A’s vs. Yankees: East Coast wants Oakland to lose

You wonder why they’re even playing the game. A Yankees-Red Sox playoff series is considered such a lock along the Eastern seaboard, Wednesday night’s wild-card game between the Yankees and A’s seems little more than an inconvenience.

It’s understandable, in a way. Nobody’s knocking the A’s, who won 96 games and became the American League’s best story. It’s just that New York and Boston have such a storied rivalry, going back to the dawn of the 20th century, a 2018 showdown sounds particularly enticing.

“I will be a fanboy Wednesday night,” wrote longtime Boston Globe columnist Dan Shaughnessy. “I will watch ‘The Pride of the Yankees’ early in the afternoon.