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Touch 'Em All: Omar Vizquel at 45: 'I'm living my dream'

This must the be the Golden Age for baseball senior citizens. Jamie Moyer is turning back the clock in Colorado and Omar Vizquel, who turned 45 on Tuesday, started a pair of double plays at second base for the Toronto Blue Jays on Sunday.

Charlie Riedel/AP
Charlie Riedel/APRead more

This must the be the Golden Age for baseball senior citizens.

Jamie Moyer is turning back the clock in Colorado and Omar Vizquel, who turned 45 on Tuesday, started a pair of double plays at second base for the Toronto Blue Jays on Sunday.

Now in his 24th major-league season, Vizquel made his debut on April 3, 1989. George H.W. Bush was barely two months into his presidency, Rain Man was the No. 1 movie at the box office and future author Jose Canseco was the reigning American League MVP.

Vizquel, a native of Venezuela has played in four different decades with six different teams, has 11 Gold Gloves, 2,842 career hits and is a three-time all-star.

"I'm living my dream," he said. "I keep saying this is my last year but I don't know when that will happen."

Boston bull

With Daniel Bard's outing Sunday canceled because of a rainout, Red Sox manager Bobby Valentine moved him into a relief role for Monday's opener in Minnesota to shore up a beleaguered bullpen.

Boston's bullpen was responsible for all 15 runs in Saturday's shocking collapse to the Yankees, and the relief corps' 8.06 ERA is the worst in the majors.

Moving Bard turned out to be a good move as he got two critical outs in the eighth inning of Monday's 6-5 victory.

The Clemens trial

Rusty Hardin, the Texas lawyer who is handling Roger Clemens' defense, made his opening address to the jury on Tuesday in the former pitchers' perjury trial in Washington.

"God help me if we have reached a stage in this country where we make a federal case of denying you committed a crime," Hardin said. "Our government should never, ever prosecute somebody for saying 'I did not do it.' "

The court adjourned early in the afternoon for the rest of the week because judge Reggie Walton had a previously scheduled out-of-town trip. The trial will resume Monday.

Moves

Atlanta optioned struggling Jair Jurrjens to triple-A Gwinnett after the righthander lasted only three-plus innings in a loss to the Dodgers. Jurrjens is 0-2 with a 9.37 ERA in four starts. . . . The Reds put lefthanded setup man Bill Bray on the 15-day disabled list with a strained groin. . . . The Mets put leftfielder Jason Bay on the 15-day disabled list, a day after he suffered a broken rib while trying to make a diving catch.

This article contains information from the Associated Press.