It’s September, and while Green Day once asked that they be woken up when it ends, baseball fans would be wise to stay awake, because, once again, September looks like it will be a crazy month for baseball. Here are some (but not all) of the big races to look for:

The Chase for the AL East

The AL East will feature many games between the division’s teams this month, but the ones that will really count will be the ones between the Yankees, Orioles and Rays. Including games that have already been played or are being played as I type this, the Yankees and Orioles will face each other six times, the Orioles and Rays will face each other three times, and the Yankees and Rays will face each other six times. The Orioles and Yankees have so far split their first two games of their series (including the last day of August). The Yankees appear to be in control here, especially if they win today’s game against the Orioles, who are still somehow only three games back despite the fact that the run-differential suggests they should probably be closer to three games from being mathematically eliminated than three games out of first.

The race in the AL East will be interwoven with….

The AL Wild Card

The following teams have a chance at the AL Wild Card spots: The three division leaders, the Athletics, the Orioles, the Rays, the Tigers and the Angels. I can honestly say that I have no idea who will win this, other than that it will likely come down to not who had the best season, but who has the best September- a team needs to get hot to win this, and then remain hot during the one-game wild card game. An interesting twist: due to the fact that the Wild Cards will probably have to use their best pitchers to get a spot to begin with, it could get very interesting as to who they will be able to start if they make the play-in game.

Oh, and don’t even get me started on the possibility that there is a tie for the second-place wild card. If that happens, it will be madness, the baseball equivalent of the opening weekend of the NCAA Tournament. Any team that could survive the ensuing gauntlet would probably become target practice for whatever division leader they then face. Unless, of course, the wild card survivor had gained so much momentum that they slice through the entire playoffs like a buzzsaw.

AL Central

The Tigers are going to win this, right? Right? I mean, they have Verlander. And Prince Fielder. And… wait, the White Sox are still in first? I’m telling you, the Robin Ventura hiring looks more genius by the day, and in any other year (such a year where Buck Showalter isn’t bringing the Orioles to a month away from the playoffs), he’d be shoo-in for manager of the year.

NL Wild Card

Like the AL Wild Card, but slightly less crazy, I cannot even fathom a guess as to who will get those two spots.