BOSTON – The Red Sox revel in their self-proclaimed role of being idiots. The truth is, the Yankees starting pitching has made them look like idiots.

Consider that Johnny Damon, Mark Bellhorn, Kevin Millar and Bill Mueller are batting a combined .097 and you begin to understand the domination the Yankees pitchers have had over the Red Sox in the first two games of the ALCS.

And now the Red Sox are facing the almost certainty that Curt Schilling, their ace of aces, is done for the series with his dislocated ankle tendon.

Considering all that, it was no surprise that reliever Alan Embree strolled into the Red Sox clubhouse yesterday at drippy Fenway chanting to himself: “1918.”

The upset was he didn’t follow that up with the sing-songy, “Who’s your daddy?”

Embree then said to his teammates, “Cheer up, if we win tomorrow we’ll be OK.”

Welcome to the idiot’s last stand. The 0-2 Red Sox know they have to beat the Yankees and Kevin Brown tonight in Game 3, weather permitting, or 1918 becomes their calling card once again.

Game 7 of the World Series is slated for Halloween night and the cocky Red Sox still think they are getting there. Damon, who is 0-for-8 in the series, said, “We don’t want to take the Halloween candy out and pass it out to the kids around the neighborhood. We’d like to be here.”

They’ve talked all the talk, now they need to walk the walk. The first two games of this series isn’t just about how the Red Sox have failed, it’s how the Yankees have succeeded.

“We can’t deny how well they’ve pitched, hopefully that trend won’t continue,” Damon said of the Yankees’ pitching success, led by Mike Mussina, Jon Leiber and Mariano Rivera. “I just think that they’ve hit their spots every time. They are not missing over the heart of the plate, they are missing in and out, up and down. They’ve done a good job.

“When I do get a good pitch, I need to hit it. And I haven’t had too many of them to hit.”

“People lose the fact that those guys pitched great games,” added Derek Lowe, who will replace Schilling in the rotation, unless there is a rainout. “They should be getting the credit, not as much as we should be getting the blame. We’ve gotten two hits in the first 13 innings against their starters. That’s not bad hitting, that’s just great pitching.”

The bottom line is that the Yankees are just more prepared for the postseason under Joe Torre than the Animal House Red Sox are under Terry Francona.

Francona probably never should have let the injured Schilling start Game 1 and then, he should have gotten him out of the game immediately when it was clear Schilling couldn’t throw with his usual velocity. But the players run the Red Sox, not the manager.

Torre said the Yankees approach every series in a certain way.

“Respect is important to me,” Torre said, pointing out he was not criticizing how the Red Sox go about their business. “The respect starts in your own clubhouse. And then even if a club you are playing is in last place, respect the fact that somebody can kick your (butt) at any time and just don’t take anybody for granted.

“We like to be businesslike. And it has nothing to do with reacting to what other people say or how somebody else behaves . . . We just try to fight off distractions and be able to do our job. You know, sometimes the distractions are maybe what other people say, including our boss, or it could be some hardship, like Mo is going through right now.

“I’m proud to say that these guys have been very professional and you know, hopefully, we can continue staying focused.”

In other words, don’t act like idiots.

Bat’s all, folks

Johnny Damon

Games 1 and 2 vs. Yankees

AB R H RBI SO Avg.

8 0 0 0 5 .000

Kevin Millar

Games 1 and 2 vs. Yankees

AB R H RBI SO Avg.

8 1 1 2 2 .125

Bill Mueller

Games 1 and 2 vs. Yankees

AB R H RBI SO Avg.

7 1 1 0 0 .143