History of the MLB Postseason (Part III: Wild Card & Division Series Era - 1995-2011)

The introduction of divisional play in 1969 increased intrigue in Major League Baseball. The road to the World Series now included a playoff round known as the League Championship Series (LCS), which featured each league's two division champions facing each other for the pennant. All the while, the league continued to grow, as after the Seattle Pilots moved to Milwaukee and became the Brewers, baseball returned to Seattle with the Mariners, while the American League went north of the border and debuted the Toronto Blue Jays. In 1993, the National League added two new franchises: the Colorado Rockies and the Florida Marlins.

With 28 teams in MLB, it was time for another realignment. This time, a third division was added in each league: the Central Division. The American League Central was formed by taking the Cleveland Indians and Milwaukee Brewers from the East Division, and placing them with the Chicago White Sox, Kansas City Royals, and Minnesota Twins in the West Division. The National League Central was formed by taking the Chicago Cubs, St. Louis Cardinals, and Pittsburgh Pirates from the East Division, and placing them with the Cincinnati Reds and Houston Astros of the West Division. In addition, the Atlanta Braves were placed in the NL East, and the result saw each league with a five-team East Division, a five-team Central Division, and a four-team West Division.

In 1998, two new teams were added: the Tampa Bay Devil Rays and the Arizona Diamondbacks. The Diamondbacks became the NL West's fifth team, while the Devil Rays joined the AL East. The addition of the Devil Rays forced the Tigers to move to the AL Central, while the Brewers moved to the NL Central and became that division's sixth team.

With three divisions in each league, the winners of the East, Central, and West would be awarded with postseason berths. However, three is an odd number of teams, so MLB added a fourth playoff team, known as the Wild Card. The Wild Card spot went to the best second-place team in each league, regardless of division. With four teams in each league qualifying for the postseason, a new opening round was created: the League Division Series, or LDS for short. The LDS is played under a best-of-five format, and usually pits the Wild Card against the team with the league's best record in one series, while the remaining two division winners faced each other in the other series. During this period, if the Wild Card and the top seed were in the same division, they could not face each other in the LDS, meaning that the Wild Card would face the #2 team instead. Three wins would advance a team to the best-of-seven LCS.

The realignment began in the 1994 season, but due to the baseball strike, the modified postseason format ended up debuting in 1995. That year, which only had 144 games, ended with a tiebreaker game in the American League West, which saw the Seattle Mariners defeat the California Angels, 9-1, to win their first division title. As for the Wild Cards, the American League's first Wild Card was the New York Yankees, who were in the postseason for the first time since 1981, and the National League's first Wild Card was the Colorado Rockies, who were only in their third season of existence. Neither team made it past the Division Series; the Yankees lost to the Mariners in five games, while the Rockies were defeated by the Braves in four games. The other Division Series winners that year were the Cleveland Indians (over the Boston Red Sox) and the Cincinnati Reds (over the Los Angeles Dodgers), and that year's postseason ended with the Braves winning the Fall Classic over the Indians.

Though the Wild Card was supposed to be the least advantageous playoff position, it only took the third season for that spot to win big. In 1997, the Florida Marlins (in only their fifth season) reached the postseason as the National League's Wild Card, and their postseason debut saw them oust the San Francisco Giants in the NLDS, the Atlanta Braves in the NLCS, and win a seven-game World Series over the Cleveland Indians--becoming the first Wild Card to win the whole thing. In fact, both of the Marlins' World Championships came as Wild Cards, as they went on the same run in 2003. 1998 saw the first Wild Card tiebreaker played, as the Chicago Cubs defeated the San Francisco Giants in "Game 163" to win the National League Wild Card, only to be quickly swept by the Atlanta Braves in the NLDS. Another tiebreaker was played in 1999, this time with the New York Mets defeating the Cincinnati Reds, though the Mets ended up in the NLCS, where they were defeated by the Braves.

The 2000s would see a boom in Wild Card performances, with the 2000 season seeing the Mets--who repeated as the National League's Wild Card--reach the World Series, only to be defeated in five games by the New York Yankees. In 2002 (a year after the Diamondbacks' World Championship in only their fourth season of existence), history was made, as that year's World Series would be the first to feature two Wild Card teams. That year, the then-named Anaheim Angels earned their first postseason berth since 1986, doing so as the American League's Wild Card, while the San Francisco Giants reached as the National League's Wild Card. The Angels ended up ousting the Yankees and the Minnesota Twins, while the Giants' victories over the Braves and the St. Louis Cardinals set up this historic all-Wild Card Fall Classic. The Series went the maximum seven games, and it ended with the Angels victorious.

The Marlins' aforementioned 2003 championship was part of the Wild Card's uprise, and it continued in 2004. In that year, the Boston Red Sox returned as the American League's Wild Card for the second straight season, and after ousting the Angels in the Division Series, they defeated the Yankees in an ALCS that saw Boston lose the first three games, but comeback to win the next four--the first and only reverse sweep in MLB. The Red Sox went on to sweep the St. Louis Cardinals in the World Series, ending their 86-year drought. The Wild Card's streak of reaching the World Series continued in 2005 with the Houston Astros winning the NL pennant by defeating the Braves (NLDS) and Cardinals (NLCS), but the Chicago White Sox's four-game sweep of the Astros ended thwarted the Wild Card's attempt at a fourth straight championship.

In 2006, the Detroit Tigers won their pennant as a Wild Card by defeating the Yankees (ALDS) and Athletics (ALCS), but the Cardinals defeated them in a six-game World Series. 2007 saw a Wild Card tiebreaker between the San Diego Padres and the Colorado Rockies; the latter going on a winning tear to force Game 163. The game went extra innings, and ended with a walk-off win by the Rockies, who went on to sweep their way through the National League postseason to win their first pennant in their 15th season. However, the Red Sox went on to sweep the Rockies in the World Series. The Wild Card position's pennant-winning streak ended in 2008, though it wasn't easy, as the Red Sox (the 2008 AL Wild Card) came within one win of returning to the World Series, but lost Game Seven to the Tampa Bay Rays.

And then there's 2011. We all remember how that season ended, the chaotic September sprint that saw not one, but two massive collapses! Entering September 1, 2011, the Red Sox had a slight lead in the AL East, but lost it to the Yankees days later. Even so, they had a huge stranglehold on the AL Wild Card, leading the Rays by about seven games. The Braves were leagues behind the Phillies in the NL East, but had an 8 game lead in the NL Wild Card. Both teams suffered embarrassing performances in September, as they ended up needing the final day to hang on and reach the postseason. In the NL, the Braves lost a 13-inning thriller to the Phillies, while the Cardinals won their game to finally pass the Braves and nab the NL Wild Card. That same day, the Red Sox lost in walk-off fashion to a very lowly Orioles team, and shortly afterwards, Evan Longoria's walk-off HR gave the Rays an 8-7 win over the Yankees, and put them in the postseason. I am a diehard Yankees fan, and even ten years later, I still say this: I never thought I'd be so happy to see the Yankees lose a game.

The Rays ended up falling to the Texas Rangers (who went on to win the pennant) in the ALDS, but as for the Cardinals, they continued their run--beating the Phillies in a five game NLDS, and defeating the Brewers in the NLCS (six games), before winning a seven-game World Series over the Rangers--despite being down to their final strike of their season on two occasions in Game Six. It was a very exciting end to the 2011 season, and I still say that the way 2011 ended led MLB to change things regarding the Wild Card race a year later.

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