Wild Card Era (since 1995)

Definition

The addition of the Colorado Rockies and the Florida Marlins in the 1993 MLB expansion brought the number of clubs in each league to 14. With 28 clubs, MLB added a third division in each league in 1994 -- a Central Division joined the East and West divisions. MLB also instituted a Wild Card playoff position that same year, meaning that the second-place team with the best record in each league would qualify for the postseason.

Due to the 1994 work stoppage, the first Wild Card season was '95, and the first teams to qualify as Wild Card winners were the Colorado Rockies (NL) and the New York Yankees (AL). That fall, a new postseason round made its debut -- the best-of-five Division Series would be a set of two series in each league in which the three division winners and the Wild Card team would participate.

The winners of the Division Series would then face off in the League Championship Series, with the league champions facing off in the World Series.

The first Wild Card team to win a World Series was the 1997 Marlins, who defeated Cleveland in seven games for the franchise’s first championship.

The first World Series in which both league champions were Wild Card teams came in 2002, when the Angels faced the Giants, with the Angels winning in seven games for their first World Series championship.

A second Wild Card position was added in each league in 2012, and that fall, a one-game Wild Card playoff was instituted, the winner of which would advance to the Division Series.

A third Wild Card was added in each league in 2022. The one-game Wild Card playoff was replaced with two best-of-three Wild Card Series in which the three Wild Card teams and the division winner with the lowest regular-season winning percentage participated. The winners of the Wild Card Series would advance to the Division Series.