BOSTON — Jason Varitek clearly remembers his first postseason in the major leagues with the Boston Red Sox.

The team's 37-year-old captain was just 26 at the time and was only beginning his long tenure in Boston. It was Game Two of the 1998 ALDS against Cleveland when the Indians were trying to rebound from a 1-0 deficit in the series, thanks in part to a dominating pitching performance by Red Sox ace Pedro Martinez in Game One.

The teams were playing at Jacobs Field and the Indians were in control of the second game and eventually won, 9-5. In the bottom of the eighth inning, 30-year-old Red Sox reliever Tom Gordon entered the game.

"Flash" toed the rubber, stepped off and signaled to his catcher for a mound meeting. Varitek had no idea what Gordon, who was an 11-year big-league veteran at the time, wanted.

"He told me, ‘Give me a minute.' He had played 11 years in the big leagues and had never played in the playoffs yet, so he was a little excited," Varitek recalled. "That tells you a lot about having the right opportunities and being able to capitalize on the right opportunities."

Gordon wanted to take a moment and soak it all in because he didn't know how long it would last.

That was the general feeling back then.

From 1986 until now, the Red Sox have reached the postseason in 12 of the last 24 seasons. Before that, the club had long stretches without an appearance in the playoffs. It went 10 years from 1976 to 1985, 20 years from 1947 to 1967, 27 years from 1919 to 1945 and eight years from 1904 to 1911.

That was then. What about now?

Call it the Golden Age of Red Sox baseball.

Once Boston clinches a postseason berth as the wild-card winner this season, it will mark the sixth time in the last seven seasons the Sox have reached the playoffs. At no other time in franchise history have the Sox been this successful.

Varitek has played in the good times and the bad times. He believes the Red Sox organization has finally capitalized on its opportunities of drafting, developing and promoting its players in a way that should help this successful trend to continue.

"All the times we had until finally breaking through and finally winning the ALCS, and getting a chance to move on from there, were all built from past history and past players," said Varitek. "There's been a lot of dynamics and a lot of [heartache]. For the fans, to finally break through to that level, it gives your fan base confidence, as well as the organization."

As an organization, the Red Sox finally believe.

"It's huge," said Varitek. "It's huge for the organization. It's huge for this team to be able to get that opportunity. As far as comparing when you do get that opportunity, and when you don't get that opportunity, it's a frustrating time. But it can also be a valuable time."

"First and foremost, you try to present yourself with opportunities to play in the postseason, and that's built up over an entire season," added Varitek. "Not one month and not two months. You're going to run into a tough spot, as this team has. You're going to run into some good spots, as this team has. If you can weather the storm long enough to have the team's true abilities come forward, you can be successful."

Guys like Varitek and veteran pitcher Tim Wakefield have been around for a long time and know all too well the heartache. Now there's a new generation of Red Sox players who began to filter through the organization and arrived in Boston in time for the club's misfortunes to make a complete turnaround in 2004.

"For guys like myself, we expect to win the World Series and go to the playoffs every year," said Kevin Youkilis. "We've been spoiled. We don't know any better."

Since 2004, the Red Sox have won two World Series championships, an A.L. East crown, has had the Rookie of the Year and MVP in Dustin Pedroia. They've had a few Gold Glove winners — Pedroia, Youkilis and Varitek — and a couple of Cy Young Award candidates in Pedro Martinez, Josh Beckett, Daisuke Matsuzaka and Jon Lester.

For those non-homegrown Red Sox players, coming to Boston is a once-in-a-lifetime experience.

"I came from a situation where for five years we didn't even come close to getting in the playoffs," said Red Sox left fielder Jason Bay, who arrived here via trade from Pittsburgh in 2008. "Some places that have the luxury of getting there more often than others, maybe the luster wears off. But I think there are a lot of guys where it might be their first and only time. You never know how these things will go. Any chance you get to act like a kid, I guess, a lot of guys here will take that."

Because of their success in the last 10 years, the Red Sox yesterday won several Sporting News MLB Awards. The club was named The Team of the Decade. Theo Epstein was named Executive of the Decade. Ortiz was named to the All-Decade Team. The deal for Beckett and Lowell from the Marlins in a package that included Hanley Ramirez was name the Trade of the Decade.

When the Red Sox clinch a postseason berth, the only other team in the majors to secure as many playoff appearances in the last seven years is the rival Yankees.

"It's good to be a part of it and hopefully it'll continue like that for a long time," said Red Sox slugger David Ortiz. "It's hard to keep it like that, but if the Yankees can keep it, we can keep it."

jmcdonal@projo.com