BOSTON — The Red Sox hit the 81-game mark Wednesday night, the exact midpoint of the season. And while it may not seem like they’ve done what former Packers running back Travis Williams once (delightfully) described as “anything fantabulous,” they’re on pace for 98 wins. That’s how they’d finish if they repeat their 49-32 first-half record.

As impressive as 49-32 may be, it’s actually a game behind the 50-31 record they had at the midway point in each of the last two seasons. In neither year were they able to maintain that performance over the second half.

But there’s a big difference this time around.

They played their 81st game this year on June 25. Last year they didn’t play No. 81 until July 2. In 2006, it came on July 4. And that’s pretty much when it always falls — July 4 in 2005, July 6 in 2004, July 1 in 2003, etc. The fact that it came more than a week early this year means there’s a lot of air built into the second-half schedule . . . time the Sox can use to a) rest their everyday players, b) get extra days off for their starters, c) better manage their bullpen, etc.

The longest consecutive-day stretch the Sox have from now until the end of the year is 13. (They’ll do that twice, from tomorrow to July 9 and then again from Aug. 8-20.) They’ll be off on 9 of the remaining 13 Thursdays this year and 3 of the remaining 13 Mondays.

This team isn’t particularly old and creaky, but some of the regulars do show some age; the more time off they can get, the better.

And Peter Gammons had a telling quote on this topic during his last ESPN Radio appearance when he said: “I’m still firmly convinced that the reason the Red Sox won the World Series was the 50 less innings pitched that Josh Beckett threw as opposed to C.C. Sabathia and Fausto Carmona. I think those guys just hit the wall in that series and Josh Beckett was pitching in the World Series like it was April 20.”

While fewer innings pitched doesn’t exactly correspond to days off in the season, the underlying truth is the same: The more rest you have now, the more energy you have later. That’s why it may be easier for the Red Sox to continue to play at their current pace in the last three months.

amartone@projo.com