As if the baseball season isn’t long enough, the MLB added two extra games to this year’s playoff picture. It was discussed heavily in the offseason, and commissioner Bud Selig said that the playoff expansion will most likely start in 2013, but last week, he announced that it would take place this year.

Here’s what happens: the two wildcard winners will play one game, sending the winner to a playoff series with one of the division winners. The team who loses will pack up their bags and head home.

At first, I thought it was clearly another way to make money on the team’s behalf. But it’s one game. It’s win or go home. It’s what sports are all about. It’ll make the first game of the series an exciting start to the playoffs.

Sure, for those two teams who lose, it’ll sting. Their fans will complain that they should have had a five game series like the division winners have. They’ll complain that they weren’t given a chance and if one pitch had gone differently, then they’d be in the next series. That’s the beauty of this game though. It’s one more chance to move on.

One of the most exciting games in Colorado Rockies history was the tiebreaker game in 2007. This new rule ensures there will be some excitement at the end of every season. It’s one game, so there’s an added level of urgency to win. There won’t be a second chance. It’s do or die. What fan doesn’t want to see that?

The season is already long, and this new playoff system makes it one day longer. If they decided to make the two wildcards duke it out in a five-game series, you’re looking at adding another week to the season. This was the most effective way to add two new teams to the playoff mix.

It is a welcomed change and should become one of the biggest deciding factors every year. All it takes is one dramatic Cinderella team win and the whole playoffs will take on a different look.