Damn you, Bud Selig! (or why I’m mostly bitter but still a little excited abut the second Wild Card)

While I can’t deny that the advent of the second wild card has by far lengthened my interest in the baseball season, I can’t help but wonder if all this hullaballoo is worth it.

Sure, my Brewers are streaking and they might end up backing into the playoffs despite having given up on the season and trading away Zack Greinke two months ago. But once they get there, there’s a high likelihood of them being one-and-done. And even if they get through that first test, they’re not likely to go any further than that.

So then I have to wonder, is it all worth it?

Follow the jump for more Selig rants

While more teams and their fan bases are invested in the late season than in previous years, that’s also a lot more people that are going to experience serious heartbreak. And frankly, that’s just mean, Bud Selig.

The end of the 2011 season was pretty fun and spectacular, all on its own. That final day of play was one of the best I’ve ever seen. So I’m not sure that we needed the extended drama that WC2 is bringing.

Because WC2 was introduced after the schedules were released, the time frame to get that game in is incredibly tight. And right now we’re looking at the possibility of a five-way tie for that final spot. It’s becoming increasingly likely that a team will have to squeeze in one or more tie-break games. In the NL, a team like the Cardinals could have to fly out to LA to play the Dodgers in the tie-break and then need to be in Atlanta the next day for the official start of the playoffs. So not only could your team be in danger of “one and done,” but they could be doing so jet-lagged and on limited sleep. Bud Selig is a cruel, cruel man.

Last week, when the Brewers were still six back, a bunch of friends and I were out and I was adamant about not “buying in” on this current run because while my heart was excited, my head knew that the whole thing would only lead to disappointment. If last season’s much more talented team (and pitching staff) couldn’t advance beyond the NLDS, I certainly don’t have any hopes for the team whose bullpen has blown 28 saves this season to advance very far. So why buy in for one or even five more postseason games when you know that’s the extent of it? My bank account will thank me for not having to shell out for post-season tickets.

I haven’t been a Brewer fan my whole life – my family did football, never baseball or hockey – but even in my seven years of fandom I’ve experienced a bit of the long-standing tradition of Brewers heartbreak (I’m looking at you, 2007 Ned Yost). I’m having a hard time fully buying into the streaking club because it feels a lot like this is a path that only leads to bad things. Jumping on this bandwagon seems like it leads directly to a broken heart.

But the teeniest, tiniest little part of me that I don’t want to admit exists is still a little excited and feels like the rest of me is being grumpy and unhappy. Astros fans would kill to be in our shoes right now. Am I so complacent about post-season play that I’m going to start getting snobby about it? Have I turned into a Yankees fan so quickly?

I’d be attending games regardless of their record. I’m whole-heartedly a hard-core baseball fan at this point and my season tickets have me attending at least four more games in the final two weeks or so. But now, instead of talking football while tailgating and eagerly counting down the days until college hockey starts, suddenly the Brewers have pulled me back in. And I’m more than a little bitter about it. I’m well aware that the likelihood is that I’ll be shaking my fist in Selig’s direction come the first week of October as I drown my sorrows for yet another year.

I’m trying to resist the lure that evil Selig is trying to catch me on, but it’s hard not to be excited as I watch that Games Back number become tinier and tinier. Which is exactly what that bastard wanted.