Bob Costas should have the last laugh – years ago he proposed the double wild card in his book Fair Ball: A Fan’s Case for Baseball
You make the two wild cards play a one game do or die. The winner advances to play the #1 seed on the road.
You say that’s unfair? You had 162 games to win the division.
You make the Wild Cards play on Monday, both have to “waste” their ace, and then travel to play the very next night using their #2 against a #1.
If you’re on the west coast and have to come east, too bad, you had 162 games to win your division. If you have to travel on Sunday night and again on Monday – too bad, you had 162 games to win your division.
The do or die is dramatic. The extra Wild Card lets more teams (cough cough) get to pretend they are in it until the end.
There’s actually a premium on winning your division.
I reject the idea of a three game wild card round. It will cause the division winners to sit around for a week – and we’ve seen in the past what happens when teams sit around for too long.
No brainer.
Oh, and move Houston to the AL West and have one interleague series every day.