My friend Paul remembers being five years old and watching his father rip the radio out of the wall after the Red Sox grounded into a rally-killing double play. Abrams, an overcharged Yankees fan, told me that any neurosis I had about the Red Sox paled before his about the Yankees. As in every other New England family, my son and I bonded intensely over the Red Sox. In the final game, nationally televised, the Yankees beat the Red Sox in the ninth inning. Given the state of the world, there was particular reason to look forward to the Red Sox season this year: part diversion, part reason for hope.