Prior to the start of this year’s major league baseball season, Bud Selig and Co. implemented a second wild card (per league) to allow more teams to be competitive longer through a season . Well, in the NL, the second WC has done the direct opposite.
In the middle of August the Pirates, Cardinals, Braves and Dodgers looked to be the only four teams battling for the final two spots as they were pulling away from the pack. Then the great collapse happened. Nobody wanted to win to put themselves in prime position. Only lately have the Braves started to pull away from everyone else to put them into good position for the first WC and home field for the “play-in game”. The same can’t be said for the other three teams as they keep losing games, and not to good teams either. The Pirates have lost to the Cubs and Astros in the last week, The Cardinals have lost to the Padres, and the Dodgers lost to the Diamondbacks. These losses have also opened the door for more teams to rejoin the conversation. The Phillies, Brewers, and Diamondbacks (AT 70-72!) are all within 5 games of WC #2. This is making Selig look like a genius and making us fans lose years in our lives.
WC Contenders Records (Last 20 Games)
- Atlanta 11 – 9 —
- St. Louis 9 – 11 —
- Los Angeles 7 – 13 1
- Pittsburgh 5 – 15 2
- Philadelphia 14 – 6 4
- Milwaukee 15 – 5 4
- Arizona 8 – 12
This is why you play all 162.
Photo courtesy of Midwest Sports Fans
