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Get Set for Wild Card World Series?

By Jeff Weisinger

Oct 15, 2014; Kansas City, MO, USA; Kansas City Royals players celebrate on the field after defeating the Baltimore Orioles in game four of the 2014 ALCS playoff baseball game at Kauffman Stadium. The Royals swept the Orioles to advance to the World Series. Mandatory Credit: Denny Medley-USA TODAY Sports
Oct 15, 2014; Kansas City, MO, USA; Kansas City Royals players celebrate on the field after defeating the Baltimore Orioles in game four of the 2014 ALCS playoff baseball game at Kauffman Stadium. The Royals swept the Orioles to advance to the World Series. Mandatory Credit: Denny Medley-USA TODAY Sports /
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The American League Wild Card winner Kansas City Royals are on their way to the World Series.  The National League Wild Card winner San Francisco Giants are a game away from the World Series.  The Wild Card just made its case to stay.

Before we begin, just let this fact sink in: the (freaking) Kansas City Royals are going to the World Series.

Just ponder that one for a brief moment and realize that a team that has lost for about three decades is in the Fall Classic.

Another fact: the Royals are the first team in MLB history to win eight consecutive playoff games.  The best part about that run is that they’ve had to claw and fight for each and every win during their stretch making for some great postseason baseball.

“This is a wonderful time for America to watch our team,” Royals manager Ned Yost said after the series-clinching win over Baltimore Wednesday night.  “And I think what they’ve done is, they’ve fallen in love with our team.  They love our athleticism, they love our energy, they love the way these guys play hard and enjoy each other, and the love the way they stand up and get clutch hits and make fantastic plays.”

In the National League, the San Francisco Giants are a game away from returning to the World Series for the third time in five years.  And yes, the even number year theory does in fact apply.  Although, that isn’t to take any credit for a team not giving up until the very end.  San Francisco can punch their ticket to the Fall Classic with a win against the St. Louis Cardinals in Game 5 at AT&T Park tonight.

“Here we are, another step closer,” Giants reliever Sergio Romo said after the Game 4 win.  “We’re one win away from getting to the World Series again.  It’s an even year, so, I mean, why bet against us?”

Two wild card teams almost on a crash course for baseball’s grand prize.  Neither of which won their division, neither of which were the best teams down the stretch, and both had to fight to stay alive.

Maybe this is what MLB was hoping for when they introduced the new Wild Card system that started in 2012.

And don’t act like you haven’t noticed either.

More people are watching this Postseason compared to the past, especially considering who’s in it and who’s about to be in the World Series.

TBS announced that Game 2 of the ALCS saw more than 4 million viewers on Oct. 11.  A 26-percent jump compared to the NLCS TBS broadcast last year between the Cardinals and the Dodgers (3.4 million).  Through the first two games of the ALCS, TBS has registered a nine-percent increase among between 18-49-years old.

Maybe this is exactly what baseball needed – two teams that were nearly out of the playoffs playing for it all.  For the record, I’ll take the Giants in seven if we do get to that point.

Should we get a “Wild Card World Series”, it’ll mark the first time that baseball will see a pair of Wild Card teams playing for it all.  Since the wild card’s original creation in 1995, the Fall Classic has seen 10 wild-card teams get to the World Series with five of them winning it all, one of them being the St. Louis Cardinals in 2011 (the most recent team to win it all as a Wild Card as well).  Wild Card teams dominated the World Series from 2002-04 and the Fall Classic has seen a Wild Card team every year from 2002 through 2007.

Oct 1, 2014; Pittsburgh, PA, USA; San Francisco Giants shortstop Brandon Crawford (35) hits a grand slam home run against the Pittsburgh Pirates during the fourth inning of the 2014 National League Wild Card playoff baseball game at PNC Park. Mandatory Credit: Charles LeClaire-USA TODAY Sports
Oct 1, 2014; Pittsburgh, PA, USA; San Francisco Giants shortstop Brandon Crawford (35) hits a grand slam home run against the Pittsburgh Pirates during the fourth inning of the 2014 National League Wild Card playoff baseball game at PNC Park. Mandatory Credit: Charles LeClaire-USA TODAY Sports /

To put more emphasis on how special the Royals and Giants runs really are, remember that both teams had to win a one-game playoff just to secure their spot in the five-game LDS.  Both teams had to use their aces and returned to action two days later, forcing each team to send their No. 2 starter out on the mound.  For both Kansas City and San Francisco, the Wild Card games could have been their catapult on this run, in a momentum-speaking way.

So, again, here we are.  Two non-division winning teams, who weren’t anything close to World Series favorites, who didn’t trade away everyone at the trade deadline or freak out at a five-to-seven game losing streak who seem to be on a crash course to play for the role of baseball’s best team.

A team of destiny in Kansas City against a team looking to solidify their place as a dynasty in San Francisco.

If it counts for anything, should make for one heck of a series.  Something baseball itself wouldn’t have any other way.

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