BOSTON — It has been four decades since the Yankees and the Red Sox met later than this while holding the two best records in the majors. The last time was a big one: Game 163 in 1978, the Bucky Dent Game, when the Yankees capped an extraordinary comeback to steal the American League East. The Red Sox finished 99-64 and went home for the winter.
There is not as much at stake anymore, of course, even with the wild-card winner sentenced to a one-game knockout round instead of a five-game division series. No big deal, the Yankees insist.