Wildcards, Soft Power & Pine Tar Diplomacy: How MLB’s October Play-in Became a Global Proxy War
Baseball’s October wildcard weekend has always been a quaint American ritual—like Thanksgiving turkey or pretending the electoral college makes sense. Yet when the dust settles this year, the tremors will be felt from Manila betting parlors to London pubs that still think a “shortstop” is merely a very efficient bus halt. The reason? Money, soft…
