The outlook has become 'wait till this year'

An exaggeration, you say? Hardly. In five of the last six Octobers, the road to the world title has passed through Boston in some way, shape, or form. The Red Sox won two of those titles. Of the remaining four, three went to a team that either eliminated the Red Sox (the 2005 Chicago White Sox) or defeated the team that beat Boston in the American League Championship Series (the 2003 Florida Marlins, the 2008 Philadelphia Phillies). Only the mediocre St. Louis Cardinals of 2006 emerged from a playoff season during which the Red Sox did not have a true say, offering additional evidence that the Cards were, well, unworthy champions in the wake of an 83-79 regular season.

But wait, there's more.

Over the last six years, the Red Sox have played in 54 postseason games, more than any other team in baseball. They have nearly as many playoff victories (34) as their closest pursuers, the New York Yankees (20) and Los Angeles Angels (16), combined. Fenway Park has been the site of 24 postseason games, most in baseball during that span and nearly matching the total of 30 home games the Sox played before their fans from 1919 through 2002.

Get the picture?

In the baseball world, Boston is The Hub in name and beyond.

And so here we are, one week into the 2009 baseball season, and let there be no doubt about the Red Sox' destination: It's world title or bust. Even amid a 2-4 start entering last night's series opener against the Oakland A's on the West Coast, the Sox possessed the swagger that comes only with success, no longer burdened with the self-doubt that infected the franchise for nearly a full century.

The Red Sox do not merely believe they can win now.

They know they will.

"We're not playing the best baseball we can play, but it's early," first baseman Kevin Youkilis said Sunday, following a 5-4 loss to the Angels. "We're a team, once we get rolling and score runs, we'll do some damage."

Youkilis spoke those words as if making a promise, like a confident groom stating his vows on his wedding day.

For all that the Red Sox have accomplished over the last several years, their greatest feat has come in wholly reinventing themselves. The culture in the organization is entirely different. From cleanup hitter Youkilis to prospect Lars Anderson, the Red Sox of today have been all but genetically altered to win. Where players like Marquis Grissom and David Justice once had contractual clauses that prohibited a trade to Boston, players like Mark Kotsay now are willing to accept lesser roles here because of the talent, clubhouse chemistry, and organizational commitment to winning.

If the Red Sox still believe in self-fulfilling prophecies, they only believe in the good ones.

This year, there are many of the usual questions, though the club believes its strengths outweigh its weaknesses. (Isn't that always the way now?) The Red Sox have a weaker lineup than they have had in recent seasons, a transition that was, in some ways, inevitable. Beginning with the 2003 season, which marked Theo Epstein's first as general manager, the Red Sox have scored more runs than any other team in baseball. With or without Manny Ramírez, there was only one way to go.

As such - and particularly after being thwarted in the pursuit of free agent first baseman Mark Teixeira - Epstein spent much of his energy fortifying a pitching staff that was already among the better groups in the league. Adding John Smoltz, Brad Penny, Takashi Saito, and Ramon Ramirez to a group that already included Josh Beckett, Jon Lester, Daisuke Matsuzaka, and Jonathan Papelbon, among others, the Sox entered 2009 with what looked like the deepest staff in baseball.

And it still does.

Given the wealth of pitching depth the Sox have on the disabled list (Smoltz) and in the minor leagues (Clay Buchholz, Michael Bowden, Daniel Bard), Epstein will have ample ability to deal come the annual July 31 trading deadline. Free-agents-to-be Matt Holliday and Magglio Ordonez could be among the hitters available, and the Sox have demonstrated both the desire and ability to make in-season pickups during the Epstein Era.

In and of itself, that very fact demonstrates how the psychology in Boston has changed with regard to its baseball team. Nowadays, there is the confidence that the Red Sox will get better, not worse. The beginning of the baseball season simply does not mean so much anymore.

The Red Sox are blessed with young talent and a deep farm system, and the nucleus of their team effectively is in place through the 2010 season. They appear to be here for the long haul, positioned to influence pennant races for years and years to come.

Occasionally, as any Bostonian will tell you, you cannot help but run into a detour.

But now, in a city many have regarded as a maze of one-way streets, those missteps are the exception rather than the rule.

Tony Massarotti can be reached at tmassarotti@globe.com and can be read at www.boston.com/massarotti