How the Baseball Playoffs Work

How the Baseball Playoffs Work – Learn about the MLB playoff format and how teams advance to the World Series.

Introduction

The baseball playoffs are a tournament held after the conclusion of the Major League Baseball (MLB) regular season to determine the champion of baseball’s National League (NL) and American League (AL). The playoffs began in 1969. Prior to that, the only way to decide baseball’s world champions was through a game referred to as the “World Series.” The World Series is still played today, but it has lost much of its luster due to the introduction of the baseball playoffs.

The Structure of the Playoffs

There are two ways to make the playoffs: winning your division or having the best record in the league. If you win your division, you are guaranteed a spot in the playoffs. The team with the best record in the league gets a spot in the playoffs as well. The rest of the teams are “wild cards.” The two wild card teams play each other in a one-game playoff. The winner of that game goes on to play the team with the best record in the league.

The Wild Card Game

The Wild Card Game is a one-game playoff between the two wild card teams in each league. The game is played at the home ballpark of the team with the better record. In other words, if the Yankees are hosting the Wild Card Game, they would play the game at Yankee Stadium.

The winner of the Wild Card Game moves on to play the team with the best record in their league in the ALDS or NLDS. The loser goes home.

In recent years, Major League Baseball has added an extra wrinkle to the Wild Card Game by making it a “win-or-go-home” game. In other words, if the Yankees lose to the Red Sox in the Wild Card Game, they are out of the playoffs and their season is over.

This format has generated a lot of excitement and drama, and it has made the Wild Card Game must-see television for baseball fans.

The Division Series

The first postseason round in baseball is the Division Series (DS), which is a best-of-five series played between the winners of the divisional playoffs. The Division Series began in 1995, and since then, there have been two rounds of playoffs: theDS and the Championship Series (LCS).

The divisional playoff format has changed several times since 1995. In the 1995 and 1996 seasons, there were two rounds of divisional playoffs; each division winner played the wild-card team in their respective league. The 1997 season was the first year of the current format, in which each league has a three-game series to determine which divisional winner will advance to play the wild-card team.

In 1998, 2000, and 2001, there was a change to the divisional playoff format: instead of having two best-of-five series, there was only one. The team with the better regular-season record played host to all five games.

In 2002, MLB divided each league into three divisions (East, Central, and West), adding a third round of playoffs, known as the Division Series. As before, the team with the better regular season record hostes all five games.

The current divisional playoff format was adopted for the 2014 season: two best-of-five series in each League, featuring the winners of that League’s three divisions (or four divisions starting in 2021) and a fourth “wild card” team with no geographical limitations.

The League Championship Series

The League Championship Series (LCS) is a best-of-seven playoff and one of two semifinal series of the Major League Baseball postseason. The annual winner of the American League Championship Series (ALCS) earns thejoystick logo’s automatic entry into the World Series, the final round of the MLB tournament. The winner of the National League Championship Series (NLCS) earns a spot in the World Series as well. There are two exceptions to this rule. First, if both teams competing in the LCS are from the same division, thenskip any byes and go right to the Divisional Playoffs. In this case, only two teams from each league make it to their respected LCS.

The World Series

The World Series is played between the champion of the American League and the champion of the National League. The National League has won 25 World Series titles, while the American League has won 40.

The World Series typically lasts for a week or two in October. The first game is played at the home ballpark of the team with the best regular-season record. The remaining games are played at the home ballpark of the other team.

If a team wins four games before its opponent wins three, that team is declared the winner and no further games are played. If both teams win three games each, then a seventh game is played to determine the winner.

In recent years, there has been some controversy surrounding the decision to award home-field advantage in the World Series to the team with the best regular-season record. Some argue that this gives an unfair advantage to that team, as they are more likely to win on their home turf. Others argue that it simply adds to the excitement of the postseason and makes for a more competitive series overall.

Determining Home-Field Advantage

The baseball playoffs are a best-of-seven series played between the two American League (AL) division winners and the two National League (NL) division winners. The four teams are seeded based on their records, with the top seed from each league playing the bottom seed from the other league. The playoffs follow a 2-3-2 format, meaning the team with home-field advantage will host Games 1, 2, 6, and 7.

The Wild Card Game

In order to add an extra layer of excitement to the playoffs, MLB introduced the Wild Card Game in 2012. The two teams with the best record in each league who did not win their division play each other in a one-game playoff. The winner of that game goes on to play the team with the best record in their league in the Division Series.

The Wild Card Game is held at the home field of the team with the better record. That means that if the Los Angeles Dodgers (90-72) and Colorado Rockies (89-73) both make it to the Wild Card Game, it would be held at Dodger Stadium because Los Angeles had a better record during the regular season.

The Division Series

In each League, the three division winners and a “Wild Card” team (the club with the best record among the non-winners in each League) qualify for the playoffs. The division winners occupy the top three seeds, with the Wild Card team seeded fourth.

The first round of the playoffs, known as the Division Series, is a best-of-five affair. The division winner with the best record in each League plays the Wild Card team in that League. The second and third seeds in each League play each other in the other Division Series. In both League Division Series, home-field advantage goes to the team with the better regular season record.

If one team has home-field advantage throughout the playoffs, it will host Games 1, 2, 6 and 7 of that year’s World Series. If two teams have home-field advantage in their respective League Championship Series (as determined by which club had the better regular season record), those clubs will host Games 1, 2, 6 and 7 of that year’s World Series; if three teams have home-field advantage in their respective LCS (possible if both division winners and one Wild Card team have identical records), then one of those teams will host Games 1 and 2 of that year’s World Series (chosen by a coin flip), while another will host Games 6 and 7; finally, if all four teams have equal records going into their LCS (possible if both division winners and both Wild Card teams have identical records), two of those teams will host Games 1 and 2 of that year’s World Series (chosen by coin flips), with another hosting Games 3 and 4 (chosen by a second set of coin flips) and still another hosting Games 5, 6 and 7.

The League Championship Series

The American League Championship Series (ALCS) and National League Championship Series (NLCS), played in October, are a best-of-seven series to determine which team will advance to the World Series. commonly referred to as the “LCS”, it is a best-of-seven playoff and one of two semi-final series of Major League Baseball’s (MLB) postseason that determines which team will advance to the World Series.

In the event that two teams with the same record meet in a divisional series, home field advantage will be awarded to the team that has the better head-to-head record. If the head-to-head record is tied, then divisional and common records will be used to determine home field advantage.

The World Series

The World Series is the annual championship series of Major League Baseball (MLB) in North America, contested since 1903 between the American League (AL) champion team and the National League (NL) champion team. The winner of the World Series championship is determined through a best-of-seven playoff, and the winning team is awarded the Commissioner’s Trophy. As of 2019, the World Series has been contested 114 times, with the AL winning 66 and the NL winning 48.

The 2019 World Series was broadcast on Fox for a 20th consecutive year. Joe Buck called play-by-play for his 17th World Series, joining Tim McCarver as the only duo to call that many World Series on network television. Rosenthal became lead field reporter after Erin Andrews was reassigned to other Fox duties during that time. This was also McCarver’s last time calling baseball as he announced his retirement shortly after Game 7 ended.

Home-field advantage for the World Series is determined by which league wins that year’s All-Star Game. From 1903 to 2002, home-field advantage alternated between the AL and NL each year. In 2003, home-field advantage began to be determined by which league won that year’s All-Star Game; it then alternated between AL teams and NL teams from 2004 to 2016 before returning to rotating yearly between AL teams and NL teams starting in 2017.

The most recent winners of the World Series are the Washington Nationals who defeated the Houston Astros in seven games in 2019. The 2020 World Series was originally scheduled to begin on October 20 and end no later than November 1; however, due to the COVID-19 pandemic, it was postponed until October 28 at Globe Life Field in Arlington, Texas with a potential end date of November 6. It will feature a best-of-seven format with two off days built into the schedule allowing for additional travel days as needed because of possible weather postponements

Conclusion

So, that’s how the baseball playoffs work. The best teams in each league compete in a bracket-style tournament to determine who will advance to the World Series. The team with the best record in each league earns a spot in the playoffs, as do the two teams with the next-best records. From there, it’s a free-for-all, and anything can happen.