Every ballplayer remembers the St. Louis Cardinals' magical run last year. The Cardinals weren't baseball's best regular season team—they barely made the playoffs—but they got hot in September, and that momentum carried them to a World Serieschampionship.
In so doing, the Cardinals reinforced a common belief among players: In the wild-card era, the team that gets hot in September usually rolls through October.The numbers bear that out. Of the 17 World Series winners since the wild-card era began in 1995, 10 were "hot" in September—that is, they had a higher September winning percentage than they did for the season overall.
In the last 10 years, that connection has grown even more dramatic. Eight of the last 10 World Series champs have been at their best in the season's final month. Teams strive to go into the postseason hot, as the Yankees have through their torrid September and early October.
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