Questions Loom After Sox's Season

"Who?" I replied, only half-interested.

"Mia Hamm and Nomar."

Oh, that's right, I thought bitterly. It's October.

Like most New Englanders, I had put Nomar Garciaparra and the Boston Red Sox on the back burner the moment the World Champion Patriots opened their season against Pittsburgh. I had buried the Sox and tried my best to make my peace with their supremely disappointing season.

But when I learned that Nomar was at a Chapel Hill bar in early October, while teams with half Boston's payroll and half Boston's talent duked it out in the playoffs, I couldn't help but think, It's not right.

That's when I realized I need closure. It's not enough to just shake my head and pretend there was no baseball season.

I need to get it all off my chest.

How did this team, better than any other Red Sox team in my lifetime, somehow miss the playoffs?

This Boston team had a 1-2 pitching punch like no Sox team in 50 years. Pedro Martinez and Derek Lowe both won 20 or more games, and finished 1-2 in the league in ERA.

They had a legitimate center fielder and leadoff hitter in free agent acquisition Johnny Damon, a bona fide speedster -- unheard of in Boston.

The team played better defense than any I can remember. The smooth-fielding Rey Sanchez teamed with Nomar to create a superb defensive middle-infield, where previous Boston teams were unable to turn routine double plays.

And the Red Sox could hit like the powerhouse units of the '70s. The 3-4-5 of Nomar, Manny Ramirez, and trade-deadline acquisition Cliff Floyd was to be feared, and Shea Hillenbrand and Trot Nixon were no slouches, either.

Boston was not one of those teams that only looked like it could score runs on paper. The team really did score a lot of runs -- 859 of them, in fact, which was second in the league.

The Red Sox also allowed very few runs. Only two American League teams gave up fewer runs than Boston.

So if the object of baseball is to score as many runs as possible while yielding as few as possible, then how could a team that was second in runs scored and third in runs allowed miss the playoffs?

It hurt to watch. Such a talented, likable bunch, but they made you want to gouge your eyes out. They'd win 18-4 one day, then lose 2-1 the next. They seldom got blown out, they just lost far too many games they should have won.

It's easy to say that their problem was they only had two pitchers; that after Pedro and Lowe, they had nothing.

But that's not true. Tim Wakefield developed into an outstanding third starter, quietly finishing fourth in the AL in ERA. Before he emerged in the second half of the season, John Burkett carried the load as a third starter, winning his first seven decisions.

The only glaring weakness was Boston's bullpen. Rich Garces was a huge disappointment, and no one else stepped up in middle relief. But Ugueth Urbina was a solid closer, for the most part, finishing with 40 saves.

So what conclusions can be drawn? The Red Sox were the first team since 1959 to have two 20-game winners and a batting champion (Ramirez). They won 93 games, a victory total that would have easily landed them in the playoffs a year ago. Not a bad season, really. Yet not good enough.

Does all this mean the Red Sox are cursed? My answer is no. I refuse to fall back on that curse-nonsense, the crutch of the weak-minded. I don't accept that explanation, because that would leave no room for hope.

And what kind of New Englander would I be if I gave up hope that Nomar will spend next October on top of the world, not at Top of the Hill?

Aaron Fitt can be reached at fitt@email.unc.edu.