By Randy Whitehouse,Staff Writer
In town for Boys and Girls Club function, Rico says he expects Sox to go on roll in second half

AUBURN – The Boys and Girls Club of Auburn/Lewiston has had a lot of sports heroes pass through its doors in the last decade, from hockey legend Bobby Orr, to local boy made good Mike Bordick, to former UMaine women’s basketball coach Joanne Palombo-McCallie.

For the club’s 10th Annual Steak and Burger Dinner Tuesday, Rico Petrocelli was on the marquee.

The former Red Sox infielder’s career ended 30 years ago, so while he was on a first-name basis with many of the Baby Boomers attending the big fundraiser, the disadvantaged youth that the Boys and Girls Club helps couldn’t quite place him.

“What I tell them is, Remember guys like Nomar (Garciaparra) and (Jason) Varitek and (Trot) Nixon?’ Well, I was a coach in the Red Sox organization, and I had all those guys,” he said. “That’s my claim to fame with the young kids.”

Petrocelli is an active supporter of Boys and Girls Clubs in New England, and Bob Clark, the club’s executive director, said part of the reason sports celebrities have been invited to speak at the dinner so often is they can get the club’s message out effectively.

“Mike Bordick did a really good job of that last year,” he said, “of talking about the value of places like this and the role the service professionals that work in places like this play in a kid’s life.”

Yesterday was Petrocelli’s second visit to the state in the last year. Last July, he was the grand marshal of the TD Banknorth 250 in Oxford.

“I love Maine,” he said. “Ever since I first came to the Red Sox, my wife and I took a ride up to Maine because I love fishing, and the whole country is fabulous. It’s like a dream come true coming from Brooklyn, N.Y.”

Petrocelli played his entire career for Boston, joining the Red Sox for one game as a 20-year-old in 1963 before getting called up to stay in 1965. A two-time All-Star, he retired in 1976 among the franchise leaders in a number of categories.

He said he still gets asked a lot about the 1967 and 1975 pennant winning teams that he played on. As for the current Red Sox, he expects a big winning streak in the second half.

“I think they’re a very good team. They have excellent, not just good, but excellent infield defense,” he said. “Their hitting has been a little bit streaky this year. They go great, everybody hits and they shell teams, and then, all of a sudden, most of them stop hitting. And their pitching is the same way. And the reason for that is their lack of depth. However, they are working on it, and I love what they’re doing right now.”

Petrocelli spent most of his baseball career as a shortstop and third baseman, so it’s not surprising that he’s most impressed with the left side of the current Boston infield, third baseman Mike Lowell and shortstop Alex Gonzalez.

“Lowell is doing just great. He makes it look so easy,” he said. “Gonzalez makes some great plays. And the one thing I really respect about him is the fact that, when he isn’t hitting, he doesn’t let it bother him in the field.”

Petrocelli said he is bothered by the current drug scandal hovering over baseball. Recent revelations about steroid and HGH (Human Growth Hormone) use by some of the game’s players shocked him at first.

“I had heard in the past about weightlifters and Olympic athletes taking steroids and you’d say, Geez, not baseball. What are they using it for?,'” he said. “Then more came out with (Jose) Canseco’s book (“Juiced”) and (Jason) Grimsley has mentioned names (about players using human growth hormone), and I’m not surprised anymore.”

“It’s unfortunate,” he added. “Baseball will get through it. I think it’s going to take a little time. But they really do have to clean it up. It’s got to stop.”