The human mind was not meant to care this much about individual baseball games. Every single loss during the 162-game season can be hand-waved; “Eh, can’t win ‘em all,” or “I mean, we weren’t going to go 162-0.” Then you get to this tortuous, inhumane thing known as the Wild Card Series, a three-game soiree from hell that is specifically designed to make fans feel as terrible as possible.
The Boston Red Sox just got stabbed, thrown off a bridge and shot in the head in Game 1 against the New York Yankees. But they didn’t die; they are not allowed to die. Cam Schlittler and Ben Rice, two Massachusetts natives, played arguably the best possible games they could have — Schlittler was invincible, untouchable, and Rice had four hits, six RBIs and a grand slam to turn a convincing win into a blowout.
The Red Sox embarrassed themselves (and me) in Game 1
But Boston doesn’t get to go home like they would have in the olden days of the Wild Card game. No, they have to go face Max Fried and the completely available Yankees bullpen in a second game, potentially without Roman Anthony, who left the game in the fifth inning presumably due to injury. They have to endure the jeers of Yankee Stadium again, must back up their questionable bullpen decisions with yet more bullpen decisions. The Red Sox’s September slump, random injuries to bullpen arms in meaningless games and a season that was over before it started and then clawed itself out of the grave — all of it will all die tonight, ignominiously at the hands of a trash Yankees lineup without Aaron Judge or Giancarlo Stanton.
Unless it doesn’t. Should Boston actually respond to this criminal embarrassment by winning Game 2, we shall then subject ourselves to a third game; a do-or-die struggle to determine which of the Red Sox or Yankees, the two best teams in the American League, deserves to share the division series with titans like the Chicago White Sox or the Cleveland Guardians. Can we just go back to how it was for the first 60-odd years of the 20th century and have the two best regular season records from the AL and NL skip straight to the World Series? Anything would be better than this.
If you haven’t yet clicked on my profile and discovered that yes, I’m a Red Sox fan, that is unfortunately the case. But I’m just not sure how many more of these three-game series I can handle before I start demanding everything be best-of-seven or not exist at all. Random crap happens in baseball all the time, and a three-game sample is … not a sample. I’m not even saying Boston is better than New York — without Anthony they definitely aren’t. But is this chicanery satisfying to anyone? I hope so, because it’s killing me.
Three-game Wild Card Series are an elaborate torture device
There is a special kind of agony reserved for fans of teams that believe their team can win it all but repeatedly fall short. It was a four-year experience with the Boston Celtics that I am still recovering from; I knew they could win, and in 2024 I knew they should win — thankfully, they did. But lots of teams, like last year’s Seattle Mariners, fall tragically short and then disintegrate.
I don’t know if this Red Sox team can win the World Series, but they sure as hell are better than that. There’s no reason that lineup should only get two hits, be it off Cam Schlittler, Greg Maddux or God. Nor should the Red Sox bullpen, which is still elite despite several poorly timed injuries, be getting shelled like that.
The Boston Red Sox, my Boston Red Sox, one of MLB’s premier markets and legacy franchises, are going on five seasons without appearing in the Division Series if they lose tonight. That is inexcusable, and it will be inexcused by this absolute farce of a best of three — I’d almost rather they’d just not even made the playoffs in the first place. (writes down note for next time: don’t write about Red Sox immediately after loss, sleep first)
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