Here, there and everywhere . . .

-- Good riddance, Larry. After what transpired last August 29, either at your behest or because you couldn't control your players, I, for one, am shedding no tears at your departure.

-- That's Amazing, Part One: The Red Sox have a 1.83 team ERA. The team closest to them in ERA, Toronto, has a total nearly two runs higher (3.60). The league ERA is 4.54.The Sox are allowing nearly five earned runs a game fewer than the team with the highest ERA, Texas (6.60).

-- That's Amazing, Part Two: Between the runs he's scored and the runs he's driven in, Manny Ramirez has accounted for 28.2% of the Red Sox' scoring this season. Not only that, but he remains on pace for 185 RBI . . . the type of wild projection that usually shrinks after the first five or six games. Yet they've played 14, and he's driven in 16.

-- That's Amazing, Part Three: You can still find people who think the Sox should have signed Mike Mussina and not Manny Ramirez.

-- Happy to say that not only am I not on that bandwagon, but I was never on that bandwagon.

-- Did you see where the Yankees are sending a videotape to the American League office, protesting Tim Tschida's blown call on Chuck Knoblauch's catch Sunday? And I thought the distinguished mayor of Providence was shameless.

-- If you don't know what I'm talking about regarding the Yankees, I invite you to review the umpiring in the 1999 ALCS. Or to get a replay of Tim Welke running interference for the Yanks in the '96 World Series. And does the name Jeffrey Maier ring a bell?

(If you don't know what I'm talking about regarding our distinguished mayor, I invite you to familiarize yourself with Operation Plunder Dome.)

-- Understand right up front that I'm not saying the Yankees have won four World Series in the last five years because of mistakes by the umpires. Is that clear? The Yankees have earned every one of their titles. But they've been on the long end of a lot of screwball decisions during this run, and for them to complain so bitterly over one call on April 15 . . . well, like I said, shameless is the word that leaps to mind.

-- Interesting thing about the weekend just past: There weren't nearly as many Yankee fans at Fenway as have infiltrated the place in recent years. I could only think of three possible explanations: 1) It was too early in the season for New Yorkers to make a weekend vacation trip to Boston. 2) With the Yanks making three trips here instead of two, they were waiting for warmer weather. 3) Because the advance sale was so heavy last winter, Red Sox fans gobbled up the available tickets and (a related factor) season-ticket holders didn't give up their seats to Yankee fans. Although I hope #3 is the reason, I suspect #1 is closer to the truth.

-- Numbers don't mean anything at this stage of the season, but take a gander at these. These are the Red Sox' pitching stats through the first 14 games:

               AVG   OBP  SLG
Total         .195  .262 .277

vs. Left      .184  .249 .290
vs. Right     .205  .272 .266

Starters      .190  .254 .270
Relievers     .207  .277 .293

Home          .209  .272 .303
Away          .157  .233 .207

None on       .210  .290 .303
Runners on    .174  .219 .239

None on/out   .230  .293 .361
Scoring Pos.  .202  .280 .303

1st IP        .175  .269 .248
Inning 1-6    .186  .255 .268
Inning 7+     .212  .275 .295

Close & Late  .207  .288 .293
Bases Loaded  .000  .250 .000
vs 1st Batter .240  .296 .320

0-0 count     .373  .407 .451
After (0-1)   .162  .209 .236
After (1-0)   .185  .282 .277
Two strikes   .124  .177 .179

When opponents hit the first pitch -- which they've done 51 times so far -- they're hitting .373 with an .858 OPS. Other than that, there's no breakdown in which the opposition has a batting average higher than .230, an on-base percentage higher than .296, and a slugging percentage higher than .361. And if you notice, the numbers get more and more miniscule as the situations get more and more important.

Again, it doesn't mean anything, not with 148 games to play. But that shouldn't stop us from marveling at what's transpired so far.