MLB Wild Card: 5 Reasons There Will Be More Drama with New Wild Card Slot

Generally, I do not agree with many of Bud Selig's decisions.

But believe it or not, he got this one right.

In a move that has been expected for some time, Bud Selig announced today that two additional Wild Card teams will be added to the playoffs no later than the 2013 season.

While the details surrounding how the new playoff structure will work have not yet been made official, Selig intimated that it very well could be a one-game playoff between the Wild Card teams to see who advances to the Division Series in each league.

Said Selig, "We believe after a lot of study and a lot of thought that the addition of two wild cards will really help us in the long run."

Undoubtedly, baseball purists will loathe this as much as they do the current playoff structure and the designated hitter.

OK, maybe not as much as they dislike the DH.

Others will point to the last day of the 2011 regular season, one that many call the most exciting the sport has seen in years, and say that we will never see that again.

That may be true, but that does not mean that this change equates to less drama in the game.

After the jump, there are five reasons why.

Winning the Division Means Something Again

There used to be a time when winning your division was the focal point for teams during the regular season.

Since the implementation of the Wild Card in 1994—though due to the players strike, it was not used until 1995—teams who were leading in the Wild Card race and trailing in the divisional races could rest on their laurels, knowing that one way or another, they would make the playoffs.

This was never more prevalent than in the AL East in recent years, where it was a foregone conclusion that whomever finished second in the division was all but ensured of making the playoffs as the Wild Card.

Now, with teams potentially facing a one-game playoff in order to advance to a best-of-five series, there can be no more laurel resting.

Teams will go all out to win their division, ensuring themselves of avoiding a potential one-and-done scenario.

2011 AL Cy Young Award winner and potential 2011 AL MVP recipient Justin Verlander agrees as well, saying this on Twitter:

"

I like concept of adding wild card team for playoffs. Gives advantage to teams winning their division - don't have to play in 1 gm playoff

"

If it's good enough for him, it's good enough for me.

Every Game Counts...a Little Bit More

From the the time the first pitch on Opening Day makes that beautiful sound as it smacks the leather of a catcher's mitt, from the first crack of the bat, every game now has a greater meaning.

Forget a two-week slide—more than ever, a baserunning gaffe or an error in April that costs a team a game it should have won could come back to bite them even more than it could have previously.

Players and managers alike will look to be at the top of their games, every game. At the end of the season, when the team misses out on the Wild Card race by a half game, and that botched play or that bad managerial decision from a game in June or a game in August comes to the forefront as possibly having cost your team a shot at the playoffs, nobody wants to be the one at the receiving end of those looks.

Nobody wants to be that guy, and while nobody wanted to be him before this, the watchful eyes of the fans and media alike just got that much more intense.

The Drama of Last Year Would Have Been Replicated

For a moment, assume that the 2011 season marked the first time that baseball had two Wild Card teams.

The eventual world champions, the St. Louis Cardinals, won the Wild Card by one game over the Atlanta Braves.

Now imagine that there was a one-game playoff to see who advanced to the divisional series.

Busch Stadium would have been jam packed full of fans from both teams, everyone on the edge of their seat with every pitch, every swing of the bat.

Can you honestly say that there would be no drama involved?

New Rivalries Could Emerge

Rivalries are a great part of sports, and creating new ones, especially when they are not geographic neighbors, is difficult.

Now not being a fan of either team myself—I may be taking a leap of faith here—but I would go out on a limb and say that there is not much "juice" surrounding a game between the Los Angeles Angels and the Tampa Bay Rays.

On opposite sides of the country and in different divisions, chances are that fans and the teams themselves view this as just another game.

Going back to last year's Wild Card race, the Tampa Bay Rays beat out the Boston Red Sox by one game.

For a moment, we will assume that both Wild Card berths cannot come from the same division, something that has not yet been clarified.

If that is the case, then we would be looking at a one-game playoff between the Angels and Rays.

The losing team would certainly no longer view the opposition as "just another team." They would be looking to collect their pound of flesh the following season.

We can say the same about the fans of the losing team. The victors are no longer "just another team."

No, now they become the "Freaking Rays" or the "Damn Angels."

The drama created by the extra Wild Card does not, and would not, be contained to the playoff game alone. It would carry over...and over...and you get the point.

Game 7 Is the Most Exciting Game in Sports

At the end of the day, it is all about the trophy.

Nothing in sports is more exciting then one game to crown a champion, which is one reason why the Super Bowl is, well...super.

For the most part, these games are chock full of drama and oftentimes, the hero ends up being the last person you expected it to be.

The first one of these new Wild Card teams to seize their opportunity and win it all would be able to live and tell a story that was, well, dramatic.

In a do-or-die situation, people put their best foot forward.

Getting the best out of two more teams certainly would not lessen the drama the game itself creates.