Today we find ourselves almost exactly 1/5 of the way through the season, and I think the most remarkable thing to be said about our team, past the fact that they are in first place ahead of the Yankees, fresh off of a 4 game sweep of the penultimate division rival Orioles and doing it all without their two biggest bats in the line up, (pause for breath) is that they are making a run at being the first beantown team since 78' to live up to expectations. That is not to say that we have not had our share of good and exciting teams in the past 20 years, but up until now they have all been surprises. It is an instinctual birthright in the New England area to fear a team that is praised and inflated in the off-season. We have learned the simple equation in these parts that expectation = disaster, and the simple fact that these past two seasons were the first consecutive trip to the playoffs for the sox since 1917-18 bears this out. Rather than boost the pride of Sox fans, Sports Illustrated picking our beloved team to win the whole shebang this year was met with a collective groan. We knew that with this much expectation thrown onto our team, they were doomed to fail. But today is May 1st, and a quick glance at the standings, or even a prolonged dissection of the stats, reveals a team that is doing everything they need to keep making progress towards the ultimate goal of playing when its real cold in Boston once again. So, lets take a look at our pitchers and a run around the horn, and see what I'm talking about.

It has never been as obvious as it is this year that expansion has made it next to impossible for a team to have an all around solid pitching staff. The Red Sox, who lead the league in both starter's ERA and reliever's ERA come about as close as any team could to achieving this task that has most GM's tossing and turning every night. Pedro has again been Pedro. He is coming off of possibly his two most dominating back-to-back starts as a Sox thanks to the Robinson vacation day he got last week. Although Pedro is without a doubt our most important pitcher, he might as well be the single most important character on the team also. The one thing you could make a legitimate claim about the sox lacking is a true leader. Saberhagen has filled this role the last two seasons, and will probably resume that position upon his return. But ever since the now infamous Cleveland fiasco, it has been clear that Pedro has stepped up his relationship with the team. On Saturday when the sox were struggling to get on the board early in the game, Stanley realized that an element of relaxation was missing from the dugout. He sent someone down to the clubhouse to find comic relief man Pedro, and within an inning the Sox were putting it into cruise control for another dominating victory. Simply put, his presence is huge.

And the rest of the staff is doing a real good job behind him as well. Fassero had a great start this weekend, throwing 6 innings of one run ball, and Rose looked great yesterday. My favorite part of the game was the end of the fifth, when he joyously pumped his fists after getting out of a tight jam that he had created for himself with about 3 early inning walks. A character building moment I believe. Ramon is still a bit of a question mark, although both of his last two starts were strong, he will miss the next one in order to soothe some leg stiffness. And Mr. Versatility himself, Tim Wakefield has been huge. In this short season he has already pitched in long relief, short relief, closer, and starter roles, and will take Ramon's place for another start this week. Schourek, who pitches the opener against Toronto tonight has been better than his record indicates, but has not gotten much run support. I also feel unsure either way about Brian Rose up to this point. It seems that he can get the job done, but he also lacks a strong out pitch when he is behind in the count, or up against an intimidating mofo like Albert Bell (who he was forced to throw 8 straight triple A fastballs to in a bases loaded situation). I have heard it said that some guys are just great triple A pitchers, and I think that might be true with Brian, but we shall see.

In terms of relief, our staff has been, almost without exception, brilliant. Cormier and Garces have done everything Jimy has asked of them, and Derek Lowe is still perfect in save opportunities. He is gaining a lot of respect around the league as well due to his ability to get the last 6 outs, rather than the typical closers role of only the final 3. I cannot think of a game yet this year in which the bullpen has coughed up a lead. I don't know if any other club in baseball can claim that, certainly not the Yanks, who have lived in melt down city of late. Behind the plate we have been served very well, too. Varitek is hitting .312, and as usual is doing a brilliant job of handling the pitching staff. His back up, Hatteberg, who may or may not still be with us come the All Star break has been wielding a solid bat lately too. This is more important for his trade value than anything else, as Varitek is going to be our man behind the plate for the foreseeable future, and Hatteberg is good enough to start for a lot of teams. As I was reading Michael Holley's column in the Globe, I was reminded again of how important Donnie Sadler could be to this team. Holley's point was that he could not imagine a team with such a weak right side of the infield winning the World Series. We may have the pitching side of pitching and defense down, but the combination of Offerman at second, and Daubach and Stanley platooning at first probably does not add up to iron clad World Series defense. In case you have blocked this out of your mind, I know that I have tried, errors between these three cost us big time in the play offs last year, possibly making the difference in a bunch of those games against the Yankees. If the umpires had seen competency from those guys, maybe all those bad calls would not have occurred. So, Donnie Sadler moves into second, and we are already much improved. I would be inclined to stay with the platoon at first, and let Jimy work his magic with Offerman, Stanley, and Daubach moving between first and DH.

On the left side of the infield, I think that we are looking real tight. I don't care what anyone says about Veras, maybe he should be in the minors for a little more seasoning, but it is time to sink or swim in my book. And, by the way, after a little bit of a rough start, this kid is swimming with the best of them. Not only has he been gobbling up balls that Valentin would not even reach, he is starting to really come alive at the plate as well. Then there is Nomar, who has still yet to reach his first legitimate slump as a major leaguer. In the outfield we have been well served also. I had high hopes for Carl Everett coming into this season, but I don't think anyone, Duquette included, expected what this guy has done. Every part of his game has been superb. He's put together an early highlight reel of catches in center, and has been treating the baseball like Mass residence have been treating their houses lately, absolutely blowing them away! He already has half as many homers as he did all last year. His average is among league leaders, and he has emerged as a leader in the clubhouse. Not bad for two minor league prospects that may never be anything more than that.

Trot Nixon has been an early success as well. He came out hitting, and hasn't stopped, his only complaint could be that he has been sat against lefties more than any other lefty batter on the team, but jimmy has shown more reluctance to stick with him lately. And then there is Troy O'leary, the one guy who hasn't really been able to join in on the fun. He was huge last year, hitting well enough to provide protection for Nomar, but has not been able to get it going yet this season, and he's been stuck right around the Mendoza line all season. I have faith though that he will get it going when it's needed. That's the type of player he is. And while he is not getting it done with the stick, he has not let that affect his play in the field, where he leads the team with 3 outfield assists.

In summation, this team is nothing short of everything we hoped that they would be, which around here aint bad at all, and if it keeps us where we are today, and the Yanks where they belong, then it will be nothing short of historic. Things are different around here these days in Beantown, a new kind of team and a new kind of fan. Positivity reins. What could be next but the most elusive of prizes, the removal of the 80-year-old choke collar that strangles every sox fan!

jnickel@virtual-ink.com