How Do Major League Baseball Playoffs Work?

How Do Major League Baseball Playoffs Work? The Major League Baseball playoffs are a tournament held after the conclusion of the MLB regular season.

Introduction

Major League Baseball (MLB) is the oldest professional sports league in the United States and Canada. The Major League Baseball playoffs are a set of elimination tournaments to determine the annual champion of Major League Baseball. The playoffs began in 1969.

The playoffs are played in October each year after the conclusion of the regular season. During the regular season, each team plays 162 games. The team with the best record in each division (East, West, Central, and Wild Card) earns a spot in the playoffs. The wild card teams are the two teams with the best records who did not win their division.

In the first round of the playoffs, the divisional series, the division winner with the best record fixtures against the wild card team with the worst record, and the other two divisional winners fixture against each other. The winners of these series move on to play each other in the next round, called the league championship series. The winner of that series moves on to play in World Series against either one of gaming’s international champions or another American League opponent who swept their league championship series.

How the MLB Divisional Playoffs Work

The Major League Baseball playoffs are a best-of-seven tournament held after the conclusion of the MLB regular season. The four teamseach from the American League (AL) and National League (NL) that win their respective divisional playoffs advance to the best-of-seven AL and NL Championship Series, respectively.

The Wild Card Game

In order to prevent any sort of cheating or tanking for a higher draft pick, MLB instituted the Wild Card game in 2012. The two teams with the best records in each league who did not win their division outright play each other in a one-game playoff. The winner of that game goes on to the Divisional Playoffs.

The Divisional Series

In each league — the American and the National — the three division winners and a wild-card team (the club with the best record among the non-winners in each league) play in the first round of the playoffs, called the Division Series.

The Division Series is a best-of-five series. The team that wins more games than any other in its league during the regular season goes on to play the wild-card team. The other two division winners play each other, with the winner of that series also advancing.

In each series, the team that finishes with the better regular-season record plays at home for Games 1, 2, and 5 (if necessary).

The League Championship Series

The League Championship Series (LCS) is a best-of-seven series played between the winners of the Division Series in both the American League and National League. The LCS began in 1969 as a best-of-five series, but was expanded to a best-of-seven format in 1985.

The winner of the LCS advances to the World Series, the Major League Baseball championship series. The LCS is considered by many to be baseball’s second-most important series, after only the World Series itself. Many of baseball’s greatest players have never won a World Series, but have won an LCS.

How the MLB World Series Works

The Major League Baseball playoffs is a tournament held every October to determine the best team in baseball. It consists of the two teams from each of the American and National Leagues who have qualified. These teams play each other in a best-of-seven series.

The World Series Format

The World Series is the annual championship series of Major League Baseball (MLB) and concludes the MLB postseason. First played in 1903, the World Series championship is a best-of-seven playoff and is a contest between the champions of baseball’s National League (NL) and American League (AL). The winner of the World Series receives the Commissioner’s Trophy. As the series is played in October, during the autumnal equinox, it is sometimes referred to as the Fall Classic.

Since 1999, home-field advantage in the World Series has been determined by which team had the better regular-season record. Prior to that, home-field advantage alternated between the American League and National League each year. From 1903 to 2002, home-field advantage alternated between AL teams and NL teams every year except 1904 and 1994, when it was used solely to determine which team would host Games 1–2 and 6–7, respectively. In 2005, Major League Baseball schedule changed so that all teams played their Interleague opponents during one trip each season. As a result of this change home field advantage in even years alternates between AL teams and NL teams every year except 2002 when it was determined by which team had won that year’s All-Star Game.

From 1903 through 2019 – with exceptions in 1904, 1994 (due to a players’ strike), and 1995 (because no champion was crowned) – whichever team had earned the best regular season winning percentage held home field advantage in that fall’s World Series. In 2004 this rule was changed so that instead home field advantage would be given to whichever league won that year’s All-Star Game regardless of either team’s overall winning percentages; this rule change was necessitated by a players’ strike which cancelled that year’s All Star game; as there would have been no fair way to determine who would have held home field advantage without an All Star game being played This meant that from 2004 onward home field advantage for any particular Fall Classic could be decided by whoever did better in an exhibition game months beforehand – an outcome not very desired by baseball fans or pundits alike who see such an outcome as providing one particular team with an “unfair” leg up on their competition for baseball’s ultimate prize simply because they happened upon playing better during one particularly unimportant game while most of their key starters rested on the bench for most or all of said game. This led to further changes starting with
the 2010 Fall Classic where two newly implemented rules came into effect: firstly if any given All Star game ended in a tie then home field advantage for that Fall Classic would be awarded to whomever had earned the best regular season winning percentage irrespective of league affiliation; secondly regardless of how said All Star game ended whoever did win said contest would only hold home field advantage for that single Fall Classic – meaning that beginning with 2010 no matter what happens in any one given All Star game said result will have no bearing whatsoever on who gets to hold home field advantage for any future Fall Classics.

Home-Field Advantage in the World Series

Therule stating that the team with the best regular-season record will have home-field advantage in the World Serieswas instituted in 2003, giving an advantage to the team that worked hard all season long to earn it. In theory, it’s a great idea—the best team should have an advantage in the biggest series of the year. But, as is often the case with rules in baseball, there are some quirks.

Conclusion

In conclusion, the MLB playoffs are a best-of-seven series between the two division winners from each league. The division winners with the best record in each league play each other in the League Championship Series. The winner of each League Championship Series moves on to play in the World Series.