At long last, it's happening. The shock of No Nomar is over. The people in place are catching the ball and throwing it to the right people. The pitchers are pitching. The hitters are hitting. The Red Sox are going to make the playoffs as the American League wild-card entry and they are going to meet the Yankees again in the ALCS, then play the Cubs (who's their shortstop?) or Dodgers in the 2004 World Series.
Plan now. Game 7 of the 2004 Fall Classic will be played on Sunday, Oct. 31 (Halloween) at Fenway Park. The Sox ground crew will probably get to work on that World Series logo behind home plate any minute.
There's potential for a major conflict in all this. If the Sox win the World Series, they'd traditionally (can there be any tradition for something that happens once every 86 years?) have their championship parade two days later -- which would be Tuesday, Nov. 2. Also known as Election Day. Mayor Thomas M. Menino better start thinking about this now. It could be a logistical and tactical nightmare.
All of the above came into focus at Fenway yesterday afternoon when Pedro "Old Hoss Radbourn" Martinez pitched an old-fashioned, nine-inning shutout, beating the Tampa Bay Devil Rays, 6-0. Pushing his record to 13-4, Pedro is 9-1 in his last 14 starts. He fanned 10 and walked none. He has not missed a start this year. If it's a salary drive, it's a damn good one. The ace gives Red Sox Nation reason to believe that maybe this could be the year. Again.
"I feel a lot more confident that this team is going to play better," said Martinez. "The team is starting to settle down."
He talked about the defense. He talked about players knowing their roles.
"We've been playing better," acknowledged manager Terry Francona. "We lost those close games, but we are playing better baseball. That's the idea, regardless of whether you string together eight . . . We just have to keep playing good baseball. I think we believe in our ball club."
