Editor's note: Each Wednesday from April 11 to May 23, NESN.com will highlight some of the cities the Red Sox visit on road trips this season. This week, we spotlight Texas, New York, Cleveland and Baltimore, where the Red Sox will play July 23-29 and Aug. 9-19. Next week, we target Anaheim, Oakland and Seattle, where the Red Sox will visit Aug. 28 to Sept. 5, and Toronto and Tampa Bay, the destinations for a Sept. 14-20 road trip.

The Red Sox will be all over the map this season, with two upcoming road trips that will take them as far north as Cleveland and as far west as Texas.

The Sox will travel to Texas and New York for a July 23-29 trip before an Aug. 9-19 road swing takes them to Cleveland, Baltimore and New York.

Both road trips should feature some tremendous competition for the Sox. The Rangers enter the season as back-to-back defending American League champions, and the Yankees are, well, the Yankees. The Cleveland Indians, meanwhile, used to hold the sellout streak record at 455 — before the Sox topped it in 2010 — while Baltimore has some good, young talent for the first time in a while.

Fortunately for fans hoping to see the Red Sox in person during either of these two trips, there are plenty of sites to see and things to do in all four cities, ranging from history, to outdoor activities, and fine dining.

Check out our list of some can't-miss activities available in the cities where the Red Sox will go on their dog days road trips.

Click here for places to see and things to do in Texas, New York, Cleveland and Baltimore>>

NESN.com's Southwest Sports Destination Guides are presented by Southwest Airlines. Click here to book a trip.

To show their appreciation, the team released a video on Friday of some of the best highlights from the B's 2011-12 season.

The video includes a mix of goals, fights, saves and clips of fans' wild celebrations, with The Wanted's hit song "Glad You Came" playing in the background.

Check it out below.

Things went from bad to worse on Friday when starting left fielder Delmon Young was arrested after he attacked a man outside a Midtown hotel, the New York Post reports.

The incident occurred around 2:40 a.m. ET, police told the Post, after Young started shouting anti-Semitic expletives at a man who was asking for change. He then got into an argument with a group of people before he and one of the group members engaged in a physical confrontation.

The victim suffered scratches from the fight, but did not have to go to the hospital, according to the report. Young, meanwhile, has been charged with aggravated harassment, with the possibility of a hate crime charge being added on.

Young, a former No. 1 pick in the 2003 MLB Draft, is hitting .242 with one homer in 18 games for Detroit.

"They kind of just said, 'Thanks for everything,' at the end of the year and I haven't heard from them since," Carter told CSNNE.com on Tuesday. "But I'm optimistic everything works out."

Carter played 14 games for the Patriots in 2011, before a quadriceps tear in the Week 14 matchup with Denver ended his season prematurely. At the time, he had a team-leading 10 sacks.

The 32-year-old said he's been rehabbing two to three hours per day six days a week in hopes of landing another gig with New England, according to the report.

"I could not have enjoyed that season any more than I did," Carter said. "I was working with guys who just love the game of football, the Patriots organization does things the right way, the city was awesome — people wanted to know the players whether they were stars or not. It was such an amazing experience I'd love to experience it again.

"It is a goal to win it all and I understand the journey starts in the offseason. Hopefully I get a chance to try again."

Instead, it went through his shirt, which happened to be a Boston Celtics No. 9 jersey.

After All-Star point guard Rajon Rondo heard about Jackson's story, he decided to surprise the 9-year-old with tickets to Wednesday's game against the Miami Heat, according to the Celtics' team website.

"I couldn't believe what I was hearing on the news when they reported what happened to Preston," Rondo said. "Preston was the victim of a senseless act and I didn't want his love of basketball to be affected by what happened."

In addition to the tickets, Jackson and his family received a tour of TD Garden and got to sit courtside for the Celtics' pregame warmups. Rondo also gave out sneakers and a new, autographed No. 9 jersey before posing for a picture with Jackson and his sister.

"It felt really good to meet Rondo," Jackson said. "This was the best moment of my life. I'm always going to remember this."

On Tuesday night, Herren continued his ascension back to the top when he was honored as the "Hero Among Us" during the Celtics-Heat game, the Boston Herald reports.

"It's a special night," he said. "It's kind of closing one chapter and opening another in a sense. It's all for an amazing cause and hopefully kids see this and say that they either want to change or to keep doing the right thing."

Herren, 36, played 25 games for the Celtics in 2000-01, before drug problems forced the Fall River, Mass., native into an early retirement after just two NBA seasons.

But he has been sober for the past four years, according to the Herald, and his contributions to Project Purple — a substance abuse awareness foundation Herren started last year — earned him recognition by the Celtics' "Heroes Among Us" program.

"I thought his story was great," said Miami Heat All-Star Dwyane Wade. "I thought him being here and being able to tell it was even greater. My mom and my family have been through some of the struggles as well so it kind of hit close to home."

Herren said he took his short stint with the Celtics for granted the first time around, but that he is "cherishing every moment of this."

"Four years ago, the reality is I couldn't pay my own electrical bill," he said. "Four years later, now we're lighting the city of Boston up."

Now, thanks to an online campaign, the three-time CBA All-Star will have a bronze statue built in his honor, according to Yahoo! Sports.

Marbury averaged 33.4 points and 6.2 assists in the finals, dropping 41 in the Ducks' Game 5, series-clinching win. However, he was not awarded the MVP because of a CBA rule that forbids international players from winning the award.

To show their support, though, fans launched a campaign to have a commemorative statue built for Marbury. Yahoo! Sports reports that the campaign now has surpassed 1 million supporters, and a clay model has already been completed of the point guard holding the championship trophy above his head.

Marbury, 35, played 15 seasons in the NBA, where he made two All-Star teams. His last stint was during the 2008-09 season when he appeared in 23 games for the Celtics.

The record-setting tight end was defeated by Lions wide receiver Calvin Johnson in the quarterfinals of ESPN’s Madden ’13 Cover vote, which concluded on Wednesday. 

Johnson captured 63 percent of the voting to advance to the semifinals, where he will face Packers quarterback and reigning NFL MVP Aaron Rodgers.

The San Francisco 49ers’ Patrick Willis — who defeated Giants receiver Victor Cruz in the closest race, 55 percent to 45 percent — will face Offensive Rookie of the Year Cam Newton in the other semifinal matchup. Newton achieved the most lopsided victory, beating Larry Fitzgerald 70 percent to 30 percent.

Voting for the final four will conclude next Wednesday, April 18.

America's Most Beloved Ballpark will have a slightly different look this year, as Fenway gets ready to celebrate its 100-year anniversary.

Take a look at some of the changes to Fenway's field, as well as some images from outside the ballpark in the pictures below, courtesy of the Red Sox' official Twitter page.

Since the 2008 season, every time the C's win a home game, a clip from the Disco-era music show American Bandstand gets played on the TD Garden Jumbotron. The video features a man dancing in a tight Gino Vannelli T-shirt.

During the waning minutes of the Celtics' 103-79 win over the 76ers Sunday night, captain Paul Pierce and Kevin Garnett were captured by the CSNNE cameras joining in on "Gino Time."

Check it out in the video below.

On Saturday, it was Transformers character Megatron who became his latest victim.

Gronk, playing as the Patriots, was facing Megatron in a game of Madden when he tossed a touchdown to No. 87. To celebrate, he picked up the toy Transformer and spiked it to the ground.

The Patriots tight end is in the quarterfinals as a candidate to be featured on the cover of Madden '13. He's currently facing Detroit Lions wide receiver Calvin Johnson — who goes by the nickname Megatron — with voting for the round set to conclude on Wednesday.

Check out Gronkowski scoring a TD on Megatron — and then shattering the robot — in the video below.

"Sean Pamphilon and I have an agreement that all recordings ultimately belong to me and my family," Gleason wrote on his website. "Nothing can be released without my explicit approval. I did not authorize the public release of any recordings."

"I feel deflated and disappointed," he added. "I feel frustrated and distracted. Nevertheless, these feelings will pass, and I will continue steadfast in my mission."

Gleason played defensive back for the Saints from 2000 to 2006, but had to retire at the age of 29 after being diagnosed with amyotrophic lateral sclerosis (ALS).

Gleason has been working on a documentary with Pamphilon since the spring of 2011, which intends to serve as a video journal throughout his battle with ALS. He said he was given some access to the Saints' locker room during the filming.

Williams, who has been indefinitely suspended from the NFL, came under even more fire on Thursday, after Pamphilon released an audio recording of his speech before the New Orleans-San Francisco playoff game. On the tape, the former defensive coordinator can be heard instructing his players to injure quarterback Alex Smith and receivers Michael Crabtree and Kyle Williams.

"Since my retirement, and specifically this year, the Saints have opened their doors and included me in countless team functions," Gleason said in the statement. "I included Sean Pamphilon in some of these activities, because I felt my relationship with the Saints was an integral part of my overall journey. The Saints trusted me and gave us unlimited access in filming, and I, in turn, trusted Sean Pamphilon."

But on Thursday night, the 23-year-old third baseman made sure to silent any doubters — at least for the time being — with his three-hit performance in Pawtucket’s season opener against the Buffalo Bisons at McCoy Stadium.

“He had a good night tonight, it was nice to see him get off to a good start,” Pawtucket manager Arnie Beyeler said after the game, a 4-2 win. “I know he’s had a good spring. He’s hit the ball well and made a real nice play there late in the game, played good defense tonight. He’s a well-rounded player. You got to see a little bit of what he brings to the table tonight. He drove the ball to all fields and had a nice night.”

Middlebrooks had a hit in each of his first three plate appearances en route to a 3-for-4 evening.

The 6-foot-4, 200-pound third baseman flashed opposite-field power in his first two at-bats, scorching the ball to the right-center field gap for a double in the second inning before hitting one down the right-field line in the fourth.

“That’s my swing, man,” Middlebrooks said after the game of his opposite-field hits. “Middle of the field, the right side is really good for me. When I’m hittin’ the ball there, I’m seeing it really well.”

That was rarely the case, however, during his brief stint in Triple-A last season.

After batting .302 with 18 homers and 80 RBIs in 96 games at Double-A Portland, Middlebrooks was awarded a late-season call-up to Pawtucket — where he scuffled to a .161 average in 16 games while striking out 18 times.

Beyeler said the reason for Middlebrooks’ struggles were simply because “he was tired,” but the third baseman quickly dismissed that as being the main cause.

“At that point in the year I’m sure everyone is [tired], so it’s not really an excuse,” he said. “That’s something you train for all offseason, and it’s something I worked on, just keep my body healthy.”

Following the 2011 season, Middlebrooks made a trip to Scottsdale, Ariz., to participate in the Arizona Fall League, where he hit .250 and blasted four home runs in 13 games. He then spent most of spring training in big league camp before getting assigned to Pawtucket on March 16.

Middlebrooks, a former fifth-round pick out of high school in the 2007 MLB First-Year Player Draft, is entering his fifth professional season with the Red Sox. Considered the organization’s top prospect by Baseball America and SoxProspects.com, the third baseman is now just an injury or two away from earning a big league call-up.

When asked about what it’s like to be this close to the majors, Middlebrooks said, “It’s awesome. They always say, ‘Don’t think about it, don’t think about it, don’t think about,’ but you’re gonna think about it. You’re right here and that’s — we come here to work every day so we can get to that level.”

For now, though, he said his focus is on being consistent and “just kind of keep up what I’m doing.”

So far, so good on that front.

“I came in here with a sense of urgency, and I really didn’t want to wait to get things going,” Middlebrooks. “I just wanted to really focus as hard as I could to get good pitches to hit.

“It’s really good to get off to a good start, it just kind of sets the tone for the season,” he added. “So I just want to get off on the right foot.”

Fans now have the opportunity to watch the showdown from Paul Pierce's personal suite — at a significantly reduced price. The Celtics captain announced Friday in a release that he is raffling off 18 tickets for the luxury box.

"I am thrilled that we are giving fans another chance to sit in my suite while helping to raise funds to support my Truth on Health Campaign," Pierce said. "It is critical for kids to understand that staying active and eating healthy are the keys to leading a happy and fulfilling life, and all of the funds we raise will help give kids the tools and information they need to live a healthy lifestyle."

Tickets for the raffle can be bought for $2 at www.netraffle.org until April 16, when three winners will be selected and awarded six tickets each (four regular seats, two standing room) to the suite.

All of the proceeds will go to Pierce's Truth on Health Campaign, which tries to raise awareness on how young people can lead healthier lifestyles.

In his usual form, the Wilmette, Ill., native added some humor to the day’s festivities when he ran the bases at Wrigley Field and dramatically slid into home.

Check it out in the video below.

What’s remained constant over the years, though, has been fan support at McCoy Stadium.

“They’ve always done a good job here … at drawing people,” Beyeler said Thursday night after Pawtucket beat the Buffalo Bisons 4-2 in the teams’ 2012 season opener. “I know we get a lot of people [at games] down on the big league team and on the road, and they have a good following here as well.”

The PawSox’ season-opening win drew an official attendance of 8,872, just shy of the 8,908 mark the stadium has averaged the last seven years.

Since 2005, the PawSox have led the International League in attendance twice (’05 and ’06), never finishing lower than fourth (’10 and ’11) during that same time span.

In 2005, 2006 and 2008, the team averaged over 9,000 fans per game at McCoy Stadium, which seats a capacity of 10,333

“The people come out, especially when the weather gets a little warmer,” Beyeler said. “We fill this place up quite a bit. The front office here does a great job at that. So we got some good fans around here, and they come out win, lose or draw, or weather good and bad. They do a nice job.”

Final, 4-2 Paw: And that's the game!

Mock shuts the door on the Bisons, and the PawSox kick off the 2012 season with a win.

Starter Justin Germano gets the W for Pawtucket after going five innings and only surrendering two runs. Tazawa and Mock then shut the door with four scoreless innings out of the pen.

Ciriaco led the way for the offense, going 4-for-5 with two RBIs, while Middlebrooks turned in his own 3-for-4 performance to start the year.

The PawSox and Bisons will be back in action tomorrow night, with the first pitch scheduled for 6:15 p.m. at McCoy Stadium.

Top 9th, 4-2 Paw: Garrett Mock is back out for the 9th to try to shut the door on the Bisons.

After leading off the inning with a walk, Mock gets Pascucci to ground into a double play.

The PawSox are one out away from an opening day win.

End 8th, 4-2 Paw: Ciriaco's perfect batting average is snapped, as he flies out to center field to open the 8th. I guess he'll just have to settle for a 4-for-5 season opener.

Iglesias (0-for-4) and Lavarnway (0-for-3, 2 BBs) go down by way of the K, so we move on to the 9th!

Top 8th, 4-2 Paw: Iglesias makes the play of the game so far, robbing Omar Quintanilla of a hit with a diving, backhanded catch. He's living up to his billing as a defensive whiz so far.

Tazawa leaves after two innings. His final line: 2 IP, 0 ER, 1 H, 1 B, 4 SO

Mid 7th, 4-2 Paw: Tazawa strikes out the side in the 7th, with a single and wild pitch sandwiched in between.

Four strikeouts — to one hit and one walk — in two innings for the righty.

Official attendance, by the way: 8,872

End 6th, 4-2 Paw: Middlebrooks flies out to center field to end the inning, which means Ciriaco is now the only member of the team who's batting 1.000.

The PawSox have now stranded 11 baserunners through six. With just the two-run lead, hopefully that doesn't come back to bite them.

Bot 6th, 4-2 Paw: Here we go again.

Lavarnway draws his second walk of the game, loading the bases with two outs for Gomez.

Bot 6th, 4-2 Paw: When you're hot, you're hot.

That's probably not what people will be saying about Ciriaco after the opener despite his four-hit performance (so far), as he three of them didn't make it past the infield.

Still, they all count the same in the box score.

Mid 6th, 4-2 Paw: Tazawa throws a scoreless 6th, mixing in a walk and a strikeout.

His fastball was 86-88 mph against the first couple batters, but he got it up to 93 mph by the end of the inning.

Top 6th, 4-2 Paw: Junichi Tazawa enters the game for the PawSox and makes a nice play on a grounder back to the mound to start off the 6th.

The 25-year-old right-hander from Japan split 22 games (eight starts) between Portland and Pawtucket last season, going 4-4 with a 4.61 ERA and 59 strikeouts in 56 1/3 innings. Tazawa appeard in six games for the Red Sox in 2009, but missed all of 2010 after undergoing Tommy John surgery.

Germano's final line: 5 IP, 3 H, 2 ER, 0 BB, 2 SO, 2 HRA

End 5th, 4-2 Paw: PawSox have extended to the lead to two runs…without the ball leaving the infield once.

After two straight walks, Middlebrooks smoked a liner off the pitcher — which was generously scored his third hit — to load the bases.

Then, after new Bisons pitcher Jeff Stevens got Lin to pop out to first (he's still struggling to make good contact), Repko hit an infield single to deep third base to drive across another run.

Hassan lines out sharply to third to end the inning, but not before the PawSox have their biggest lead of the season.

Bot 5th, 3-2 Paw: Gomez and Lars draw back-to-back walks, which forces Harvey from the game.

The PawSox drew four walks in 4 1/3 innings from the Buffalo starter.

Two on with one out for Middlebrooks.

Bot 5th, 3-2 Paw: Lavarnway flies out to the warning track in left to lead off the bottom of the 5th. Both his outs so far have been well struck, while none of Ciriaco's three hits have been well struck.

Like I said before, baseball is a funny game.

Top 5th, 3-2 Paw: Lin makes a sliding catch coming in from center field. He sure can cover a lot of ground.

Gotta love this tweet from the Providence Journal's Brian MacPherson: "The designated hitter who just homered for Buffalo [Pascucci] is so old he played for the Expos."

End 4th, 3-2 Paw: And the PawSox strike right back!

Middlebrooks smokes his second double of the day down the right-field line to start things off, before Repko draws a walk.

Hassan then reaches on an error to load the passes, follwed up by a two-run single Ciriaco, who's now 3-for-3 on the evening.

Iglesias is 0-for-3 so far after grounding into an inning-ending twin-killing, although he did make solid contact in his second AB.

Mid 4th, 2-1 Buf: The Bisons strike right back!

No. 2 hitter Josh Satin lives up to his last name, hitting a solo homer to left field. 

Then, two batters later, Valentino Pascucci (he might be Italian) takes Germano yard to nearly the same spot of the ballpark.

The PawSox face their first deficit of the young, young season.

End 3rd, 1-0 Paw: PawSox strike first on a Gomez single to left field!

Matt Harvey has thrown 54 pitches through three innings, compared to just 34 for Germano.

Bot 3rd, 0-0: As another person in the press box pointed out: Ciriaco hasn't hit the ball past shortstop, yet is 2-for-2. Baseball is a funny game.

Ciriaco then gets to third on a stolen base and wild pitch, before Lavarnway draws a walk. Runners on the corners with two outs for Gomez.

Mid 3rd, 0-0: Germano gives up a one-out double, but the Bisons failed to push a run across the plate.

This game is following a very similar tune to one another Red Sox team played in earlier today. Hopefully, though, the outcome will be better for the good guys.

End 2nd, 0-0: Repko gives one a ride to deep left, but gets nothing but a long flyout to show for it.

Still no score heading into the 3rd.

Top 2nd, 0-0: Middlebrooks hits a one-out double to the right-center field gap.

The third baseman hit just .161 after his call-up late last season, so it will be interesting to see how he adjusts with 56 Triple-A at-bats under his belt.

I've seen him play about a half-dozen times, and the ball really seems to jump off his bat when he makes contact.

Lin steps to the plate with a chance to give the PawSox the lead…

Mid 1st, 0-0: Germano looks sharp here in the early going, setting down the first six batters.

The 29-year-old righty has appeared in 79 games (36 starts) in six different stints in the majors, so he could be a candidate for a spot start if any of the Sox' starting pitchers need to miss a game or two.

Iglesias makes a nice backhanded stab on his first defensive opportunity of the season.

End 1st, 0-0: Buffalo pitcher Matt Harvey gets out of the jam.

Lavarnway was robbed of a hit by a diving catch by center fielder Kirk Nieuwenhuis, then Ciriaco was thrown out at third on a double-steal attempt.

No score as we head to the 2nd.

Bot 1st, 0-0: First two are on for the PawSox.

Ciriaco leads off the game with an infield single (that could have been an error), followed up by an E1 that allows Iglesias to reach base.

Runners on first and second for Lavarnway with nobody out.

Mid 1st, 0-0: Fly out and two grounders to second gives Germano the 1-2-3 inning to kick off the game.

Onto the home half of the 1st.

Pawtucket’s lineup:

2B – Pedro Ciriaco

SS – Jose Iglesias

C – Ryan Lavarnway

DH – Mauro Gomez

1B – Lars Anderson

3B – Will Middlebrooks

CF – Che-Hsuan Lin

RF – Jason Repko

LF – Alex Hassan

Top 1st: And were live from Pawtucket, where it's a scorching 49 degrees!

Justin Germano gets the start for the PawSox, and he delivers an 85-mph heater for a strike to start off the season.

8 a.m. ET: While the big club gets ready to kick off its 2012 campaign in Detroit, the Pawtucket Red Sox will begin their season Thursday night at the friendly confines of McCoy Stadium.

Fresh off the team's first International League North Division title since 2003, the PawSox are looking to keep that momentum going when they face the New York Mets' Triple-A affiliate, the Buffalo Bisons.

Pawtucket's lineup is littered with infield prospects, including the likes of third baseman Will Middlebrooks, catcher Ryan Lavarnway, first baseman Lars Anderson and shortstop Jose Iglesias, whom many anticipate will get a call to Boston at some point this season. Lavarnway led the 2011 squad with 18 homers, while Anderson batted in a team-best 78 runs.

First pitch is slated for 7:05 p.m., so stick with NESN for live updates throughout the game.

Now, he'll get the chance to speak directly to New York's fanbase all season, as the Boston skipper signed a deal to make weekly appearances on ESPN-1050's The Michael Kay Show, the New York Daily News reported on Wednesday.

"The idea of getting Bobby intrigued them [ESPN-1050]," a radio source said. "And since he already had worked for ESPN [Valentine's last stop was ESPN's Sunday Night Baseball booth] a relationship was already established."

During the weekly segments, Valentine will be interviewed by Michael Kay, the Yankees' TV color commentator.

Valentine, who's familiar with the Big Apple from his seven seasons as Mets manager, will make his first appearance at 4:30 p.m. ET on Wednesday. It marks the first time a non-New York manager has signed a contract with the radio station.

Parcells getting hired by the Minnesota Vikings, on the other hand — well, it still probably wouldn’t surprise anyone.

Vikings owner Zygi Wilf told the Hall of Fame candidate to “name his price” to take over the team’s football operations and coaching duties, the New York Post reports.

Minnesota is seeking an upgrade at head coach after the team went 3-13 last season under first-year man Leslie Frazier, according to the report.

Parcells, 71, won two Super Bowls in 19 seasons with the Giants, Patriots, Jets and Cowboys.

In February, he missed out on election into the Hall of Fame in what was his first year of eligibility.

On Wednesday, he took a physical swipe at Tom Brady – well, Brady’s puppet form — after an appearance on SportsCenter. Colin Herd‘s radio show tweeted the photo of Revis making a fist at Brady’s puppet.

Patriots tight end Rob Gronkowski also stopped by the ESPN studio Wednesday for a SportsCenter interview, and he took the time to pose with Brady’s doppleganger as well.

Check out the photos below.

(Twitter/@TheHerd)

(Twitter/@TheHerd)