The brilliance of baseball's 162-game schedule is that its length is supposed to sort out the contenders from the pretenders, leaving us with the cream of the crop for the playoffs.
Except when it doesn't. Sometimes 162 games just isn't enough. Sometimes the races are just too tight to be decided across the six-month schedule. In these instances, we need a Game 163. Or, maybe in a year such as this, we need the beautiful chaos of multiple Game 163s and Game 164s.
Don't worry if your head is spinning. We've got a guide for you, breaking down the mess of the American League wild-card race, which features four teams separated by no more than a game fighting for the Junior Circuit's final two playoff berths.