When Major League Baseball added a second wild card to the playoff format, the idea was to capture the emotion and intensity of that brilliant final day last season and extrapolate it out over the final month.

The result in the first year of the new setup has been an injection of NFL-style suspense, with more on the line in more games as teams frantically chase a chance to get into the playoffs.

More teams are in the hunt. More fans are tuning in. More players are doing whatever it takes because there are more roads into October than ever before. It's been one spicy September, and it's not over yet.

"There's pressure on everybody," White Sox manager Robin Ventura said. "I don't think even teams that are five games up, everybody has pressure. There's nothing you can really do about it but go out and play. I don't think it makes it easier that you're up by two or down by two. It's not going to change the way we play, that's for sure."

There are 10 playoff spots available this time around rather than eight, and those extra two spots are getting an awful lot of attention.

More than a dozen teams had a legitimate shot at making the playoffs in early September and 12 entered this weekend either in position to take a wild card or within six games of the last playoff spot. Seven teams in the NL, including the fading but surprising Pittsburgh Pirates, were legitimately in contention with 15 games to go.

With more possibilities to get in, more teams are pulling out all the stops to get a crack at the pennant. Chris Carpenter was scheduled to make his season debut for defending champion St Louis, hoping to give the Cardinals even a few precious starts to push them over the hump and help them hold off the Brewers and Dodgers.

Old man Andy Pettitte recently returned from a broken leg to rejoin the Yankees' rotation and help them stay ahead of Baltimore in the AL East.

"I think it's awesome," Rangers second baseman Ian Kinsler said of the second wild card. "It's really exciting for the game, there's so many different ... scenarios where different teams can get in, teams can get knocked out pretty quickly it seems like.

"It's crazy, and after last year with what happened at the end of the season with baseball, and all the late-game, or late-season drama, I think it just adds to it and I think it's great for the fans."

Some have been pushing for another wild card for a few years, with baseball purists always turning them back. Those from the old school were proud of how difficult it was to make the postseason in baseball as opposed to the other major sports, and some criticized the idea as a money grab.

But the movement for a second wild card picked up steam after the final day of the regular season last year, the kind of heart-pounding, edge-of-your-seat thriller that helped football overtake baseball as the sport of choice in the US. The Tampa Bay Rays got home runs from Dan Johnson and Evan Longoria to rally from a 7-0 deficit and beat the Yankees and squeaked into the playoffs when Boston blew a late lead against Baltimore.

And the Cardinals wouldn't have even had a chance to win the World Series had Braves closer Craig Kimbrel not blown a save against Philadelphia that knocked Atlanta out of the playoffs and put St Louis in.

Looking to build on that win-and-you're-in drama from that day, baseball instituted a new format that includes a one-game wild-card round in both leagues on Oct. 5 between the teams with the best records who are not division winners.

There is no doubt that a second wild card will generate more revenue, but it is also hard to deny the new edge, and sense of hope, that it has cast across both leagues.

"A lot wider spectrum compared to years past," Rangers outfielder David Murphy said. "Usually it's broken down pretty quickly and your basic teams that are in the playoff hunt are, they're narrowed down quickly. This year there's been more teams, there's been a lot more teams to keep your eye on, pay attention and it's made for good entertainment."

(China Daily 09/23/2012 page7)