Bill Burt
A stiff neck.
That's the biggest complaint I heard — Sox backup infielder Sean Casey was scratched from the opener with a sore neck after the long flight last week — about the famed Red Sox trip to Japan.
Oh, yeah, the food apparently wasn't up to snuff either. I can empathize. I remember there was no chance of my gaining weight in Ireland a decade ago.
As for the baseball, the Red Sox won one (6-5), in somewhat riveting fashion, and lost one (5-1 early yesterday morning) to the Oakland Athletics, which is probably justice.
Both teams got something for their 36 hours (round-trip) of flight agony, not to mention the underrated history, geography and cultural lessons.
Remember, too, the coaches got their money — $40,000 — which for some will be an additional 20 to 50 percent to their salaries.
My point is about whining. We don't want to hear it. And to be honest, I don't think we will hear it. General manager Theo Epstein went out of his way a few weeks before the long trip to say the same thing, basically telling the players to "shut up" in advance.
The Red Sox arrive in Los Angeles early this morning and they have an optional workout, which play-by-play announcer Joe Castiglione aptly termed "very optional."
It will be a tad weird. The Sox have three exhibition games with the Dodgers in L.A. this weekend — Friday through Sunday — before they get back to the real games, which begin back in Oakland on Tuesday.
The two games in Japan were just short of a week earlier than when the Yankees and Devil Rays played in 2006. This gives the Sox much more time to ease back into things.
I do admit I am a sucker for some of these public relations ploys. I liked the NHL game played on an outdoor ice rink (the Buffalo Bills' Ralph Wilson Stadium). I liked waking up at 5:45 a.m. and seeing a baseball pregame show.
The Red Sox went to Japan for one reason: Daisuke Matsuzaka. Two teams were going anyway as Major League Baseball attempts to sell our pastime abroad every few years, and Dice-K and the Sox were an obvious choice.
We will hear stories upon their arrival back home at how big the Red Sox are in Japan. At Fenway Park, huge crowds of Japanese fans come to see Dice-K and Hideki Okajima pitch.
As for the positives, beyond the cultural benefits, it doesn't matter where Manny Ramirez hits, he's great. And while he didn't play in the regular games against the A's, oft-injured J.D. Drew may have found his swing in Tokyo, with those two monster homers (a grand slam and 3-run homer) in back-to-back exhibitions.
And we may have another great Moss growing in our midst, this one named Brandon, who saved the day and set the table for Ramirez's opening day heroics. He was optioned to Pawtucket yesterday, but we'll be hearing more from him in the near future.
So it wasn't such a bad idea after all. A few coaches got some much-needed cash. A few veterans found their hitting strokes. And even a rookie or two found out there might be a place for them on this roster full of stars.
And for what price? A stiff neck?
You can e-mail Bill Burt at bburt@eagletribune.com.
