baseball-inspired Thanksgiving menu I put together for MLB.com. It's for diehard baseball fans not willing to give up the game, even during the offseason.

Since Thanksgiving is the most American of holidays, what I wanted to do was take the classic American ballpark dining experience and somehow gently meld it with Thanksgiving. Of course, it'll still taste good.

So sit down with your baseball-loving family and friends and try some of these recipes out. And once you're done you can start thinking about Spring Training.

BEER-BASTED TURKEY

You really don't need to change much here, but put 24 ounces of your favorite beer in the bottom of the roasting pan along with a handful of chopped carrots, onion, celery, and a teaspoon of cayenne pepper and 2 tablespoons of butter.

Cook the bird at 250 degrees for the first 2 hours, basting with the beer mixture every 10-15 minutes or so. Depending on the size of the bird, continue to cook on 250 until the juices run clear when you insert a thin, long meat tester. Keep basting, but for the final minute or so, blast the oven to high or broil to crisp the skin.

HOT DOG BUN STUFFING "CHICAGO STYLE"

A really easy and fun stuffing for those who just can't let baseball rest for a few months.

12 (day-old) hot dog buns (cut into 2-inch pieces)
1 cup of cooked bratwurst, medium diced
1 large cooked onion, medium diced
2 cooked red peppers, medium diced
1 1/2 cups of milk with 2 egg yolks beaten in
Salt, pepper, pinch of fresh thyme
1 tablespoon butter

Place the buns in a large bowl, add the milk and eggs and soak for 10 minutes. Add the cooked bratwurst, onions, and peppers. Season with salt, pepper and thyme. Butter a casserole dish, add stuffing to dish and place in 375-degree oven until cooked (about 45 minutes to 1 hour) and crispy brown on top. If stuffing is not golden brown, turn oven to broil for a few minutes, but watch carefully as not to burn.

STRING BEANS WITH CRUSHED BALLPARK PEANUTS

Take your favorite string beans almondine and substitute it with this.

2 pounds of blanched string beans
3 tablespoons of butter
2 shallots, finely diced
Salt, black pepper
1/2 cup of shelled roasted peanuts crushed up in a Cuisinart or by knife. Don't make it into powder.

In a large saute pan, place the butter and shallots and place pan over medium high heat. Allow the butter to melt, add salt and pepper, then toss in the blanched string beans and toss until they are hot.
Remove from pan onto a serving dish, spoon any remaining butter over, then sprinkle with crushed peanuts.

PUMPKIN PIE WITH CRACKER JACK CRUMBLE

First, make the pie shell.

2 cups flour
1 cup vegetable shortening
1 large egg
1 teaspoon vinegar
teaspoon salt
cup cold water

Mix all the ingredients in a mixing bowl with a fork. Roll into a circle and fit into a 9-inch glass pie plate.

And here's the filling.

2 cups canned pumpkin
1 cup heavy cream
cup whole milk
2 large eggs
cup light brown sugar
1 teaspoon ground cinnamon
1 teaspoon ground ginger
Pinch of ground cloves
teaspoon salt
teaspoon nutmeg
1 box Cracker Jack

Whisk the mixture of pumpkin, milk, eggs, cream, brown sugar, salt, cinnamon, ginger, cloves and nutmeg and salt, then pour into your shell. Bake in a preheated oven at 425 degrees for 15 minutes. Reduce temperature to 350 degrees, bake for 20 to 30 minutes or until the pie looks done. Crush the Cracker Jack and sprinkle on top as desired. Transfer to a rack and cool.

And have a Happy Thanksgiving!

--Chef Michael Schlow

The story of 'Boo' for a new generation

Just like always, Dave "Boo" Ferriss is humble, even when talking about a book that's been written about him and his extraordinary life.

"Throughout the years, I've had some offers, but I didn't think I merit a book and I still don't," says Ferriss, the 86-year-old former Boston Red Sox phenom and pitching coach, longtime Delta State University baseball coach, and subject of Rick Cleveland's loving new biography, "Boo: A Life in Baseball, Well-Lived" (Pediment Publishing, www.booferrissbook.com), which comes out later this month.

"After some arm-twisting and so forth, Rick got me to agree to it. He's one fine guy and an outstanding writer, and I guess he's pretty persuasive. No doubt about it."

Cleveland, a sports columnist at The Clarion-Ledger newspaper in Jackson, Miss., where Ferriss is a sports icon, isn't the only one who contributed to the book. It also includes an emotional, personal foreword from another Mississippi native, best-selling author John Grisham. Grisham not only knew Ferriss but briefly played for him as well.

"I've known Coach Ferriss -- I call him Coach Ferriss -- since I was a kid," Cleveland says. "My dad introduced him to me in about 1961 or 1962 as the best baseball player in Mississippi history, and that got my attention right there.

"I've come to know him really well over the years, and he also happens to be the best human being I've ever been around. He's the most intrinsically good person I've ever known. And to be that way after all he's gone through, to me, is remarkable."

Detailed nimbly and richly in the pages of "Boo" is one of the great under-publicized stories in the annals of the game.

After being called up to military service during World War II and then discharged from the Army because of asthma, Ferriss began his Major League career in style, firing 22 scoreless innings, a record until it was broken by Oakland's Brad Ziegler last year.

He went 21-10 in 1945, followed it up with a 25-6 season for the American League champion Red Sox in 1946, pitched a shutout in the World Series that year, and then ruined his arm on one pitch in 1947. He pitched again sparingly and mostly in relief until ending his playing career in 1950.

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"To the older people in Boston, he's very, very well known," Cleveland says. "To younger fans, maybe not so much, which is one reason why it needs to be out there. His 46 wins over his first two seasons are the second best in Major League history behind Grover Cleveland Alexander.

"He was certainly a phenom in baseball. He was Nolan Ryan back then, as good as it gets. To a man, older Red Sox fans who know about Boo will tell you that the history of that team would have been different if had he remained healthy. They were always coming up a little bit short, and they think he would have been the difference."

But a bum shoulder wasn't close to the end of Boo.

He became the pitching coach for the Red Sox between 1955 and 1959 and then started his legendary career at the helm of Delta State, compiling a 639-387 record until his retirement in 1988 and taking the Statesmen to three NCAA Division II College World Series.

"It was certainly an unfortunate situation of hurting my arm and never being the same after a wonderful beginning to my career," Ferriss says. "But to get to be pitching coach for five years with so many fine teammates, including Ted Williams, and everything that followed ... I have to say it all worked out.

"And I wouldn't take anything away from coaching 26 years of college baseball. I was blessed to have so many fine young men play for me. And seeing college baseball make the great strides it has over the decades ... it got bigger and better, so I've had a great run here and I look back and think I've been mighty blessed, I sure have."

One of the most charming parts of the book is found in Cleveland's introduction, in which Ferriss and Cleveland visit an orthopedist named Buddy Savoie to see if they can locate the problem in Ferriss' shoulder.

Savoie diagnoses it as a torn labrum, an injury that ended careers before Orel Hershiser had a successful shoulder reconstruction in the early 1990s.

"He'd have a 95 percent chance of complete recovery," Savoie tells Cleveland. "He'd be as good as new in six to nine months."

To which Boo chuckles and says, "Now my wife Miriam says we ought to get Buddy to fix me up. She says she'd roll me out to the mound. With the millions they're paying these days, she thinks I could still go five innings."

On a more poignant note, "Boo" includes actual letters Ferriss wrote home to his mother in 1945 and 1946 while he was taking the big leagues by storm.

"That's the best part of the book, including Grisham's foreword and any writing I did," Cleveland says. "They're just amazing. Here's a kid out of the Mississippi Delta, he's never been anywhere like this, he wins his first eight games, and all the while he's writing letters home to his mother."

And through all the stories, anecdotes and heartfelt remembrances of the man, who was inducted to the Red Sox Hall of Fame in 2002 and still receives fan mail from Red Sox fans all over the world almost every day, Ferriss never expresses any regrets.

"I can't complain, but it would have been nice to not hurt my arm when I did," Ferriss says.

"Maybe we would have beaten those old Yankees."

Evans busts out for Indios

Puerto Rican Winter League

Mayaguez 7, Arecibo 6
Mets outfielder Nick Evans picked up his first two hits of the season and drove in four runs as the Indios snapped the Lobos' four-game winning streak. Twins farmhand Andres Torres drove in the go-ahead run with a sacrifice fly in the eighth. Box score

Carolina 6, Santurce 5
Edgard Clemente scored on a wild pitch in the bottom of the ninth inning as the Gigantes rallied past the Cangrejeros. Former Reds catcher Javier Valentin had two RBIs for Santurce, which had a four-game winning streak snapped. Box score

Caguas 4, Ponce 3
Mets prospect Brahiam Maldonado hit a walk-off single in the ninth inning as the Criollos roared past the last-place Leones. Cubs Minor Leaguer Jovan Rosa had two hits and an RBI for Caguas. Box score

Venezuelan Winter League

Caracas 9, Zulia 5,
Astros infielder Jose Castillo homered twice and drove in three runs as the first-place Leones extended their lead over the second-place Aguilas. Free agent Josh Kroeger added a two-run shot for Caracas. Box score

La Guaira 6, Lara 4
Orioles infielder Oscar Salazar homered and drove in four runs to power the Tiburones to their fourth straight win. Angels farmhand Henry Bonilla allowed five hits over six shutout innings for La Guaira. Box score

Magallanes 11, Margarita 8, 6 innings
Giants prospect Pablo Sandoval cranked two homers, plated four runs and scored three times as the Navegantes outslugged the Bravos in a rain-shortened game. Former Major Leaguer Edgardo Alfonzo went 4-for-4 with two RBIs and two runs scored for Magallanes. Box score

Aragua 6, Caribes 4
Twins prospect Luke Hughes went 3-for-4 with two runs scored as the Tigres topped the Caribes. Luis Maza plated three runs and Hector Gimenez had two RBIs for Aragua. Pirates farmhand Jose Tabata drove in a pair of runs in a losing effort. Box score

Mexican Pacific League

Guasave 10, Mexicali 1
Eduardo Arredondo and Cristhian Presichi both homered and drove in three runs as the Algodoneros snapped a three-game losing streak. Emil Kamar and Adrian Ramirez combined on a two-hitter for Guasave. Box score

Hermosillo 7, Obregon 5
Juan Canizalez hit a pair of homers and drove in three runs as the Naranjeros erased an early three-run deficit and won their fourth straight. Reds farmhand Kevin Barker had three hits, including a homer, and three RBIs for the Yaquis. Box score

Mazatlan 3, Navojoa 1, 11 innings
Hector Paez's two-run double in the 11th inning sent the Venados to their third consecutive win. Walter Silva tossed six scoreless frames but did not figure in the decision for Mazatlan. Box score

Culiacan 13, Mochis 7
Brewers farmhand Casey McGehee homered twice to grab a share of the league lead, drove in three runs and scored three times as the Tomateros outslugged the Caneros. Jorge Alberto Vazquez went 3-for-5 with a homer and four RBIs for Culiacan. Box score

Dominican Winter League

Aguilas 12, Azucareros 0
Yankees outfield prospect Matt Carson cranked a homer, plated five runs and scored twice as the Aguilas clobbered the Azucareros. Major Leaguer Julian Tavarez struck out eight in seven scoreless innings for Cibaenas. Box score

Gigantes at Escogido, postponed

Licey at Estrellas, postponed

Lincecum nabs MLB 2K9 cover

For Tim Lincecum, winning the National League Cy Young Award was just half of the good news he got Tuesday.

The young San Francisco Giants right-hander did indeed get the prestigious honor as the NL's premier pitcher in the 2008 season, but he also was announced as the cover athlete for the upcoming Major League Baseball 2K9 video game from 2K Sports.

As a video game fanatic, Lincecum said he couldn't be happier.

"Winning the Cy Young Award is truly an amazing honor, and now having the opportunity to be on the cover of Major League Baseball 2K9 is another dream come true and an absolutely surreal experience," said Lincecum, a 2008 All-Star who went 18-5 with a 2.62 ERA, led the Major Leagues with 265 strikeouts (an NL-best 10.51 per nine innings) and limited opponents to an NL-low .221 batting average.

"Whenever I'm hanging out at home or traveling on the road, you can find me playing video games, and I'm definitely the best gamer in the clubhouse by far. I'm incredibly stoked that 2K Sports picked me to represent Major League Baseball 2K9, and I look forward to lending my baseball knowledge to the development process."

Lincecum wasn't the only one "stoked" to be involved in the ongoing creation of MLB 2K9. Chris Snyder, the director of marketing for 2K Sports, and MLB 2K9's senior product manager, Mike Rhinehart, work in Novato, Calif., about a 45-minute drive from AT&T Park, the home of the Giants. They've seen Lincecum pitch plenty of times and are ecstatic that he's the chosen player for 2009.

"Our boy won," Snyder said. "After having Jose Reyes on the cover last year, it was time to show the West Coast some love."

Rhinehart explained that the choice of the cover player is always a political one at 2K Sports, whose corporate offices are in New York City.

"Basically, everybody in the company is a baseball fan and everybody wants to weigh in with their opinion on the cover athlete," Rhinehart said. "It goes all the way to the top, to the CEO and corporate. And the decision this year was that we really wanted to align with somebody that was unique, that was a (video) gamer, and personified our game this year."

Lincecum fit for all those reasons and more, and perhaps the most significant reason he was chosen was because of the "Signature Style" feature that MLB 2K9 is known for and is improving year after year.

"We're pushing hard with our ability to capture the unique motions players have, whether it's a walkup or a delivery on the mound," Rhinehart said. "We mimic them to a point of being spot-on, and a good example is (Detroit left-hander) Dontrelle Willis. He has that unique delivery, and when he came down to our studios and saw how we had captured it, he flipped out.

"So Tim, to us, was perfect. He's so unique with his delivery and mechanics that he personifies that 100 percent. And during some of his interviews, he talked about gaming, which always perks our ears. In fact, in one of his last interviews of the season, he actually said he was going to put down the glove and pick up a controller. That was music to our ears."

And hearing he would grace the cover of a game that will be available in early 2009 for the Xbox 360 entertainment system from Microsoft, the PlayStation3 and PlayStation2 computer entertainment systems, PSP (PlayStation Portable) system and Wii home video game system from Nintendo was music to Lincecum's ears.

"We're always looking for guys that are invested, and Tim very early on seemed invested in the product," Snyder said. "We're bringing him out here in a couple weeks to meet the development team, do a motion-capture session and really get this thing rolling. He's really excited and we are, too."

And according to Rhinehart, Lincecum wouldn't have been chosen if he didn't have the personality to match his pitching ability.

"From the first day he showed up to practice and they wouldn't let him into the park because they thought he was a kid, we've always felt as if he is exactly like our audience," Rhinehart said. "He's a normal kid that plays video games, but when he's on the mound he's a totally different beast throwing crazy heat.

"You look at him and you think, 'How does this guy throw heat like that?' It's perfect for our audience."

MLB Network partners with Verizon

NEW YORK -- Major League Baseball and Verizon Communications Inc. are teaming up for the first-ever television arrangement between the two major companies. Starting January 1, 2009, MLB Network will be available to all Verizon FiOS TV customers, projected to be the largest debut in cable TV history.

MLB Network will be offered as part of Verizon FiOS TV's Essentials and Extreme HD packages on channel 86, along with a high-definition simulcast of MLB Network on channel 586. In addition to live games, MLB Network will broadcast original programming, highlights, baseball-related news coverage and classic games. The channel's 2009 launch is expected to reach approximately 50 million cable and satellite homes.

The MLB and Verizon agreement will also kick off a new, multi-year deal to provide the MLB Extra Innings package on FiOS TV. Viewers will be able to enjoy up to 80 nationwide Major League Baseball games every week.

"We are looking forward to launching MLB Network on Verizon FiOS TV, which is the fastest growing television provider in the country," said MLB Network President and CEO Tony Petitti. "MLB Network will offer baseball fans an insider's perspective on the sport that has never been seen before. This partnership further expands on our ability to bring the ultimate coverage of the national pastime to fans on a 24/7 basis."

"The MLB Extra Innings package plays a key role in our continuing effort to provide fans around the country with access to as many MLB game telecasts as possible," stated MLB Senior Vice President of Broadcasting Chris Tully. "Adding Verizon FiOS TV to our roster of MLB Extra Innings distributors provides our fans with more choice in accessing the package."

For more information, visit MLBNetwork.com.

MLB Network signs Vasgersian

Matt Vasgersian is happy to report that he's hitting leadoff for MLB Network.

The veteran baseball broadcaster was announced as the first on-air personality for MLB Network, which will launch Jan. 1, 2009 in approximately 50 million homes as the largest network debut in cable history.

For Vasgersian, the lead play-by-play announcer for the San Diego Padres since 2002 and a regular contributor to FOX Sports as a play-by-play announcer with FOX Baseball Saturday and FOX NFL Sunday, it's the ideal job.

"As a huge baseball fan, I'm excited about how MLB Network will change the way we enjoy baseball on TV," Vasgersian said. "These live shows will be a dream come true for baseball fans and I can't wait to get started."

Vasgersian, 41, will join MLB Network as a studio host and anchor for MLB Tonight, the live, nightly studio show that will be the signature program of the new network. He will also handle duties for Hot Stove, a live, nightly off-season studio show.

Prior to San Diego, Vasgersian worked in the Milwaukee Brewers broadcast booth for five seasons after spending six years in the Minor Leagues.

Vasgersian has also been a part of NBC's broadcast team for the last three Olympic cycles, and has lent his voice to the "MLB: The Show" series of video games since 2005.

MLB Tonight will air live from 6 p.m. ET until the final MLB game of the night, Monday to Saturday. It will be based out of MLB Network's headquarters in Secaucus, N.J.

The program will feature live look-ins of games in progress, updates, highlights, reporting and analysis. Hot Stove will air during the offseason at 7 p.m. ET Monday through Friday and feature news, reports, and analysis of the moves clubs are making and planning in preparation for the upcoming season.

"Matt's experience behind the mic, his ability to carry a broadcast and his enthusiasm for baseball make him ideally suited to serve as the 'voice of MLB Network,'" said Tony Petitti, president and chief executive officer of MLB Network.

"MLB Tonight and Hot Stove will be an important source of MLB coverage for baseball fans, and Matt's presence will help ensure that the programs have an authoritative and experienced voice from day one."

Agent: Junior open to Seattle reunion

Ken Griffey Jr. will file for free agency early next week, opening the door to his possible return to the Mariners.

Contacted at his home late Friday night, where he was hosting a Halloween party, Griffey's agent, Brian Goldberg, said Griffey would be "open-minded" about returning to the team that made him the first overall pick in the 1987 First-Year Player Draft, a selection that helped turn the franchise into a perennial playoff contender in the 1990s.

Griffey, who spent the first 11 seasons of his Hall of Fame career with the Mariners before being traded to the Reds, had an option year remaining on the nine-year contract he signed with Cincinnati prior to the 2000 season. But the White Sox, who acquired Junior late last season, declined the $16.5 million option.

Griffey will be 39 years old on Nov. 21 and has said he wants to end his career where it started -- with the Mariners.

"Junior has always had a special relationship with the people in Seattle, including the fans and people still in the organization when he left," Goldberg said. "He would be open to going back."

New Mariners general manager Jack Zduriencik, who is in Dana Point, Calif., for next week's General Managers Meetings, said Saturday, "I will not comment on any free agent."

Griffey made a triumphant return to Seattle during the 2007 season, when the Reds visited Safeco Field for an Interleague series against the Mariners. Junior hit four home runs in the three games, was cheered wildly every time he came to bat and said after the series that he missed Seattle more than he ever could have imagined.

It has been nine years since he left and he still ranks first or second in 10 of the franchise's career offensive categories. He ranks first in home runs with 398.

The off-injured Griffey recently underwent arthroscopic surgery on his left knee to repair a partially torn meniscus and cartilage, but he is expected to be completely recovered prior to Spring Training.

"Junior won't be hitting 56 home runs again," Goldberg said. "But he could get back to his form in '07 and hit 30 home runs."