Mike Celizic

Someone — it wasn’t Eliot Spitzer — once said that all publicity is good publicity: It doesn’t matter what you say, as long as you spell the name right.

Experience has proved the wisdom of that view, especially in these celebrity-infested times, when people can be famous — and wealthy — simply for being famous. The trick isn’t to get one’s 15 minutes; anybody can do that. It’s to get hours and days and weeks of it, to get to the point where you’re being talked about almost as much as Britney Spears.

This is why the Boston Red Sox, the reigning World Series champions and arguably the best-liked team in baseball, are starting their season on Tuesday in Tokyo against Oakland instead of somewhere in the United States next week like everybody else. It’s also why, after two games in Japan, they travel to Los Angeles to resume the exhibition season — two days after they begin the real season — then go to Oakland to resume the regular season.

Is this silly? You bet it is. Traveling halfway around the world to start a season in front of somebody else’s fans is strange enough. Then returning to spring training in Los Angeles before returning to the regular season is beyond strange.

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But when you look at how many stories this trip is generating, it starts to look as sane as it is silly. By virtue of going to Japan, the Red Sox are the biggest baseball story and one of the biggest sports stories on both sides of the Pacific Ocean. In cities around America that have their own teams to think about, the Red Sox are getting major headlines. In Japan, they’re the biggest show around.

Their celebrity is one part world champions and several parts Japanese star pitchers — starter Daisuke Matzusaka and reliever Hideki Okajima. These are players who were once among the biggest names in Japan, and now they’re playing for the American champions. By extension, they are walking testimony that American baseball is the epitome of the game. That’s a powerful statement, and it translates into television viewers, Internet visitors and merchandise sales.

That’s the purpose of these trips — to grow the brand and open new income streams. Call it greedy, as some have, but every business either expands or stagnates. Baseball, which was the last American sport to look beyond American and Latin American borders, has finally caught on that there’s a very big world out there. And one of the best ways to grow is to tap new markets.

And Japan is a market that’s doesn’t even have to be developed — they’ve been playing baseball there for more than 130 years, and Babe Ruth barnstormed there in 1934. All it needs is to be tapped.

INTERACTIVE MLB in Japan Click to see images from baseball past

Some traditionalists, of which baseball has a limitless supply, have criticized this idea of opening the season in Japan, which has become an annual — dare I say? — tradition. It’s too far away, it robs a team of a couple of home games on American soil, it’s done for no purpose other than to make more money.

The only argument that is in any way legitimate is the one about taking games away from American fans. Oakland loses two home gates against the popular Red Sox. I assume baseball makes it worth Oakland’s while financially, but those are still two opportunities to see Big Papi and Manny and Papelbon and Varitek, et al. that Oakland fans can’t get back.

This is why Oakland is the home team for the two games in Japan — the Athletics, who don’t draw that well, can more afford to give up a home game than can the Red Sox. I feel for A’s fans, but I’ll feel more sorry when they start selling out all their games. Even with two fewer home games this season, there are plenty of tickets available, which isn’t the case in Boston, where every game is a sellout.

But other than that, all other arguments are just so much hot air. Nobody forced the teams to go on the trip. They voted to go there, and the majority ruled. So I’ll hear no whining about jet lag or fatigue from the rigors of having to spend a week in luxury hotels in Japan with all expenses paid. I’d be glad to suffer such deprivation any day. I’m sure most fans would, too.

The players know that as difficult as a long trip in a chartered jet may be, it’s worth it. It sells the game and it sells products and it grows the games.

Baseball doesn’t need less of this, but more. It has played regular-season games in Puerto Rico out of necessity, but why not make regular visits to all the Latin American countries that send so many players to the United States? There are enough teams that have trouble drawing at home and could be easily compensated for playing a couple in the Dominican Republic, Mexico, Panama or even — if Hugo Chavez promises to play nice — Venezuela.

The world is a lot smaller than it used to be, and all the American sports have recognized that. The NFL plays regular-season games overseas. So does the NBA. The NHL is thinking of it. The genie’s out of the bottle, and you can’t force it back in.

It’s great publicity, and that makes it great for the game.

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