Fort Myers, Florida. Hammond Stadium. 7:05 p.m. (No, not 7:10 just yet.)

Boston Red Sox vs. Minnesota Twins

The quest for the Mayor’s Cup begins.

Players you can expect to see...

Jacoby Ellsbury, CF
Dustin Pedroia, 2B
Kevin Youkilis, 1B

News item: John Henry renews his call for what he describes as an "enlightened" version of a salary cap in baseball.

We hear the argument for a cap in baseball quite frequently, usually around times when the Yankees have spent a lot of money. Allow me to say, then, that I disagree with both the owner of my favorite baseball team and the editor of this very publication and suggest that a salary cap is really not going to fix much of anything.

Goes to Madoff whistleblower Harry Markopolos, for his pronouncement today lambasting federal securities investigators:

“If you flew the entire SEC staff to Boston, and sat them in Fenway Park, they wouldn't be able to find first base.”

Wonder why he didn’t say Shea Stadium instead, though? (Or rather, ahem, the new and unfortunately named Citi Field?)