U.S. Marine One, carrying President George W. Bush en route to his speaking engagement at New Britain General Hospital, landed in the parking lot at New Britain Stadium at noon and Dowling was among the entourage on hand to greet him.

Dowling had the opportunity to present the commander-in-chief executive with a Rock Cats jersey with his name and the number one on the back. Within moments, the President was whisked away in a limousine, but the encounter was one that Dowling and the rest of the Rock Cats staff will remember the rest of their lives.

"The first words out of his mouth when he touched down were, ‘Bill, this is a beautiful ballpark you have here,’" Dowling recounted. Bush, a baseball aficionado, formerly owned a piece of the Texas Rangers and is often mentioned as a future commissioner. "Unfortunately he had to keep on moving. If the weather had been better we might have been able to give him a tour of the stadium but that wasn’t in the cards."

Dowling was first told about the President’s plans a week ago Friday.

"We were paid a visit by some men in black," Dowling said. "They were sort of the advance force. I met with them on Sunday as well as the helicopter pilots with the Marine Corps who were going to fly the President in.

"Every day thereafter, there were more and more people added to the entourage. By the time he showed up, there were probably 75 to 100 Marines, Secret Service, FBI and White House advance people here."

Dowling said that as a precaution, Marines were positioned on top of the stadium with appropriate weapons.

"They told me it was a very easy place to secure," said Dowling, who met President John F. Kennedy when he worked for a Massachusetts politician. "They could secure all the entrances, but they were a little bit concerned what they would do with the Marine snipers who have to be around just in case some terrible situation developed."

Some say the President’s decision to visit New Britain was strictly of a political nature. Dowling may have a future in that arena, too. When Rock Cats radio voice Jeff Dooley asked Dowling how he felt to have met the most powerful person in the world, the Rock Cats major domo responded, "Jeff, you know the most powerful people in the world in New Britain Stadium are our fans. It’s awfully nice to have the President here but I’d take 6,000 people any day of the week."

But seriously, folks ..

"Of course it was great to see him," Dowling said. "We’re obviously thrilled that he considered landing here. He was very genial and very affable."

The military and Secret Service personnel, many of whom visited with Rock Cats manager Stan Cliburn and the players after Wednesday night’s game with Altoona, secured Willow Brook Park at 9 a.m. Rock Cats staffers were provided a tour of one of the military helicopters that accompanied Marine One.

VICIOUS CYCLE: Akron second baseman Luis Gonzalezrecorded a cycle in the in a 7-5 victory over Reading June 6.

Gonzalez ripped a two-out double in the opening inning and scored on a two-bagger by first baseman Ron Wright. He legged out a leadoff triple in the third before connecting on a solo home run in the fourth.

The Venezuela native produced an RBI single to center field to complete the first cycle in the circuit since Cardinals prospect Dee Haynes accomplished the feat for the New Haven Ravens on May 5, 2002.

NEW ERA?: Many people around the Mets organization believe Thursday’s dismissal of GM Steve Phillips is the start of a new philosophy. Rather than trying to build a winner by signing overpriced underachievers with track records in other places (Mo Vaughn, Roberto Alomar, Jeromy Burnitz, Roger Cedeno, etc.), owner Fred Wilpon seems committed to promoting from within.

"Our whole philosophy is changing," B-Mets manager John Stearns told Scott Lauber of the Binghamton Sun-Press. "Since the Wilpons took over (before this season), it seems to me like we’ve realized we need to build our big league team by using our minor leaguers."

MORE NEW SEA DOGS: With the Pawtucket Red Sox acquiring former International League MVP Chad Mottola, Justin Headley has been sent back to Portland.

Headley hit .237 in 12 games with the PawSox. To make room for Headley, Tonayne Brown was traded to the Tigers. Brown, who was expected to join Erie this weekend, was hitting just .228 in his third season in Double A.

The Sea Dogs also received left-hander Chris Elmore from Pawtucket. Elmore had bone chips removed from his elbow in the fall and stay in extended spring training with shoulder problems. With the Red Sox signing pitchers at a rapid rate, Elmore became a victim of the numbers game at Triple A.

Elmore was 13-5 with a 2.31 ERA in two previous stints at Double A with Trenton.

MORE TOP PICKS: The Toronto Blue Jays have added yet another first-round pick to the New Haven Ravens roster with the addition of righty Dustin McGowan from Class A

Dunedin to take Chris Baker’s spot.

McGowan is ranked the top prospect in the Toronto organization by Baseball America. He was a first-round pick in 2000, and becomes the fourth first-rounder on the roster, joining the $21-million outfield of John-Ford Griffin (Yankees), Alexis Rios and Gabe Gross.

McGowan was 5-6 with a 2.85 ERA and 66 strikeouts at Dunedin (Florida State League).