Could it be the start of something good?
Imagine. The Celtics, Bruins, and Red Sox all in the playoffs at the same time. What a concept.
Actually, no. The Red Sox and Yankees are not involved in a playoff series this weekend. It just feels that way.
The Sox got off to a great start last night, routing Yankees starter Javier Vazquez in a 6-2 victory over the Bombers, who appear to be still suffering from Japanese jet lag. The Yankees kicked the ball around the yard, walked five batters, ran themselves out of an inning, chose not to argue with the umpires when they should have, and looked lethargic all night long. So it's one down and 18 to go in the storied rivalry.
Sox manager Terry Francona made all the right moves in his first Yankee test. He's sticking with the WWGD method. When he has to make a move, he thinks, "What Would Grady Do?" then does the opposite. That's why Alan Embree came in to pitch to Hideki Matsui with the bases loaded and two outs in the eighth. Embree fanned Godzilla on three pitches.
No one in the winner's room would say the Sox' win did anything to even the misses of October (silly thought in April, no?), but it was more than just another game.
"I see what's going on," said Francona. "I haven't been in it as long, but I don't think anyone cares more than I do . . . If you're a player and you can't get a heartbeat tonight, you ought to go home, and I didn't see anyone going home."
It was hardball heaven for the frozen sellout crowd. They saw the revenge of Tim Wakefield. They saw Derek Jeter and Jason Giambi make errors. They saw Vazquez yield a homer to Bill Mueller on an 0-and-2 pitch. They saw A-Rod strike out on three knucklers in the fourth. They saw the Sox pummel Vazquez for three homers. And they saw Keith Foulke do the job he was hired to do.
"It's a first step," acknowledged general manager Theo Epstein. "It was good to play them for the first time and realize we can get through that lineup if we execute our pitches."
Rodriguez, who went 0 for 4, said, "This was a little bit of a letdown. We wanted to come in here and set the tone. But there's three games left."
There was a carnival atmosphere in and around Fenway all day and night. By early afternoon there were no fewer than a dozen television trucks parked on Van Ness Street. It looked like Nancy Kerrigan's driveway after the clubbing. It looked like something you'd expect to see outside the courthouse at the O.J. trial.
No one could quite decide if this was Game 8, Game 9, or Game 10 in the still ongoing American League Championship Series. The Red Sox issued more than 200 extra media credentials, bringing the total to somewhere around 450, which made for a larger contingent than that which worked the Division Series between the Red Sox and A's last October.
In one of the more amazing developments, given the Yankees' trip to Japan and all the stuff that's happened since October, the teams came into this series in the same places they've finished in each of the last six seasons. Yankees, first. Red Sox, second -- one half-game behind. Some would say it's the natural order of the baseball universe. Others would argue. Loudly.
All forms of Curse-breaking molasses cookies, T-shirts (both clean and obscene), and Yankee hater hats were distributed and sold as fans swarmed the streets around the yard. Many stopped to take photos alongside the impressive new Ted Williams statue outside Gate B. The giant bronze Kid was unveiled yesterday afternoon with teammates Bobby Doerr and Johnny Pesky joining Ted's daughter, Claudia, for the dedication. April 16, 2004, will live forever on the granite base.
It was a gruesome 41 degrees at game time, but the fans could not have been happier with the first inning. Wakefield (you may remember, he was the man on the mound when it all ended last October) got the Yankees in order in the first. Rodriguez, who came to Boston batting .212, was booed with predictable gusto and grounded to short to bring the Sox up to bat.
The Yankees did just about everything wrong in the bottom of the first. Giambi and Jeter made errors. Vazquez gave up a two-run homer to Mueller on an 0-and-2 pitch. He gave up another homer to Manny Ramirez. Sort of. The ball never actually went over the fence. It hit the top of the padding in front of the first row of seats near the foul pole in right. Umpire Mark Wegner signaled "home run" and no one in a New York uniform argued the call. Surely, the fat man in Tampa dialed Fenway after watching the replay.
The Sox led, 4-0, after one. It was Boston's biggest first-inning output since last June when the Sox put 14 on the board against the Marlins and Grady Little apologized to Jack McKeon. Then again, as long as we're talking about history, it was hard not to remember what happened the last time the Sox led the Yankees by a score of 4-0. That would be Game 7 of the ALCS in the fourth inning.
There was more titillation in the stands when A-Rod struck out on three pitches in the fourth. Get used to it, big fella. Only 18 more of these, 25 more counting the playoffs. A-Rod reached on an error by Pokey Reese in the sixth. That set up a significant "Ste-roids" chant when Giambi came up with one out and one on. Giambi walked. A-Rod was thrown out attempting to steal third. Applause. Then Gary Sheffield fanned to end the inning. Louder.
The Sox KO'd Vazquez in the sixth with Doug Mirabelli delivering the knockout, RBI double on a 3-and-0 pitch. Mirabelli had already homered. It was time for Joe Torre to go to the bullpen. Francona went to the pen in the eighth and everything worked.
The cold and happy citizens of Red Sox Nation are feeling pretty good about things today. The Sox are back in first place, a half-game ahead of the Yankees. Seems like it's always easier beating these guys in April.
Dan Shaughnessy is a Globe columnist. His e-mail address is dshaughnessy@globe.com.
