01:13 AM EST on Friday, April 2, 2004

"April is the cruellest month . . . mixing memory and desire . . ."

from The Waste Land, by T.S. Eliot

The memory, frustrating as it is, is of a sixth straight season in which the Red Sox finished behind the Yankees in the American League East. The desire is that this year will be different.

The memory, painful as it is, is of Aaron Boone's 11th-inning home run in Game Seven of the ALCS. The desire is that, this season, it will be the Red Sox who'll win the American League pennant and go on to -- dare we hope? -- win the World Series for the first time in 86 years.

But, in this April that has begun with a deluge of showers that, if the old saying holds true, ought to bring a profusion of May flowers, it isn't just the chill, rainy, gray, dank and dismal weather that's been cruel and depressing.

It's also the news from sunny south Florida.

Opening Day for the Red Sox is just two days away, that wonderful, marvelous day of sporting rebirth that every New Englander knows is the first real day of spring.

The precisionists will point out that the first day of

spring occurs when the sun crosses the equator on its way northward, but every baseball fan knows that spring truly begins with the first pitch on Opening Day.

It is a time of boundless hope, of unbridled optimism, of heartfelt belief that this, finally, will be the year a world championship comes to Boston.

Even if that first pitch, when thrown by Red Sox ace Pedro Martinez, fails to hit 90 mph on the radar gun.

Even if the Sox are starting the season with shortstop Nomar Garciaparra, right fielder Trot Nixon and fifth starter Byung-Hyun Kim on the disabled list.

Even if newly acquired closer Kevin Foulke has an earned-run average of 14.08 this spring, while allowing batters to average .395 against him.

Even if 40-year-old Ellis Burks, arguably the best bat on a Boston bench that isn't exactly overflowing with talent, is taking cortisone shots to alleviate the discomfort in his surgically repaired right elbow.

Even if the Yankees open the season with Alex Rodriguez and Derek Jeter on the left side of their infield, while the Red Sox will play at least into May with a double-play combination of Pokey Reese at shortstop and Mark Bellhorn at second base.

Even with a new manager in Boston who, in four years in Philadelphia, never finished above .500.

Even though, in the recent offseason, the Sox tried -- unsuccessfully in each sad case -- to lure A-Rod away from the Rangers, trade away Nomar, and give away Manny Ramirez for the waiver price, only to learn what everybody suspected all along: that nobody was willing to pay Ramirez $20 million a year to be the star in his own movie.

So it isn't just the lousy weather that is depressing as the opening game of the new season looms at the end of this soggy first week of April.

There is a strong sense that this has to be, that this must be the year for the Sox, since Martinez and Garciaparra are two of four top players who are in the final year of their contracts.

Pedro, who has had arm woes each of the last four seasons, has yet to bring the heat this spring. Which has raised, not only some eyebrows, but also a lot of questions from inquiring reporters. Martinez didn't want to deal with the heat from the media, and so now, as was the case most of last year, isn't talking.

And you wonder why he's known as Prima Donna Petey?

Given his fragility, it's no wonder the Sox are reluctant to commit to a long-term, guaranteed contract for Martinez in the range of the $17 million he'll get this season. Because he has no guaranteed money beyond this year, Pedro's reluctance to cut loose this spring also is understandable.

As for Nomar, not only is he out until at least May because of an aching Achilles tendon, but he also has his nose out of joint because: 1. The Sox were willing to deal him; and, 2. Going back to last spring, they haven't been willing to give him the kind of contract he believes he is worth.

A year ago, the Sox were offering Nomar four years at $15 million per. He and his sometimes-outspoken agent, Arn Tellem, wanted $17 million. After last season, when Nomar hit under .200 in September and then drove in just one run in 12 postseason games, Boston's offer dropped closer to $12 million a year.

Sinker specialist Derek Lowe, who has a combined record of 38-15 over the last two years, has already said he expects to be pitching elsewhere in 2005.

Nor has a new deal been worked out for catcher Jason Varitek, who's indispensable behind the plate, at the plate, and in the clubhouse.

So there seems to be a necessity for the Sox to win this season, because next year doesn't seem to be one to look forward to at the moment.

While April may be the cruellest month, October could prove to be even worse for the Red Sox and their long-suffering fans.