The Wildest Card
No, this is not about the pitcher on the St. Louis Cardinals with the worst control.
This, of course, is about the Wild Card games, Major League Baseball’s outstanding gimmick of a one shot, play in game for the right for one of the two non-divisional championship teams in each league to earn their way into moving on in the playoffs. They have advanced the idea of a seven game series that goes the distance and condensed that entire seven game series into one, bodacious Game Seven equivalent (a one game “series” where winner advances and loser goes home).
Baseball was just trying for an excuse to get an extra team in each league to get into the playoffs. They wanted more drama down the stretch to end the season. Of course, they wanted to earn more money too. The idea worked out to give baseball some great “pennant race equivalents,” as it allowed more teams to battle for the Wild Card spots in September and October as the season wound down. This year’s American League race went down to the last day of the season before the Astros beat out the Angels for the final spot.
What a concept. The Wild Card games are instant Game Sevens, without the 1 though 6’s needed to get there. It’s like having football playoff games.
This year, the two Wild Card games ended the way most Wild Card games are now tending to go. You see, the new strategy in these one game, Game Seven’s is to have your very best starting pitcher, your absolute ace going for you against the other team’s likely best pitcher, with the deciding factor often being “whose ace is the biggest, baddest dude under pressure.” And in both games, the team with the “true ace” ended up shutting down their opponent.
The Astros won the AL Wild Card Game on the road at venerable Yankee Stadium, with Dallas Keuchel coming out as the “true ace” of the two teams. Trust me when I say this, but in almost every one of these games, somebody pitches great and shuts down the other team. The old baseball axiom really holds true. “Good pitching beats good hitting.” In this case, with a great pitching performance from Keuchel and the Astros bullpen, the lowly Astros of a few years ago knocked off the mighty Yankees of baseball lore, with a final score 3 to 0.
Next up for Houston, the defending AL champion and regular season team with the best record, the Kansas City Royals are on the horizon. The Houston freaking Astros are one of the final four teams left in the American League playoffs. Who would have thunk it?
The National League Wild Card game was almost a carbon copy of the AL game. Jake Arrieta was the dominant pitcher in this one, throwing a nine inning, four hit shutout with 11 strike outs. A very good hitting Pittsburgh Pirate team was rendered completely impotent by Arrieta.
The Cubs now get to play the St. Louis Cardinals. Don’t laugh. The Cubs have the unorthodox manager Joe Madden, who has that amazing ability to get the absolute maximum out of his teams (how in the hell else did the Tampa Bay Rays do all the things they did these past few years?). The Cubs ARE capable of beating the Cardinals. Just because one team was the Wild Card winner and the other was the regular season champ means nothing. If it goes to a Game Seven, is anyone going to bet against Jake Arrieta?
Here’s the deal about the Wild Card games. It’s all about the ace. The Wildest Card is the starting pitcher who throws the best game under the most pressure. The Wildest Card is the pitcher that wins the one game equivalent of Game Seven. He who has that pitcher… WINS.
