In the second year of Major League Baseball’s implementation of two wild card teams, the Pittsburgh Pirates will play the Cincinnati Reds and the Cleveland Indians will play the winner of another game; game 163. Game 163 is the culmination of the Major League Baseball season. When two teams are tied after the usual 162 game for a playoff spot, a one game tiebreaker is played to determine which team gets that spot.

Before the one game wild card series came to be, the only one game series that ever occured were these game 163s. These dramatic games have always been exciting, but this excitement is escalated by baseball’s usual length. A 162 game season is the longest in professional sports. A baseball season is truly a war of attrition; a game of chess with every move needing to be planned ahead of time. A manager only has so many members of his bullpen to use on any given night. He cannot try all out to win every game or he will lose many games down the road when his players are worn out. A baseball player must have an even tone, not too high or low,  after every win or loss. The season is a mass of three game series, where winning two out of three against any team is seen as great. The drama from this one final game, win or go home, comes from using every player on the team to win. There is no holding back.

 This year the Tampa Bay Rays go to the Ballpark in Arlington and take on the Texas Rangers in a one game match up to fight another day.

P.S.  The Rays ended up defeating the Rangers in their sold out home park and now head to Cleveland to do it all over again.