FORT MYERS, Fla. -- The Boston Red Sox made their first cuts of the spring Wednesday, trimming their roster by reassigning to minor-league camp players who are no longer in competition for a spot on the big-league team, or never were. Guys who were here to pad the roster while the veterans were brought along slowly, to take the long bus rides across the state, to fill up the lineup card for split-squad games, to dot the field in the late innings with numbers in the 60s, 70s and 80s.

Sometimes they’re here to gain their first exposure to the big-league way of life, well ahead of their eventual arrival date, because there is no doubt this is their eventual destination. Get used to this, Blake Swihart.

Then there is Matt Spring, who like Swihart is a catcher. But Spring turned 30 years old last November and has spent parts of the last four seasons in Class AA Portland. This is Spring’s 12th year in professional baseball, which draws him even with Crash Davis, the Kevin Costner character in "Bull Durham.” Spring met his wife, Meredith, playing in Columbus, Georgia, in 2007 and carried on their courtship from Montgomery, Alabama, his next stop along the way. Now they have a 2 1/2-year-old son, Bo, who was watching on TV the other day when Spring, wearing No. 81 on his back, hit a home run and two doubles in a game here against the New York Mets.

“I ranked over Mickey Mouse today," Spring said afterward. “That’s good."

Spring has played for teams called Renegades and Catfish, Biscuits and Stone Crabs and Sea Dogs, but has never spent a day in the big leagues. His teammates who have played with him in Portland or Pawtucket or both swear by him -- guys like Bryce Brentz and Garin Cecchini and Brock Holt.

“Couldn’t ask for a better teammate," Brentz said.

“Really looks out for the young guys, keeps everybody loose," Cecchini said.

“Just a great guy," Holt said.

It’s no accident that Spring tries to make an impact in the clubhouse. He considers it part of the job, which is why a visitor to the Portland clubhouse before games one summer might have been surprised to find it converted to a disco club, complete with flashing lights and pounding music. “He was pumping us up," Cecchini recalled.

But maintaining a good vibe in the clubhouse is not what has Spring coming back year after year.

“I've told a lot of people this: If I didn’t think I could play in the big leagues, and if I didn’t think that if my opportunity comes I’ll go up there and have some success, I wouldn’t be doing this," he said.

If Spring was going to quit, he might have been inclined to do so long before now. He was 19 when he was drafted out of Dixie State (Utah) Junior College by the Tampa Bay Rays, who took him in the fourth round and gave him a $400,000 signing bonus. He was assigned to Hudson Valley in the short-season New York-Penn League, hit a long home run and double in his first game, and figured he was on his way.

That was 2004. In 2006, he was still in Hudson Valley for a third season. It was 2009 before the Rays invited him to his first big-league camp. He would not attend another until this spring.

"I had to come over here and re-establish myself," Spring said. “Build a new reputation."

Spring has had five at-bats in games this spring. There seems little chance for advancement here. The Sox are set with Christian Vazquez and Ryan Hanigan on the big-league level; Swihart is expected to be the everyday catcher in Pawtucket. Spring could end up as the backup in Pawtucket, though the Sox have a couple other six-year minor-league free agents in camp -- Luke Montz and Humberto Quintero -- both of whom have played in the big leagues, Quintero for parts of a dozen seasons.

There’s a pretty good chance Spring could be back in Portland for a fifth season.

“I love the dude," said Steven Wright, the knuckleballer who had Spring behind the plate Monday. “He’s a good guy, man. He can catch, he can hit. He’s a lot better than what a lot of people give him credit for. He’s done a good job. He knows where he’s at in the depth of the organization, but he goes out there and works his butt off.

"I love throwing to him. I have the most experience with him, and he’s helped me out a lot. I brought him down to winter ball with me to the Dominican two years ago to Escogido. He’s a smart kid. Kid? He’s 30, but this is the best I’ve seen him, conditioning-wise, playing-wise. He came in meaning business. He’s a guy that I definitely think can play."

And so does Matt Spring. It’s why even a spring-training afternoon -- one in which you hit a ball over the Monster and deliver a big hit in a ninth-inning rally, with Meredith and Bo back home watching -- means a little extra.

“A good day to put in the memory bank," he said, “for when you’re not feeling good, and can pump yourself back up.

“When I feel like there’s absolutely no chance of playing in the big leagues, then it’ll be time to look in the mirror and say, ‘You know what? I’m wasting me and my family’s time.' It’s tough to be away from them. Meredith, she's my No. 1 support system, she and Bo. Bo tells Daddy to hit it high every day. My son has a little miniature baseball helmet and eats breakfast in it, and in the car he’ll have a glove and ball, sitting in the back."

There will be more cutdown days to come, and inevitably Matt Spring, who won Wednesday’s game against the Twins with an eighth-inning single, will be called into manager John Farrell’s office. And he’ll do what he’s always done.

Spring hopes eternal.