Following the 1994 season, Bud Selig, then-interim commissioner of Major League Baseball, was charged with a difficult task. He had to find a way to bring fan interest back to the national pastime after a players’ strike wiped out more than half of the season, the playoffs and the World Series.

Difficult, indeed. The fans felt cheated by the perception of players’ greed, the integrity of the game was scarred and for the first time in the history of baseball, there would not be a world champion hoisting a trophy to the heavens and immersing itself in champagne. It appeared as if baseball was doomed.

But just when it seemed as if baseball was going to fade in to the very history books it so cherishes and chronicles, Selig decided to do something unconventional.

Selig took a page from the NFL’s popularity manual and decided to institute a wild-card playoff format. This new format would add two additional teams, one from the National and American Leagues, to challenge the division champions for baseball supremacy.

At first, Selig’s decision was met with severe criticism. The players and coaches felt that adding additional teams to the playoffs would water down the competition and diminish the value and reward of playing for a championship.

As it turns out, Selig’s decision has been a blessing in disguise. It is a decision that potentially saved baseball.

Ever since 1995, this radical new idea has taken playoff excitement to new levels. Dynasties have crumbled under this format (although, the New York Yankees were a wild-card team when they won championships in 1995, 1997 and 2007); Cinderella has gone from a fairy tale to a modern-day occurrence; and teams playing with the curse of a baseball legend and the specter of a goat finally achieved Major League greatness (see the 2004 Boston Red Sox).

And somewhere in between, fans have feared the beard, Angels have celebrated in the outfield, and a previous baseball dynasty was reincarnated in St. Louis.

Eight of the last 11 world champions have benefitted from the wild card. When the San Francisco Giants embarked on their incredible run in 2010, they emerged from the doldrums of the National League West by going on a historic, late-season run and never looking back. The Los Angeles Angels of Anaheim claimed their first championship in franchise history in 2002 with the help of the wild card, some heavenly play and a rally monkey.

This year, Commissioner Selig has thrown an extra name into the playoff hat by adding one more team from each league. And this figures to make the postseason more thrilling than it was before. As a result of this format, the two wild-card teams will play each other in a one-game playoff. So, in essence, it is one additional regular season game. The winner advances; the loser goes home quicker than they got there.

No one is sure how this change to the current playoff format will affect the competitive balance in baseball. It might be good for the game; it might be bad for the game. But just like before, in 1995, the commissioner is taking a chance.

If history is any indication, this year’s playoffs figure to be as heroic and unpredictable as the previous ones. Somewhere along the way, heroes will be cheered, goats will be booed and the unlikeliest of underdogs will emerge from the shadows of obscurity.

I’m not saying that this will happen. But it’s more than likely and better than average. It’s baseball at its best.­ It is truly wild, indeed.