It's more than a start, Red Sox fans.

In the wake of last night's loss, the Henrytown Red Sox are 30-12, one game ahead of the New York Yankees, who will be here for four games starting tomorrow night. A full quarter of the baseball season is over and the Red Sox are on a pace to win 115 games.

Baseball is always about comparisons, so it's time to measure this start against the early-season records of two of the hottest teams in Red Sox history: the 1946 Sox and the ill-fated 1978ers.

The 1946 Red Sox had the best 42-game start in team history (33-9). This was the year that Ted Williams, Dom DiMaggio, Johnny Pesky, and Bobby Doerr all came back from serving their country in World War II. They took over first place April 28, won 15 straight games, and were 40-10 after 50 games. They finished 60-17 at Fenway and clinched the pennant on Sept. 13.

Dominic DiMaggio, who batted third in front of Williams in '46, was home watching the Red Sox last night.

''No one knew what to expect,'' said DiMaggio. ''But after about three weeks, we said, `Hey this is a lot of fun.' And we just kept winning. We were free and loose and we had that good attitude, just like this club this year. You have one guy picking up another guy every day, it seems, and that's the way it was that year. That's the way you get a winner. Attitude means so much and the attitude of this ball club is great and I hope it stays that way.''

1946 was the year Williams hit the monstrous home run that is now represented by a single red seat in the 37th row of the bleachers. It was also the first summer in which the All-Star Game was held at Fenway Park. Williams went 4 for 4 with two homers in a 12-0 American League win.

Managed by Joe Cronin, the Sox finished 104-50, winning the pennant by 12 games. They were heavily favored against the Cardinals in the '46 World Series but lost it in seven as Williams hit only .200, with zero extra-base hits. It has long been believed that they got a little stale at the end of the year. The franchise record for victories is 105, set in 1912. The '46 Sox had a six-game losing streak in September and lost their final two games.

''I thought Cronin kind of let up,'' said DiMaggio. ''I said we wanted to win 105 games and the newspapers picked it up, but Joe was using the scrubs and he wasn't all that anxious to pour it on and we never got that 105th win. We kind of coasted while the other teams were charging [the Cardinals wound up in a best-of-three playoff with the Dodgers] and it might have had some effect. Losing that World Series was the biggest disappointment of my career.''

The 1978 Red Sox found a different way to disappoint. They didn't get out of the gate as quickly (27-15 after 42 games) as the '46ers or this year's edition, but by July they owned the best 82-game record (57-25) in franchise history. They were 62-28 on July 20.

You know the rest. The worst collapse in baseball history. The fold against which all others are measured. There was no coasting to the finish line in '78. There was just Bucky Dent and Yaz kicking the dirt in disgust at the base of The Wall.

Comparing today's Sox with his '78 team, Luis Tiant sounds remarkably similar to DiMaggio.

''We got along well, just like these guys,'' said El Tiante. ''We had good guys on our team and we played hard. We played together. These guys here now have a good thing in their clubhouse and that's the way it should be. The more loose you are, the better.''

Tiant's teammates couldn't keep it going, of course. And the '78 collapse dogs him the way the '46 World Series haunts DiMaggio.

''The biggest disappointment, no question,'' said Tiant. ''I don't know what happened. We were just flat. And then the Yankees came in. They didn't just beat us, 2-1, 1-0. They kicked our ass. It was terrible. We should have won easily.''

There will be nothing easy about 2002. The Yankees, like the Red Sox, are white hot. The Sox could stay on their 100-plus-win pace and still be dogged by the Pinstripes throughout the summer.

But this is more than a good start. This is legit. It is no longer a function of winning easy games against bad teams. The Sox are 6-4 against the Yankees and Mariners.

''The atmosphere here is totally different,'' said former Sox slugger Ken Harrelson, now a White Sox broadcaster. ''You can feel it as soon as you walk into this ballpark. These guys are for real.''

Seattle scout Stan Williams told manager Lou Piniella that the Red Sox are the best team the Mariners will play this year.

But DiMaggio, the voice of experience, cautioned, ''I'd like to see one more real good starting pitcher, a guy you can depend on. I'm just wondering if after Lowe and Martinez, if these fellas are going to be able to hold up.''

He said that before watching Darren Oliver last night. It's a warning worth heeding. Once again, the Yankees are nipping at the heels of the Sox, and no one knows Red Sox-Yankees history better than a DiMaggio.

By Dan Shaughnessy of The Boston Globe Staff

This story ran on page D1 of the Boston Globe on 5/22/2002.

Copyright 2002 Globe Newspaper Company.