When the New York Yankees won their third World Series championship in four years by sweeping the Atlanta Braves, former University of Maineyears by sweeping the Atlanta Braves, former University of Maine two-sports star and assistant coach Carl “Stump” Merrill earned his fifth World Series ring.

Merrill is in his 23rd year with the organization and his first as assistant general manager under GM Brian Cashman. He had managedincluding the Yankees themselves in 1990-91.

“I can’t say I didn’t miss managing,” said Merrill. “This was a different perspective for me. But I was able to do a lot of different things and spend time at home. A lot of it was great. I didn’t have the pressures of worrying about how many runs we’d need to score, who was pitching the next day, and which player was being called up [by the parent Yankees].

“But when you’ve managed your whole life, you don’t just spit it out and forget about it,” added the 55-year-old Merrill.

One of his primary responsibilities was to evaluate talent both within the Yankee organization and within other organizations for possible trades.

Then, as playoff time rolled around, he was scouting possible AL playoff or World Series opponents. Merrill and several other members of the organization scouted the Red Sox in their series against Cleveland.

“I followed Boston for two weeks,” said Merrill, whose Yanks eliminated the Red Sox in five games in the ALCS.

One of the primary keys to beating the Red Sox?

“Not having to face Pedro Martinez more than once,” quipped Merrill.

Merrill has managed several of the Yankees in their ascent to the major leagues and he said the team had “outstanding chemistry,” thanks to manager Joe Torre.

“Joe is laid-back and he lets them play. It’s a difficult city to play in, but these guys know how to play and they know how to win,” said Merrill, who was surprised Red Sox manager Jimy Williams didn’t win the Manager of the Year award. He was impressed by the way Williams got the most out of his players and his ability to adapt players to different roles (i.e., former starter Tim Wakefield, who became a successful closer for a period of time).

“Boston gave us our most difficult series,” said Merrill. “The Red Sox refused to quit.”

Merrill, who lives in South Harpswell, doesn’t know what next year will hold since his contract has expired.

Former Bear Santini back at work

There are 10-12 days that former University of Maine men’s hockey player Steve Santini will never remember.

That’s because Santini, who manages two hockey rinks in New York for his father Bob, wound up being hospitalized for 25 days after a freak accident resulted in third-degree burns over 10-12 percent of his body.

“It was Sept. 17 and we had lost power at one of the rinks. The ice was melting. When the power came back on, the compressors weren’t working, so the ice was still melting,” said Santini.

He wound up testing some fuses “and one of them exploded and my shirt caught on fire. I got my shirt off, but a piece of the shirt melted on my shoulder. I had damaged skin on the back of my hands and both forearms and on one shoulder.”

He remained conscious and was eventually airlifted by helicopter to Westchester Medical Center, which has a top-notch burn unit. He developed an infection three days later and says he doesn’t remember the first 10-12 days in the hospital.

“On the 12th day, I woke up and wanted to get out of bed and wanted something to eat. It was a miracle recovery. I don’t know if it was the antibiotics or prayers or what,” said Santini, who added that he received cards and gifts from several former Maine teammates and Maine fans.

Santini returned home on Oct. 12 and has since gone back to work.

He has managed a rink for his dad since graduating from Maine in 1987 and now they have two facilities.

“I’m not back to work full-time yet. But I feel great. They did a tremendous job at the hospital. I have the full mobility in my hands,” said Santini, who is married to the former Sandy Wadleigh of Veazie. They have four children.

He said he loves his job, he also coaches a bantam travel team, and he maintains fond memories of his playing days at Maine. The 1986-87 team was the first Maine team to earn an NCAA tournament berth.

“It’s nice to see the turnaround in the program and it was good to be a part of it,” said the 34-year-old Yonkers, N.Y., native, who enjoyed attending the hockey reunion last summer.

Benoit handles age situation

You are a first-year head coach of a successful college soccer team and you find that you are two years younger than two of your players, the same age as a couple more and just a year or two older than several others.

How do you handle it?

“I don’t think it matters what age you are as long as you go out and do the things a head coach is supposed to do. It is important to confront players, discipline them, and keep everyone accountable for their actions,” said first-year Husson coach Nathan Benoit, the 24-year-old former University of Maine goalkeeper.

Husson, 11-6-1, meets 12-6 Thomas in today’s 1 p.m. Maine Athletic Conference championship game.

“It has definitely been a new experience for me, a learning experience,” said Benoit, who assisted Mitch Ellisen at Husson last year.