Down to the Wire

Story of Red Sox' September: Here, Jacoby Ellsbury can't make catch, resulting in Robert Andino inside-the-park HR

The Red Sox and Braves have folded when it matters most. But they're not out. Once far and away the two wild card leaders, these two ballclubs have fallen apart down the stretch and have put themselves in must-win situations against teams that aren't playing for anything. With only two games left for all four teams, the Red Sox, Braves, Rays and Cardinals will duke it out for the right to play on into October.

On the first day of September, the Boston Red Sox led the Tampa Bay Rays by nine games, and were actually a half game up on the Yankees for the AL East lead. It was almost a given Boston was in and would be a major threat to take the title to Beantown. While it is still a possibility, a 6-18 month is not a way to get that going. On the other hand, the Rays have played steadily, going 15-9 in September en route to tying the Sox. Now, Boston plays their final two games against the basement dwelling Orioles, who have had a knack for beating contending teams recently. The Rays finish against the AL's top seed, the Yankees, who don't have anything to play for and are starting relief pitchers. If the Sox and Rays finish with the same record, get ready for another Game 163.

The Cardinals have played themselves back into contention but will need some help from the 100-win Phillies to play on. Still a game back on the Braves with two left, the Cards need to take care of the Astros and hope the Phils beat the Braves at least once to stay alive. Going 8-16 this September, like the Red Sox the Braves are also on the verge of a historic collapse.

About five weeks ago I wrote a blog post stating if baseball wanted September races, second place team would have to have extraordinary Septembers. That didn't necessarily happen; while the Rays and Cards have certainly played well, much of the end-of-season urgency can be largely attributed to the slides by the Sox and Braves.

2011: A September to Remember?

Take a glance at the MLB standings. There is currently just one, yes, one, race for the postseason going on right now with just over a week until the final month of the MLB season. It's not the Yankees and Red Sox; they are currently just half a game apart, but the runner-up is almost sure to win the wild card. Only the NL West has two teams vying for one spot at the moment, as the Diamondbacks are trying to stave off the defending champs, the Giants.

With the exception of those four teams, all of the other division's top two games are at least four games apart. Unless the Angels or Indians have one last run in them, the division races aren't going to be much of anything. The Indians don't seem like they have anything left to catch the Tigers. They just do not have the offensive firepower needed to put together a September run. The Angels are trailing defending AL pennant winner Texas, who is 7-3 in their last ten games. I don't see the Rangers collapsing, either. And in the NL, St. Louis has almost no shot to catch the surging Brewers, who have quickly built up a massive nine game cushion.

This is the first season I can remember with essentially no wild card races. It is basically set in stone that the Braves will get the final NL spot, and the Yankees/Red Sox will in the AL. The Braves are too far away to challenge the Phillies and too far ahead of the pack in the NL (eight games) to be challenged themselves.

For teams that find themselves up with a few weeks to go (the Phillies), September can be used to rest starters and give the call-ups a shot in the bigs. The same can be said for all of baseball's bottom dwellers. This season, there is an awful lot of them.

As a baseball fan, I hope the Indians and Angels can make the home stretch a contest like the Tigers and Twins did just a few years ago. Remember Game 163 that was played? It's what makes September the month full of nail-biting action that it is known to be. For the fun to happen this year, a few teams need to step it up.

Why the MLB Postseason is Perfect Right Now

Think of the NBA playoffs. More than half of the league makes it; and the last few teams in the east are usually below .500. For the decent teams, all the regular season is is a matter of seeding. That isn't the way a pro sport should be.
  
Baseball, on the other hand, is quite the contrary. Making the playoffs is much more difficult, as only 8 teams of 30 do so. It causes annual division and wild-card races, fights to the very end. Remember 2009's Game 163 between the Twins and Tigers? The intensity? That doesn't exist in basketball. Oh, look, the Bobcats are 6 games below .500 and the Pacers are 5 games below, this will be a good race! No. The postseason should be a reward for the league's premier teams, not for everyone who isn't terrible.
   
This is why Bud Selig should leave the MLB playoffs just as they are and not add more wild-card teams. There's no need. A longer postseason would just have it drag on and have fans lose interest, like I do with basketball. By the time the finals roll around, fans have shifted to baseball. Like they should.