BOSTON -- The Boston Red Sox boycott of their final game in Florida and season-opener in Japan ended Wednesday when a pay dispute over compensation for their coaches was resolved.

Wednesday's game started about one hour late. It is the last before the team leaves for Japan, where the Sox are scheduled to open their season on March 25 with two games against Oakland.

VIDEO: Fans React To Boycott

"I think the timing kind of caught us off guard," Sox third baseman Mike Lowell said. "We were told that they were going to be compensated, and to hear at the last second we felt that we had to take a stand. We didn't want the game to be delayed, but I felt like that was our leverage."

"We have to make a stand for that part of our unit. It isn’t just players. It's staff members, too," Red Sox catcher Jason Varitek said.

Earlier in the day, the team had voted unanimously to boycott the game against the Toronto Blue Jays and their planned trip to Japan unless Major League Baseball agreed to compensate coaches for the season-opener overseas.

"Everyone connected with the trip will be fairly compensated," baseball spokesman Rich Levin said.

Team spokesman John Blake did not say how the dispute was resolved.

The controversy started when manager Terry Francona found out that the teams' players and managers will be paid an extra $40,000 for the trip to the Far East, but the coaching staffs from both Boston and Oakland would not receive the appearance fee.

Francona said that the coaching staffs of all previous MLB teams that made the trip to Japan were paid the same stipend as the players.

"I did not have an off day yesterday. I had the phone glued to my ear because I was promised some answers, and I haven't even received a phone call," Francona said. "So I'm a little bit stuck. What I want to do this morning is get excited to play a baseball game and what I ended up doing is apologizing to the coaches and being humiliated."

The Red Sox had refused to take the field at Wednesday's game, which was scheduled to begin at 12:07 p.m. The team did not take batting practice, but shortly before the game Coco Crisp and Dustin Pedroia stretched for a few minutes before returning to the clubhouse. The team eventually took the field at about 1:15 p.m.

If the issue was not resolved by Wednesday night, Red Sox players said that they would not board the flight to Japan.

Some fans said that they agree with the players for boycotting because the coaching staff deserves the same pay.

"What's $40,000 for Major League Baseball, you know? I mean the coaches make a lot less than the players do," one fan said. "What is fair is fair."

"If a promise was made, you should honor the promise. They obviously were expecting things, and it's respectable for the players to be looking out for the bullpen catches and looking out for what they were promised and what they are going to get. They do a great service to the team. They play an important role, I think," another fan said.