NAY: Sox aren’t finished by a long shot

At least one good thing about the Red Sox starting off the season 4-9 is that the front-running portion of the fans will hop off the bandwagon.You know ? the ones who can more easily recite “Sweet Caroline” than the names of five guys on the Impossible Dream team ? the ones who didn’t become card-carrying members of the Nation until the duck boats arrived for the championship parade ? and anyone who owns a Sox cap in colors other than blue and red.Real Red Sox fans know that 13 games do not a season make, that a slow start does not doom a team to a miserable finish, that baseball is a game much like the marathon we witnessed on Patriots’ Day: plenty of peaks and valleys. And the Sox are starting 2010 at Heartbreak Hill.You know how bad things are. On Marathon Monday, the Tampa Bay Rays finished a four-game sweep of the Sox at Fenway. Boston batters went 0-for-30 with runners in scoring position in that series. Even worse, Jacoby Ellsbury and Mike Cameron are on the disabled list.The fact remains that the Sox have the assets needed to return to .500 and beyond. In a city once known for its ballclub having too little pitching, the 2010 Sox have an abundance in Josh Beckett, Jon Lester and John Lackey. Right now that trio is a combined 2-3, and only Beckett has an ERA under 4 (3.86) ? but the talent can’t stay stifled much longer.There is more good news. The other plank of this team, defense, is living up to Theo Epstein’s expectations. Just like pitching, defense was a rarity in Boston since about the time General Doubleday founded the game. Dick “Dr. Strangeglove” Stuart ? Butch Hobson ? Bill Buckner. Epstein stressed defense for 2010 and the results look impressive, with your Red Sox seventh of 30 MLB teams in fielding (third in the American League). When you keep the unearned runs at a minimum, you give your offense a lift.Maybe there is an inevitable transition period for such changes on Yawkey Way, changes as dramatic as the volcano that recently erupted in Iceland. Instead of rejecting these changes, Red Sox Nation should embrace them, for the style of ball that Epstein sought for Boston has yielded success in many other locales, from St. Louis to Baltimore. It also provides many beautiful images, from a pitcher nailing down that third strike to infielders completing a 3-6-3 double play.Expect the remainder of April to provide a confidence boost. The Sox aren’t exactly playing the 1927 Yankees; they have two more games with Texas, three with hapless Baltimore and three with Toronto before beginning another series with the O’s. Their records are a combined 15-25.So calm down, cool off, take a chill pill. You can’t keep this much talent down forever. Epstein’s grand strategy of National League ball in an AL park will pay off eventually. As the great Humphrey Bogart might have said, maybe not today, maybe not tomorrow ? but soon, and for the rest of this season.Rich Tenorio is an Item sports copy editor.