Friday was a great day for Major League Baseball, as it finalized its postseason expansion agreement with the Players Association. Beginning this season, two additional Wild Card teams will join the postseason festivities; one in each league.

Under the new format, the two Wild Card winners will face off in a one-game playoff round, with the winning team advancing to the Division Series against one of the three division champions in its league.

In the world of sports where fans and media alike often complain that changes are simply unnecessary, it appears nothing is being protested in this scenario.

Increasing the amount of franchises that compete in October will no doubt turn out to be an excellent move by MLB. And there are plenty of reasons why.

Let’s start with the obvious. We love drama in sports. We love buzzerbeaters in basketball, last second scores that determine the outcome of football games, and walkoff home runs in baseball. It’s always been that way and it should remain so.

There are times when that drama is amplified, and that includes when there are postseason implications at stake; playoff positioning, homefield advantage, and most importantly — championships.

A one game do-or-die setting provides more intensity, suspense, and entertainment than any other point during a sports season. We see it every year with the NFL playoffs and its ultimate conclusion, the most watched event annually, the Super Bowl. When Game 7 is necessary in the basketball or baseball postseason — although this would be Game 5 in MLB’s Division Series — more people tune in than at any other point during the year.

This also shows for a month-long span beginning every March, once the NCAA Men’s Basketball Tournament gets going.

Bottom line is that one game determining the final fate of two great teams is excellent for sports, and that is exactly what baseball is guaranteeing to display at least twice every year beginning in 2012. It will be a heavyweight fight where one side will ultimately have to out-will the other.

Another way that MLB benefits by bringing in two more Wild Card teams is derived through a newfound importance upon a team winning their division.

It used to be ‘Just get in and hope to get hot.’ Teams will no longer be able to fall back on that with the new system in place. Clinching a Wild Card berth will drastically decrease a team’s chances at winning the World Series, since the probability of making it out of the Wild Card round will essentially be 50-50 in a one game situation.

Now no team who believes that they are legitimate championship contenders will be complacent and use the Wild Card spots as a safety net. They will not want to risk their entire season on one game, because as everyone knows, anything can happen and the better team or team with a pitching advantage will not always win.

Finally, the regular season will become a lot more interesting in the long run. Before the Wild Card came into effect in 1995, teams who were not completely terrible but aware that they had no chance at winning their division, folded and became pathetic all the way up to the final days of the regular season. But from 1995 on, these teams have gained new hope, and five Wild Card teams have gone on to win the World Series – the 1997 and 2003 Florida Marlins, the 2002 Anaheim Angels, the 2004 Boston Red Sox, and just recently, the 2011 St. Louis Cardinals.

The level of competition will begin to rise yet again, as there will be one last chance for new teams to make it to the playoffs. Having more teams be relevant towards the end of the season makes for much more exciting baseball than in years past.

MLB actually got this one right, and everyone will see after the All Star break passes. If you thought you’ve seen it all, just sit back and watch.

Image Courtesy of   Bill Florence / Shutterstock.com

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Major League Baseball made the expansion of its postseason format official on Friday by granting each of its leagues an additional Wild Card berth beginning this season. The move — which had been a hot topic going back to last season — means that ten teams will now participate in the always-incredible drama that is: October baseball.

This marks the sport’s first playoff expansion since 1994, when the first original Wild Card teams were added to the mix. However, due to the strike that cancelled the postseason that year, the change did not actually take place until the 1995 playoffs. The Players Association was required to sign off on the proposition before any changes were made, and it did so painlessly.

“I greatly appreciate the MLBPA’s cooperation in putting the new postseason format in place this year,” said Commissioner Bud Selig on Friday. “The enthusiasm for the 10-team structure among our clubs, fans and partners has been overwhelming.”

In the new system, the Wild Card winners in each league will face off in a one game playoff on Friday, October 5, opening postseason play. As long as weather does not become an issue, all four Division Series will begin over the following two days.

“I’m excited, because it leans more heavily on the integrity of a season than the other system and I think everybody felt the same way,” said Angels manager Mike Scioscia. “Hopefully, it leans on that integrity a little more heavily and I think that’s a good thing.”

The winner of the Wild Card round will also have an unusual advantage in this year’s Division Series. Because the 2012 regular season schedule was created before this agreement was finalized, time constraints did not allow for the customary two travel days that would be necessary in a five game Division Series.

The Division Series has always gone with a 2-2-1 format that favors the higher seed. However, since two getaway days won’t be possible, the league will go to a 2-3 arrangement that has the lower seed – one of two inevitably being a Wild Card team – hosting the first two games.

With the Division Series being a best three out of five, as opposed to four out of seven in the League Championship Series and the World Series, it is possible that a Wild Card team could advance to the LCS by playing just one road game beforehand.

MLB ensures that it will construct a schedule that never allows for this unfair competitive advantage to occur again, beginning in 2013. The LCS and World Series will continue to remain best four out of seven series with 2-3-2 formats.

Five Wild Card winners have hoisted the World Series trophy since baseball first allowed two more teams to crash the postseason party nearly 20 years ago — the 1997 and 2003 Florida Marlins, 2002 Anaheim Angels, 2004 Boston Red Sox, and just recently, the 2011 St. Louis Cardinals, who had a storybook ending after trailing the Atlanta Braves by 10.5 games in the Wild Card standings as late as August 25.

All it takes is a chance. St. Louis clinched the Wild Card and its opportunity to compete in the postseason on the final day of the 2011 season. New manager Mike Matheny believes that adding two more teams will be great for the sport.

“Everybody remembers day 162 last year and how exciting that was,” said Matheny. “We all see the benefit of how the Wild Card played out.

“There were a lot of people against it at the time and it proved to make some very meaningful games for some teams who otherwise wouldn’t have had anything going on. It will be fun to watch how it all plays out.”

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The Philadelphia Phillies hold the best record in the major leagues, have the best pitching staff in the league, and have a lineup that takes complete advantage of the small walls in Citizens Bank Park. They have proved throughout the last few years that they are the favorites in the National League, and have improved significantly in 2011. The question is, can any other team do anything to stop them from reaching the World Series?

Let’s put this into perspective. Sure, they only have a small lead over the Atlanta Braves, who as of now are looking like a solid choice for the wild-card spot. That being said, the Mets are over ten games back of the Phillies for first, a number that looks too big to catch up from even after only half of the season. That being said, put the Mets in the NL West and they’re in a full-blown pennant race sitting only three games back.

The Phillies are dominating, and leaving everyone else in the dust.

Their starting rotation is clearly the cornerstone of the team. As of now they hold three aces in Halladay, Lee, and Hamels, all of which will be representing Philadelphia in the All-Star game in Arizona. Every one of these guys could challenge the prestigious 20 win mark not only this year, but for many years to come. Throw in a healthy Roy Oswalt and opposing teams in a seven game series might as well just give up now.

That brings us to their injuries. The Phillies have seen Oswalt, Chase Utley and Shane Victorino miss significant time already, and still have dominated. Their entire bullpen has been decimated. Brad Lidge, the assumed closer going into the year, hasn’t even sniffed the field. The next in line, Jose Contreras, has seen two long DL stints in 2011. Let’s try Ryan Madson? Same result.

They’re getting by with Antonio Bastardo closing games. That should say it all.

Oh right, we haven’t even discussed their lineup yet…

With Jimmy Rollins, Placido Polanco and Shane Victorino setting the table, any real combination will work out. No complaints there.

Chase Utley and Ryan Howard have proved year in and year out that they are the bread and butter of this Philadelphia lineup, and refuse to disappoint. Expect monstrous home runs from Howard, and some of the most solid consistent hitting in the game from the veteran second baseman. But it doesn’t end there.

Towards the bottom of the lineup we still see Raul Ibanez, who although is not the slugger he once was, isn’t exactly a number seven hitter than opposing pitchers are delighted to see. Domonic Brown, one of their biggest prospects is finally up and playing full-time. He’s not quite where they want him to be just yet, but the flashes of brilliance have come through and proved that the Phillies are okay in the long-term too.

Even Carlos Ruins and Wilson Valdez are decent at handling at bat in the eight hole.

Philly is incredibly balanced. There really aren’t many holes across their roster. If I had to be picky, and I will, their bullpen is shaky at best. Although for the most part they don’t need it to do much now, the playoffs are a different story. Again, it must be noted that all of their starters routinely throw eight innings a game without breaking a sweat, don’t be surprised if they try to make a move before the deadline to pick up another late-inning arm.

Who can stop them? Atlanta? St. Louis? San Francisco? I’ll save some words and just give an overall no.

Book your October tickets now Philly fans, you’re going back to the big game.

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