Selig predicts second wild card to start this year

CHICAGO | Low expectations for the White Sox and Cubs received an unexpected lift Friday, albeit a small one, from Major League Baseball's boss.

Appearing at his first off-season baseball fan convention in this city, Commissioner Bud Selig predicted the addition of two wild card teams for the upcoming season — a postseason expansion for which he has campaigned for several years.

"You bet," Selig told a nearly-full ballroom worth of fans at the opening of SoxFest at the downtown Palmer House Hilton Hotel. "I believe it will be in effect this year. When you do things different, you say we've never done it that way. Everybody was distraught, you can't do this, you can't do that, it's going to ruin the game. You had to go to the wild card. It's produced, when you think back, some of the great moments in baseball history.

"I'm looking forward to having 10 teams."

Several fans pressed Selig with questions on who will benefit the most from expanded playoffs. One asked him if the second wild-card benefits Red Sox and Yankees more?

"It's ridiculous," Selig said. "We're going to have 10 out of 30 teams make the playoffs. We'll have intense races in our divisions. I don't think it helps or hurts the Red Sox or Yankees any more than anyone else."

Another fans asked if Major League Baseball could go back to a 154-game season to make room for best-of-three playoff series for the second wild-card rather than a one-game winner-takes-all.

"About 25 years ago or longer, I thought I had the votes to go back to 154," Selig said of his Milwaukee Brewers ownership days. "I proposed it, I was pretty cocky, it died for a lack of a seconding (votes). I like 154, but we're not going to do it because the economics were bad.

"I wanted two out of three. One game, that's not fair, that's not reasonable. To my surprise...everyone wanted one game. We put more of a premium on winning the division. I think it will be a very dramatic way to start our playoffs."

Selig was asked if the designated hitter, now marking its 40th season in the American League, should be adopted by the National League.

"I'm still the only one left who voted for it in Dec. 1972 (as Brewers owner). The National League almost adopted it a few years later. I've often said the only thing that can bring the designated hitter (into all baseball or none) is a catalytic event - overall geographic re-alignment. It will need some dramatic event (to expand)."

Selig shepherded expansion of instant replay - but only incrementally. Still another question asked about further expansion.

"We have more replay on bullets hit down the left- and right-field line and trapped balls. (But) you can't have people standing around for three, five minutes at a time (reviewing). We will take a look at other things."

Selig's new contract as commissioner will take him to nearly his 80th birthday. He joked throughout 2011 that no one believed he'd retire near year's end.

"I looked forward to teaching, writing a book," he said. "But the owners kept coming at me. (Jerry Reinsdorf) was relentless. I was brought up in the sport. You always do what you and other people believe is in the best interest of the sport."

Selig came to SoxFest to publicly present the Sox with the second annual Commissioners Award for Philanthropic Excellence during opening ceremonies. The Red Sox won the inaugural award in 2011. Dozens of red-shirted White Sox volunteers, honored for 17,000 hours of community work, attended the ceremonies.