FORT MYERS, Fla. – It isn’t every day you see somebody wearing a license plate as a necklace, but the Boston Red Sox bring out the imagination in their fanatical fans.

Jeffrey Brown of Loudon, N.H., showed his enthusiasm for the Sox prior to Sunday’s spring training game against Minnesota at City of Palms Park by sporting a Maine license plate that read, “SOX1FAN.”

“In Massachusetts I got the (SOX1FAN) plate in December of ’86, two months after the (Bill) Buckner (World Series) episode,” Brown explained. “I had the plate in Massachusetts for four years. Then when I move to Maine I had it for 11-12 years, and now I’m in New Hampshire and I have it there.”

The Red Sox and fantasy baseball are the passions of Brown, a Methuen, Mass., native who formerly served two years each as the town manager in Machias (1994-96) and Berwick. He now works as a negotiator for the state employees’ union in New Hampshire.

“I’m literally sitting across the table from the town managers now,” he said with a chuckle.

Brown made the pilgrimage to Florida with his wife, Deirdra, who suggested the trip. He is a big fan of Sox pitcher Curt Schilling and has another license plate to prove it.

“My other plate on my pickup truck is ‘SCHLLNG’ because there is no ‘I’ in T-E-A-M, so we spelled it without the ‘I”s,” Brown said. “My wife wanted me to take it off the truck and bring it and then hang it to the bottom of this (plate). I said ‘no, I don’t want Schilling to think I’m stalking him.’

As it turned out, the Browns’ plans didn’t coincide with a Schilling pitching appearance. He worked Saturday in Bradenton against the Pirates, and the Browns had another engagement.

“My wife’s toll for the trip was a day at the beach,” Brown said. “(Saturday) happened to be the day at the beach, but I was happy. This (trip) was all on her initiative, so to spend a day at the beach for her, regardless of missing Curt, when all is said and done, she’s the one I spend my life with, not Curt.”

Brown also maintains a Web site, sox1fan.com, which was created by Deirdra Brown.

“We’re exclusively dedicated to baseball and the Red Sox,” said Jeffrey Brown, one of a legion of Boston fans who aren’t afraid to show their enthusiasm for the team.

Papelbon keeps perspective

On the surface, Boston pitcher Jonathan Papelbon didn’t have a very productive outing Sunday against the Twins.

The righthander made his third spring training start and allowed six hits and five earned runs during a 3 1/3-inning stint that ended when he reached his limit of 60 pitches.

“Guys get into the game and their pitch count starts to get up a little bit and, because they’re not in midseason form, they leave some pitches over the plate or make some mistakes, which is what happened, but his first two innings were very good,” said Boston manager Terry Francona.

Even though the promising Papelbon appeared to struggle, there was a method behind his approach. He explained the key Sunday was establishing a foundation for future appearances.

“I didn’t throw very many breaking balls and split-fingers. I threw mostly fastballs,” Papelbon said after the outing.

As a result, he had a difficult time trying to keep the Twins off-balance, especially when his location wasn’t real sharp. The 6-foot-4, 230-pounder wasn’t a bit discouraged.

“Today I didn’t really get the results that I wanted, but at the same time I’m going out there trying to work on what I need to work on and just get ready (for the season),” said the Mississippi State product.

“I just wanted to go out there and build some arm strength, get a little stamina going in the heat,” he said. “The Twins are a team that we play a lot during the season and I feel like I learned a lot from today and that I didn’t really expose myself a whole lot.”

Papelbon posted a 3-1 record with a 2.65 earned run average in 17 games as a rookie in 2005. He is competing to earn a spot on a deep and veteran staff, although he’s not sure exactly where he might fit in.

Like father, like son

Nick Francona is hoping to follow in the footsteps of his father, Red Sox manager Terry Francona.

The younger Francona is an aspiring baseball player and is on the roster at the University of Pennsylvania. However, Nick reportedly has spent his spring break here with the Sox rather than with his teammates in Boca Raton, Fla.

The sophomore lefthanded pitcher, the eldest Terry and Jacque Francona’s four children, is unable to throw at this point. He is working his way back from offseason shoulder surgery, according to Penn sports information director Brady Smith.

While the Quakers have struggled to open the season, Nick Francona missed out on a big day Saturday as Penn (1-8) earned its first victory of the season by beating UMaine 15-12.

Nick Francona, 6-foot-3, 185-pounder, was 0-1 last season with a 5.91 earned run average and 29 strikeouts in 35 innings.

Basketball in the press box

There was a significant distraction in the press box at City of Palms Park Sunday afternoon.

Even as the Red Sox were taking on the Twins, several members of the media and some facility employees were parked in front of a TV set located in the back of the room.

The attraction? The Atlantic Coast Conference men’s basketball game between Duke and Boston College, with the upset-minded Eagles being the focus of the Northeast-based media’s attention.

There was a collective shout when Louis Hinnant made a running 3-pointer in the closing seconds to keep the game close, then muffled moans as the Blue Devils held on for the victory.