Mark Maloney on Kentucky sports

A pair of Legends Hall of Famers attended the home opener: Charley Taylor (left), long-time pitching coach; and J.J. Cannon, manager the team's first two seasons, including the championship year of 2001. (Photo by Mark Maloney.)

Jose Cisnero

Waking up from a furlough* week. (* — A week off the job, not to be mistaken for vacation.)

The Lexington Legends still have two games left in a four-game series at Greenville, Monday and Tuesday nights at 7. Probable pitching matchups have Lexington RH Jose Cisnero (1-0, 7.11) vs. RH Roman Mendez (0-1, 15.26) Monday, and a Legend “to be announced” vs. RH Ryan Pressly (0-0, 3.00) on Tuesday.

The bigger – and encouraging – news comes from Legends Hall of Fame pitching coach Charley Taylor, who is sitting out a second season as he battles cancer.

Taylor, was on hand for the team’s April 16 home opener, has since been checked by doctors in Houston. In an e-mail, Taylor said he was told “the scan looked really good and that there isn’t any new cancer at this time, and some of the previous spots that were seen had either gotten smaller or were gone. He also said that some of those could have been scar tissue from surgery, but the bottom line is the scan looks good.”

Taylor, who overcame prostate cancer before coming to Lexington in 2001, writes that he knows he is not “out of the woods by any means, but tis is someting to certainly celebrate and feel good about.” He thanks all who have prayed for and offered support to him and his family.

University of Kentucky basketball standout Patrick Patterson was captured on the new video board at Applebee's Park when he threw a ceremonial first pitch during the Legends' opening homestand of the season. (Photo courtesy of Gary Durbin, Lexington Legends.)

• Speaking of the Legends, here’s a “two thumbs up” for the new video board in left-center field. How many big-league teams, let alone minor-league clubs, have two video boards?
• Former Legends RHP Sammy Gervacio was activated from the Houston Astros’ 15-day disabled list over the weekend. Gervacio, 25, had been on the DL due to an inflamed rotator cuff in his throwing shoulder. In three rehab appearances with Triple-A Round Rock, Gervacio worked three innings with a 3.00 ERA. Before going on the DL, Gervacio pitched 1 1/3 innings over two relief appearances for the Astros (0-1, 6.75).
• Can’t get too much lowdown on Astros prospects, including Legends and former Legends? Super blogger Mike Tauser is on the spot again this season at: 
  http://farmstros.blogspot.com.
  His “Farmstros Five” Players of the Week include a pair of Legends (Robert Donovan and Jonathan Meyer) and three former Legends (Doug Arguello, Kyle Greenwalt and Tauser’s Top Performer, Jordan Lyles). Legends catcher Jonathan Fixler is an occasional contributor with diary entries labeled the “Fixler Files.”
• The South Atlantic League Hall of Fame will induct three new members June 21 as part of the 51st SAL All-Star Game festivities. The game will be played June 22 at Greenville, S.C. The HOF inductees: Mike Dunn, general manager of the Rome Braves and the team’s predecessor in Macon; John Purdin, who pitched the only perfect game in SAL/Western Carolinas League history, for the Salisbury (N.C.) Dodgers on Aug. 8, 1964, and who went 14-3 with a 1.91 ERA and 182 strikeouts over 137 innings; and three-time World Series champion Curt Schilling, who led the SAL in 1987 with a still-standing club-record 189 strikeouts for the Greensboro Hornets.

Notes on a cold, rainy night.

University of Kentucky senior SS Molly Johnson is among 31 athletes who have accepted invitations to the 2010 USA Softball Women’s Team Selection Camp, to be held Jan. 4-8 at Chula Vista, Calif.

Senior shortstop Molly Johnson has established herself as a UK great.

A 17-member team, plus alternates, will be selected from the camp to represent USA Softball in 2010.

Johnson, who came to UK from Tucson, Ariz., but now calls Lexington home, helped Team USA win the Japan Cup last summer. Johnson went 3-for-5 over four games and led the team in runs scored (6).

Johnson, a UK team captain, has started all 162 games of her career, has twice had 10-game hitting streaks and has totaled 74 extra-base hits.

She is all over the UK career leaders lists, including: batting (.395) and slugging (.648), first in each; doubles (45), second; home runs (22), third; runs scored (113) and total bases (320), fourth in each; RBI (110), stolen bases (46) and defensive assists (379), fifth in each; hits (195), sixth; and triples (7), seventh.

Other players scheduled to attend the selection camp: Monica Abbott (Salinas, Calif.); Valerie Arioto (Pleasanton, Calif.); Brandice Balschmiter (Newark, N.Y.); Chelsea Bramlett (Cordova, Tenn.); Courtney Bures (Haymarket, Va.); Katie Burkhart (San Luis Obispo, Calif.); Eileen Canney (Paradise, Calif.); Ashley Charters (Beaverton, Ore.); Kaitlin Cochran (Yorba Linda, Calif.); Andrea Duran (Selma, Calif.); Jennie Finch (La Mirada, Calif.); Vicky Galindo (Union City, Calif.); Alissa Haber (Newark, Calif.); Ashley Hansen (Chandler, Ariz.); Ashley Holcombe (Fayetteville, Ga.); Megan Langenfeld (Bakersfield, Calif.); Lauren Lappin (Anaheim, Calif.); Brittany Lastrapes (Laguna Niguel, Calif); Jenae Leles (Fair Oaks, Calif.); Caitlin Lowe (Tustin, Calif.); Jessica Mendoza (Camarillo, Calif.); Stacey Nelson (Los Alamitos, Calif.); Cat Osterman (Houston); Amber Patton (Forsyth, Ill.); Brittany Rogers (Dacula, Ga.); Melissa Roth (Long Beach, Calif.); Taylor Schlopy (West Hills, Calif.); Angela Tincher (Eagle Rock, Mo.); Natasha Watley (Irvine, Calif.); and Tammy Williams (Roscoe, Mo.)

Legends, Reds, Astros and Wildcats — oh, my!

Individuals with ties to the Lexington Legends, Cincinnati Reds and University of Kentucky will play starring roles Jan. 21 at the 25th annual Houston Baseball Dinner, presented by the Houston Athletic Committee, Minute Maid, the Houston chapter of the Baseball Writers’ Association of America and the Houston Astros.

LHP Wandy Rodriguez, who went by the alias Eny Cabreja when he pitched for Lexington (2002), will be honored as the Astros Pitcher of the Year.

Washington Nationals 1B Adam Dunn, who began his big-league career with the Reds, is the Greater Houston Major League Player of the Year. A Houston native, Dunn resides in Montgomery, Texas.

Hall of Fame broadcaster Milo Hamilton will serve as master of ceremonies. Hamilton’s 59 years in broadcasting include a brief tenure with University of Kentucky basketball.

Others to be honored include CF Michael Bourn (Astros MVP), RHP Brian Moehler (Darryl Kile Award, reflecting decency and character), RHP Jeff Fulchino (Astros Rookie of the Year), 1B Lance Berkman (Allen Russell Distinguished Achievement Award) and long-time official scorer Ivy McLemore (Fred Hartman Award for Long and Meritorious Service to Baseball).

Charley Taylor

* Best wishes to Charley Taylor, the pitching coach in each of the Legends’ first eight seasons. A cancerous bladder caused him to miss last season and, soon after the season ended, another tumor was found. He has since undergone successful surgery in Houston and has been recovering at the home of Rod and Lynne Humphries — parents of former Legends slugger Justin Humphries. Taylor is now back at MD Anderson Hospital undergoing chemotherapy.

* Astros RHP Chris Sampson, also a former Legend, is co-owner of LoneStar Baseball Academy, which opened Nov. 16 in Baytown, Texas. Sampson’s co-owner is former Milwaukee Brewers prospect Kade Johnson. They hosted a clinic for 50 youths from the Baytown YMCA last weekend, assisted by Astros/former Legends catcher J.R. Towles, Washington Nationals pitcher Garrett Mock and others.

* Astros/Legends connections playing winter ball include: 3B Jhon Florentino, LHP Fernando Abad, RHP Sammy Gervacio, and LHP Polin Trinidad in the Dominican League; SS Wladimir Sutil, C Pedro Gonzales and LHP Doug Arguello in the Venezuelan League; and OF Brian Bogusevic, 2B Edwin Maysonet and 3B Chris Johnson in the Puerto Rican League. … In the Arizona Fall League: RHP Evan Englebrook finished with no decisions and a 7.71 ERA over 11 games and 12 2/3 innings, with 12 strikeouts and four walks; and RHP Daniel Meszaros wound up with one save over 12 games, working 11 2/3 innings. He struck out 15 and walked three.

* Former Legends now on the Astros 40-man roster: Abad, Bogusevic, Englebrook, Gervacio, Johnson, Maysonet, Rodriguez, Sampson, Sutil, Towles, Trinidad and SS Tommy Manzella, OF Hunter Pence and RHPs Bud Norris, Felipe Paulino and Henry Villar.

See Barenaked Ladies at the Winter Olympics

The lineup that will entertain during 12 nights of Victory Ceremonies at the Vancouver Winter Olympic Games include Canadian acts Barenaked Ladies, Nelly Furtado, Loverboy and Hedley.

The Vancouver Organizing Committee for the 2010 Olympic and Paralympic Winter Games (VANOC) made the announcement Tuesday. The Victory Ceremonies, paying tribute to Games medalists each night, are scheduled Feb. 14-26 inside BC Place www.vancouver2010.com.

Grammy Award-winner Nelly Furtado will be first up, Feb. 14, when medals will be presented for speedskating and freestyle moguls.

The list of performers, host province and medal presentations follow.

Sunday, Feb. 14 — Nelly Furtado www.nellyfurtado.com, British Columbia Night. Medal presentations in short-track speedskating (men’s 1,500 meters), ladies’ freestyle moguls and speedskating (men’s 5,000 meters and ladies’ 3,000).

Monday, Feb. 15 — TBA, Quebec Night. Medals: Men’s freestyle skiing moguls.

Tuesday, Feb. 16 — Barenaked Ladies www.barenakedladies.com, Nova Scotia Night. Medals: Men’s and ladies’ snowboard cross, and men’s 500-meter speedskating.

Wednesday, Feb. 17 — Paul Brandt www.paulbrandt.com, Alberta Night. Medals: Ladies’ 500-meter speedskating.

Thursday, Feb. 18 — Hedley www.hedleyonline.com, Prince Edward Island Night. Medals: Ladies’ 500-meter short-track speedskating, men’s snowboard halfpipe, men’s and ladies’ 1,000-meter speedskating.

Friday, Feb. 19 — Theory of a Deadman www.theoryofadeadman.com, Northwest Territories’ Night. Medals: Ladies’ snowboard halfpipe.

Saturday, Feb. 20 — Stereophonics www.stereophonics.com, Yukon Night. No medal presentation.

Sunday, Feb. 21 — Trooper & Loverboy www.loverboyband.com, www.trooper.com, Nunavut Night. Medals: Ladies 1,500 meters and men’s 1,000 short-track speedskating, men’s 1,500 speedskating and men’s freestyle ski cross.

Tuesday, Feb. 23 — Billy Talent www.billytalent.com, Saskatchewan Night. Medals: Ladies’ freestyle ski cross and men’s 10,000-meter speedskating.

Wednesday, Feb. 24 — INXS www.inxs.com, Ontario Night. Medals: Ladies’ 5,000-meter speedskating.

Thursday, Feb. 25 — Burton Cummings www.officialburtoncummings.com, Manitoba Night. Medals: Short-track speedskating (ladies’ 3,000-meter relay) and ladies’ freestyle skiing aerials.

Friday, Feb. 26 — Great Big Sea www.greatbigsea.com, Newfoundland and Labrador Night. Medals: Men’s freestyle skiing aerials and ladies’ snowboarding parallel giant slalom.