Eric Canha | USA TODAY Sports

It feels like yesterday, but this fall will be the 20th anniversary of the 2003 American League Championship Series. Which, in our somewhat-biased opinion, is the greatest postseason series that has ever been played. Nothing will ever top what the Yankees and Red Sox packed into that seven-game war — not even 2004.

Now, you never know what is going to happen. Especially when there are still 161 games to be played. But we feel good about saying the Bombers will make it to October. And that the Sox will not. Because they have become so irrelevant and pathetic that, to be frank, even we here in New York can admit it is sad to see.

How sad? Here are two amazing passages from Boston Globe columnist Dan Shaughnessy after Thursday’s 10-9 loss to the Orioles at Fenway Park.

First, a big-picture take:

This is what the Red Sox have become. For the first time in a long time, they are the fourth-most-popular team in our sports-crazed region, and they rely on past glory, an idiotic song, and pink-hat fans to bolster past days when they were a serious baseball organization spending money and trying to win championships for a loyal, long-suffering fan base.

Now they are a nerd-larded operation (33 folks in the analytics department) intent on not overspending, selling the illusion of contention in a watered-down playoff format that promotes “all are welcome” every October.

And then a great deep cut about the Sox’s renovated clubhouse:

The new-and-improved Red Sox clubhouse has the vibe of a disco club from the 1970s. The room is bathed in red-tinted lighting that reminded me of the light shining into Cosmo Kramer’s digs after a Kenny Rogers Roasters opened across the street from his apartment. Think of it as Game On Meets Studio 54.

Boston is Boston again. The Red Sox are the Red Sox again. Time is a flat circle.

James Kratch can be reached at [email protected]. Follow him on Twitter @jameskratch.

James Kratch is the managing editor of ESNY. He previously worked as a Rutgers and Giants (and Mike Francesa) beat reporter for NJ Advance Media.