The finish line is so close. It looks like your team is a lock for baseball’s postseason as the days pass. Contending teams are down to between 50 and 52 games remaining after play Wednesday. But don’t get complacent. Complete collapses have become more frequent in recent years.
Last summer featured two of the best. The Atlanta Braves blew a 10?-game lead in the wild-card chase on Aug. 25, and the Boston Red Sox were sabotaged by fried chicken and all-around bad baseball as a nine-game wild-card lead on Sept. 3 disappeared. The New York Mets still haven’t recovered from late leads blown in the National League East in both 2007 (7? with 17 left) and 2008 (3? with 17 left).
Sometimes you don’t collapse at all. The 2007 San Diego Padres, 80-67 and tied for the wild card on Sept. 15, went a respectable 9-6 down the stretch — except Colorado’s 13-1 finishing kick forced a playoff game that the Rockies won.
That all makes the Nationals’ four-game edge over Atlanta entering Wednesday and seven-game lead on St. Louis — the best NL team currently out of a playoff spot — seem marginal at best. Because of the extra playoff spot this season, fewer teams were willing to sell parts at the trade deadline. That left more clubs better able to withstand the rigors of August and September baseball. The Chicago White Sox led the AL Central on Wednesday morning. But second-place Detroit was right behind them, and three non-playoff teams — the Los Angeles Angels, Tampa Bay and Boston — were all within three games. It can slip away quickly even after four months of great baseball.
– Brian McNally
