Keaveney opens a baseball school
Former Red Sox draft pick Jeff Keaveney , whose professional baseball career was shortened by a serious head injury, is giving back to the game he loves.
This past week , the former Framingham High and University of Southern Maine power hitter opened the Station 4 Baseball school in a cage in the backyard of his new home in Upton.
The Station 4 logo is in honor of close friend and former hitting coach Dennis Fosberg, who worked out of that fire station in Natick where Keaveney used to hit baseballs into a tarp off a tee. Keaveney also took hitting lessons at Fosberg's Batter's Box school as a teenager.
"Dennis was one of the people I spoke to for advice when I thought of opening my school," said Keaveney, 31, who has his own pitching machine (for curveballs), plans to throw fastballs himself, and will rely on former mentor Carl Yastrzemski's advice to hitters -- keep it simple.
A 16th-round pick by the Red Sox in 1996, Keaveney is now a patrolman with the Westborough Police Department. He completed his college degree in criminal justice two years ago. Now he hopes his new venture will lead someday to running a baseball camp and a bigger indoor facility.
"My preference is to work with young players who want to get better," said Keaveney, whose last shot at resurrecting his playing career ended seven years ago. "I was an intense player and I plan on being an intense hitting coach, but always with the goal of remembering that each student has different strengths and weaknesses.
"Certain players need certain types of instruction," he said, "so I have to be flexible, taking what a hitter has and building from that point. I've been thinking about this for about five years, but I had to get settled with a few things in my life, getting my job with the Police Department, wanting to finish my college degree, getting married, and moving into our new home."
He said he is thrilled to be back involved with the game.
Playing first base in a minor league game for the independent Waterbury (Conn.) Spirit in 1999, Keaveney was struck in the head by the shard of a broken bat as he looked for a pop-up. He underwent five hours of brain surgery and lost his ability to speak for a few weeks. But he did try to come back the following spring in a tryout with the Minnesota Twins, and while he felt comfortable as a hitter, "I felt like a mess at first base, it felt foreign to me," recalled Keaveney, who was also rehabbing a surgically repaired knee.
Keaveney's separation from baseball was painful. It took him a few years to bring himself to watch a game, but over time, he missed the feel of a bat in his hands and the sounds of the sport. He knew it was time to get involved again.
So Keaveney has made up Station 4 Baseball business cards and T-shirts and has the logo on his car.
"Right now, the lessons are by appointment, and it's off to an exciting start. I realize that because when I talk about hitting I find myself talking really fast and getting a little ahead of myself," he said. "Even though I love my job as a police officer, and will continue to do that full time, I will be dedicating a lot of my of time to this school."
Keaveney, who charges $65 per session, also plans to contract out lessons for pitchers from among his many sources. His website is station4baseball.com.
Auerbach tribute planned at school
Steve Curley of Holliston, director of the Red Auerbach Basketball School , is planning a special tribute to the late Boston Celtics legend this summer.
Auerbach, who died last November at 89 , co founded the school 47 years ago. Originally held in Marshfield and later at Brandeis University, the school is now headquartered at Bryant University in Rhode Island and will be held July 23-28.
"Our staff has dedicated themselves to making our school a true legacy to Red's memory," said Curley, who has been its director for 25 years and was an original camp staffer in 1960. "We will have a banner in his honor on site as well as a picture display. We will also initiate the Red Auerbach Achievement Award, given to the youngster who best displays excellence in attitude, desire, and work ethic that would have made Red proud."
Curley, who was an assistant football coach at Holliston High and worked as a representative for several sports equipment firms, described Auerbach as "a wonderful guy with a great capacity to accept people for who they were. He really, truly, loved the camp and he relished being there with the kids. It was never a select camp because Red wanted to give players of all abilities the opportunity to love the game the way he did."
This year's camp will include about 170 boys ages 12-17, some from as far away as Iceland, England, and Turkey who pay $640 for the experience. This year's coaching staff of 40 high school and college mentors from around the country includes former Medway High boys' basketball coach Don Grimes and current Medway boys' basketball coach Jason Rojee.
Cassidy planning return to baseball
Jim Cassidy, the former Medway High football and baseball captain, underwent surgery last month to repair a torn muscle in his right shoulder. Cassidy, who transferred to the University of Massachusetts at Amherst after two seasons at the University of South Florida, had a 5-1 record with a team-best 3.35 earned run average this past season. He also played the outfield and was a designated hitter.
Cassidy, a right-hander , had hoped to play in the Cape Cod League this summer. Instead, he has his sights set on a return to the college game in 2008. "I'm going to do whatever it takes to come back and I know I have to be patient," he said, "but it's hard taking it easy when you're used to playing."
Cassidy, a two-time baseball team MVP at Medway High and the Tri-Valley League's Pitcher of the Year as a senior, had his best outing for UMass against Holy Cross, going seven innings while allowing one run and three hits.
"Jim has a lot of athletic ability and he was one of our top two pitchers," said UMass head coach Mike Stone, "so I hope that athleticism and the fact he loves to work out will help him bounce back within the projected six- to eight-month recovery period."
Ogundiran picked for US crew team
Rachael Ogundiran, , the former St. Mark's three-sport athlete who was profiled on these pages in May, has earned one of the coveted 15 spots on the US Women's Junior National crew team that will compete in the FISA World Championships in Beijing next month .
Ogundiran, who has earned a full scholarship to row at Syracuse University this fall, was one of 53 candidates invited to the national development camp last month in New London, Conn.
From that field, 14 rowers and one coxswain were selected and will compete as an eight, a four, and a pair at the junior worlds. The junior team is training in Lake Placid, N.Y., before competing in the US Rowing National Championships this week on the Cooper River in Camden, N.J.
According to longtime St. Mark's crew coach Andy Harris, former St. Mark's students Amy Appleton and Aubrey Borland (both class of '89) were members of the junior national team. The 6-foot Ogundiran was the first female to net 1,000 career points in basketball at St. Mark's.
Foulis chosen as Brandeis coach
Brandeis University has named Scott Foulis as its new assistant women's basketball coach. Foulis joins head coach Carol Simon's staff after spending the past three seasons as an assistant at Springfield College. Foulis was also an assistant coach at Bucknell University and at UMass. Foulis was head coach at the Massachusetts College of Liberal Arts in 2000-01. He graduated from UMass in 1997.
Marvin Pave can be reached at 508-820-4223 or mpave@globe.com 