I think it was a combination. Like you said earlier, a bit of NFL influence here. Selig and the owners had been clamoring for another round of playoffs. The whole wild card idea was milked along with 1993 Atl-SF among others, playing up the whole "why should a team with more wins go home while...." Plays up the whole "instead of improving your team, we'll make it easier to appear successful while being mediocre" trend. This appeased the small revenue owners who did not want to put a competitive team on the field, but wanted to sell to their customers the idea they now had a chance.
I haven't seen if there was another update, but "Lords of the Realm" by John Helyar is silent on that, because all of these changes were overshadowed by the labor situation. I don't doubt for a second that the format and the labor situation were intertwined. Despite record attendance, baseball was either listening to the mediots, or(and there has been much written in rec.sport.baseball on this) was feeding the stories to dupe the public, to try to set up the PR war. Either way, they were under the impression things *needed to be fixed*. Whoever was in charge thought that the Giants and Braves in 1993 both playing October would make for a better story than the Braves having to finish 51-17 to oust the Giants by a game.
More and more it occurs to me why Selig was a used car salesman. He couldn't sell new cars because he would find there was something wrong with all of them and try to fix them. He would rip out the hearts of Mercedes, and try to sell it as improved. Used cars aren't worth the time.
"I can endure more pain than anyone you've ever met. That's why I can beat anyone I've ever met." Steve Prefontaine, Without Limits
I haven't seen if there was another update, but "Lords of the Realm" by John Helyar is silent on that, because all of these changes were overshadowed by the labor situation. I don't doubt for a second that the format and the labor situation were intertwined. Despite record attendance, baseball was either listening to the mediots, or(and there has been much written in rec.sport.baseball on this) was feeding the stories to dupe the public, to try to set up the PR war. Either way, they were under the impression things *needed to be fixed*. Whoever was in charge thought that the Giants and Braves in 1993 both playing October would make for a better story than the Braves having to finish 51-17 to oust the Giants by a game.
More and more it occurs to me why Selig was a used car salesman. He couldn't sell new cars because he would find there was something wrong with all of them and try to fix them. He would rip out the hearts of Mercedes, and try to sell it as improved. Used cars aren't worth the time.
"I can endure more pain than anyone you've ever met. That's why I can beat anyone I've ever met." Steve Prefontaine, Without Limits