"It’s great coming here," Nakamura told Mark Sheldon of MLB.com upon arriving in San Francisco Thursday. "The guys are real welcoming. They’re winning. I’m glad they have the confidence to call me up when they are in a pennant race."

The number of 2001 Rock Cats who have seen action in the majors now totals 12. The Twins now count 17 players on their roster who once wore a New Britain uniform, including closer Eddie Guardado, who turned in a rehab stint in 1999.

Another 2001 Cat will undoubtedly be joining that list before long. Justin Morneau has now hit 13 homers for Triple-A Rochester. Add that to the six he hit with the Cats in April and he’s in some rarified air. Morneau joined New Britain at the tail end of the 2001 campaign and slammed a key homer in the Northern Division playoff series against the Norwich Navigators.

SEA DOGS AFLOAT: The Portland Sea Dogs remain atop the Northern Division standings despite a flurry of roster changes spurred by moves in Boston and injury.

The Red Sox trade of Shea Hillenbrand prompted the recall of former EL All-Star infielder Freddy Sanchez from Triple-A Pawtucket.

To fill the vacancy at Pawtucket, Sea Dogs infielder Trace Coquillette was called up. Coquillette, previously an EL star at Harrisburg in 1998, had been hot since moving into the leadoff spot, batting .435 with six RBI and two home runs in his last six games for Portland.

Pawtucket also has some injured outfielders, so Justin Headley (.260, 20 RBI) was promoted.

Infielder Raul Nieves went on the disabled list (broken foot), becoming the third Sea Dogs middle infielder to break a bone this season. Second baseman Carlos Leon is back, having recovered from the broken leg he sustained the fourth game of the season.

Another infielder, Jim Goelz, released by the Indians organization in April, has joined the club.

The third new Sea Dogs player is veteran hurler Chris Elmore. Elmore, who was 2-2 in Triple-A, was sent down to accommodate Boston’s shift of pitchers to Pawtucket. While with Trenton last year, Elmore was 2-0 with a 1.95 ERA in four starts against New Britain last year.

Outfielder Kevin Haverbusch, yet another recycled EL vet on the Sea Dogs roster, is temporarily disabled with a pulled hamstring. Haverbusch, who visited New Britain in 2001 and 2002 as a Pirates prospect, is up to .301.

BUZAS FETED: The Reading Phillies are staging a reunion of their 1983 club that went 96-44 but lost to the New Britain Red Sox and Roger Clemens in the EL finals.

While many of the players have been either unreachable or unavailable, the team will include special recognition of former owner Joe Buzas, who died in March. The Buzas family owned the R-Phils and BritSox simultaneously.

Twenty years after the fact, the members of one of the greatest clubs in franchise history - among them Darren Daulton, Jeff Stone, Willie Darkis, Francisco Melendez, Don Carman and manager Bill Dancy - will be honored with induction into the Reading Baseball Hall of Fame as a team entry.

Daulton, who went on to become the biggest star of the lot, has committed to appearing. So have Dancy, Rich Gaynor, Rich Surhoff, George Riley and Greg Legg, who, coincidentally was going to be in town that night anyway (as Reading’s current manager).

But R-Phils general manager Chuck Domino says that no one has been able to locate Stone or Melendez, both all-stars in 1983. Same goes for slugging first baseman Darkis, whose career path took him to the Mexican League; Domino has been told Darkis remains in Mexico to this day.

The R-Phils haven’t been able to locate Paul Fryer, Rusty Hamric, Don Carman, Keith Washington or Jay Davison, the winningest pitcher on that club.

Ken Lipshez covers the New Britain Rock Cats for the Herald and Herald Press. He can be reached at klipshez@newbritainherald.com or by calling (860) 225-4601 ext. 222.