Article: Strap in for a wild ride; Two decades after a heartbreaking collapse, the Red Sox can lift New England's spirits by maintaining their lead for a wild card berth.

It's been 20 years since Red Sox fans gave Bucky Dent his unprintable middle name.

In those 20 years, not one Red Sox team has won as many games - 99 - as the Sox did that season.

This year's squad ended the All-Star break with 52 wins in 85 games, which projects to - you guessed it - 99 wins.

Beyond the Dent playoff game with the Yankees, the 1978 season was as heartbreaking as they come simply because the Red Sox squandered a lead that peaked at - exactly one week from today, July 18, in fact - 14 games over the Yankees.

Of course, the Yankees surged, the Red Sox collapsed, Lou Piniella's glove found Jerry Remy's ball, yada yada ...

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