This is not to say that Sox fans are mindless saps. Unlike other Boston teams, the Red Sox have shown a commitment to fielding a competitive team, and for all the years of futility this organization has endured, Sox fans can now see the light at the end of the tunnel. Otherwise, these booming prices would not be tolerated, which is more than can be said for the brainless puckheads in this town who follow the Bruins in spite of that team's tightwad of an owner.

This latest price increase by the Red Sox is proof only that the team is doing everything possible to compete with baseball's best teams, and given what Boston is up against, that is no small task. Sox CEO John Harrington simply doesn't have the seating capacity or the luxury boxes that Ted Turner has in Atlanta, and he certainly doesn't have the kind of sweet television package that lines George Steinbrenner's pockets in New York.

Yet the Braves and Yankees are the very teams that the Red Sox find themselves up against in this winter's bidding war for the top free agents. The man at the top of Boston's wish list, Orioles righthander Mike Mussina, is likely to command as much as $17 million per year, and if the Red Sox cannot pay him, someone else certainly will.

For those who go to Fenway to see a winning team on the field and not simply to make day trips, a slight extra cost at the gate is a small price to pay for a shot at a World Series. Most true fans will gladly fork over a couple extra bucks per game if it means having Mussina throwing every fifth day behind Pedro in the Sox rotation.

In a letter to season ticket holders, Sox GM Dan Duquette promised that all "the money that comes into the club through your support goes directly into the product on the field."

Given that pledge, the fans must hold up their end of the bargain as well. In times of national crisis, you don't question your government for raising taxes to fund the war effort. So must it be now with the Red Sox. As long as the team keeps its word and spends everything that comes into its coffers on personnel, everyone ought pay his fair share.

Because even if the Sox do reel in Mussina, the spending won't and can't end there. Last week there was talk that at the same time the Sox were pursuing Mussina, they were simultaneously talking with free agent lefthander Denny Neagle to bolster the staff even further. Adding a quality No. 3 starter like Neagle to the mix would be nice, but pitching wasn't the problem last year--run-production was.

So even if Boston inks both Mussina and Neagle to deals, the Sox will still need a bat. The team cannot expect to field the same lineup again next year and simply hope that everyone has better seasons than they did in 2000. Recent acquisitions Dave Nillson and Chris Stynes were nice pickups, but they are platoon players at best and won't cut the mustard in the everyday lineup.