Game 153 0pen Thread: Indians 9, Royals 5

We are experiencing the genius of adding a second Wild Card team. Like the NFL, baseball has figured out a way to keep several most teams interested in the last month without severely degrading the importance of a Division winner.

Yes, there will be years like 2014 when a Wild Card team makes it to the World Series. The Royals will be the role model for teams for years to come. This allows us to sit at exactly at .500 on Sept. 26 and think we still have a slugger’s chance to go all the way.

A one-game play-in event for the right to play the best team in the league might seem like a small victory. But we have seen many years when the team that was hottest at the end of the season was a tough customer for teams that clinched early. Even when the World Series was the only playoff we found that a team that battled to the last day often was in sharp form for an upset. Now it looks like that condition will be almost yearly. The National League this year presents an exception as the only real drama now is where that play-in game will be played. I’m sure America’s choice would be Wrigley Field, in part because so many people don’t appreciate how beautiful the Pirates’ ballpark is. (I try to ignore corporate naming rights if they are younger than 70 years old).