Matt Stairs to attend book signing Nov. 16
Matt Stairs is coming to Bangor for a book signing event from noon to 2 p.m. on Sunday, Nov. 16 at Dysart’s Broadway Restaurant and Flat Bed Pub.
Stairs is well known in Maine for both his time as a major league baseball player and as a high school hockey coach while he lived in Bangor. Stairs is the subject of a new book titled “A Boy Named Matt: The Story of a Hometown Hero.”
The book is written by New Brunswick author Carlena Munn, who will also be at the book signing, sponsored by Bangor radio station 92.9 The Ticket.
Munn chronicles the story of Stairs’ rise from a small town in Canada to a 19-year major league baseball career that includes a world championship with the Phillies and a spot in the MLB record book as the all-time leader in pinch hit home runs (23).
Books will be available for purchase ($24.99). Pre-orders can be made via email, aboynamedmatt@hotmail.com.
Griffin likely to start for Redskins
Washington Redskins coach Jay Gruden moved Thursday to the precipice of declaring Robert Griffin III his starting quarterback for Sunday’s game at Minnesota, a big step forward from the coach’s dancing around the topic on Wednesday.
“The progress that he has made has had us put him in with the ones and prepare to be the starter,” Gruden said of Griffin, who returned to full practice on Wednesday after missing the last six-plus games with a dislocated left ankle suffered early in the Week 2 rout of Jacksonville. “If everything goes well, he has got a great chance to start. Right now, he looks great, his ankle looks great.”
Mariners retain Iwakuma on $7 million option
Right-hander Hisashi Iwakuma will return to the Seattle Mariners next season on a $7 million option.
After missing the first month of the 2014 season, he went 15-9 with a 3.52 ERA in 28 starts.
Iwakuma, 33, signed with Seattle in 2012 after a 12-year career in Japan and has gone 38-20 with a 3.07 ERA with the Mariners. He has 440 strikeouts in 524 innings.
He was an All-Star in 2013 and finished third in the American League Cy Young voting after compiling a 2.66 ERA.
Patriots make practice squad move
The New England Patriots re-signed offensive lineman Chris Barker to the practice squad and released defensive lineman Ben Bass from the unit on Thursday.
Barker, 24, had been released from the 53-man roster Tuesday to make room for linebacker Jonathan Casillas, who was acquired in a trade with the Tampa Bay Buccaneers.