I have said it before, and I will say it again: Japanese baseball needs to fix its season-ending schedule and follow the major league policy of having every team finish the regular year at the same time.
The staggered winding-down of the Central and Pacific League play where teams have varying numbers of remaining games takes away so much potential excitement as the pennant races and Climax Series seeds are decided.
The final day of the American and National League schedules on Sept. 28 will go down as one of the most climactic in baseball history as the Tampa Bay Rays and St. Louis Cardinals completed spectacular come-from-behind performances to eliminate the Boston Red Sox and Atlanta Braves and claim wild-card playoff slots.