Why the wild card?

The reason that the four game series between the Boston Red Sox and New York Yankees means so little, even in a baseball sense, is not that “Bost” just gained 3 games in 3 days to raise their “one eighth” div lead to five and a half games.

No, and MLB Network’s Bob Costas, likely there tonight for the series opener, knows it, having fought the wild card presence, the reason is there is a wild card presence.

One week shy of exactly 39 years ago, (1978 and 2017 have the same calendar), the Yankees walked into Boston 4 games out in a race for a legitimate, “you had to finish first” one quarter division.

Fours, fourths were operative and the Yankees won all four, essentially in routs, a fact that still haunts me.

However, as painful as that Yankees 1978 title season was to me and it devastated me, that is my problem/sickness.

The result was legitimate and dramatic and while I still have nightmares regarding it, the insane presence of a wild card, meaning there will never be a Bobby Thomson or dare I say Russell “Bucky” Dent game again, is everybody’s problem.

They ruined it! Costas knows it but goes on! I do not, my love for it so pure, my disgust with wild cards, no Pete but wild card creator Selig in the sham “Hall” so strong!!