Jayne Kamin-Oncea-USA TODAY Sports

How do the MLB playoffs work?

By Joe Smeltzer | Last updated 7/23/19

The Major League Baseball playoffs have evolved over the past 50 years. Until 1969, neither the National League nor American League had a playoff system. Instead, the first-place team in each league met in the World Series. (Prior to 1969, if teams finished tied as league champion, they met in a tie-breaker game or best-of-three games series.)

In 1969, each league broke up into two divisions: East and West. The winner of each league division met in a best-of-five games league championship series, with the winner advancing to the World Series. The best-of-five games format for the league championship series lasted from 1969-84. In 1985, each league went to a best-of-seven games format.

When did MLB add a wild-card playoff team?

Beginning in 1995, the AL and NL each expanded to three divisions apiece — East, West and Central — instead of two divisions. The playoffs consisted of the division winners plus a “wild-card” spot — the team with the next-best record in the league after the division champs. Teams played in a best-of-five division series in each league, with the winners advancing to the championship series. This system lasted from 1995-2011. (The change would have begun in 1994, but because of a players' strike, the season ended Aug. 11, 1994. The playoffs and World Series were not held that season.)

What is the 'wild-card showdown'?

Before the 2012 season, the league added an additional wild-card spot for each league — a one-game “wild-card showdown.” The wild-card team with the best record plays host to another wild card. The winner advances to play in the best-of-five games division series.

Joe Smeltzer has more than a decade of journalistic experience, starting when he was a sophomore in high school with his blog, Smeltzer on Sports. Since then, he’s earned a degree in communication (with an emphasis on journalism) from Waynesburg University, where he worked on the student newspaper for all four years, eventually becoming sports web editor. Joe began contributing for Yardbarker in the summer of 2019, the same year he became a stringer for the Observer-Reporter in Washington, Pennsylvania, where he still contributes to local high school sports coverage. He is also a Penn State athletics beat reporter for Nittany Sports Now, under the Pittsburgh Sports Now umbrella. In two and a half years on the Penn State beat, Joe’s mainly covered football, wrestling and men’s basketball and covered prime events such as the 2023 Rose Bowl and 2024 U.S. Olympic wrestling trials.

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