Cleaners visit clubhouse after Mahaney tirade

ORONO – One had to look long and hard to find any evidence of the giant mess in the Bangor Blue Ox clubhouse at Mahaney Diamond that attracted the notice of Bangor businessman and University of Maine booster Larry Mahaney Wednesday.

The carpeting was clean and stain-free and there was no trash or other debris lying about as of Thursday night.

The fact that the club had hired ServiceMaster to come and clean the premises helped, but club officials stressed the cleaning was scheduled weeks ago.

“We have three broken vacuums, so it’s been kind of hard to clean up,” said team trainer Craig Payment, whose duties also include vacuuming the clubhouse.

“We called ServiceMaster at least two weeks ago,” said assistant general manager Josh Gordon. “And we’re looking into buying an industrial vacuum cleaner to do these carpets built for cleats.”

Gordon said general manager Dean Gyorgy met with UMaine officials earlier Thursday and walked through the clubhouse.

“The team got back early Tuesday and dropped their stuff in a huge pile and just left it there, and that’s when he [Mahaney] looked around. So it looked a lot worse than it was,” said Gordon. There were also no visible signs of tobacco juice or stains anywhere in the locker room or surrounding hallways.

The Blue Ox signed a new player Thursday – righthanded pitcher Scott Chesmer.

Chesmer, a 1996 Eastern Connecticut State Universty graduate, impressed Bangor manager Dick Phillips in a private workout early Thursday and the team wasted little time signing him.

“I’m not sure whether he’ll start or relieve, but we’re going to get him in there soon and see what he can do,” said Phillips.

Phillips had room on his 23-man roster after former Adirondack shortstop Tom Johnston abruptly decided to retire.

Johnston, who was signed by Bangor less than two weeks ago, informed Phillips of his decison Tuesday.

“He said he just didn’t have the spark or desire to keep playing and I appreciated his honesty,” said Phillips.

Newburgh right-hander Joel Bennett pitched the first no-hitter in Northeast League history in a 6-0 victory over Adirondack.

Bennett leads the league in pitching with a record of 4-0, a 0.61 ERA and 63 strike outs in 44 innings.