Ronald Blum of the Denver Post reported yesterday that commissioner Bud Selig expects baseball to expand its playoffs this season.
“I really believe we’ll have the wild card for 2012, this year,” Selig said Friday night in Chicago at a White Sox fan festival. “Clubs really want it. I don’t think I’ve ever seen an issue that the clubs want more than to have the extra wild card this year.”
“We’re working on dates right now. That’ll all take place. It looks to me like we’ll have it because I’ve told everybody we have to have it. It’ll be exciting. One-game playoff, it will start the playoffs in a very exciting manner,” he said.
I’m surprised that this is still lingering with Opening Day about two months away.
Under the new format, whenever it begins, the non-division winners in each league with the two-best records will be the wild-cards, meaning a third-place team could for the first time win the World Series. In other words, it’s possible for three teams to come from the NL East or any other division.
I think it’s going to lead to some wild finishes that will make last year’s exciting finish to the regular season seem mild in comparison.
