Boston enters the playoffs against Anaheim tomorrow with a firm sense of confidence that this really could be its year.

01:00 AM EDT on Monday, October 4, 2004

BY SEAN McADAM
Journal Sports Writer

BALTIMORE -- True to their nature, a number of the Red Sox were otherwise occupied yesterday when their first-round playoff opponent was finally identified.

As the Cleveland-Minnesota game wound down, only some of the players were busy watching. Others had their eyes on a third TV monitor showing an NFL game while others were huddled in a back office, dutifully monitoring the progress of their fantasy football teams.

When the Indians pushed across two insurance runs in the top of the ninth to guarantee that the Red Sox would be matched with Anaheim in the American League Division Series that kicks off tomorrow, no one was happier than traveling secretary Jack McCormick.

McCormick's joy wasn't based on matchup, but rather expediency. Finally, an hour after the Sox' 2003 season came to a close with a 3-2 loss to the Baltimore Orioles, the Red Sox knew where they would be headed.

Quickly, the players gathered their carry-on bags and walked to a waiting bus.

"Come on, you computer geeks," Pedro Martinez playfully admonished as he watched a couple of teammates hovered around a desktop, checking stats for their fantasy teams. "Let's go!"

Cleveland's 5-2 triumph over the Twins had finally dictated the matchups and made the outcome of the Anaheim-Oakland game irrelevant.

"It should be a fun trip," said Kevin Millar.

"We know we'll get good weather. Here come the Sox!"

About 48 weeks after they were eliminated from the last postseason, five outs shy of a World Series appearance, the Red Sox know the stakes for them are, as ever, high.

"What we've done to this point is fine," said manager Terry Francona. "But that's not how we're ultimately going to be judged. This is an exciting time for us. It's an opportunity -- an opportunity to be a good baseball team."

The Sox' 98 wins were the third most among 30 major league teams, bettered only by the St. Louis Cardinals and New York Yankees. But beginning tomorrow, things start anew, a fact not lost on the players.

"We expect to win the whole thing," said Johnny Damon. "We definitely got a feel for it last year -- the heartache, how we lost it and how hard it is to get there. We knew were going to win Games 6 and 7 (of the ALCS last October), and when it didn't happen, and the fashion in which it happened -- we're never going to forget that."

But citing the addition of Curt Schilling, tomorrow's Game 1 starter, and closer Keith Foulke, Damon believes this edition of the Red Sox is better equipped to win it all.

"We're deeper with our pitching staff," he said. "It's not just looking to Pedro (Martinez) anymore. We have to pitch, play defense and we have to hit. But this is the team that can do it."

As he did frequently throughout the season, Damon yesterday labeled the Angels "the toughest team we played all year," and said the Anaheim relief corps reminds him of the great Yankee bullpens of the late 1990s.

"We know we have a big job on our hands," he said. "We have to be mentally sharp. We're expected to win. A lot of this is confidence. We've got to make sure we've got our heads in the right spot."

Beyond the Angels' vaunted bullpen, the Sox must contend with MVP candidate Vladimir Guerrero, who carried the Angels in the final month.

"Vlad is the most dangerous hitter in the big leagues," said Millar.

Boston edged Anaheim in the season series, 5-4, winning five of the last six meetings after dropping the first three. Tellingly, in the only three games played between the two clubs after the Sox re-made themselves following the blockbuster deadline deal, the Sox won all three.