What Twins needed was a flip of their September record

The New York Yankees and the Boston Red Sox of 1978 fielded two very powerful lineups. The Yankees chased down the Red Sox from fourth place and 14 games behind in mid-July, and the teams wound up tied at 99-63 at the top of the American League East.

These were seven victories more than Kansas City had posted to win the West, yet only one team could advance to play the Royals in the ALCS.

The Yankees had won six of seven from the Red Sox in September to finish with an 8-5 advantage in the season series. No matter. A coin flip in mid-September determined if there was need for a one-game playoff it would be in Fenway Park.

Did the Yankees and Bob Lemon, their third manager of the season, complain about this? Did Yankees fans make excuses beforehand because the Red Sox had a home park advantage?

Not that anyone can recall.

The Yankees knew for a couple of weeks what the result of a first-place tie would be. They went to Fenway and won 5-4, with Bucky Dent's infamous three-run home run wiping out a 2-0 Boston lead.

Thirty years later, this attempt to make it seem as if the Twins were treated unfairly because they were required to play Tuesday night's sudden-death game in Chicago is nauseating.

This is especially true in the case of the 2008 Twins, a team that won 14 of its last 34 on the regular schedule. A team that plays at a .412 pace over the final five weeks should get on its knees and thank the baseball gods for the chance to play one game any time, any place that would allow it to continue into October.

The Twins got that opportunity, and how did they seize it? By getting two hits -- two lousy hits -- and allowing lefty John Danks and closer Bobby Jenks to face two hitters over the minimum.

The Twins and the White Sox were in close competition over the final weeks of the season, even with the Whities missing Carlos Quentin, a newly arrived slugger who would've led the league in home runs and probably locked up the MVP award.

The White Sox also played the closing weeks without third baseman Joe Crede, more of a loss to them than was Michael Cuddyer's absence with the Twins.

The Twins had every advantage against the White Sox. They had better health and younger legs, and yet they played pathetic baseball against Seattle, Oakland, Toronto, Cleveland and finally Kansas City, and refused to take advantage of Chicago's mediocrity.

Excuse me while I wretch.

When you're as overmatched as the Twins were by Danks on Tuesday, there's not an artificial turf in the world with enough cheap hits to allow a lineup to get a run.

Danks was outstanding. The Twins were helpless. End of story.

To no one's surprise, the players now have gone from muffled complaints about a coin flip to adopting the excuse. Joe Nathan said Wednesday that he was going to approach the players association about getting rid of coin flips.

Guess what? If Nathan, the $12 million closer, had thrown more fastballs rather than getting behind in the count trying to fool hitters, he wouldn't have had four horrendous blown saves down the stretch and a mid-September coin flip would've been meaningless.

Do yourselves a favor, media apologists, hardcore fans and now uniformed personnel? Grow up.

Stop whining about a coin flip. And don't start up again next month, when Justin Morneau rightfully finishes behind Boston's Dustin Pedroia -- and maybe others -- for the MVP award.