Beckett And Loretta Visit Boston

Josh Beckett and Mark Loretta were in Boston on Friday.

Beckett:

I wasn't really thinking about [Fenway] too much. I was kind of tired from traveling. It was neat. Cool place, the smell. I'm glad I wasn't going to the visiting clubhouse, which is good because that's a bad place over there.

Loretta:

It's like going to a museum. I think Fenway suits me well. I don't pull the ball a lot, but right-center field is spacious, so that should help me.

Beckett, on his blisters:

Maybe getting out of the humidity will help me ... The training staff here has some ideas of some stuff I've been doing and some stuff I haven't been doing. ... Every game I ever had a blister come up, it seemed like I either had a shutout or had given up less than two runs.

John Henry denies an ESPN report that Theo Epstein has rejoined the team as a "special assistant" to the owner. "The relationship is what it has been since Oct. 31. Theo talks with Ben and Jed frequently, goes to the office frequently, etc., but he has no formal relationship with the club or with myself."

Gordon Edes has a feature on Mike Lowell and he quotes San Francisco Chronicle columnist Bruce Jenkins: "Plumbing the depths of idiocy, the Red Sox signed crazy man Julian Tavarez for setup relief. No problem, though; the Sox' fans are onto his fraudulence. They'll have him run out of town by the trading deadline."

Long-time Red Sox fan Sarah Toomey died at age 105 at the end of December.