(from Monday’s Boston Globe, photograph by Daigo Fujiwara)

“Red Sox Nation?” What a bunch of [expletive] that is, That was a creation of the Red Sox and ESPN, which is filled with Red Sox fans.

“Go anywhere in America and you won’t see Red Sox hats and jackets, you’ll see Yankee hats and jackets. This is a Yankee country. We’re going to put the Yankees back on top and restore the universe to order.” – Hank Steinbrenner, Play Magazine, March 2, 2008

In other, less contentious news, Terry Francona reports Sean Casey will miss Boston’s pair of Tokyo games against Oakland this week as he’s suffering from what the manager describes as “Southern League Neck”.

The condition refers to the sort of discomfort one would develop on a long bus ride in the bush leagues, and should not be confused with the more modern ailment, “Atlantic League Neck” (ie. after several HGH injections supplied by Pete Rose Jr. a trusted teammate, a player no longer appears to have a neck).