MILWAUKEE — Baseball’s postseason will get a little longer, and the Houston Astros can soon start adding the words “designated hitter” to their day-to-day vocabulary.
Commissioner Bud Selig yesterday made two long-expected changes official, announcing the addition of a second wild-card team to each league’s postseason, and saying the Astros will move from the National League to American League, creating two 15-team leagues.
The wild card addition will take effect no later than 2013, but Selig expressed optimism the changes could be implemented for next season. The Astros will shift to the AL West as soon as 2013.
With the wild card expansion, 10 of 30 teams will make the playoffs. The specifics still have to be resolved, but Selig indicated it’s likely the new wild-card round in each league will consist of a one-game playoff.
“[The committee] liked the one-game,” Selig said. “And it will be dramatic.”
The 2011 season ended in drama, with the Red Sox and Braves eliminated from the playoff picture on the final day — overtaken by the Rays and Cardinals, respectively — but Selig said such excitement can’t be counted on every year. The new wild-card round, he suspects, would bring drama on a regular basis.
“You don’t do things for one year [results],” Selig said. “You do it for a long period of time. And the additions of two wild-card teams will really help us for the long term.”
Selig called yesterday’s announcement “historic” and likened it to the 1993 owners’ vote to initially implement the wild-card format.
“It’s turned out to be, I guess, remarkably successful,” Selig said. “That would be an understatement.”
With each league at 15 teams, interleague play will begin on Opening Day and stretch to the final day of the regular season. After viewing mock schedules, Selig said he isn’t concerned about that arrangement.
The Astros’ move to the AL occurred in conjunction with Jim Crane’s approval as the team’s new owner. Crane reportedly will receive $65 million for agreeing to move from the NL Central to the AL West.
Selig said it’s still too early to say if a more balanced schedule will be adopted, reducing the number of games a team plays within its division.