Passionate Red Sox fans are still trying to wash the bitter taste of defeat from their mouth after watching the Red Sox hand a sure victory over the New York Yankees last October. Once again, we had to endure the taunts from the Yankee faithful and talk of an unspoken curse made by a dead ballplayer. Then, we watched these two teams play hardball in the baseball market; the Sox lured Curt Schilling away from balmy Arizona and the Yankees while New York snatched Alex Rodriguez, a player that was thisclose to being in a Red Sox uniform. In March, spring training tickets between the Sox and Yanks were fetching $500 each for a game that no impact on the upcoming season except to evaluate non-roster invitees vying for a spot on the parent club. As the season began, the rivalry was about as heated as it has ever been and we wondered what stories would be written this year.

So Sunday afternoon, as I watched Gary Sheffield weakly swing at strike three from Scott Williamson to end a three-game sweep at Yankee Stadium, I had to stop myself from clapping and cheering too loudly in my living room, less I wake up my sleeping son on the other end of the house. Boston has just managed to take six out of a possible seven games in ten days from New York and, while fans of Boston were trying their best to stay grounded and remind themselves that championships are won in October, Yankee fans were jeering their beloved nine. Peering into the enemy dugout, the pinstriped hosts looked as if they had just been to a funeral. Meanwhile, the visitors casually filed onto the field to congratulate each other and fans wondered if they were not feeling as elated as the rest of New England.

Something just did not feel right, though. Granted, as it has already been established, it’s only April and the Sox have plenty of games left to play before the season ends. However, that was not what bothered me. Had the Yankees, with eight All-Stars in the starting lineup for Sunday, been unable to beat a Red Sox team that was missing Nomar Garciaparra and Trot Nixon? Were they not able to get into the mind of Pedro Martinez, who had single-handedly (with some help from Grady Little) given Game Seven of last year’s American League Championship series back to the Yankees? What happens when our team is finally together as it was put together on paper in the off-season; what will happen then when these two collide later this season?

No one should feel sorry for the New York Yankees with the 26 world championships and the $183 million payroll. No sympathy cards must be mailed to George Steinbrenner. No flowers need to be delivered to Joe Torre or Brian Cashman’s office. No Get Well cards must be sent to Derek Jeter or Alex Rodriguez. If the Yankees have proven one thing over the years, it is their resilient nature and the ability to bounce back from troubled times. No one truly believes that the Yankees are done; it’s only April, remember?

Yet, what if this is the season that the Yankees finally come apart at the seams? What if they are doomed to a .500 season, or worse? What if the team doesn’t improve much from its abysmal .217 batting average, 53 points less than opponents are batting against them? Have teams from the AL East finally figured out how to pitch around these guys? Have they lost the ability to produce runs when needed, one at a time? Will the jeers from the minions at Yankee Stadium continue into May, then June, and perhaps all the way into September?

As a Red Sox fan, my first priority is to see that the Red Sox win the World Series. My only contribution to this effort is my unyielding support through thick and thin and perhaps the purchase of some tickets every season. However, what I would love nothing more is to see that, on the way, they stomp on New York to earn that title. I don’t mean win 15-of-19 games during the regular season and finish 20 games in front of them; I want another classic ALCS showdown.

I want to see a series between them that ends with the Red Sox streaming onto the field, jumping on each other’s backs, spraying champagne on reporters, and blowing smoke from nice juicy cigars. I want to see the ghost of Ted Williams in a corner of the clubhouse standing there with a knowing smirk. I want to see Johnny Pesky cry tears of joy. I want to see a dejected Yankee squad slowly file back to the clubhouse, hanging their heads, and wiping a few tears from their eyes.

Truthfully, at this point, I and the rest of the Boston faithful just want to see the Red Sox win their first championship in 86 years, and it doesn’t matter to me what teams they must push aside to get there. What would give me the most satisfaction, however, is to know that we went through New York to do it. Having been in their shadows for so long - 86 years, to be exact - nothing would be sweeter than to finish what was started in 2003, when the Red Sox came so very close to making this wish come true.

Pedro Martinez - 45 - RHP
Week 3 - 19-25 April 2004

Sometimes you just have to prove the doubters wrong, and Pedro Martinez did just that in answering those critics who believed that he had fallen to number two behind Curt Schilling in the Red Sox rotation. Martinez looked that way after a no decision against the Baltimore Orioles at home on 15 April when he gave up seven runs on eight hits in five innings of work. Martinez started his award-winning week of work by pitching seven strong innings against Toronto, giving up just two runs, one earned, in a 4-2 victory over the Blue Jays. Then, on Sunday afternoon, Martinez was back in New York to face the Yankees and a raucous crowd, who were unabashed in reminding him of how much they dislike him. Martinez ignored the boos and the taunts and pitched a gem, giving up just four hits and striking out seven in seven innings of work. The only threat came in the fifth when the Yankees put runners on second and third, but Martinez got the next batter to pop out, and then struck out Derek Jeter looking to end the threat. Combined with two innings of relief from Scott Williamson, Martinez shut out the Yankees, 2-0, thus giving Boston a sweep of the Yankees for the first time since 1999. With his two appearances, Martinez lowered his ERA from 4.82 to 3.03 and won back-to-back starts for the first time this season. He also did not yield a single home run in either start after giving up at least one in each of previous starts.

Bill Mueller - 11 - 3B
Week 2 - 12-18 April 2004

The reigning AL batting champion started out of the gates a little slow, but his efforts in the past week were enough to earn him Player of the Week honors from FenwayFanatics.com. Mueller was hitting just .182 after the first week of the season with just two RBI. In Thursday’s loss to Baltimore, Mueller only had one hit, but it was a three-run home run that gave Pedro Martinez a three-run lead at the time. Over the weekend with New York, he had at least one hit in every game and went 3-for-3 with two RBI in Friday night’s 5-2 victory for Boston. Following Sunday’s loss to the Yankees, he had raised his average to .260 and had also raised his on-base percentage from .229 to .327.

Nomar Garciaparra smiled to reporters this spring and told everyone not to worry because his ankle was just a little sore and that, after all, spring training games are meaningless. You don’t win championships in Florida, unless you happen to be the Marlins. But, just days before the 2004 season was to begin, the Red Sox placed the All-Star shortstop on the 15-day disabled list due to a sore Achilles with a likely return date around the end of April. You can’t help but flash back a few seasons when he missed most of 2001 due to a nagging wrist injury that required surgery on Opening Day.

Trot Nixon is another of the walking wounded for the Red Sox; out since early in spring training with a sore back, he is not expected to return until the start of May at the earliest. Ditto for Ramiro Mendoza, who was placed on the DL with shoulder tendonitis four games into the young season, and Byung-Hyun Kim, who started the season on the DL and spends these days rehabbing in Sarasota. Johnny Damon has also sat out for a couple of games, perhaps in part because his long hair has robbed him of any peripheral vision and caused him to run into his fellow outfielders during the first few games. Fortunately, his injury will not require injured reserve status and he should be back for action when the rains end.

Perhaps the slew of injuries that have plagued the Red Sox early in this year’s race can account in part for the stagnant production at the plate. Yes, the Sox are 4-3 after a week of baseball, but perhaps more thanks to a strong bullpen that have helped keep games close. Except for the absence of Todd Walker, this team has the same makeup as last season’s team that scored 961 runs; the difference is that the Sox were relatively injury-free for most of that year. So, instead of fielding the dream team that was molded in the off-season, Boston has had to go to the bench early and rely on role players like Gabe Kapler, Mark Bellhorn, and Cesar Crespo to fill in the blanks.

Fortunately, the schedule makers are usually very kind to the Red Sox in April. Yes, they face the Yankees seven times, but the rest of the competition consists mainly of the weak sisters from the East: Baltimore, Toronto, and Tampa Bay. Yes, they have improved and are not to be taken lightly but, even with one eye closed, the Sox can manage .500 in April without much effort and stay close to New York.

Boston, to keep its sights on October, must count on the return of its starters as expected by the end of this month. Until then, manager Terry Francona must continue to juggle the lineup as he has and hope for the best; so far, the oddball combinations have worked to help stay the course. Most important is that the rest of the team, minus the injured regulars, must remain healthy; any further setbacks may dig a hole out of which is too deep for Boston to climb.

Keith Foulke - 29 - RHP
Week 1 - 04-11 April 2004

For those of you ready to give David Ortiz the title, I just have one thing to say about that: closer-by-committee. Remember how worried Sox fans were last season as the bullpen struggled early? Foulke not only showed that he will be an effective closer, but he also proved his value in non-save situations. Thus far, he has assured Sox fans that the bullpen can be counted on to help ease the tension in late innings. Foulke earned two saves this week, one to help Boston earn its first victory of the season last Tuesday, the second to help close the door for Pedro Martinez’s win on Saturday. He also came in with the score tied in the last game of the Baltimore series and managed to keep the Orioles off the board for his two innings of work in extra frames. Foulke also worked 1-1/3 innings of relief in Sunday’s extra-inning affair to help set up another win for Boston. On the young season, he has allowed just four hits and three walks in 5-1/3 innings of work while allowing no runs and striking out three.