For some of us, the metamorphosis is beyond astonishing. The Boston Red Sox were never losers as much as they were chokers, which only heightened the frustration that came with seemingly inevitable failure.

Yet as the Red Sox were steamrolling the Colorado Rockies in the World Series last fall, the identity and perception of the franchise changed so thoroughly that it was impossible to overlook. Personally, I was inspired to write a book about it. Thus was born "Dynasty: The Inside Story Of How The Red Sox Became A Baseball Powerhouse," which was meant to be a look at the period during which the Red Sox evolved from eternally insecure also-rans to self-assured kings.

Hey, as any sportswriter will tell you, I don't write the headlines.

What the Red Sox are, in fact, is an apparent dynasty-in-the-making, a team that has won two World Series and been to three league championship series in the last five seasons. No other club in baseball can make that kind of claim. Now, entering the middle of May, Boston has the best record in the American League and again appears the team to beat in the AL, only reinforcing what general manager Theo Epstein told me last winter.

"We were talking about this in the office the other day," Epstein said. "If you look at it, I think our last five years have been better than anybody else's in baseball. At the same time, I'm not sure we'd trade our next five years for anyone else's, either."

For people who have followed the Red Sox for any length of time, that sometimes remains a difficult concept to grasp.

Never have the Red Sox been in such great harmony, a perfect blend of past and present.

In the immediate aftermath of last year's World Series, the question was obvious: How did this all happen? Somewhere along the line, in this age of genetic engineering, the Red Sox became a cross between the Atlanta Braves of the early 1990s and the Oakland Athletics of the late 1990s, a blend of baseball and brains. More than anything, what became clear is that the Red Sox evolved during a period of growth that began with deposed GM Dan Duquette and blossomed under Epstein, the King Tut of baseball who had a World Series championship under his belt at the age of 30.

In late January 1994, when Duquette took over the baseball operation, the Red Sox were that worst of all things: a bad major-league team with a barren minor-league system. (Think Baltimore Orioles, at least before the Erik Bedard trade.) In subsequent years, Duquette infused the Red Sox with, in no particular order, Nomar Garciaparra, Tim Wakefield, Jason Varitek, Derek Lowe, Pedro Martinez, Johnny Damon, Manny Ramirez, Kevin Youkilis and Hanley Ramirez. Some of those players are still with the Red Sox. Others were used as bargaining chips. (Hanley Ramirez was the principal piece in the deal that brought Boston both Josh Beckett and Mike Lowell, even if the trade was executed after Duquette's departure.) The point is that Duquette sufficiently restocked Boston's shelves — in the minor leagues and the majors — to the point where the Red Sox were back in the proverbial game.

Said the former GM on the November 1997 night he obtained ace Martinez from the Montreal Expos for prospects Carl Pavano and Tony Armas Jr.: "The Red Sox are back in business."

And he was right.

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