Drew is ready for takeoff

boston.com - J.D. Drew sat at the far reaches of the Red Sox clubhouse, an open book filled with SAT-style hieroglyphics perched on his lap. He was studying, not quite engrossed in, the glossy blue book that held not questions for high schoolers but for those who want to take to the air. For a flight test, an idea Drew has been kicking around in his head.

He has a friend, a doctor, who flies him to his farm in Georgia, a far easier way to get there than the 3 1/2-hour drive from his house in Hahira, Ga. With the approval of his wife, Sheigh, Drew has been looking over the giant book of questions, "playing around" with an idea that would cut his commute to 39 minutes in the air.

It was a welcome break, despite the hundreds of questions in front of him, not long before yesterday's spring training game against the Pirates, in which Drew had a hit and a walk in his two plate appearances, driving in one run and scoring another. Though he was sitting alone at that moment, just his presence in the clubhouse was something new for Drew.