Managers say wild-card game is a tough ask but have no complaints being here
TORONTO — For most of the year, baseball is the slow cooker of sports. It takes six months and 162 ingredients per team.
The wild-card game throws that recipe out the window. It’s one day with everything on the line, more like throwing something on the BBQ briefly and hoping it comes out right.
“I’ll take it, compared to being at home tonight,” Baltimore manager Buck Showalter said of the wild wild-card ride. “I wouldn’t be watching the game, but it sure beats the alternative.”
“Actually there’s a lot I don’t like about it because we’re playing in it but I think it’s the way it ought to be,” added Toronto manager John Gibbons. “If you don’t win your division, there’s two teams that get a shot at it so you need to make it really tough to get in there. That’s why everyone focuses on trying to win the division.”