Glee club

Not only did the fans come, they made themselves a presence.

At one point, Johnny Damon strode to the plate for batting practice.

"Dead center field," yelled an elementary school-aged kid. "Way back. Waaaaay back."

Damon fouled off a pitch. He spun to look at the kid and laughed out loud.

Down the first base line, two fans stood side by side against the fence, one wearing an Alex Rodriguez jersey, one wearing a Curt Schilling jersey. They became a story themselves, getting interviewed by television stations.

Fans inundated principal owner John W. Henry, seeking autographs and offering stories.

"The difference I've noticed is that in previous years people wanted to thank you for what was going on at Fenway, for putting a good team on the field, or wanted to tell you a story about a grandfather, father," Henry said. "This year it's become the story of how much it meant to win."

The evidence was in the hot dog sales -- at one point 47 people stood in line for food -- and in the empty hat racks. Sox caps now come in just about every color of the spectrum, and the souvenir stand yesterday sold out the pink, green, and yellow hats with the centered "B" logo and a small egret in the bottom corner.

"These women's hats have gone like crazy," said vendor Tina Baldino, who was born, appropriately, in Cooperstown, N.Y., home of the Baseball Hall of Fame.

Elsewhere, 8-year-old Kyle Quitadamo stood alongside his 11-year-old brother, Bryan. The Sox will have at least eight new players on the 25-man roster this year, and the boys fashioned their approval by wearing Edgar Renteria T-shirts.

"When they traded for Renteria," said Kyle's dad, Steve, "he danced around the house."

The family has traveled here from Auburn, Mass., the last three years to enjoy the spectacle of spring training. But they didn't remember it being quite like this.

"It's a little different," said the boys' mother, Marie. "We used to take a little bus with 20 people on it. This year it was a tour bus with a video."

Somewhat lost amid the commercial success was the reality that the Sox are here to work, as they prepare to defend a championship.