Are some Boston fans really that scared of the Yankees that they can't look at the 2007 Red Sox and realize that the Sox are a really, really good baseball team?

Anytime I dare write that the Sox are going to win the AL East, the reaction is instantaneous: "But it's just the middle of May. The Yankees always come back and win in the end."

Really? I'm not ignorant of the Yankees' remarkable run of success in the AL East, nor am I'm predicting that there will no improvement in the Yankees' performance in the coming months. Obviously, the Yankees have come back in recent reasons to win the division. But I'm also not predicting that this Red Sox team is suddenly going to collapse in the dog days of summer. Why would I? Because the 1978 Red Sox did. Because the Red Sox's roster of All Stars is somehow so inferior to the Yankees' roster of All Stars?

Can anyone tell me when the Yankees were 8.5 games behind the Red Sox on May 15th and came back to win the division?

The fact is that since 1996, the Red Sox's largest lead over the Yankees at this point in the season was 4 games in 2002 (and because of some scheduling issues, the Yankees had actually played four more games than the Sox at that point of the season). You have to go back to May 15, 1984 to find a Yankees team that was actually farther back in the division race at this point in the season. Mattingly, Winfield, Guidry and Righetti were 13.5 games behind the juggernaut Tigers.

For all the talk of Yankees' comebacks, the fact is that the Yankees have almost always started well during Joe Torre's tenure. Outside of 2005 (5.5 back of the Orioles) and 2002, with Torre calling the shots, the Yankees have never been more than two games out of first place at this point of the season.

But forget all the history. Can a Red Sox fan that is peeing his pants because the Yankees are just 8.5 games back explain to me why he can't recognize that a team with a $140,000,000 payroll and a roster stacked with outstanding players may actually be able to hold its own with the Yankees? Is it really that ridiculous to think that a roster that includes players like Ortiz, Ramirez, Schilling, Beckett, Papelbon and DiceK will be able to hold its own against the Yankees? Are you really that petrified of pinstripes that you can't bring yourself to believe that Lugo, Drew, Varitek, Wakefield, Youkilis, Crisp and Lowell are not glorified AAA players masquerading as major leaguers?

It's not about the Yankees lacking talent; it's about accepting the devastating news that the Red Sox having a little bit of their own.

If the Yankees had a 8.5 game lead right now, you better believe that the AL East race would be declared over. Stop being such a bunch of wimps, Red Sox Nation, and have a little faith in a team with a $140,000,000 payroll and a 8.5 game lead in the division.