3. He played college ball at Auburn, where his teammates included righthander Bryan Hebson, now a member of Boston's 40-man roster. Bellhorn was an All-American, as was Todd Walker, who starred for archrival Louisiana State. Now Bellhorn will help replace Walker in the Sox infield.
4. A second-round pick of the A's in 1995, Bellhorn advanced to the big leagues in 1997 at age 22. He slammed his first career homer off Seattle's Derek Lowe June 23, then homered off Boston's Steve Avery Aug. 21 in Oakland while connecting for four hits in a game for the only time in his career. Bellhorn's homer was one of six by the A's.
5. He helped Damon and the A's win 102 games in 2001, burying the Sox by 19 1/2 games in the wild-card race. His run-scoring single off in the ninth inning May 11 off Rod Beck contributed to a 12-8 victory for Oakland at Fenway Park.
6. As Bill Mueller's teammate with the Cubs in 2002, Bellhorn homered from both sides of the plate in the same inning against the Brewers, becoming the only National Leaguer to accomplish such a feat. His bat went to Cooperstown, as Mueller's did a year later when he became the first player in the majors to slug grand slams from both sides of the plate in one game.
"That was pretty impressive," Bellhorn said of Mueller's monster night in Texas. "It kind of tops me, I guess."
Top this: Now the Sox have two record-holding switch hittters on the same team. While Mueller, the defending American League batting champion, plays third base, Bellhorn, 29, will provide some pop off the bench and back up every infield position and possibly the outfield spots as well. He has played every position in the majors but pitcher and catcher.
Sox officials, including manager Terry Francona, indicated that Bellhorn is all but certain to make the Opening Day roster on a bench that includes Doug Mirabelli, Ellis Burks, and Gabe Kapler. Competing for the remaining one or two spots are Brian Daubach, David McCarty, Terry Shumpert, and Tony Womack, with Carlos Febles a long shot.
