How to bet the Chicago Cubs-Pittsburgh Pirates wild-card game

The 1993 San Francisco Giants are about to get company.

The last year before MLB expanded the playoffs to include the divisional series round is also the last year to produce a truly great team that didn't make the playoffs. The 103-win Giants of 1993 hold the record for winning the most regular-season games without making the postseason, and in this era of 80-something-win teams winning the World Series, such distinctions were assumed to have gone the way of three-inning closers and dual-purpose stadiums. MLB may quibble with the phrasing, but if the 98-win Pittsburgh Pirates lose Wednesday night's play-in game, they will have more wins than all but three teams not to make the playoffs since divisional play began in 1969. The Chicago Cubs, of course, won 97 games this year, and many, including at least one of our handicappers below, believe they are the best team in baseball.

While that is certainly up for argument, this is not: A very, very good baseball team can make tee times this weekend, and as a result, this is certainly the most anticipated wild-card game since the format debuted four years ago.