Yankees Shine (what did you think those hyphens stood for?)

From Yankee Hater caps to foolish chants at Fenway Park, the Yankees are a favorite target of scorn.

So maybe their ownshership says some foolish things (Larry Lucchino does not always hold his tongue, either), and they spend a lot of money (something the Red Sox cannot gripe about, too much)

But put your baseball bigotry aside today and applaud the Yankees.

Their appearance at Virginia Tech Tuesday (which followed a $1-million donation to the Hokies) showed all the good things baseball (even the Yankees) can do.

See the story on the ESPN website.

Now, back to the Sox. The 30-man roster for Japan contained few surprises, even the inclusion of outfielders Coco Crisp and Bobby Kielty. They don't sound 100 percent, but Boston did not have a lot of back-up outfielders, besides Brandon Moss (who is going)

Josh Beckett and Bartolo Colon, as expected, are not going. Minor league infielders Keith Ginter and Joe Thurston will stay home. The final cut was lefthanded reliever Craig Breslow.

Breslow, 27, may be done with the Sox. After appearing in major league games in 2005 (Padres) and '06 (Red Sox), he stayed in Triple-A all last year. He is out of options so he would have to clear waivers if he sent to Triple-A again.

That is all for now. I have a couple of vacation days ahead of me (bringing the family and my VISA to Disney). Hope to check back Friday.

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