SOX OVERCOME THEMSELVES.

Byline: DOUG KRIKORIAN

BOSTON - Having supposedly wiped out whatever mystical forces have kept them from winning a World Series since 1918 with their historic triumph over the New York Yankees in the ALCS, the Boston Red Sox reverted to ugly form Saturday night in their Fall Classic opener against the St. Louis Cardinals.

They squandered leads of 4-0, 7-2 and 9-7. They, the bumbling Manny Ramirez included, played defense as though they were auditioning for a Three Stooges skit. They had their fans moaning and groaning as much as they had them cheering and applauding. They seemed to have once again have come under the dreaded Curse of the Bambino.

But a strange occurrence transpired in the Game 1 of the 100th World Series.

Despite their self-destructive antics, despite the fates conspiring against them, despite Ramirez's meltdown in left field, the Red Sox somehow still emerged victorious, 11-9, on a dramatic two-run, eighth-inning home run by Mark Bellhorn before 35,035 thrilled, relieved spectators who spent the entire 49 degree evening in a state of exhausted anxiety.

In the past, the Red Sox would have lost this kind of game in the chill of mid October, as those with even the most threadbare knowledge of the franchise's lore well know.

It seemed Ramirez was destined to follow those fellows in Red Sox infamy with his two eighth inning errors that ignited a two-run St. Louis rally that tied up matters at 9-9.

It seemed like the same old Red Sox had surfaced, as not only Ramirez was guilty of some comical shenanigans, but so were several of his teammates, including first baseman Kevin Millar and pitcher Bronson Arroyo, both of whom committed throwing errors, and third baseman Bill Mueller, who committed a fourth inning mental error when he failed to throw to home plate.

It seemed the Cardinals would come out of this with an unlikely victory on an evening when their pitchers were pelted by the Boston batsmen and when the Red Sox were in a classic self-destructive mode.

But something is bizarre is happening with the Red Sox these days.

Even when adversity strikes - and being down 0-3 to the Yankees was the height of adversity - the Red Sox manage not only to survive, but to flourish.

The Red Sox coolly shrugged it off Saturday night's adversity and rode Bellhorn's home run and Keith Foulke's stout relief pitching to a stirring triumph that quieted, at least for the time being, the evil forces that have haunted this team since Babe Ruth departed it after the 1919 season.

``This wasn't a game you'd want to use as an instructional video to send to the baseball clinics,'' said Boston manager Terry Francona. ``I didn't relax until the final out was recorded. We did a lot of things wrong out there tonight.

``We didn't catch the ball cleanly, or throw it cleanly. We made a lost of mistakes we need to clean up. But we persevered as we've done throughout the playoffs, and came out with a victory.''

In the past, the Red Sox would have lost this one with Ramirez having his Billy Buckner moments.

But these Red Sox seem adverse to trouble.

They seem to react to it, as Bellhorn did in the bottom of the eighth after Ramirez had almost gift-wrapped a victory to the Cardinals.

After falling behind 7-2, the Cardinals would continue to effectively counterpunch the Red Sox, but it made no difference this time despite the worst efforts of Ramirez, who did have three hits and did drive in two runs.

And that's precisely what these Red Sox did in the kind of game that they lost so often in those other seasons that were far more cursed than this one has been - so far.