Stern gets musical treatment

When star-for-a-day Adam Stern returned to his Boston Red Sox teammates in Fort Myers, Fla., three of them serenaded the outfielder with his country’s national anthem.

“They sang ‘O, Canada’ for me,” he said. “I think they only knew the first two lines.”

It wasn’t very likely that Manny Ramirez, Tim Wakefield and Kevin Youkilis sang on key Saturday. But Stern’s all-around excellence in Canada’s stunning 8-6 upset of the United States in the World Baseball Classic wasn’t expected either, and it did in fact happen last Wednesday.

Canada’s bid to reach the second round ended the next day when it lost to Mexico 9-1. Still, Stern figures he received 50 to 60 messages and rates his performance as one of the best in his athletic career.

“It was probably one of the bigger games I’ve had,” he said. “You’re playing against like the USA dream team, so it was fun.”

Stern had a single, triple, inside-the-park homer, four RBIs and two outstanding catches in center field. Now he’s simply trying to win a spot in a crowded Red Sox outfield picture.

Cox signs extension

Bobby Cox plans to manage the Atlanta Braves for at least two more seasons.

Cox signed a one-year extension of his current deal, keeping him in Atlanta through 2007. He is seventh on the career wins list with 2,092, has guided the Braves to 14 division titles in a row and captured the last two N.L. manager of the year awards.

“We feel that Bobby is the best manager in the game, and his leadership has helped the Braves to set a very high standard of excellence,” general manager John Schuerholz said.

Duffy dismisses criticism

Pittsburgh’s Chris Duffy said criticism from Curt Schilling after being hit in the head by the Boston ace is unwarranted.

Duffy sat out Sunday’s exhibition game against the Tampa Bay Devil Rays because of a mild concussion sustained a day earlier when he was hit by a pitch. Schilling said Duffy should have been able to avoid the fastball.

“I don’t blame Curt Schilling for what happened because I know he wasn’t trying to hit me, especially in an exhibition game,” Duffy said. “If he wants to pitch inside, that’s fine, but he did hit me in the head. He threw the pitch up and in.”

Bonds hits first homer

Barry Bonds needed only four at-bats to find his home run gait.

Bonds connected for a two-run homer in the fourth inning of San Francisco’s Cactus League game against the defending N.L. West champion San Diego Padres in Scottsdale, Ariz.

It was Bonds’ first exhibition homer in two years after he missed all of last spring following right knee surgery.