PORTLAND – There were more than a few sighs of relief around Hadlock Field when it was learned that former Sea Dog Kevin Olsen wasn’t seriously injured after being struck in the head by a line drive Friday night at Fenway Park.

Olsen, now a member of the Florida Marlins, suffered a concussion and a laceration to his right ear when he was hit by Red Sox second baseman Todd Walker’s hot smash.

Olsen was carted off the field on a stretcher and spent Friday night at a Boston hospital before being released Saturday morning.

A CT scan was normal, although he did need six stitches to close the cut on his

ear.

“That was tough to watch,” said Olsen’s pitching coach with the Sea Dogs, Jeff Andrews, who was in town serving in the same capacity with the Altoona Curve. “I watched it once and that was it. It’s hard to watch that happen to anybody, but especially someone like Olie.”

Olsen posted a 13-7 record with a 3.24 earned run average over a season and a half with the Sea Dogs.

In 2001, the right-hander went 10-3 with a 2.68 ERA for Portland and got a September call-up to the Marlins.

Olsen spent Saturday resting at the Marlins’ hotel and went back to Florida after Sunday’s series finale at Fenway Park.

“It’s frightening,” said Sea Dogs general manager Charlie Eshbach, “especially when it’s someone you know. Fortunately, it looks like he’s going to be all right.”

Bump-ed up

With Olsen placed on the disabled list, the Marlins called up another former Sea Dog, Nate Bump, from Triple-A Albuquerque.

Bump was with the Isotopes in New Orleans when he was summoned.

He made his big-league debut Saturday night against the Red Sox and got the win after throwing 2 1/3 innings in relief.

Bump was 21-26 with a 4.46 ERA over four seasons with the Sea Dogs.

Looking to the Futures

Andrews was chosen as a coach for the All-Star Futures game at U.S. Cellular Field in Chicago on July 13.

He will handle the pitchers for the United States team.

“That’s quite an honor,” said Andrews. “I’m very appreciative of the chance to go. It’ll be nice to see all those talented guys throw.”

Sea Dogs third baseman Kevin Youkilis is on the U.S. squad while pitcher Jorge De La Rosa and manager Ron Johnson are on the World roster.

Scheduling woes

The Sea Dogs left immediately after the game on a 10-hour bus ride to Harrisburg, Pa., where they’ll play the Senators five times over four days beginning tonight.

The series finale is scheduled for Thursday night, with Harrisburg planning an early July 4th celebration. The Sea Dogs will then be on the bus all night as they return home for Friday night’s game against New Haven.

“I know everybody wants to get a Fourth of July in, but I don’t think that’s really right,” said Johnson. “We won’t get back here until eight or nine in the morning. But you now what? We’ll just have to suck it up.”

News and notes

Youkilis extended his on-base streak to 37 games with a first inning walk. As is the tradition, Gabe Kapler’s number 52 was hanging on the faade behind home plate at Hadlock Field Sunday. Kapler joins Kevin Millar (No. 15) and Hector Almonte (No. 26) as former Sea Dogs playing for the Red Sox. Altoona outfielder Josh Bonifay went 5-for-12 with two runs and three RBI in the series. He is the son of former Pittsburgh general manager and current Tampa Bay scouting/farm director Cam Bonifay. Altoona has taken over the Eastern League lead in team ERA from Akron. The Curve were at 2.94 heading into Sunday’s game while the Aeros sat at 2.96. The Red Sox signed second round draft pick Abe Alvarez. Alvarez, who went 11-2 with a 3.25 ERA for Long Beach State, was assigned to short-season Lowell.

bfoley@sunjournal.com

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