That's too bad.

Imagine, if you will, the all-in scenario: two — maybe even three — teams from the AL East battling down the stretch for a single playoff spot, and now imagine the same scenario in the NL Central. Brewers-Cubs, separated by fewer than 100 miles? Cubs-Cardinals and their long-standing rivalry? Sox-Rays with all their recent bad blood? Sox-Yankees with all their historical bad blood? Each of those hypotheticals is a compelling one because of the histories and — in most cases — proximities involved.

As for the scheduling possibilities, the Brewers end the regular season with a three-game home set against the Cubs, and the Red Sox, in customary fashion, end the season against the Yankees. Potentially, that would be two "all or nothing" series on the final weekend, each pairing up regional and divisional rivals. Obviously, such a turn of events is almost impossible now, thanks to the wild card.

To be fair, the wild card on occasion provides drama of a similar nature — the 1998, 1999 and 2007 seasons all provided us with one-game playoffs to determine the NL wild card. However, most often those match-ups are going to lack the hostilities native to intra-divisional match-ups (last year's wild card playoff between the Rockies and Padres is an obvious exception), and they generally aren't going to involve genuinely great teams (after all, it is the wild card — most often a signifier of goodness rather than greatness).

As mentioned, the institution of the wild card has been on balance a positive for baseball. But let's not pretend it's without costs. If the possibilities detailed above come to pass, then the wild card this season will deprive NL Central and AL East fans of something truly special.

Chicago Cubs News News » This year, wild card is hurting, not helping
This year, wild card is hurting, not helping
For the most part, the wild card has been a good thing for Major League Baseball. Since the expanded playoff format was introduced prior to the 1995 season, we've seen more teams in contention, more teams making headline-grabbing trades at the deadline, and, in a related matter, increased fan interest. Must-read: Marvez: Colts' Sorgi enjoying spotlight Spencer: Gamble pays off for Edwards Must-see: Rosenthal: Will Angels keep Teixeira View more videos >>