Rays' fate might ride on wild cards

Jason Varitek has never had to apologize for being part of the 2004 American League wild-card team.

The Red Sox might have finished three games behind the Yankees in the AL East that year, but they beat the Angels and Yankees in the playoffs and swept the Cardinals for their first World Series title in 86 years.

"Getting in as the wild card that year didn't diminish what we were able to accomplish at all," said Varitek, Boston's longtime captain. "It gave us an opportunity."

The wild-card berth is the back door into the Major League Baseball playoffs - purists assert it has admitted some non-deserving teams and diluted pennant races - but it is a way in.

And while Rays manager Joe Maddon has sought to keep his team focused on winning the division, it has become increasingly clear the wild-card berth represents Tampa Bay's best hope for a second consecutive postseason.

"Just getting to the playoffs is what matters ... but I do believe in striving to be the division winner," said Maddon, whose 60-48 club begins a six-game West Coast swing tonight at Seattle.

"I believe if our motivation is to be the wild-card guy, there's a much better chance of falling short. If your motivation is to win the division, we have a much better chance of getting into the playoffs, period. I don't want us ever to aim low."

While other professional leagues place less emphasis on winning division titles and more on getting into the playoffs with the highest possible seed, there's still a stigma in MLB to making the playoffs as a non-division winner.

That's undoubtedly because baseball didn't even have division play until 1969, and it was considered a radical departure from tradition when the two leagues split into three divisions and added a wild-card qualifier after the 1993 season.

Baseball tradition holds that wild-card teams aren't really supposed to be there, but since the eight-team postseason was implemented in 1995 (the 1994 playoffs were wiped out by a strike), nine of the 28 wild-card teams have advanced to the World Series. Four have won it.

Maddon's 2002 Anaheim Angels (he was the bench coach) beat the Giants in the only World Series in which neither team finished first in the 162-game regular season.

"No, there was no less feeling to the whole thing," Maddon concedes. "That particular group got hot late and just carried it all the way through. I think our group here is very capable of getting hot late, based on the way the season has played out."

The Florida Marlins won world championships in 1997 and 2003 but wouldn't have made the playoffs either year without the wild-card berth. The extra spot also has been a boon for the Red Sox, who have elbowed into the playoffs seven times since 1998, but only once in that span as a division winner.

Boston has won its recent World Series titles both ways: as the wild card in 2004 and as AL East champion in 2007.

"The wild card is a huge part of us getting in," Red Sox manager Terry Francona said. "That's why we're here, is to continue to play. There are various ways to do that."

In the Rays' clubhouse, mentioning "wild card" has been akin to uttering "he whose name shall not be spoken" in Harry Potter's world. But with the Yankees showing little signs of retreat, the defending AL champions are warming up to the idea that making the postseason is the most important thing.

That doesn't mean that at 51/2 game behind the Yankees entering Thursday night's play - but just three behind Boston and a half-game behind Texas in the wild-card standings - they are forfeiting the division.

"What's that saying? 'If you shoot for the stars, you're pretty close?'" closer J.P. Howell said. "That's what we're trying to do. If you try to make playoffs by the wild card, you'll usually lose by a game. We're trying to avoid that."

Said left fielder Carl Crawford, "We're definitely trying to set our sights on climbing back to the division, but we know it's another option."

Ask the Red Sox about that option.

NOTES: The Rays re-signed RHP Winston Abreu to a minor-league contract Thursday. The reliever was 3-0 with 10 saves and a 1.41 ERA at Triple-A Durham and made two appearances with the Rays earlier this year. The Rays traded him to Cleveland on July 2, and the Indians designated him for assignment Saturday. ... RHP Jeff Niemann, who makes his 20th start tonight, leads the Tampa Bay staff in wins (10) and ERA (3.62), and has the club's only complete-game shutouts (two). He's 8-2 with a 2.94 ERA in his last 13 starts.