At this time of year, it's important to remember that the baseball season is a marathon, not a sprint. And the first-place Red Sox at this hour are like a rabbit runner, taking charge as the leaders move past Ashland High School.

The Sox took three out of four from the Yankees over the weekend, and after yesterday's 4-3 victory, 33,864 filed out of Fenway Park flexing their muscles and announcing the death of the New York dynasty.

Why not have a party? The Yanks kicked the ball all over the lot, couldn't win the close ones, and looked unusually vulnerable in the series, which drew 134,174 to the Fens.

But we know better, don't we? It seemed fitting that the Sox organization featured ''Won't Get Fooled Again,'' over the public address system before the Yankees came to the plate in the ninth (speaking of sounds, could management please replace the Fenway PA announcer, who sounds like he's auditioning to do ''Barney'' birthday parties?). The Who anthem serves as a painful but fitting reminder of what has gone on here through the years and it would be a colossal mistake to dismiss the Yankees on the basis of an April weekend in Boston. Need we remind you that the Sox took three of four from the defending world champions on the same weekend last April? We all know how the 2001 season finished.

In this spirit, it was interesting to walk about the Sox clubhouse as the players basked in the glow of victory and packed for Toronto.

''It doesn't really matter,'' said veteran Nomar Garciaparra. ''If we won all the rest of our games, we could lose every game to the Yankees and we'd still finish first. It's just good to win, it doesn't matter who it's against.''

''It gives us confidence, but it's not a big deal,'' said Pedro Martinez. ''We have to be able to beat the other guys, too. This was a good series and we showed we can beat them, but it's too early.''

Tim Wakefield, another veteran of too many Fenway wars, said, ''It's still early. We try not to get caught up in the hype this early, though it's hard not to do that when you play four close games like that.''

It was an entertaining weekend of baseball. We saw some message pitches from both sides, Shea Hillenbrand hit a memorable game-winning homer off Mariano Rivera, Mike Mussina raised his hand as a likely Cy Young candidate, and Ugueth Urbina established himself as the heart-attack closer fans dread.

Ah, Oogie. The Urbina Cowboy is en route to cult status. He has yet to record a 1-2-3 inning this season. He pumped his fist after giving up the deciding run in the home opener. And he hasn't had anything to say to the media since his recliner chair (a gift from Joe Kerrigan) was taken out of the Sox clubhouse in Fort Myers. The 1979 Orioles made it to the World Series with a closer like Oogie. His name was Don Stanhouse and Earl Weaver called him ''Full Pack'' because Weaver smoked an entire pack of unfiltered Raleighs whenever Stanhouse finished a game.

Derek Lowe, who pitched seven sensational innings yesterday, can relate to the perils of Oogie.

''Been there, done that,'' said Lowe. ''But he's a top-notch closer. Honestly, he's going to get out of it, and that's the way you feel.''

Lowe and catcher Jason Varitek were two more Sox who resisted the urge to attach significance to winning three out of four against the Bronx Bombers.

''It's too early,'' said Varitek. ''But you know what? There's just a good atmosphere here. It seems like everybody's heading in the right direction.''

Of course, there are guys who share the feelings of the innocent fans. Hillenbrand has only been in the majors for a year. He's the Red Sox' hottest hitter (.405, 11-game hit streak) and he did not hold back when asked about the significance of winning three of four vs. New York.

''It's huge,'' said the third baseman. ''When you do something like that against a team like that ... it shows the Yankees are like every other team - they can be beaten.''

It's true. The Yankees can be beaten. They were hardly dominant this weekend. The Red Sox were better.

But the Yanks still can come at you with Roger Clemens, Mussina, David Wells, Andy Pettitte, and Orlando Hernandez. They still have Rivera. They still have Derek Jeter. And they still have Joe Torre, infinite local TV cash, and Steinbrenner urgency.

Three out of four feels good, but the long-distance running Sox have just crossed into Ashland and we know there's always a Heartbreak Hill before they get to the finish line.

By Dan Shaughnessy

This story ran on page E1 of the Boston Globe on 4/16/2002.

Copyright 2002 Globe Newspaper Company.