Keeping Things Interesting Wild Cards Make Contenders Out Of Major League Baseball’s Also-Rans

Roger Clemens and the Boston Red Sox are ready, eager to win their first World Series since Babe Ruth pitched them to the title in 1918.

Greg Maddux and the Atlanta Braves are set, anxious to break a three-year posteason jinx. The Cleveland Indians and Cincinnati Reds are itchy, aiming for an all-Ohio October matchup.

Of course, with one month left to play, no one is worrying about that right now because … it’s wild card time!

In fact, 19 teams went into the Labor Day weekend still within five games of a spot in the expanded playoffs. The only division race, meanwhile, is in the NL West.

No matter that Montreal, San Diego, Oakland, the New York Yankees and Baltimore - with Cal Ripken closing in on Lou Gehrig’s record - are below .500. No matter that Kansas City is 21-1/2 games behind Cleveland in the AL Central.

They’re all in the chase.

“Thank God for the wild card,” Royals pitcher Mark Gubicza said. “It keeps everybody pumped up. It makes everything exciting.”

Forget that the Philadelphia Phillies lost Lenny Dykstra and Darren Daulton for the season to injuries, are almost 15 games behind Atlanta in the NL East and floundered through some of August. It’s September, and they’re in the race.

“We went through a streak there where we stunk,” Phillies shortstop Kevin Stocker said. “That’s what’s great about having that wild card. You always feel like you’re still in it.”

And, to some, that’s what is so terrible about the race for second place.

Critics, like Bob Costas, complain that all the wild card does is promote mediocrity, rewarding teams that weren’t good enough to win in the regular season.

However, the wild-card race is having the effect baseball hoped it would when it was adopted last year, before the strike wiped out the postseason. It’s creating fan interest, particularly at the gate.

“It’s a big deal as far as we’re concerned,” said Brewers manager Phil Garner, whose team is more than 20 games behind the Indians. “Our people are getting into it. Our fans are into it.”

Cleveland catcher Sandy Alomar, whose club is already close to clinching its first postseason appearance since 1954, has noticed the difference.

“I think it’s a good idea because it keeps other teams in the pennant race. It’s more exciting for baseball, and gives fans an opportunity to follow their team longer,” he said. “For instance, three years ago, all those teams like Milwaukee right now wouldn’t draw anybody because they’d be out of the race by now.”

Alomar said he didn’t mind that a team like the Brewers or Royals may have another chance to beat the Indians in the playoffs.

“It doesn’t bother me. Last year, we were in a situation where we were going to be the wild card. It’s a twoway street,” he said.

Maybe, said Indians rookie Herbert Perry, but the playoff format isn’t so appealing. Under the system in place, the home teams for the first round have been set - the home teams, however, will be in the precarious position of playing the first two games on the road, then getting the next three at home.

Also, the way it works, the two teams with the best records in the league could end up meeting in the opening round.

“I don’t necessarily like the way they’ve worked the wild card, the way they’ve predetermined who’s playing who in the playoff system. I don’t understand that,” Perry said. “I realize it had to be for promotions and ticket sales and television. In the NFL or anywhere, I’ve never seen a playoff situation where the homefield advantage is determined before the season’s over.

“I mean, there’s no reward for having the best record,” he said. “I think that’s ridiculous.”