Schilling to start exhibition opener

Daisuke Matsuzaka will toss his first batting practice session today, but yesterday he did the hitting, teeing off at the Red Sox' charity golf tournament at Fort Myers, Fla. (JIM DAVIS/GLOBE STAFF)

FORT MYERS, Fla. -- Pitching coach John Farrell, standing in yesterday for manager Terry Francona, who was ill, said Curt Schilling will pitch Wednesday night's exhibition opener against the Minnesota Twins, and set the rotation through the first four days.

Schilling's start, at City of Palms Park, will be broadcast on radio. Daisuke Matsuzaka's start two nights later, against Boston College at City of Palms, will be televised on NESN. In between, Josh Beckett will face Northeastern Thursday afternoon, with Kason Gabbard making the bus ride to Dunedin for a split-squad game against the Blue Jays the same day.

Kyle Snyder will pitch Friday afternoon against the Blue Jays at City of Palms (12:35 start), with the BC game going off at 6:05.

Each starter is scheduled to go two innings or 35 pitches, Farrell said, including Matsuzaka, despite his 103-pitch bullpen session Thursday. Matsuzaka is scheduled to throw his first live batting practice this afternoon. He's down to throw 40 pitches in 10 minutes, with each batting practice thereafter increased by 10 pitches until the games begin.

According to a producer for Philadelphia radio station WYSP-FM, which was broadcasting live from the classic car auction at the Atlantic City Convention Center, an event organizer said Manny Ramírez sent word he would not be appearing there at noon today, as had been scheduled . . . Francona had a fever of 100 degrees-plus, according to Farrell, who remained in touch with the manager by text message . . . According to one security guard working the complex, Thursday's crowd here exceeded 2,500, which was comparable to the throngs that showed up in the aftermath of the 2004 World Series title. An average crowd here has been in the 1,500 range.

How serious is Jason Varitek taking his conditioning? He's hired a personal assistant and full-time trainer, Leslie Eddins, who used to work with him at a gym called Hardball Warehouse in suburban Atlanta.

"He's got a new house, and everything's out back," Eddins said. "He's got a gym, with a batting cage in the bottom. I do all his nutrition training, personal assistant stuff. I'll be in Boston full time. I fed him the whole time. I'll be preparing meals for him in Boston, too."

Varitek is glad to have Eddins on board. "Just take a little bit off my plate, so I don't have to do it," he said. "Probably pay a little more attention to detail. When you're dealing with family and kids and stuff going on left and right, after I go out the door I can take something with me, rather than just having a turkey sandwich. It's helped."