At this time last season, only one team -- the Cardinals in the NL Central -- had a lead of more than five games.
OK, sure, big leads can disappear quickly at this point in a season. Two years ago, the Cardinals went from 6 1/2 games out to 4 1/2 games up in about eight weeks. Last season, the Rangers needed less than two months to turn a nine-game deficit into a 1 1/2-game lead.
This season, the NL East is baseball's tightest division race with three teams -- Nationals, Mets and Marlins -- bunched within four games of one another.
Stanton's terrific catch
CHC@MIA: Stanton robs Heyward with great leaping grab
Giancarlo Stanton races back to the track in right field and makes a great leaping catch to rob Jason Heyward of an extra-base hit
In another era, a number of teams might already be planning for next season, and nothing is quite as depressing for a baseball fan as watching your favorite team begin an organizational reset button by getting rid of some popular veteran players.
The Wild Card has changed that, dramatically and emphatically. In the AL, 10 teams -- count 'em, 10 -- are within 2 1/2 games of the two Wild Card berths.
When second Wild Card berths -- and Wild Game Games in each league -- were added in 2012, the goal was to put greater emphasis on winning a division title while giving more teams hope to go on.
Baseball also wanted the drama that comes with a pair of games in which eight months of work would come down to a single contest. That kind of drama is part of why we love this stuff.
It's also about hope. The Astros had themselves a 7-17 April, and despite winning 23 of 32 are 10 games behind the Rangers in the AL West. But their October hopes are alive as they've trimmed their deficit in the AL Wild Card race from 8 1/2 games to one.
Harris slams the door on Angels
HOU@LAA: Harris starts two to end the game, earn save
Will Harris snags a comebacker to start a game-ending double play and earn the save in the Astros' 4-2 victory over the Angels
The Cardinals are 10 games behind the Cubs in the NL Central. The Pirates are 13 back. But the Wild Card berths offer hope for an October reset. The Cardinals are 1 1/2 games out, the Pirates 4 1/2.
In that way, the Pirates, Cardinals, etc., see a mere five-game winning streak as changing an entire season, and if either team gets into the Wild Card Game, they might just keep going.
Is a shot at a one-and-done game worth it? Yes, absolutely. The atmosphere around those Wild Card Games in Pittsburgh and Cleveland and other places has been magical.
Indians win 10 straight
Indians riding high with 10-game win streak
The Indians are scorching hot in June, winning 10 straight games and padding their lead in the AL Central
Before the Giants and Pirates played the 2014 NL Wild Card Game at PNC Park in Pittsburgh, Hunter Pence was asked about getting what amounted to a second chance.
"We're here because we weren't good enough to win our division," Pence said. "But we get a chance to keep playing. If you're a competitive person, you love that opportunity."
The Giants rode Madison Bumgarner past the Pirates that night, and 28 days later, were hoisting their third World Series trophy in five seasons. That was the season in which the Royals clinched a Wild Card berth in the 160th game of the season, then defeated the A's in an epic contest that went 12 innings and lasted almost five hours.
The Royals showed the heart of a champion in rallying back from deficits of 2-0, 7-3 and 8-7. That was the start of a magical run that lasted until Game 7 of the World Series.
It was a wondrous ride that served as a symbolic reawakening of the sport in one of the country's great baseball cities. Despite losing Game 7 of the World Series, the Royals knew they'd been part of something special. They'd had a taste of the very thing players dream of from the moment they first step onto a diamond or watch their first Major League game.
Giants win 2014 World Series
WS2014 Gm7: Giants win 2014 World Series
10/29/14: Madison Bumgarner gets Salvador Perez to foul out to give the Giants their third World Series title in the last five seasons
The Royals were driven by the whole experience, by the highs as well as the ultimate low, and used it as motivation last season, when they won the World Series for the first time in 31 years.
To the Royals and Giants, the Wild Card Game represented hope. In a season like this one, it represents that kind of hope more than ever. That's why it has worked out every bit as well as anyone could have hoped.
Richard Justice is a columnist for MLB.com. Read his blog, Justice4U. This story was not subject to the approval of Major League Baseball or its clubs.
Wild Card provides heightened drama, hope
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