Boston outfielder Manny Ramirez hugs teammate Joe Thurston during spring training in Fort Myers, Fla., yesterday.

AP / Charles Krupa

For the last month, it’s been business as usual for the Red Sox in spring training. Like the other 29 Major League Baseball teams, they arrived in mid-February and began exhibition games later that month.

But starting Wednesday, the Red Sox’ spring is about to be turned upside down. On that day, they’ll begin a stretch of 2½ weeks that will see them open their season approximately 7,000 miles from home in Japan and play games — some regular season, some exhibition — in three countries on two continents.

A primer:

When are the Red Sox leaving Fort Myers?

Immediately after Wednesday’s game with the Toronto Blue Jays. The team will bus from City of Palms Parks to Southwest Florida International Airport, where they will board a 777 charter and begin a 19-hour flight to Tokyo.

Will they return to Florida when they finish up in Tokyo?

No. Having learned from the Yankees and Devil Rays’ experience in 2004, Major League Baseball will have the teams return to the West Coast, to cut down on travel and jet lag.

When will they arrive in Japan?

About midnight Thursday, the next day.

What’s the time difference between Providence and Tokyo?

Tokyo is 13 hours ahead of Providence. So, when the Red Sox play the Oakland A’s on March 25 and March 26 at 7:07 p.m. Tokyo time, it will be 6:07 a.m. earlier that same morning in Providence.

What’s in it for the players — financially speaking?

The players will be paid about $50,000 each by Major League Baseball for participating in the trip.

How many players will the Red Sox take to Tokyo? Will they have extras for the exhibition games? How many players will they be allowed to have on the roster for the regular-season games?

Major League Baseball will pay for the Sox (and A’s) to bring 30 players to Japan. The teams will have to cut their rosters down to 28 — as they would if they remained in Florida, with two players along in case of emergencies.

From the list of 28, the Sox will have to include players such as Josh Beckett and Coco Crisp, even if they remain in Florida. Only 25 will be active for a game. Think of the three extra players as a taxi squad, in much the same way NFL teams have inactive players every Sunday.

What will the players do while they’re there?

MLB has a host of activities scheduled, including a visit to a U.S. Army base at Camp Zama, a hospitality party attended by the U.S. ambassador to Japan and host some clinics for Japanese youths. Beyond that, the players will have some free time to sightsee and explore Tokyo.

Who are they playing in the exhibition games?

On Saturday, March 22, the Red Sox will play an afternoon game with Hanshin Tigers (which will start at 11:07 p.m. Providence time on Friday, March 21) as part of a day-night doubleheader in which the A’s will play the Yomiuri Giants in the night game. The following day, which is Easter Sunday, the teams will switch opponents and game times, with the A’s meeting the Tigers in the afternoon and the Sox playing the Giants that evening. That game will start at 6:07 a.m. Providence time, meaning the Sox’ game could serve as backdrop to the kids’ Easter-egg hunt.

Are those games on TV?

No.

How about the games against the A’s?

Yes, on both ESPN2 and NESN.

Are the Sox the home team or the road team in the games against the A’s?

The Red Sox will be the road team in both games, since this series will be continued the next week in Oakland.

When they will leave Tokyo?

An hour after the second game with the A’s, on the evening of Wednesday, March 26.

How long will take them to return to the United States?

The flight to Los Angeles will take about 12 hours, meaning — since they cross the International Dateline along the way — the Sox will return to U.S. soil in the early evening of the same night on which they left.

Will players who remain in Florida for the Japan trip rejoin the Red Sox in Los Angeles to play the exhibition games?

Quite likely. Look for Josh Beckett, for one, to join up with his teammates in Los Angeles.

What will the Sox do in L.A?

They will play three exhibition games against the Dodgers — the first and third at Dodger Stadium and the middle game at the L.A. Coliseum. That game will help commemorate the Dodgers’ 50th anniversary season in Southern California and will be played before the largest crowd to ever watch a baseball game in this country, with more than 100,000 tickets already sold.

Isn’t the Coliseum primarily a football facility?

Yes. Although the Dodgers played there before Dodger Stadium opened, it has been a football-only facility of late, hosting the Raiders when they played in L.A. and seving as the longtime home of the USC Trojans. Thanks to the football configuration and some seating that has been added, it will be just 200 feet down the left-field line with 60-foot-high chain-link fence. In other words, expect lots of doubles and lots of runs scored in that one.

When do the Sox leave for Oakland?

After the third and final game in L.A on Sunday, March 30, the Sox will fly to the Bay Area, where, after a workout day Monday in Oakland, the Sox will resume the series they began with the A’s in Tokyo with games at Network Associates Coliseum on Tuesday, April 1, and Wednesday, April 2.

Then the Sox come home, right?

Not yet. They leave Oakland on the night of April 2 and fly overnight to Toronto, where they have a weekend series with the Blue Jays at Rogers Centre before finally arriving back in Boston on the evening of April 6.

smcadam@projo.com