In Major League Baseball (MLB), the wild card teams are the three teams in each of the two leagues ( American and National ) that qualify for the postseason despite failing to win their division ; the three wild card teams in each league possess the three best winning percentages in their league after the league's three division winners . The wild card was first instituted in MLB in 1994 after the playoff was expanded from 4 teams to 8 teams and MLB divisions were realigned to feature 3 divisions in each league instead of 2, which meant that one non-division winner per league made the playoff and would face a division winner in the first round Division Series .
24-513: The wild card was established for Major League Baseball 's playoffs in 1994 with the intention of helping the best teams that did not win their division to still have a chance to win the World Series . The restructuring of both the American League and National League from two to three divisions each made it necessary to either give one team a bye in the first round of playoffs, or create
48-557: A one-game playoff . The Wild Card Game winner advanced to play the best-ranked division winner in the Division Series . The revised playoff system began with the 2012 season. As mentioned previously, this system was not used during the 2020 season because of the COVID-19 pandemic. Starting with the 2022 season, MLB added a third wild card team in each league. In the new Wild Card Series, the top two division winners in each league receive
72-420: A best-of-three Wild Card Series . Starting in 2022, a third wild card team was added to each league. The lowest-seeded wild card team (#6 seed) would then face the lowest-seeded division winner (#3 seed) in the best-of-three Wild Card round, with the remaining two Wild Card teams (#4 and #5 seed) squaring off in the other bracket. The Division Series will then have the top-seed play the fourth-fifth winner, while
96-471: A bye to the Division Series, while the lowest-seeded division winner and three wild card teams will play in this round. A best-of-three series will take place, with the higher seed hosting all three games. Due to the expansion of the postseason beginning in 2022, the regular season tie-breaker game format has been eliminated. The winner of the 4 vs. 5 seeded matchup faces the top seeded division winner in
120-400: A players strike canceled the 1994 playoffs) when Major League Baseball expanded from two to three divisions per league. In the new three-division leagues, each league had four teams in the playoffs; in addition to the three division winners, the division runner-up with the best record received a wild card spot. This assured that the team with the second-best record in its league would qualify for
144-593: A result of the hastily contrived format, the Cincinnati Reds finished the regular season with the best record in all of baseball (66-42 .611) but failed to qualify for the playoffs because they finished 0.5 game behind the Dodgers in the first half and 1.5 games behind the Astros in the second half. The Astros finished 8 games back in the first half and the Dodgers 6 back in the second. For the 2020 postseason only , because of
168-503: A second wild card team was added to each league. The two wild card teams in each league face each other in a one-game playoff, the Wild Card Game , with the winner advancing to meet the number one seed in the Division Series . For the 2020 postseason only, the field expanded to include three second-place teams per division, followed by the wild card teams represented by the next two best records from each league. All eight teams played in
192-469: The COVID-19 pandemic , the playoff field expanded to include the second-place teams in each division, followed by the wild card teams represented by the next two best records from each league. All eight teams played in a best-of-three Wild Card Series. On November 17, 2011, MLB announced that it would be adding two wild card teams to the postseason. The two wild card teams in each league faced each other in
216-556: The 2023 postseason, three AL wild card teams have gone on win the World Series (Anaheim in 2002, Boston in 2004, and Texas in 2023), two teams won the AL pennant but lost the World Series (Detroit in 2006 and Kansas City in 2014), and eight other teams won a division series but lost the championship series, most recently the Yankees in 2017. Notes: Major League Baseball wild card In 2012,
240-560: The Division Series, while the winner of the 3 vs. 6 seeded matchup faces the second seeded division winner in the other Division Series as there is no reseeding in between rounds. For each league's list of wild card winners by year and teams with most wild card titles, see: League Championship Series The League Championship Series ( LCS ) is the semifinal round of postseason play in Major League Baseball which has been conducted since 1969 . In 1981 , and since 1995 ,
264-759: The addition, via expansion , of the Montreal Expos and San Diego Padres to the former and the Kansas City Royals and Seattle Pilots (now the Milwaukee Brewers of the NL) to the latter. Both leagues then formed Eastern and Western Divisions, the first-place teams from which faced off in the LCS. For its first sixteen seasons, the League Championship Series were best-of-five , using the 2–3 format in which
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#1732848181428288-411: The home-field advantage in the LCS was allocated on a rotating basis between the two (three from 1995 through 1997 ) division champions; since 1998, that advantage is given to the team with the better regular season record, except that if a division champion faces a wild card team, the division champion always gets home-field advantage regardless of record. As of 2024 , all thirty MLB teams have reached
312-402: The lowest-seeded division winner in each league, with winners of each league's wild card series advance to face the two-best division winners in that league's Division Series . In its history after being implemented, a total of 8 wildcard teams have won the World Series , while another 8 teams appeared in the World Series as Wild Card team, with the 2002 , 2014 , and 2023 World Series being
336-538: The only editions of the World Series to have featured two Wild Card teams. From 1969 through 1993, the division leaders in each league advanced to the League Championship Series , with the winners of each LCS meeting in the World Series . However, an expanding number of teams in MLB over the years made making the playoffs increasingly difficult. The new system was instituted in 1994 (but first used in 1995 because
360-400: The other two division winners would play each other, with second-best division winner having home-field. However, if the division winner with the league's best record and the wild card team came from the same division, the wild card would face the second-best division winner in the league. A "wild card" rule was used in the 1981 season after a players' strike wiped out the "middle third" of
384-406: The postseason even if it was not a division champion. Thus, a third postseason round was added, the Division Series . From 1995 to 1997, a yearly rotation was used to decide the match-ups in the Division Series, although the wild card team was prevented from playing its own division's champion. Beginning in 1998, the team with the best record in the league would typically face the wild card team and
408-591: The runner-up plays the third-sixth winner. The brackets remain fixed, with no re-seeding. Through the 2021 postseason, there have been a total of 37 AL wild card teams (one each season during 1995–2011, and two each season since 2012). The AL East has produced 24, the AL Central five, and the AL West eight. The Boston Red Sox and the New York Yankees have been a wild card qualifier a record eight times each. Through
432-433: The season. The owners decided that the winners (in each division) of each "half" of the abbreviated season would make the playoffs, with the caveat that if the same team won both halves then that division's team with the second-best record from the second half would enter the playoffs as a wild card. However, the wild card rule was not actually used since all four divisions had different first half and second-half winners. As
456-462: The system was modified to add a second wild card team per league (expanding the playoffs to 10 teams). And the wild card teams played against each other in a play-in game – the MLB Wild Card Game – the winner of which would then advance to the Division Series and play the team with the best record in their league. The two teams with the best records outside of the division champions advanced to
480-402: The team without home field advantage hosted the first two games, and the team with it hosted the rest of the LCS, making it impossible for the disadvantaged team to win the series at home. It also allowed those teams the unusual luxury of starting a series at home, possibly having home-field advantage in a three-game series, and a guarantee that they play two games at home. In 1985 , the LCS
504-543: The two annual series have matched up the winners of the Division Series , and the winners advance to meet in the World Series . The LCS comprises the American League Championship Series (ALCS) and National League Championship Series (NLCS). The League Championship Series was created in 1969 , when both the National League and the American League increased in size from ten teams to twelve with
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#1732848181428528-412: The wild card for the best second-place team. In addition, the wild card guaranteed that the team with the second-best record in each league would qualify for the playoffs, even if they were in the same division with the team having the best record. As the 1994 postseason was canceled due to the 1994–95 Major League Baseball strike , 1995 was the first postseason with a wild card team. Beginning in 2012,
552-435: The wild card game. The two wild card teams could come out of the same division so there was no guarantee a team that came in second place in their division would make the playoffs. The system was changed in 2022 to add a third wild card team from each league (expanding the playoffs to 12 teams), along with replacing the play-in game with an 8 team best-of-three Wild Card Series featuring the 3 wild cards from each league and
576-503: Was lengthened to best-of-seven games in the 2–3–2 format with the team holding home-field advantage opening the series at home and playing the next three games on the road, before returning home for two more possible games. The disadvantaged team would have had more games played at home than on the road if the series ends in five games. Since 1995 , the LCS has matched up the winners of the Division Series , which were added when both leagues realigned into three divisions. Until 1998 ,
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