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MONDAY, SEPTEMBER 24, 2012
THE UNIVERSITY DAILY KANSAN
"This change increases the rewards of a division championship and allows two additional markets to experience playoff baseball each year, all while maintaining the most exclusive postseason in professional sports."
Commissioner Bud Selig,
Source : mlb.com
The 1997 Marlins were the first team to win the World Series as a Wild Card.
mlb.com
Q. What MLB team is the only队 to win two World Series titles as a Wild Card?
A. Miami Marlins
TRIVIA OF THE DAY
— mib.com
THE MORNING BREW Preview of the American League Playoff Races
Eight American League teams have a chance to make the playoffs entering Sunday. This
is exactly what MLB wanted when it added an additional wild card team last November.
THE AL EAST RACE:
Every player on every team is competing for something in September, whether it be for a spot on next year's team or a chance to make the postseason schedule. Any single game could make the difference, and every pitch matters in the wild card race. This season, the American League may not be decided until the final game.
The New York Yankees and the surprising Baltimore Orioles are both battling for the division title. Preceding Sunday, the Orioles had a two-game lead in the wild card race. The Tampa Bay Rays, third place in the east, entered Sunday just 3.5 games back from the Oakland Athletics, who currently hold the second wild card slot. The Yankees and Orioles won't meet again this season, but the Rays will go to Baltimore in the last series of the season in what could determine who will make
it to the playoffs. Look for the Yankees to win the division and the Orioles to claim one of the wild cards. Tampa will just miss out after winning the division on the final day of the season last year.
THE AL CENTRAL RACE:
Once again the Detroit Tigers and Chicago White Sox will most likely be battling for one spot in the playoffs with a slim chance for either team to win a wild card slot. The season series is over, so the teams will have to win every game if they don't want to fall in the standings. The Tigers have been the hotter team recently and their lineup is one of the best in baseball, making them very dangerous.
Miguel Cabrera has a chance to win the first Triple Crown for batting since 1967. It's amazing to think how good this team could have been if they hadn't lost Victor Martinez to injury during spring training. The pitching staff is loaded with great arms like Justin Verlander, Max Scherzer and Rick Porcello who will propel this team to a division title.
THE AL WEST RACE:
The Texas Rangers, who had a four-game lead as of Sunday, will most likely win the West Division. They have been to the World Series the past two seasons, and, despite the recent absence of star fosh Hamilton, have held a comfortable lead all season. The race for the wild card proves the most interesting, with the Oakland Athletics and Anaheim Angels both vying for a spot in the one-game playoff. The Athletics, who currently hold the second wild card spot, were one of the hottest teams in baseball this season but it entered Sunday with a two-game losing streak. The Angels, who are 2.5 games behind the As, have the talent to be the best team in baseball and are a contender for one of the wild card spots.
Oakland faces Texas seven more times this season, including the final series. This will ultimately help the Angels move ahead of the Athletics and into the final playoff spot.
This is going to be a great finish to the season and could even be better than the end of last season, which resulted in the addition of the second wild card. The excitement surrounding this season proves this was the right move.
Edited by Joanna Hlavacek
This week in athletics
Monday
Men's Golf
Mark Simpson Colorado
Invitational
All Day
Erie, Colo.
Women's Golf
Marilynn Smith Sunflower
Invitational
All Day
Lawrence
Tuesday
Men's Golf
Mark Simpson Colorado
Invitational
All Day
Erie, Colo.
Wednesday
Women's Golf
Marlins Smith Sunflower
Invitational
All Day
Lawrence
Softball
Independence Community
Kansas
5:00 p.m.
Lawrence
Thursday
Women's Volleyball
 Iowa State
 6:30 p.m.
 Lawrence
No events scheduled
Friday
Women's Swimming
Intrasquad
4 p.m.
Lawrence, Kan
Women's Soccer Baylor 7:00 p.m. Naco, Texas
Women's Rowing
Head of the Oklahoma
All Day
Oklahoma City, Okla
Saturday
Cross Country
Rim Rock Classic
9:00 a.m.
Lawrence
Softball
Labette Community College
3:00 p.m.
Lawrence
Softball
Washburn
5:00 p.m.
Lawrence. Kan.
Women's Rowing
Head of the Oklahoma
All Day
Oklahoma City, Okla.
Sunday
Somail
Seminole State
Community College
10:00 a.m.
Lawrence
Sombrana
Butter Community College
12:00 p.m.
Lawrence
TCU
1:00 p.m.
Fort Worth, Texas
Women's Rowing Head of the Oklahoma All Day Oklahoma City, Okla
Oklahoma City, Okla.
HELPING STUDENTS SCORE
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BIG 12
FARZIN VOUSOUGHIAN
fvousoughian@kansan.com
Big 12 football weekend wrap-up
fvousoughian@kansan.com
15 KANSAS STATE 24 - #6 OKLAHOMA 19
KSU: (4-0, 1-0) KSU: (2-1, 1-0)
Oklahoma committed three turnovers in their loss to Kansas State on Saturday. Kansas State Senior quarterback Collin Klein completed only 13 passes for 149 yards. But it was the rushing game that fueled the Wildcats offense. Junior running back John Hubert had a season high of 24 carries for 135 yards and a touchdown on the ground. Kansas State coach Bill Snyder has coached his team well and the Wildcats are poised for success this year in conference play. As for the Sooners, senior quarterback Landry Jones took a step back. The good news is Jones and his offense have a bye week coming up and can rebuild before visiting Texas Tech.
8 WEST VIRGINIA 31 - MARYLAND 21
Senior quarterback Geno Smith continued his dominance in helping West Virginia get off to a 3-0 start. He threw 338 yards and connected with senior wide receiver Tavon Austin three times in the end zone. West Virginia's defense forced three turnovers as junior linebacker Doug Rigg helped the Mountaineers get going with the first touchdown of the game. He picked up a fumble and ran 51 yards to the end zone.
17 TEXAS CHRISTIAN 27 - VIRGINIA 7
Junior quarterback Casey Pachall is the only player in the nation with a quarterback rating of over 200 and he showed why against Virginia this weekend. Pachall had a better game this week when he threw 305 yards and found three different receivers for a touchdown.
BAYLOR 47 - LOUISIANA-MONROE 42
Baylor got off to a rocky start in the first quarter when senior quarterback Nick Florence threw a pair of interceptions. Louisiana-Monroe took advantage and scored two touchdowns to take an early lead. But Florence and the Bears never turned the ball over again. In a shootout against the Warhawks, Baylor scored 24 points in the second quarter and Florence passed for four touchdowns to remain undefeated on the year.
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