The Red Sox play baseball today!

It's been quite a while since the Red Sox last played baseball. They'll rectify that today when they take the field against first Boston College, and then Northeastern for their traditional college doubleheader to kick off spring training.

Alright, so "the Red Sox" is a bit of an exaggeration, as it always is until the very end of spring training. For that matter, so is "playing baseball" when it really comes down to it. Yes, the game will technically be baseball, and they will play it, but it's against college teams, and it's February. The wait for meaningful games stretches back further than the wait for any baseball, and sadly will stretch on for more than a month after this one ends to boot.

But we find ourselves in the grace period now! These are the first days of spring training, when no matter how curmudgeonly one might get with the process in any given year, it's still fresh enough to inspire a bit of giddy joy. The Red Sox could be taking the field to face a team of McDonalds employees who aren't entirely clear on the concept of balls and strikes and it would still be an event this early on.

So who's participating? Actually quite a few of the bigger names, at least in the first game against Boston College. Most of Boston's starting lineup will play against the Eagles, including Xander Bogaerts, Hanley Ramirez, Dustin Pedroia, Pablo Sandoval, Mookie Betts, Jackie Bradley Jr., and Blake Swihart. That means we'll get our first look at Ramirez at first base, too, for better or worse.

Allen Craig will also be playing. You can shut your eyes for those bits and pretend the incredibly sad state of his career is some other team's problem.

There's a lot less to look forward to against Northeastern, who really seem to get the short end of the stick more often than not in these games. Travis Shaw and Brock Holt are the biggest names to be found there, with the team otherwise set to trot out a bunch of minor leaguers and reserves. This game, frankly, will seem more like a couple Red Sox players showing up at a low-rent charity game. Oh well, can't have it all.

But hey, baseball! Red Sox baseball! Mookie and Pedey, Bogaerts and Bradley, and it's all on NESN and WEEI, starting at 1:00 EST. Welcome back, baseball, we missed you.