Unbelievable

That's the only word I can think of to describe the last 35-40 minutes of the 2011 Major League Baseball season.  All six divisions were clinched a week ago, but the wild card intrigue lasted not just until the last day.  It lasted until the final minutes of the season.  Entering the day, the Braves and Cardinals were tied for the NL wild card, while the Red Sox and Rays were tied for the AL wild card.  Meanwhile, not a single division winner knew who they'd be playing in the Division Series.  In fact, the Rangers and Tigers were fighting for home field advantage in the ALDS, while it was the same thing for Milwaukee and Arizona in the National League.

So how did it all turn out?  The Brewers beat the Pirates, making whatever the Diamondbacks did irrelevant.  The Tigers fell behind 3-1 against the Indians, rallied to take a 4-3 lead, blew that lead, then went ahead 5-4 on Jhonny Peralta's homer in the bottom of the eighth.  Then Jose Valverde converted his 49th consecutive save to complete a perfect season in that regard.  That meant the Rangers needed to win to avoid the Yankees.  Texas was tied with the Angels 1-1 until the top of the ninth, when former Angel Mike Napoli belted a two-run homer.  3-1 Rangers.  That was the final, sending Detroit to Yankee Stadium and setting up that yummy Sabathia-Verlander matchup on Friday night.

But all that was nothing compared to what happened in the two wild card races.  The Cardinals enjoyed the benefits of 1) having Chris Carpenter pitching and 2) facing the Astros, the worst team in baseball.  Carpenter threw a two-hitter and St. Louis won 8-0.  Now it was time to sit around and wait.

The Braves, meanwhile, drew the unfortunate assignment of the best team in the majors, the Phillies.  It was 3-1 Atlanta after three, and the Braves took a 3-2 lead into the ninth.  But Craig Kimbrel, who's been great all season, blew the save.  Fast-forward to the 13th inning.  The Phillies scored in the top half, meaning Atlanta needed to score to keep its season alive.  The tying run got on base when Dan Uggla walked, but Freddie Freeman then grounded into a double play.  Incredibly, the Braves, who led the wild card race by 8.5 games with 20 to go, were out and the Cardinals were headed to Philadelphia.

Believe it or not, that pales in comparison to what happened in the American League.  The Yankees jumped out to a 7-0 lead in Tampa and the Red Sox had a 3-2 lead in Baltimore.  It was still 7-0 Yankees going to the bottom of the eighth in Tampa.  That's when the Rays put up a six-spot to make it a game.  Now it's bottom nine.  Two out.  Two strikes to pinch hitter Dan Johnson.  The Rays' season is one strike from being over.  Then Johnson turns on Cory Wade's pitch and delivers it into the right field stands.  We're tied.

Meanwhile in Baltimore, the Red Sox and Orioles come back after a rain delay in the bottom of the seventh.  It's still 3-2 going to the bottom of the ninth and Jonathan Papelbon comes in for the save.  Adam Jones and Mark Reynolds (no surprise there) both strike out.  Boston's one out away from guaranteeing at least a one-game playoff.  Chris Davis is up next, and he doubles to right.  Now it's Nolan Reimold's turn.  He rips a double to the gap in right-center, tying the game at 3-3.  Then Robert Andino hits a sinking line drive to left that Carl Crawford can't grab.  Here comes Reimold.  Baltimore wins.

Minutes later back in Tampa, the Red Sox-Orioles final shows up on the scoreboard just as the Rays are coming to the plate in the bottom of the 12th.  B.J. Upton strikes out leading off the inning, bringing up Evan Longoria.  Longoria hit a three-run homer to get the Rays back in the game in the eighth.  That was nothing compared to what he does next.  He turns on a Scott Proctor fastball down the line in left.  Fair or foul?  It's fair.  It's gone.  Rays win!  Tampa Bay is the American League wild card and Boston is out of the playoffs.  Wow!

It's days like this that make baseball great.  The entire season came down to the final hour.  Every pitch in those three games was do-or-die.  We thought there would be two playoff games on Thursday.  Instead there are none.  When September started, it looked like Boston and Atlanta would run away with the wild cards.  Yet, thanks to two of the most historic September collapses in history, neither one made the playoffs.  So much for that Phillies-Red Sox World Series everybody predicted in Spring Training.

Wednesday night was also all the proof you need that baseball doesn't need another wild card in each league.  If there's five playoff teams, none of those games matter at all.  The Cardinals, Braves, Rays and Red Sox all would've already clinched playoff berths.  The Angels were the sixth-best team in the American League.  They finished four games behind Boston.  San Francisco has the sixth-best record in the National League, three games worse than Atlanta's.  Thus, extra playoff team=no pennant race=no incredible Wednesday.  Instead of amazing, Wednesday would've been anticlimactic. 

We just witnessed one of greatest, most dramatic nights of baseball in recent memory.  And that was just the opening act.  If we get that on the final night of the regular season, I can't wait for what the playoffs have in store!