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Hate to break it to you, Pedro Martinez, but this isn't your year. Nomar Garciaparra, hang up your glove and watch your bride-to-be score some goals. Theo Epstein -- you gave it a good shot. But sorry, Boston -- 2003 isn't your year.

I don't know if there is anything more tired than Boston's whines. "We have the best fans," they say. "We have the best ballparks," they claim. "We have the best players," "the best managers" -- and the list goes on.

And why haven't they won the Big One? The more outlandish claim that the ghost of Babe Ruth haunts the Sox. The more timely fans righteously say that, "they don't buy championships." And yet every September, Boston fans from Southie to South Carolina claim that, "this is their year."

I have news for you, my friends -- it's not their year.

It isn't about the players -- Martinez is undoubtedly the best in the American League. They have a roster of guys who can go the distance -- when and if they choose to. It's about the team wanting it as much as much as the fans do.

It's not about the money -- the Yanks may spend more than the entire state of Tennessee earns, and they didn't make it to the finals last year. Two teams that play in much less baseball-friendly markets went to the World Series.

Here's the problem -- Boston players endure much more of a hardship than any other group of athletes. Not only are they blamed for the losses during their time, they are saddled with the responsibility of 85 years of losing.

Nearly a century of losses, and yet they are held accountable. On the opposite side of the spectrum, we have the Yankees -- who, before they ever don a uniform or take batting-practice, are winners. Each team inherits a history -- and it shapes the roster like no manager ever could.

In an article in this month's ESPN The Magazine, Dan Le Batard touches on this point:

"(Manny) Ramirez is not happy in Boston. He isn't comfortable with fame, and he can't go out anywhere without being recognized in that city, so by extension he has literally become uncomfortable with how much Boston cares about baseball."

Caring about baseball is not a bad thing. The Red Sox wouldn't survive without their fans or without Bill Simmons' weekly tributes to the team and the city. But the pressure of breaking a curse, of unsaddling a city of 85 years is too much for any team.

Boston has been in the playoffs more times than any other team, has won more games than any other team -- they've proven they have the goods. But the unnerving pressure of diehard fans may be holding them back from winning it all.

Or maybe they were right all along -- maybe it's the Babe.

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