Who would have guessed that the brothers responsible for giving cinema the indelible image of a man's most private of parts ensnared in a zipper were, in their heart of hearts, a couple of romantics?

The Farrelly brothers whose catalog includes There's Something About Mary, Me, Myself & Irene and Shallow Hal have become synonymous with all things gross, outrageous and gross some more.

But with each film, the siblings have exposed more of their softer side. So much so that the directing duo's latest outing, Fever Pitch, is as soft and squeezable as a roll of Charmin.

A tribute to the games of baseball and love, the film is about a boy (Jimmy Fallon) and a girl (Drew Barrymore) who fall for each other. But as with all romantic comedies, there must be a hitch.

The hitch here isn't an ardent ex, feuding families or pesky in-laws. It's the Red Sox.

"Saturday Night Live" alum Fallon is Ben, a die-hard Sox fan in every sense. Think Red Sox bed sheet, pillowcases and bath towels and Yankees toilet paper.

Fallon imbues Ben, a ninth-grade math teacher, with an understated mix of man-boy charm, wit and just enough dorkiness to make it believable.

While taking students on a field trip, he meets upwardly mobile career gal Lindsey on a tour of her office. On the verge of "20 plus 10," Lindsey is prone to dating sharp, competitive and successful types. But it never works out because, as a friend notes, "You're dating yourself."