That's a 79.3-percent success rate for the teams on top when the fireworks subsided on Labor Day. Conversely, only 20.7 percent of the leaders, or 18 teams, missed the playoffs after leading on Labor Day.
The good news for the Wild Card-leading Twins and Padres is that of the 25 Labor Day Wild Card leaders during the past 11 seasons, eight were not leading when the season ended, and yet two of those made the playoffs as division champions. Six of the 25, or 24 percent, missed the playoffs.
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