"Looks like our year, don't ya think?" a fan at the Red Sox minor-league complex yelled from behind the ropes at a reporter. "World Series, all the way. Don't ya think?"

"Maybe," the reporter answered. "It has a chance to be a very good team. So do the Yankees, Indians, White Sox, A's -- we'll see."

"(---) you," shouted the fan. "I forgot. You're a (---) Yankee (---). Yankees, my ass. (---) you."

Never mind that the Yankees have won four World Series rings in the last five years, the Red Sox five postseason games in 14 seasons, or that the Yankees handed the best pitcher in the game two losses last year. What envelops the Boston Red Sox is a red-sky-in-the-morning hysteria, with as many as 500 fans showing up for February workouts at the minor-league complex, an overflow press box for their March 1 Grapefruit League opener with the Twins and assurances from club officials that they will pass two million tickets sold before Opening Day.

It is wondrous enthusiasm in some ways, but a curious and often angry manifestation of an irrational cultural inferiority complex about the Yankees. Then, in successive days, Nomar Garciaparra had to be shut down with a 17-month-old tendon injury in his right wrist and Manny Ramirez reneged on his signing promise and demanded that he move back to right field after leaving camp for "personal reasons." Manny was lustily booed by fans in the right field bleachers after two dropped fly balls in his first game.

As the Red Sox began their exhibition schedule, they are a team capable of being very good. Their pitching may be better than many suspect, their lineup deep. But there is no surprise here, only expectation and, with one of the three highest payrolls and ticket prices that have risen 250 percent in three years, little slack. Could they win the World Series? Yes, if Pedro Martinez, Garciaparra and Derek Lowe are healthy and they get some breaks.

But understand, of the five best American League teams on paper the first week of March, no team has more variables than the Red Sox. No team has more pressure on it, either. After all the hoopla, if Garciaparra is hurt, Ramirez has trouble dealing with Boston and they get off to a slow start, there is no situation in either league with a better chance to evoke ugliness than the Red Sox.

"I can't figure out if this is a World Series team," said one general manager, "or the Bobby Bonilla Mets."

Before the first game of the exhibition season, Ramirez already lit the fuse around Jimy Williams. With owner John Harrington and GM Dan Duquette laying it all on the line in what theoretically is Harrington's victory lap season, with a $100 million plus payroll, the mind-boggling commitment to Ramirez and with fans whipped into a demanding frenzy, a slow start will not be acceptable. Since the media and fans' honeymoon with Williams is over -- much less the general manager's romance -- there will be inordinate heat on the manager.

"It's early. These things have a way of blowing over and changing," said one Red Sox front-office official. But another said, "this is a little unnerving when players are dictating the lineup this early."

Unless you are a rotisserie fan who has never seen the Red Sox or their home park, you know that the Red Sox want Trot Nixon playing right field and Ramirez left, at least in Boston. With all respect to Jermaine Dye, Ruben Mateo, Tim Salmon and Ichiro Suzuki, Nixon is the best defensive right fielder in the American League. Right field in Fenway is perhaps the single most difficult defensive position in the league. It is certainly the most important position for the Red Sox because of the number of bases involved when balls are hit in that direction, with all its angles. Nixon, who played nearly three months last season with a torn hamstring, is important to the team's makeup. He and Darren Lewis are the two with genuine leadership skills, and Nixon's fire is as strong as anyone who wears that uniform.

Oh, yes, Ramirez agreed to play left, which in Boston is the most overrated defensive position. But someone convinced Manny that he shouldn't have to take the indignity. So, before the first game was played, Ramirez became an issue. And for all the feel-good laughs of the winter and dreams of arguably the best hitter in the game wedged between Garciaparra and Carl Everett, there are concerns. The next morning, several of his former Indians teammates were discussing Ramirez at the batting cage in Sarasota, Fla.

"Manny was sheltered in Cleveland, the way Albert (Belle) was," said one longtime Indian star. "Look what happened to Albert when he left. Leaving Cleveland and the way those two were taken care of is like throwing someone into the real world without being ready for it. Manny is a great hitter, but I'll bet you right now Juan Gonzalez has more RBI than Manny."

"Manny's never been booed, never had to deal with controversy," said another longtime regular. "Those fans in Boston are tough. They can be mean-spirited. I don't think Manny can handle it. If there are fans who think he's making out the lineup, it's cold, he's struggling with trying to hit the ball to right-center with the wind blowing in in April and he butchers a few balls in that right field, it could be ugly. I hope not, but I worry for him."

It is early, and there is time to make things heal. There are also some very encouraging signs, especially the pitching, both in terms of starters and the health of the two catchers who get so much out of the staff, Jason Varitek and Scott Hatteberg.

"It's amazing what Jimy Williams and Joe Kerrigan have gotten out of this staff in the past," David Cone said. "That's one of the primary reasons I signed with Boston, to work with them."

"It's Jimy," Kerrigan said. "Because he has an uncanny sense of when to pull starters and how to keep the bullpen rested."

This is a staff that has led the league in ERA two consecutive years without anyone other than Pedro Martinez winning 11 games. Last season, the Elias Sports Bureau ascertained that the Red Sox were the first team since the turn of the 20th century to have their starters throw the fewest innings in its league, and still lead in ERA. Last year, Boston starters failed to last six innings in 85 of their 162 games, the worst failure rate in either league. The Yankees, for instance, failed to get six innings out of their starters 58 times, Oakland 53.

Hideo Nomo appears to be better than anyone they had behind Martinez last season. Tomo Ohka is counted on to win 12-14 games. Frank Castillo, Cone and Rolando Arrojo will get their shots, and rookie Paxton Crawford is throwing the ball exceptionally well. Bret Saberhagen and Pete Schourek continue to throw, improve and hope. Rod Beck has lost 25 pounds. Kent Mercker has the ball coming out his hand better than it has for years. Hipolito Pichardo is as strong as ever. They have a young left-hander named Casey Fossum who could help in the second half.

But, that said, there are serious questions:

1. Garciaparra: "Any time a hitter has a wrist injury, you worry until the player is proven healthy," Duquette said. It's been 17 months since he originally hurt the tendon, and while he fought through the pain last season and batted .372, to suggest people aren't worried is whitewashing things. He is their best player, one of the handful of best players in the game. He is their only above-average infielder defensively -- even if John Valentin's hard work gets him back, he has to be limited by the knee operations -- on a team whose defense is suspect at best. There is no legitimate substitute, and even if they can go get Mike Benjamin, Pat Meares or Juan Castro, how can they replace Garciaparra if he needs an operation and he is out for half a season? And why didn't Duquette sign Tim Bogar or some legitimate defensive backup during the winter?

2. Valentin: His return would be a huge plus, both in terms of plugging in a good hitter, but more importantly as a defensive third baseman who is able to slow the game down to his speed. Without him, defense at that position is a problem.

3. Jose Offerman: Not only has Offerman been contrary to his Kansas City reputation -- he plays hard and players say he is a hard-driving force in the clubhouse -- but he is vital to the offense. He is a good hitter who can knock in runs and is close to a .400 on-base guy at the top of the order. He says he is healthy, but is still coming off knee surgery.

4. The roster: No one works harder than Dante Bichette and he is a terrific RBI man, but with a team built around offensive players, with Ramirez, Everett, Valentin, Offerman, Chris Stynes, et al (even Nomar if healthy, as Williams likes to DH him once every 10 days because of his breakneck approach), having a full-time DH could be a drawback. If they keep six starters and go six deep in the bullpen, how do they assemble the 25-man roster? Do the parts fit? Not well.

5. One wonders if Arrojo is visiting or in on the program. Some coaches are concerned about Rich Garces' weight and whether or not he could hurt his arm. Cone and Ohka are going to need defense.

6. If Ramirez is in right, what do they do? They've been trying to move Troy O'Leary. Nixon is a low-salaried player whose respect around the league gives him far greater trade value, but he's also the only good defensive outfielder in their organization above Class A ball. The way they've worked their budget, it's clear the Red Sox are going for it right now and letting the next owner sweat the small stuff.

When one sees those four Yankee starters, there is no question about their formidable capabilities. Look at the Indians, with the best front three in any lineup followed by a healthy Gonzalez, Jim Thome, Ellis Burks and Travis Fryman right down to Russell Branyan in the eighth spot, and there is no question about that team's potential if they can work out the 4-5 spots in the rotation. Chicago and Oakland are very good, and very young.

It's not as simple as signing Ramirez to play left field and winning it all. Whether the people who run the Red Sox realize it or not, the greater the enthusiasm in March can mean the uglier the disappointment in August. The Red Sox could be a very good team. They conceivably could get to the World Series. But they also have more variables than any of the American League headliners in this the first week of March, and a lot of those variables are mined.