NL Wild Card Race Is Baseball's Best Kept Secret

The 2009 NL Wild Card is shaping up to be one of the most exciting races in baseball this season. The Colorado Rockies just battled the San Francisco Giants in a four-game series that ended with an extra-inning walk-off grand slam to give the Rockies the win.

The Rockies ended up taking three out of four games against the Giants in Colorado. At this point, the wild card race seems to be down to five teams: the Dodgers, Rockies, Giants, Braves, and Marlins. Problem is, nobody outside those cities gets to watch the games unless they have some extra pay package. 

The Los Angeles Dodgers are in first place in the NL West over Colorado by three games, and face the Rockies tonight in a three-game series in Denver. After the Dodgers series, the Rockies hit the road to play the Giants for three more in San Francisco.

The Rockies were all but left for dead early in the season and were in last place. They can pull off the miracle and actually make a run at the NL West, or the NL Wild card, if they keep playing inspired baseball.

National League Wild Card
                        W    L     PCT  GB 
Colorado             71  54  .568   - 
San Francisco      67  58  .536   4 
Atlanta               66  58  .532   4.5 
Florida                65  59  .524   5.5

Key Matchups for Colorado

•Tue, Aug. 25 vs. LA Dodgers 8:40 PM   
•Wed, Aug. 26 vs. LA Dodgers 8:40 PM   
•Thu, Aug. 27 vs. LA Dodgers 3:10 PM   
•Fri, Aug. 28 @ San Francisco 10:15 PM    
•Sat, Aug. 29 @ San Francisco 9:05 PM    
•Sun, Aug. 30 @ San Francisco 4:05 PM  
•Fri, Oct. 2 @ LA Dodgers 10:10 PM       
•Sat, Oct. 3 @ LA Dodgers 10:10 PM       
•Sun, Oct. 4 @ LA Dodgers 4:10 PM 

Then on the East Coast you have the Braves and Marlins battling it out for the same wild card spot. The Braves and Marlins play each other seven more times before the end of the season, and really only have a shot at the playoffs with the wild card. They both trail the Phillies—the Braves by seven games and the Marlins by eight. It will be interesting to see which of these teams wins the playoff battle royale going down the stretch.

I guess I will really have to catch my highlights and updates, because surprisingly most of the head-to-head matchups with NL wild card teams are not on national TV. Looking at the remaining ESPN schedule, only one wild card game was broadcast in the last month. Thank the baseball gods the MLB Network has a couple of games showing down the stretch.

ESPN Schedule

•Wednesday 8/26/2009 Texas at NY Yankees 7:05 PM 
•Sunday  8/30/2009 Atlanta at Philadelphia 8:05 PM
•Wednesday 9/02/2009 Boston at Tampa 7:08 PM
•Sunday  9/06/2009 San Diego at LA Dodgers 8:10 PM
•Wednesday  9/09/2009 Tampa Bay at NY Yankees 7:05 PM
•Sunday  9/13/2009 NY Mets at Philadelphia 1:05 PM
•Wednesday  9/16/2009 LA Angels at Boston 7:10 PM
•Wednesday  9/16/2009 Colorado at San Francisco 10:05 PM
•Sunday  9/20/2009 Chicago Cubs at St. Louis 8:05 PM
•Sunday  9/27/2009 Boston at NY Yankees 8:05 PM

MLB Network NL Wild Card Schedule

Thu., Aug. 27 3:00 p.m. L.A. Dodgers vs. Colorado Rockies 
Sat., Aug. 29 8:00 p.m. Colorado Rockies vs. San Francisco Giants

Regardless of how it all turns out, I am happy there is an exciting race down the stretch for not only the fans in that market, but for people who enjoy the game.

©2009 The Fair Ball. All Rights Reserved.

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