OWNER: BOSOX CLOSER A ‘MOUSE’  —  It's one thing for owners to have a little back-and-forth like John Henry and Hank Steinbrenner did recently in regard to Red Sox Nation vs. Yankees Universe.  It's another for a young player to take a shot at an owner.  —  That's what Jonathan Papelbon, 27, did in criticizing Steinbrenner.

GIRARDI: I BELIEVE MY PLAYER  —  SARASOTA, Fla. - Joe Girardi yesterday said he watched the replay of Shelley Duncan's slide from Wednesday and believes Duncan's explanation.  —  “Shelley told me that he tried to break up the play,” Girardi said.  “I saw a similar slide that he made in Toronto …

Prior pleased with progress  —  Slow and steady a winning formula  —  PEORIA, Ariz. - Mark Prior smiled, rose from his clubhouse stool and rapped a wooden stall nearby.  “I've got to knock on wood,” he said yesterday.  “But it is going well.”  —  Prior has been down too many dead-end roads …

Mets' Valentin makes a major plea about his role  —  JUPITER, Fla. - Jose Valentin knows the Mets have made him no promises.  He knows they signed Luis Castillo to a four-year contract to play second base.  He also knows he signed a minor-league deal that allows the team to send him down if he doesn't make the Opening Day roster.

Dice-K's wife has baby  —  FORT MYERS, Fla.—Daisuke Matsuzaka's wife has given birth to a boy.  —  That clears the way for Boston's right-hander to travel to Japan with his teammates.  He could start in his homeland in the regular-season opener March 25 against Oakland.

Randolph closes in on opener  —  JUPITER, Fla. - With 16 days remaining until Opening Day, Willie Randolph believes the moment has arrived for his full squad to begin taking the field together.  So the manager summoned Carlos Beltran and Carlos Delgado together into his office Friday's morning …

SEC moves tourney to Georgia Tech  —  Storm Damages Georgia Dome, SEC Tourney Delayed  —  The SEC will take the unprecedented step of having a team play twice in one day in order to conclude the storm-delayed conference tournament in Atlanta before the NCAA tournament selection announcement at 6 p.m. Sunday.

Dodgers encounter unfinished business in China  —  Youngsters in China may not be familiar with baseball, but any child can appreciate the potential for noise with a pair of thundersticks.  The fans were attending an exhibition game between the Dodgers and San Diego Saturday in Beijing.

Box Seat at Yankee Stadium Costs 1029% More Than in '67  —  In 1967... Segregationist Lester Maddox was sworn in as Governor of Georgia, Superbowl I was played in the LA Coliseum with the Green Bay Packers defeating the Kansas City Chiefs 35-10, the ABA was formed, Elvis Presley married Priscilla Beaulieu …

Notebook: Reds have prospects to make noise  —  Ken Rosenthal has been the senior baseball writer for FOXSports.com since Aug. 2005.  He appears weekly on the FSN Baseball Report and MLB on FOX.  —  add this  —  To be a surprise team, you need surprise players.  The Reds might open with two in their starting rotation.

Mets' Schoeneweis Puts Painful Year Behind Him  —  JUPITER, Fla. — Scott Schoeneweis remembers that when he slipped on a just-watered field in Oakland during the 2005 season, his fellow Toronto pitchers buckled over in laughter.  They did not realize that Schoeneweis had just sustained the worst injury of his career.