Postseason History: Wild Card

1995: In tandem with the realignment into three divisions per league, a Wild Card team -- the winningest club that didn't win a division -- was added to the postseason field. The Wild Card winner played the team with the league's best record, unless that team was in the same division, in which case it would face the second-best division winner.

2012: A second Wild Card club was added in every league, and the two Wild Cards in each league began the postseason with a one-game playoff. The restriction against teams from the same division playing each other was removed.

2020: The postseason field expanded to 8 teams per league -- three division winners, three second-place teams and two additional teams with the next best record -- and introduction of the best-of-three Wild Card Series as the opening round.

2021: The postseason returned to its pre-2020 format, with the two Wild Cards in each league playing a single-game playoff.

2022: A third Wild Card spot was created in each league, bringing the total number of postseason teams to 12. The Wild Card Series returns -- again as a best-of-three, with all three games in the home site of the higher seed. The top two division winners automatically advance to the DS, the division winner with the third-best record hosts the Wild Card winner with the worst record, and the other two Wild Card winners face each other. The top division winner faces the winner of the Wild Card Series between the Nos. 4/5 seeds, and the second-best division winner faces the winner of 3/6. The DS, LCS and WS then play out as before.