A Diamond note unique to the Sox

Kristy Lawrence, reading the Globe online in Oakdale, Calif., asks: When did the Red Sox start the tradition of playing ''Sweet Caroline," and how did it start?

Kerri Moore, the Red Sox' media relations manager, said it started with former Red Sox employee Billy Fitzpatrick, who worked in Fenway Park's control room from 1984-2003. In December 1998, his daughter, Caroline Fitzpatrick, was born. At a Red Sox game the following summer, with Billy nearby in the control room, former public address announcer Ed Brickley requested that ''Sweet Caroline" be played. The DJ that night was Amy Tobey, and when she played the popular Neil Diamond song, she could tell the fans loved it. For a while, she played it only if the Sox were winning or if the game was close, but the reaction was so strong it soon became a tradition to play it every night before the Sox' half of the eighth inning.

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