Last night's win over Arizona was the exact halfway mark of the regular season. And it's a good thing they ended the first half on a high note because Lord knows what a disaster it's been. Consider:

• The schedule makers did them no favors as they had to start the season with a road trip that took them halfway to Neptune, play two games that counted, then fly from Toyko to LA to play games that didn't count, then go to Oakland, Toronto, Uruguay, Oslo, Fallujah and eventually back to Boston.
• The best clutch pitcher and a possible HoFer opened the season on the disabled list, and eventually had to shut it down for the season and probably forever.
• Their ace spent time on the disabled list.
• Their No. 2 starter did too.
• Their 3rd basemean, the World Series MVP and the indispensible guy everyone agreed last winter they had to sign, got hurt.
• The No. 3 hitter, the one guy who truly is indispensible, is out for at least a month and probably more.
• And prior to getting hurt he started the year with the worst slump of his career.
• The shortstop leads the majors in errors. (Julio Lugenteria)
• The $70 million RF has been out of the lineup at various times with a sore back, tight quad, bad haircut, Dave Mathews tickets, vertigo, fever for the flavor of Pringles, Jewish holidays and menstrual cramps.
• The phenom who pitched a no-hitter last year is rehabbing in the minors.
• The ace, who last year pulled out opponent's entrails and wore them as a necktie, is 7-5.
• The bullpen setup guys who were lights out last year have struggled.
• The all world closer, the new face of the franchise, has already blown more saves than he did all of last year.

All of which makes the case that the 2008 Red Sox season is an unmitigated disaster. Wait. Strike that. They've won 49 games, the most in the majors. They're on pace to win 98, which is 2 more than they won last year when they were box-to-wire the best team in baseball. They're a blend of seasoned veterans conditioned to winning and young, emerging talents who've already shown they can come through when it counts. They've got pitching prodigies other teams would kill to have >cough< Yankees >cough, cough< for whom they don't have room on the major league roster. I guess it's not a disaster. My bad. Never mind.