The Red Sox will score runs. The Red Sox will give up more runs. Without Nomar Garciaparra, the Sox won’t score as many runs. Without Garciaparra, the Sox will give up even more runs. This curse is ridiculous.

So the season begins Sunday night under Latin skies in Puerto Rico where they love their baseball. Time for that most adventurous of undertakings – predicting (see guessing) the October winner.

Last year the Yankees won the American League East. This year they will just stand around and have it handed to them. The Sox can’t ——-. You fill in the blank because after Pedro there’s not much they can do. Martinez will be the best on the mound in the game again, and it will mean nothing for the Sox.

The Blue Jays, if everything goes right, could challenge the Yankees. The Devil Rays and Orioles are both extinct.

The Yankees will benefit from the unbalanced schedule that is back this year, playing more games against the East. It is the weakest division in the majors.

The Indians could regain the Central title. Juan Gonzalez could have a monster year now that he is exiled from Detroit, a land whose ballpark he detested. The White Sox will be in the mix if David Wells can win 15. He can. The Royals are again the dark horse in all of baseball, but they play in a tough division. Detroit and Minnesota also play in the majors.

Oakland is the listed favorite in the offensive-loaded West, where pitchers are going to be shell shocked by the All-Star game. I think Seattle will win it. Their veterans, John Olerud, Edgar Martinez, Bret Boone, Aaron Sele and others constitute one of the most professional outfits in the game.

Texas will pay Alex Rodriquez a million shekels a pitch, score 12 runs a game and lose a lot of 5-hour, 13-12 games. The Angels – see Detroit/Minnesota above.

The National League East is the best division in baseball. The Braves and Mets are equally capable of winning it. The Marlins can pitch, the Expos can score and Philly can scrap. With these teams playing each other 18 times, this is going to get interesting.

The Cardinals win the Central, but the Reds will hang in if Ken Griffey is not out for too long. If Houston’s Jose Lima can get back to winning instead of setting National League marks in home runs surrendered (48), the Astros will be in the race till the end.

Milwaukee and Pittsburgh will be tough to play against because of pitching, but they do not have enough to stay with the other three. The Cubs will watch Sammy Sosa hit home runs, but management won’t care, as long as Wrigley stays full.

The West is a horse race with the Giants the winner by a nose over the Dodgers, Rockies and Diamondbacks who will all go as far as the health of their starters takes them. San Diego is a wreck that already happened.

Cleveland beats Oakland in the ALCS and the Mets down the Cardinals in the NLCS. Then: Mets win, Mets win.

It is a violation of the United States Code Annotated, section 27-b (10) (i) to reread this column anytime after the MLB All-Star game on July 10.

Old Town native Gary Thorne is an ESPN and NBC sportscaster.