I have been a loyal fan of the Boston Red Sox since 1996. This was in the twilight of the days of Mo Vaughn and the rise of a young shortstop named Nomar Garciapparra. Needless to say there have been massive disappointments (2003, 2001 and 1999) and great joys. (2004 and 2007) One thing the Sox have never done of late is shied away from expectations.

That is until this season and it reeks of disappointment.

This off-season the Red Sox added offensive power in the form of All-Stars, outfielder Carl Crawford and first baseman Adrian Gonzalez. With an upgraded bullpen, a vaunted pitching staff and these two acquisitions it was thought the Sox would immediately be the best team in the American League and coast to a world championship. Too bad that predictions don’t win games, players do.

The Sox currently sit at 0-4. That explosive offense has only scored 12 runs and five of those came in the first game. The vaunted pitching staff has been shellacked only averaging a paltry five innings an outing and allowing home runs at a record setting pace. The bullpen has done what it can, but in the first game dominant setup man Daniel Bard allowed four runs in one inning, something unheard of until that day.

This leads us to two prized acquisitions Crawford and Gonzalez. While Gonzalez has shined, Crawford has struggled only collecting three hits in the first four games and striking out a handful of times, often at pitches outside the zone.

So the question is not what is the problem, those are evident. The question is will this get righted and will the Sox play up to the potential they are capable of ? The answer is one would hope. A friend of mine who is a fan of the hatred rival New York Yankees said “They will get it figured out they are too talented not too.”

Talent can only take a team so far, then fundamentals and love of the game must take over. The fact is these Sox are crumbling under the expectations. What the Sox need to do is get back to playing baseball and not worrying about the expectations. Last year the Sox were ravaged by injuries, losing All-Stars Dustin Pedroia and Kevin Youklis to season ending injuries. Not to mention three out of their starting five pitchers missed extended periods of time. For any other team they would have packed it in, but the Sox still managed to win 89 games.

This is the fight and intensity the Sox need to get out of this rut to start the season.

So, will it happen ?  That remains to be seen. Someone asked me where I was on the panic meter and I answered on a scale of 1-10, I was at a five. The truth is, a 162 game season is only four games old and the Sox still have time to get it figured out. So these cries by the Red Sox faithful for managers and coaches to lose their jobs, players to be traded and saying the off-season acquisitions were a mistake are a bit premature.

The next few weeks will dictate what is to become of the Sox season. Whether it is to become one of massive disappointment or a grand story of resurgence is up to them and them alone.

Sadly, the only thing we as fans can do is watch and sometimes, that can be the most painful thing to do.