Sport LP

FORT MYERS, Fla. (AP) - Fans at City of Palms Park were ready for Boston’s final spring training game in Florida. The Red Sox weren’t.
In an extraordinary move, Boston players voted to boycott a nationally televised exhibition and Wednesday afternoon’s flight to Japan for next week’s season-opening series against Oakland, upset that coaches weren’t going to receive the same $40,000 payments negotiated for players by their union.
A couple of hours later, all was resolved, and the Red Sox took the field one hour late for a 4-3 loss to Toronto before a crowd of 7,868.
Across the country in Phoenix, Athletics players also considered a boycott. They didn’t take batting practice and held five team meetings before following Boston’s lead and deciding to play. An Oakland split squad lost 6-1 to the Los Angeles Angels in front of 7,940 fans before leaving for Tokyo.
“The players just stepped up and they did what I think was right,” Boston bench coach Brad Mills said.
Major League Baseball agreed to pay the managers, coaches and trainers on the trip $20,000 each from management’s proceeds, a person familiar with the agreement said, speaking on condition of anonymity because details weren’t announced. The Red Sox agreed to make up the difference to make the amount equal, and to pay some of the other team personnel making the trip, the person said.
“It was a misunderstanding of what agreement was reached between MLB and the MLBPA,” Red Sox president Larry Lucchino said. “We said we would step up and make sure a second pool was created and would seek contributions from all parties.”
It had not yet been determined whether Oakland would make additional payments to its staff.
“Everyone connected with the trip will be fairly compensated,” baseball spokesman Rich Levin said.
Cancellation of the March 25-26 series at the Tokyo Dome would have been a publicity nightmare for Major League Baseball, which already has had enough bad news during an offseason dominated by performance-enhancing drugs.
Managers and coaches were included in the players’ pool payments for baseball’s two previous season-opening trips to Japan, when the New York Mets played the Chicago Cubs in 2000 and the Yankees played Tampa Bay in 2004. But this time, the agreement between MLB and the players’ association called only for payments to 30 players on each club, and left out the coaches.
“They’re just as much a part of this team as anybody,” said Oakland closer Huston Street, the team’s player representative. “Playoff shares, coaches get an equal share. You look at previous Japan trips, coaches have gotten an equal share.”
The initial vote by Boston players set off a series of calls among players from the Red Sox and Athletics, Major League Baseball, the clubs and the players’ association.
“We felt we had to make a stand, and being on ESPN didn’t hurt,” Red Sox third baseman Mike Lowell said.
At Phoenix Municipal Stadium, where their game was scheduled to start three hours after Boston’s, A’s players watched coverage of the Red Sox dispute. Oakland players spoke by telephone with their Boston counterparts about boycotting the trip.
“There was a discussion about whether to play the game today. There was a discussion about how the money could potentially be handled. There was a discussion about going to Japan. There was a discussion about how to talk to the media about it,” Street said.
Street said Oakland’s players would be willing to lower what they receive in order to provide for coaches. He said while “everybody is going to be compensated fairly,” he wasn’t certain that “fairly” would mean “equally.”
Lowell said $20,000 payments for the coaches would not have been acceptable given that the players were making $40,000.
“We didn’t think that was correct,” he said. “Giving them half of that is not equal.”
Daisuke Matsuzaka, who had been scheduled to pitch for Boston, left the stadium to pitch in a game against Minnesota’s Triple-A affiliate while David Aardsma started in his place. Matsuzaka is scheduled to be the opening-day starter in Tokyo next week against Oakland.
Boston manager Terry Francona spoke twice Wednesday with commissioner Bud Selig about the exhibition against the Blue Jays.
“Mr. Selig was justifiably concerned about playing the game, which I completely understand,” Francona said.
Boston’s Kevin Youkilis stressed the players felt strongly about not going to Japan without a resolution.
“The club’s working on stuff and trying to get money where it needs to get,” he said. “It was definitely an experience of a lifetime, and it ended in a good way.”
Boston catcher Jason Varitek said players thought it was necessary to take a stand on behalf of the coaches and staff.
“They’re the basis of what takes care of us,” he said.
Oakland general manager Billy Beane was happy the trip will go on and expressed desire for additional international play.
“I hope we go to Rome. I hope we go to Paris, Berlin,” Beane said, wearing shorts with a logo of the English soccer club Arsenal.

via AOL

FORT MYERS, Fla. (AP) -The Boston Red Sox refused to take the field for their final spring training game in Florida on Wednesday and threatened to boycott their flight to Japan for their season openers unless their coaches and other staff are paid for the trip.

Fans filled the stadium, the national anthems were sung and the Boston and Toronto lineups were announced, but the game did not begin at its 12:07 p.m. scheduled start.

via CNN

FORT MYERS, Fla. — Red Sox pitcher Josh Beckett will likely miss the team’s upcoming trip to Japan.

Pitching coach John Farrell said Sunday an official announcement will be made by Boston manager Terry Francona.

via MSN

FORT MYERS, Florida - The Boston Red Sox ended a threatened boycott of their final preseason game in Florida on Wednesday, resolving a dispute over paying coaches for the season-opening trip to Japan.

The televised game against Toronto started an hour late when players voted unanimously not to play the exhibition or to board Wednesday’s scheduled flight to Tokyo for the two-game series against the Oakland Athletics on March 25 and 26.

Boston players insisted their coaches receive $40,000 (euro25,500) appearances fees for the Japan trip, matching the deal negotiated for players by their union. After a few hours of talks among players from the Red Sox and Athletics, Major League Baseball, the clubs and the players’ association, the sides said the dispute was resolved.

“We felt we had to make a stand, and being on ESPN didn’t hurt,” Red Sox third baseman Mike Lowell said.

MLB agreed to pay the managers, coaches and trainers on the trip $20,000 (euro12,750) each from management’s proceeds, a person familiar with the agreement said, speaking on condition of anonymity because details weren’t announced. The Red Sox agreed to make up the difference to make the amount equal, and to pay some of the other team personnel making the trip, the person said.

“The players just stepped up and they did what I think was right,” Boston bench coach Brad Mills said.

It had not yet between determined whether Oakland would make additional payments to its staff.

“Everyone connected with the trip will be fairly compensated,” MLB spokesman Rich Levin said.

Managers and coaches were included in the players’ pool payments for MLB’s two previous opening trips to Japan _ the New York Mets played the Chicago Cubs in 2000 and the New York Yankees played Tampa Bay in 2004. But there was no such provision this time in the agreement between MLB and the players’ association.

In Phoenix, Oakland players watched coverage of Boston’s dispute on television, called a team meeting and confirmed they would make the trip.

“For those guys to take that stance _ they’re veterans. They feel strongly about it, and they brought it to the attention of higher-ups,” Oakland pitcher Alan Embree said. “Coaches deserved compensation. They’re going over there, too, and every little bit counts.”

Daisuke Matsuzaka, who had been scheduled to pitch for Boston, left the stadium to pitch at a game against Minnesota’s Triple-A affiliate. Matsuzaka is scheduled to be the opening day starter in Tokyo next week against Oakland.

Boston has exhibition games on Saturday against the Hanshin Tigers and Sunday against the Yomiuri Giants.

___

AP Baseball Writer Ronald Blum and AP freelance reporter Rick Eymer, both in Phoenix, contributed to this report.

via MSN

TAMPA, Fla. — Japanese right-hander Daisuke Matsuzaka will start the Boston Red Sox’s regular-season opener against the Oakland Athletics in Toyko on March 25.

“I think that will be a ton of excitement,” Boston manager Terry Francona said before Monday’s exhibition game against the New York Yankees. “I know he’s honored.”

via MSN