EPIC!

Last night was either the greatest day in baseball history or the worst, depending on your heart's proximity to New England or Georgia. The double-barreled collapse of the Braves and the best team in baseball prior to the recent unpleasantness was so unlikely that no one alive today can expect their great-grandchildren to live through the next one.

Behold: 

• The Yankees had not blown a 7-run eighth inning lead since 1950. 
• Dan Johnson was batting .119 and hadn't homered since April when he connected off Corey Wade with two strikes and two outs in the bottom of the ninth to tie the game for the Rays. 
• The Red Sox hadn't lost a lead entering the ninth all year. 
• Atlanta's Craig Kimbrel had not surrendered a run in 37.7 innings prior to September, but surrendered the tying run in the ninth. 
• The Braves scored three runs in the first three frames against the Phils and then went 10 scoreless innings before succumbing 4-3 in 13.
• Adrian Gonzalez has now played on three teams in five years that lost a playoff berth on the last game of the season.
• Carl Crawford took a bounty to bolt Tampa Bay for Boston, then gakked up the season, then fanned in centerfield on the hit that dashed Boston's hopes.

The Red Sox and Braves both had 99%+ chances of making the playoffs entering September, according to Baseball Prospectus's Playoff Odds calculator. That means the odds of both teams missing the post-season is at least one in 10,000. 

Indeed, the Sox were in first place after a slow start and were deemed the odds-on favorite to win their division. What the playoff calculator didn't know was that Beckett and Buccholz would get hurt, Wakefield's arm would retire before the official announcement and John Lackey would play as ugly as his face, leaving Terry Francona without any viable rotation options. That's despite roster spots for Daisuke Matsuzaka, Eric Bedard and Andrew Miller.

The Red Sox are another data point on the proof that you can never have too much pitching. You certainly can't blame the manager or GM for not stocking the pitching pantry. Everything just went bad once summer ended.

This epic bi-collapse also recalls the historic Met failures of 2007 and 2008. So, what's going on? Four of the six or so worst dis-semblings in baseball history occurred in a four-year span? The only weak theory I can propose is that the advent of the Wild Card and six divisions means that good teams, rather than excellent ones, are being watched, and lacking excellence, they're more likely to collapse. But Boston was the best team in the world entering September. Clearly, that's not the whole explanation.

It is a cautionary tale, though. Last amazing night would not have been possible with Bud Selig's two Wild Card system. The Cards and Rays would have clinched the last spot over the Giants and Angels a week ago. A 10-team postseason this year would have left just two (and a half) .500+ teams outside looking in (Anaheim and S.F. The Dodgers finished 81-80 with one contest canceled. Count them if you like.) 

In any case, last night was one to savor. America forgets about baseball in September most years, but for one shining night, people gathered 'round the tube to watch two pitching-rich teams choke on their missing arms.

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