That Wild Card Still Feels Wrong

All these years later, it still feels like there’s something wrong with the wild card.
Just reading the back pages of the tabloids this morning reminded me of that feeling.
Yes, having a system with a wild card means that more teams can compete, ostensibly livening up the playoffs. But I’m old enough to be nostalgic about the times when the winners of the AL East played the winners of the AL West. And then on to the series. Before that set-up, I've read, the winners of the American League simply played the top team of the National League. Imagine that.
Having a wild card still feels like cheating to me. There's something weird about losing your division and winding up calling yourselves World Champions. Isn't there?
This all bothered me, at least up until yesterday, when the Yankees landed their wild card ticket to the playoffs. Then it was okay.
No, I’m kidding. It’s not okay. And so this morning I found myself feeling sad about the way the Bronx Bombers are heading into postseason play. Not bad enough to stop rooting for my traditional team this time of year. But bad enough to wonder all over again about the wild card.
I know I’m not alone. The fellow at the front desk in my building yesterday, listening on the radio to a Yankee loss, said that that if the Yanks win and get the number-one spot in their division, then they might just keep winning. But he could not picture the Yankees this year going from wild card status to winning the World Series. Maybe he was just being superstitious. I think what he was really saying was that he could not see this team winning the Series—period.
His skepticism may be earned. The Yanks did not look too good in the last couple of weeks. All shall be revealed to us over the course of the playoffs, which traditionally have been decent territory for the Yankees. We’ll see how wild it gets.