Sox fans need to realize it's a year like all the others
 
Ladies and gentlemen, boys and girls, put a fork in 'em. Your 2003 Boston Red Sox are done.
Not because they have fallen four games behind New York in the East. Not because they have finally dropped out of the lead for the wild card. Not even because financially strapped owner Harry Frazee sold Babe Ruth to the Yankees in 1920.
They're done because their starting pitching staff simply doesn't stack up against those of their competitors.
Even with hitters like Trot Nixon, Bill Mueller, Jason Varitek and David Ortiz having career years. Even with all that whiz-kid GM Theo Epstein has done to improve the team. Even with all the hugs in the dugout.
The Red Sox are going to fall short yet again, beaten out by teams that may be inferior in many departments but are clearly superior in one critical area: starting pitching. And, as they say, good pitching beats good hitting, good GM'ing and good hugging.
Boston media and fans have grown accustomed to referring to Red Sox ace Pedro Martinez as "the best pitcher in baseball." That is no longer true. At 32 years of age and showing the wear and tear of 12 years of major-league pitching, Martinez is no longer among the most reliable starters in the game. Injuries have taken a toll on his velocity, making him more hittable. He is often outpitched by his opponent and frequently fails to go deep into a game.
Despite a 2.37 ERA, which is still pretty impressive, Martinez might no longer be among the 10 best pitchers in baseball -- that is, pitchers you'd most like to have leading your staff into the playoffs. At this point, I, for one, would feel more confident with guys like Esteban Loaiza, Roy Halladay, Mark Mulder, Jamie Moyer, Jason Schmidt, Tim Hudson, David Wells, Woody Williams, Mark Prior, Hideo Nomo, Mike Mussina, Barry Zito and even rookies Dontrelle Willis and Rich Harden taking the hill than I would Martinez.
You're not going to win a World Series when your ace has eight wins in mid-August.
Martinez' best days are clearly behind him. Red Sox management knows this. The decision to trade away the organization's best second base/shortstop prospect, Freddy Sanchez, for another starting pitcher last month tells me the team will try to hang onto Nomar Garciaparra beyond next year -- and let Pedro go.
Beyond Martinez, the Red Sox' rotation is average at best. Knuckleballer Tim Wakefield has been the best of the lot this year, and the others have been shaky. Last year's 21-game winner, Derek Lowe, is struggling with a 5.07 ERA, John Burkett has been inconsistent and newcomer Jeff Suppan has been terrible in his first two starts.
Match that staff up against those of the Yankees, Oakland Athletics or Seattle Mariners and you've got problems.
Thanks to a young, gifted, starting rotation that includes Hudson, Mulder, Zito and now Harden, the A's boast the top-ranked pitching staff in the American League. A close second are the Mariners, with Moyer, Gil Meche, Joel Pineiro, Ryan Franklin and Freddy Garcia. The Yankees, with Wells, Mussina, Roger Clemens, Andy Pettitte and soon-to-return Jose Contreras, are third. Boston is a distant eighth.
The first game of the current Red Sox-A's series on Monday night was telling. Young-gun Hudson easily outdueled a war-torn Martinez. And it was certainly no surprise that Zito outpitched Burkett on Tuesday.
The Red Sox certainly have a potent lineup, but it has shown little ability to score against good pitching. The grand slams from both sides of the plate and the seven- and even 14-run innings have come against baseball's weaker arms. We won't be seeing any of that in all the big games coming up against the A's, Mariners and Yankees.
For the Red Sox to make the playoffs with this starting rotation would be a surprise. For them to actually do anything in the playoffs with this starting rotation would take an act of divine intervention.
And long-suffering Red Sox fans know there hasn't been a whole lot of that going on since 1918.
Blame it on the Curse of the Bambino, if you like. But the 2003 Red Sox, with this run-of-the-mill group of starting pitchers, won't stand out any more than the 84 non-championship teams that preceded them.
Steve Britt is assistant sports editor of The Standard-Times.
This story appeared on Page B1 of The Standard-Times on August 14, 2003.
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