Wild Card Fever: The End Of The Race As We Know It

So the wild and crazy guys knowns as the Atomic Scientists have the Doomsday Clock. It's this mythological clock that is really a morbid countdown to the end of the world, with "midnight" as the ultimate end. They move the clock from time to time depending on geopolitical events and such. When they move the clock, they seem to have great fun making these scary announcements: "It is five minutes to midnight."

If there was a Doomsday Clock on the Royals, we would be about 30 seconds from midnight.

Last night was as bad as it could be for the Royals. That's no hyperbole. Tampa, Cleveland and Texas all won and the Royals lost. When you're chasing three teams and all three win while you lose, you're doing it wrong.

Here are the current standings with the latest odds.

(The empty space at the bottom is in remembrance of Baltimore, who also lost last night and was eliminated. That and I've used this table for so long, I can't figure out how to remove a row.)

Yes, that's a zero in the Royals odds column. That lost last night was it. Four games back with five to play behind two teams is too much to ask.

More important than the post season odds is the Elimination Number. The Royals have five games to play. They are four games out of a spot. This isn't difficult to figure.

Elimination Number:
Texas - 5
Kansas City - 2
New York - 1

Tonight could be the night for both the Royals and Yankees to be eliminated.

Until tomorrow. (Maybe.)