(Mandatory Credit: Denny Medley-USA TODAY Sports)
It’s not yet September, the month unofficially denominated as baseball’s “stretch run.” “Magic numbers” and “elimination numbers” aren’t popping up in media outlet standings, so eternally optimistic fans of teams suffering long-lost seasons, like the KC Royals, still cling fiercely to hopes those teams might somehow sneak into the playoffs.
Such hopes are folly, of course. But like lapped cars in NASCAR races, teams eliminated for all practical purposes from baseball’s postseason race can still wreck a contender and put them out of that race.
Don’t think it won’t happen.