Major League Baseball is considering adding a second wildcard team to each league’s playoffs at some point in the not-too-distant future. My initial reaction to this is negative, as I have always appreciated the fact that it is much harder to make the playoffs in baseball than it is in any of the other major sports. There is something to be said for making the regular season count for as much as possible. NBA teams commonly make the playoffs with losing records, which is ludicrous. Flat-out bad hockey teams play in the postseason with regularity. In baseball, though, the teams need to be genuinely good to see action in October. It would be a shame to dilute the playoffs by adding less deserving teams. At the same time, if that leads to more excitement like that which we saw on Wednesday night, I might have to change my mind. That night’s games produced an incredibly memorable evening of baseball that was as exciting as any few hours of non-playoff sports that I can ever remember, and was made even more exciting by the fact that it was the last night of the regular season.

The day began with the wildcard races in both the National League and the American League not only tied, but tied due to monumental collapses by two teams: the Atlanta Braves and the Boston Red Sox. The Braves had led the St. Louis Cardinals in the wildcard race by 8 1/2 games early in September, and had blown that whole lead by the time they reached Wednesday. The Red Sox had an even larger 9 game lead over the Tampa Bay Rays at the beginning of the month, and they had frittered it away as well. So things were set up for some big games. The Braves were playing the Philadelphia Phillies, who had won the National League’s East division easily, and had beaten the Braves in the first two games of the series on Monday and Tuesday. The Cardinals were playing the woeful Houston Astros, who were the worst team in the N.L. this season by far. Over in the A.L., the Red Sox were playing the Baltimore Orioles, who were the last place team in their division this year, while the Rays were playing the Yankees, who won their division. Simply based on the quality of the opponents, things seemed to be set up for the Cardinals and the Sox. There is a reason they play the games, though.

The only game of the four that was a snoozer was the Cardinals’ game against Houston, which the Cards won 8-0. The Rays looked to be buried, as they trailed the Yankees 6-0 going into the bottom of the 8th inning, while the Red Sox led the Orioles, 3-2. The Braves were leading the Phillies late, so it looked like the Braves and Cardinals would end up playing each other on Thursday for the right to go to the playoffs. Seemingly all at once, everything changed. The Rays scored five runs in the 8th, topped off by an Evan Longoria three-run homerun, to cut their deficit to one. Then, with two outs in the bottom of the ninth, the Rays sent Dan Johnson to the plate to pinch hit. Johnson was hitting a miserable .108, with only one homerun on the season. So of course, with two strikes on him, Johnson hit a game-tying homerun, sending the game to extra innings.

In Philadelphia, an uncharacteristically wild Craig Kimbrel, the rookie closer for the Braves who is likely to win Rookie of the Year this year, walked two men after Placido Polanco’s leadoff single in the ninth, loading the bases for Chase Utley, who knocked in the tying run with a sacrifice fly. The game remained tied until the 13th inning, despite the Phillies running out a bunch of minor league pitchers who had been called up to the big club in September to get some experience. The Phillies won it in the 13th on an RBI-single by Hunter Pence. The Braves were done.  A bit later in Baltimore, with two outs in the bottom of the ninth, the Orioles came up with two straight doubles and a single, sending a shocked Red Sox team to defeat. A mere three minutes later, the Rays’ Evan Longoria, he of the earlier heroics, came up to bat with one out in the bottom of the 12th. His line-drive just cleared the wall down the left field line, and just like that, the Rays were in the show and the fans of the Red Sox were devastated.

Beyond the incredible excitement of these games, augmented by how critical they were, there was a pretty amazing historical detail in play. In the long history of Major League Baseball, no team had ever blown a lead of 8 1/2 or more games in the month of September. In the space of less than an hour, two different teams did it. Amazing. If adding more wildcard teams means more of this, bring it on.

Good sports, continued:

2) The Rays started their playoff series against the Texas Rangers in very unorthodox fashion on Friday night. They sent out a rookie who had started a grand total of one game in his career to start the playoff opener. Of course, Matt Moore went out and pitched seven innings of shutout, two-hit ball to the lead the Rays to a 9-0 victory of the Rangers.

3) Stanford’s Andrew Luck is the prohibitive favorite to win college football’s Heisman Trophy this season. Apparently, though, Luck can do more than just play quarterback. The Cardinal ran a trick play during  their game against UCLA on Saturday that involved Luck running a route out of the backfield while the snap went to a running back. The back, Tyler Gaffney, handed off to receiver Drew Terrell, who threw a pass to Luck, who was running down the right sideline. Luck made a spectacular, one-handed catch of which any receiver would be justifiably jealous. This kid can flat-out play.

Bad sports:

1) Determined to win the National League batting title, New York Mets shortstop Jose Reyes led off the game against the Reds with a bunt single and promptly had himself removed from the game for a pinch runner. He did not want to risk making any outs, which might have caused him to lose the race to Milwaukee’s Ryan Braun, who would play later that day. This was exactly the kind of move I would expect a selfish player like Reyes to make, putting himself and his personal statistics first, rather than trying to help his team win. Reyes had a great season, and will likely sign a large contract with someone during the offseason. The Mets fans I know, though, hope that contract won’t be with the Mets.

2) NFL Hall-of-Fame defensive tackle Dan Hampton, who played his whole career with the Chicago Bears, showed this week that he might not be such a winner these days. Hampton turned down a visit to the White House with his teammates from the 1985 Super Bowl champion team. He stated that, in addition to the fact that the Super Bowl victory was so long ago that it didn’t make sense to visit now, he also turned it down because he is “not a fan of the guy in the White House.” Get over yourself, Dan. It’s an honor to meet the President, regardless of what your politics are.

3) A J.V. football coach from upstate New York got himself suspended this week after making his team lie down on gravestones in a cemetery after a loss last week.

4) Long-time Tennessee Titans offensive coordinator Mike Heimerdinger died of cancer on Friday. He was 58.

5) David Savic, a tennis player from Serbia, has been banned from professional tennis for life after being found guilty of attempting to fix matches.

6) My favorite football team and my least favorite football team had something in common on Sunday. For the third weekend in a row, the Philadelphia Eagles blew a second-half lead, this time losing to the San Francisco 49ers, 24-23. That defense has to be one of the worst I have ever seen. At the same time, the Dallas Cowboys completely collapsed against the Detroit Lions, losing 34-30 after having led 27-3 early in the second half. The best part of that one was that it quarterback Tony Romo who was clearly to blame, as he threw three huge interceptions, the first two of which were returned for touchdowns, and the last of which gave the Lions the ball back with around four minutes left in the game and the Cowboys leading by three. The Cowboys loss was almost enough to make up for the Eagles loss. Almost.

Bad sports, good sports appears every Monday

• Author Bio
• Latest Posts

Alan Spoll

Alan Spoll is a software quality assurance director from the suburbs of Philadelphia where he lives with his wonderful wife and children. He has spent his entire life as a passionate fan of the Eagles, Phillies, Sixers, Flyers, and Penn State. Recent Phillies success aside, you will understand his natural negativity. Follow me on Twitter - @DocAlan02

Latest posts by Alan Spoll (Posts)

• Pereira comments on “Philly Special” a total waste of time - February 14, 2018
• BSGS News Brief: Tom Brady beats the NFL - September 3, 2015
• BSGS News Brief: Geno Smith gets his jaw broken by a punch - August 16, 2015
• BSGS News Brief – Oh, Vanderbilt. Really? - August 6, 2015
• BSGS News Brief – Sheldon Richardson hits the Bad Sports wire in a big way - July 31, 2015

Tags: bad sports, good sports // 2 Comments »