Nice day for Red Sox's player rep Kevin Youkilis. Spend all morning on the phone with guys in suits, hit a three-run home run.

Then, explain it all.

Essentially, Youkilis said that the Red Sox's players took the field despite the fact they still have nothing in writing from Major League Baseball about how much the coaches and support staff will be paid for the trip to Japan. He also said the decision to take the field for the game against the Blue Jays was not unanimous, that "a lot of guys were not ready to get on the field."

Youkilis said the disagreement stemmed from "bad language and communication." The players believed they were going to receive a pool of money as an appearance fee for going to Japan, and that they would be able to distribute the money among all members of the travelling party, as is done with post-season shares. Instead, he was told by manager Terry Francona on Tuesday that the players were guaranteed a MINIMUM of $40,000 each - more revenue from the two games in Japan would increase that pool - and that the coaches weren't receiving anything. Members of the Red Sox who have been part of previous Major League Baseball contingents overseas, such as Julio Lugo, bullpen coach Gary Tuck and Francona himself, all received a stipend.

(I thought maybe the U.S. Fed had stepped up, since they've spent the last two weeks rescuing every other millionaire in the country from messes they've created.)

Youkilis said that Red Sox ownership had "stepped up" but he could not say exactly how much the coaches will now be paid. "We definitely have something in place that was a lot more than before."

The Red Sox are leading the Blue Jays 3-0. Couple other things:

1. according to Blue Jays public relations director Jay Stenhouse, Armando Benitez still has not received a work visa, meaning he cannot pitch in games where there is paid admission. As a result, he won't pitch against the Yankees on Thursday'

2. Casey Janssen had his surgery and it was a "success." Which, you know, is better than if it wasn't a success.