Everyone – it seemed – saw the fan interfere with the ball Marco Scutaro hit down the right field line with two outs in the seventh. Everyone that is, except Red Sox manager Terry Francona.

That’s when Francona needs a second pair of eyes to help him argue his case for fan interference, which would have given first base umpire Jeff Kellogg the right to reward Jason Varitek home plate with the tying run.

But instead, first base coach Ron Johnson didn’t think much of it because he thought it was too close.

“I told RJ, ‘You’ve got to tell me.’ I go on RJ on that. I think there’s a good point for it being interference. They kicked the fan out.”

And had Francona gone out to debate, there’s more than a fair chance he could’ve convinced Kellogg to change his mind since the Red Sox manager has had his share of success in debating such calls over his eight years in Boston.

But in Johnson’s defense, calls like that are extremely hard to judge, even with the perspective of being on the field and having a leaning look over from the first base coaching box.

“I can’t see it,” Francona said Sunday. “He told me, ‘I would’ve told you. I didn’t think it was.’ It happens quick.”

Of course, as it turned out, the point was made moot when Jacoby Ellsbury drilled a two-strike single to center, scoring both Varitek and Scutaro with the tying and go-ahead runs in Boston’s 3-1 win.

Dan Barbarisi of the Wall Street Journal wrote a touching story about the generosity of Yankees players in support of Bridget Johnson, the daughter of Red Sox first base coach Ron Johnson. Bridget Johnson, 11, lost her leg after a car ran into her while she was riding a horse near her home in Tennessee last year.

Yankees hitting coach Kevin Long had played for Ron Johnson in the minor leagues in the 1990s and, while few New York players had a personal connection to the Johnsons, at Long’s behest, they nevertheless collected what the story describes as “significant checks” in support of the Johnson family as they struggled with medical bills.

From the story:

“We got out of the hospital, we got home, and one day this package showed up from the Yankees,” Johnson said.

Johnson opened it, curious, his wife Daphane nearby.

“I said, ‘Huh?’ And it was from Kevin. With a little note, saying ‘I never forgot what you did for me, and I hope this helps.’ It was incredible. I showed it to Daphane, she started crying,” Johnson said.

Since then, some Yankee players have kept up on Bridget’s progress, prodding Long for updates, Jorge Posada said.

Joe McDonald of ESPN.com also detailed the Yankees’ generosity, noting how grateful Johnson is that the competition between the two clubs does not extend off the field.

“Yeah, it’s a rivalry, but it makes everything so much clearer that there’s baseball and then there’s the human aspect,” Johnson said. “I know there’s stuff that happens on the field, but they’re human beings, and it’s real neat [what they did].

“As I’ve seen more than anybody, the support I’ve had from the Red Sox organization is unbelievable. This was just another piece — a phenomenal deed. Amazing.”

A busy day for updates at Fenway Park, focused chiefly on roster moves that are and are not being made. In short: Mike Cameron has been put back on the disabled list due to the ongoing (and, in fact, growing) discomfort with his abdominal strain. He and the team are hopeful that rest and treatment will allow him to play again this year, but both the player and club are aware of the possibility that the 37-year-old will need season-ending surgery.

In his place, the Sox recalled Daniel Nava from Triple-A Pawtucket, likely as a placeholder for Jacoby Ellsbury, who seems likely to return in the next few days.

Meanwhile, there are no new developments to report in the Mike Lowell situation. For more on the options facing Lowell and the Sox, click here.

Details:

CAMERON

Cameron has played in fewer than half of the Red Sox’ games this year, entering just 48 of Boston’s 105 contests entering Monday. Yet he has gone to extraordinary lengths to play in even that many contests while dealing with an abdominal strain that he and the Sox have understood will eventually require surgery to repair.

“He actually had been handling it unbelievably,” said Sox manager Terry Francona. “I don’t know how he’s handled it for as long as he has. But the area has been getting a little bit bigger. There’s some areas around, like the groin, and just higher up, where it’s starting to get a little bit bigger, and make it harder for him to bounce back.”

For now, the Sox are hopeful that they might be able to hold off on the surgery until after the season, and that by being placed on the 15-day disabled list, he might be able to put himself in a position to play with rest and treatment. But, if that fails, the team acknowledges that surgery would then be necessary.

Cameron was certainly hoping it would not come to that, since such a procedure would be season-ending. At the same time, he acknowledges that it has become difficult for him to contribute given his physical limitations.

“I don’t think there’s been a day I’ve woken up there hasn’t been discomfort,” said Cameron. “I’ve just been fighting. I’ve had some good days. I’ve had some pretty good days. Obviously I can say you can tell the difference in my swing when the bat is flying through the zone. The last couple of days, I was just kind of cutting myself off and that’s just been part of it. it’s just one of those things where I’ve been going at it about as hard a s I possibly could. Sometimes it gets to a point where the body just stops.

“I haven’t been myself out there,” he added. “Probably most frustrating is not being able to run like I want to, not being able to just be free with everything. I had to make some adjustments that I never had to make before in my life, or my baseball career. It’s made it a little bit difficult, just the challenge of being able to go out and see if I can perform without all the strengths I’ve been given.”

ELLSBURY

Ellsbury has gone 4-for-9 in two games in Triple-A Pawtucket, following a three-game rehab stint in the Gulf Coast League. By all accounts, he has looked good at the plate and in the field.

“He looked pretty good. He seemed like his timing was on in the box,” said Nava. “He was pretty locked in, taking good swings, not swinging at bad pitches. Out in the field, he was running around. He looked fine. From what I saw, he looked good.”

However, it was Nava rather than Ellsbury who was called up. Ellsbury spent Monday working out with the Red Sox, will play another rehab game in Pawtucket on Tuesday and then be re-evaluated by the Sox on Wednesday. The Sox did not want the circumstance of Cameron’s injury to lead them to rush Ellsbury’s rehab.

“We’re kind of walking that line where we all know potentially what he can mean to us. But he still feels it at times,” said Francona. “We’re trying to not get caught up in like a Cameron going down and then activating a guy before he’s ready. We’re just trying to use the proper judgment, regardless of what’s going on here. I think that’s probably the only way to do it.”

NAVA

Nava may be up for just a couple of days, holding a roster spot for Ellsbury. He had nearly arrived at McCoy Stadium for tonight’s PawSox game before getting a call from Pawtucket manager Torey Lovullo saying that there needed to be a conversation. In Lovullo’s office, Nava was informed that he was to make the drive north. He arrived at Fenway Park at 4 p.m., just prior to the start of batting practice.

In 11 games back in the minors following his taste of the big leagues, Nava was hitting .310/.444/.429/.873. He had been focused on improving his mechanics as a right-handed hitter, the side from which the switch-hitter struggled while in the majors.

OTHER NOTES

–Dustin Pedroia continues to rehab his broken foot. He has been comfortable doing almost everything, but there remains some discomfort when he runs.

“He’s really doing everything, but the running is still the one thing that he feels. Until he doesn’t, or until that pain is very minimal, we’ve got to kind of keep a tight rein on him,” said Francona. “I think he understands that.”

Francona said that, given the amount of time that Pedroia has missed, he will likely need some period of time on a rehab assignment, but the manager expected that the second baseman will be able to return soon after he is running again.

–Hitting coach Dave Magadan has been away from the club since Friday due to the death of his father. He is scheduled to return to the club on Tuesday.

–First base coach Ron Johnson is also away from the club due to a family medical emergency.

The Red Sox issued the following press release announcing their major-league coaching staff for next season. As expected, DeMarlo Hale will be bench coach, Tim Bogar will move from first to third base coach and Ron Johnson will move from managing Triple A Pawtucket to serving as first-base coach. In addition, minor-league field coordinator Rob Leary will be added as a Major League coaching staff assistant.

Here is the release:

The Boston Red Sox today announced their 2010 Major League coaching staff.  DeMarlo Hale has been named bench coach, Tim Bogar will serve as third base coach, Ron Johnson joins the staff as the first base coach and Rob Leary has been appointed Major League coaching staff assistant.

Additionally, Pitching Coach John Farrell, Hitting Coach Dave Magadan and Bullpen Coach Gary Tuck will all return in the same roles they held in 2009.

Executive Vice President/General Manager Theo Epstein and Manager Terry Francona made the announcements.

Hale, 48, has served as Boston’s third base coach for the last four seasons.  He was previously the first base and outfield coach for the Texas Rangers from 2002-05 and managed Texas’ Triple-A Oklahoma club during the 2000 and 2001 seasons.  Hale began his coaching career in the Red Sox organization in 1992 and spent seven seasons as a minor league manager in the Boston system from 1993-99, compiling a 491-471 record.  Selected by the Red Sox in the 17th round of the 1983 June Draft, he played five minor league seasons as a first baseman/outfielder in the Boston (1983-86) and Oakland Athletics (1988) organizations.

The 43-year-old Bogar will enter his second year with the Red Sox after joining the club as first base coach prior to the 2009 campaign.  He served as the quality assurance coach for the Tampa Bay Rays in 2008 and previously managed in the Houston Astros (2004-05) and Cleveland Indians (2006-07) minor league systems, leading his clubs to a 289-200 mark and three postseason appearances.  A former infielder selected by the New York Mets in the eighth round of the 1987 draft, Bogar played 701 Major League games over nine seasons with the Mets (1993-96), Astros (1997-2000) and Los Angeles Dodgers (2001).

Johnson, 53, will enter his 11th season in the Red Sox organization in 2010, his first on the Major League staff.  He was most recently at the helm of Boston’s Triple-A Pawtucket club from 2005-09.  A minor league manager for the past 18 seasons, Johnson has posted a 1,261-1,262 career record.  He joined the Boston system in 2000 as manager of Single-A Sarasota (2000-01) and also led the Red Sox Double-A affiliates in Trenton (2002) and Portland (2003-04).  Johnson began his coaching career in the Kansas City Royals chain, including eight seasons as a minor league manager from 1992-99.  A 24th-round selection by Kansas City in 1978, Johnson hit .261 (12-for-46) in 22 Major League games over parts of three seasons with the Royals (1982-83) and Montreal Expos (1984).

Leary, who turns 46 on December 3, will enter his ninth season in the Red Sox organization in 2010.  As the club’s Major League coaching staff assistant, his duties will include organizing Spring Training workouts, helping the coaching staff in all pre-game on-field preparations, assisting in the advance scouting effort, as well as completing special in-game assignments as delegated by Manager Terry Francona.  Leary joined the Boston system as a roving minor league catching instructor in 2002 and has served as the minor league field coordinator for the last seven seasons.  He spent seven years with the Florida Marlins from 1995-2001, during which he held the positions of advance scout, director of field operations, minor league field coordinator and catching instructor.  Drafted by the Expos in the 12th round in 1986, Leary played five minor league seasons and served as a player/coach with Single-A Rockford in 1990.  He managed Rockford from 1991-92 and also was at the helm of Single-A West Palm Beach in 1993-94.

The Red Sox just may have better catching than we thought.

Since acquiring Victor Martinez on July 31, the Sox now have two All-Star catchers who figure to be under Boston’s control through the 2010 season. In addition, the team will have some decisions to make regarding George Kottaras, who was placed on the DL on August 1 with with a lower back sprain and has played his last nine games in Pawtucket. Amongst all the bodies in the system, who is the team’s catcher of the future?

“Mark Wagner,” says a source within the organization with what can only be perceived as the utmost confidence.

Of course, that source within the organization happens to be one Mark Wagner himself, and unfortunately for the 25-year-old, it’s not that simple. Looking at the system as a whole, Wagner isn’t the only minor-league catcher jumping off the page. In fact, he may not even be Boston’s catching prospect. With both Double A Portland’s Luis Exposito and High A Salem’s Tim Federowicz also making great strides, the spot’s future is uncertain to say the least.

In short, Wagner brings to the table great game-calling ability, a plus pop time, a streaky bat, and outstanding confidence. Exposito brings size, outstanding defensive abilities, and a bat that has hit for average (.290 over the last two seasons). Additionally, Exposito brings a level of professionalism uncharacteristic of someone who was suspended for nearly all of the ’07 season for attitude problems. Federowicz, like Wagner, calls an excellent game, has a gun for an arm and has surprised Boston with offensive growth. Read the rest of this entry »