Springtime under siege

The world champion Boston Red Sox dress in their spring-training clubhouse surrounded by signs announcing "No Egos Allowed" and "Together Everyone Achieves More."

Closer Keith Foulke is one of many to emphasize not resting on laurels: "The day you get content you take a step backwards." New pitcher Matt Clement says he is learning that pitching is "not just mechanics. It's getting your thinking right."

But the Red Sox still seem true to the nickname they achieved last year—"the idiots." Centerfielder Johnny Damon's hair seems longer than ever, so that when standing he resembles one of those 19th-century Northern European depictions of Jesus, and when running he looks like a horse, his mane stretching out behind. Top hitter Manny Ramirez kids with everyone and has such a sweet swing in the batting cage that Jim Rice, a great hitter from the 1970s and 1980s brought in as a spring-training instructor, just watches in admiration.