Featured:
Allergies
Grilling Guide
eHow Now Blog

Baseball Wild Card Rules

Baseball Wild Card Rules thumbnail
The Wild Card added drama to the Major League Baseball season.

In 1995, Major League Baseball introduced the Wild Card into their playoff vernacular by allowing non-division champions into postseason play. Throughout baseball's history, two teams from each league (American and National) would make the playoffs, play in a seven-game series with the winner moving onto the World Series. Once the Wild Card was introduced, a total of four teams (three division winners and one Wild Card winner) from each league made the playoffs, creating more competition during the regular season and different stories in the postseason.

  1. Division Race

    • Each MLB league (American and National) has three divisions (West, Central and East). Each of these divisions has four, five or six teams. Throughout the course of a 162-game season, teams in each division play all other teams in their own league and some from the other league, with a majority of their games against teams in their own divisions. The team with the best overall record in each division makes the playoffs as a division champion. Wild Card teams cannot be division champions.

    Determining the Wild Card

    • Once a second place division team is out of the hunt for their respective division championship, their record is compared to each other second place team in their league. The team with the best overall record wins the wild card. If two teams have identical records, they play in a one-game playoff to determine the wild card champion. If three or more teams have identical records, then tie-breaking rules determine which of the tied teams would face off to determine who earned the wild card berth.

    The Wild Card Round

    • Once all four teams from each league have reached the playoffs, they face off in the Wild Card round of the MLB playoffs. Four different two-team "best of five" series begin, with the first two games of each being played at the higher seeded team's stadium. Wild Card teams are automatically the lower seed in their series, even if they have a higher record than the division winner they are facing. The next two games are then played at the lower-seeded team's stadium with fifth (if necessary) games played back at the higher-seeded team's stadium.

Related Searches:

References

  • Photo Credit baseball image by Tomasz Plawski from Fotolia.com

Comments

You May Also Like

  • Baseball Tiebreaker Rules

    Baseball Tiebreaker Rules. Games in Major League Baseball (MLB) may not end in a tie. For this reason, there are rules written...

  • How to Play Poker Baseball

    Poker Baseball is played using the same format as Seven-Card Stud. In this game, 3's and 9's represent wild cards, and any...

  • Baseball Poker: 9 Card

    The nine card is wild in baseball poker, which allows the player to choose the deviation of that particular card. Take advantage...

  • What Is a Wild Card Game?

    A wild-card game is a National Football League playoff game that pits a wild-card team against one of the division winners. Major...

  • Baseball Poker: Playing With Wild Cards

    When catching wild cards In baseball poker, consider betting aggressively to shake-up opponents and get them to fold the pot. Learn wild...

  • Rules in Poker Games for a Joker's Wild

    Rules in Poker Games for a Joker's Wild. Wild cards help jazz up a standard poker game by allowing players to complete...

  • Rules for Wild Cards in NFL

    NFL Wild Card teams are those squads that did not win their division, but still manage to make the playoffs. They get...

  • NFL Wildcard Rules

    The NFL consists of two conferences with four divisions each, and the champions of each division qualify for the playoffs at the...

  • Definition of a Baseball Pennant Race

    Modern pennant races are decided through a playoff system that involves the three winners of each division as well as a wild-card...

  • Baseball Poker: Playing the 4 Card

    The four card in baseball poker allows the player to select another card, and it also increases the chances of that player...

  • NFL Playoff and Wildcard Rules

    NFL Playoff and Wildcard Rules. The NFL playoffs leading to the ultimate event, the Super Bowl, are often filled with tense games...

  • What is a Pennant in Baseball?

    In Major League Baseball, a pennant is the championship for either each division in baseball, or for one of the two leagues:...

  • Baseball Poker Rules

    Baseball Poker is most commonly dealt like a game of seven-card stud. Each player in the game is dealt three cards to...

  • NFL Rules & Regulations to Determine a Playoff Schedule

    NFL Rules & Regulations to Determine a Playoff Schedule. Each year, the best teams in the National Football League compete in a...

  • How to Play the Card Game Sergeant Major

    Sergeant Major is a little different than your standard trick-taking game. Though you’re tasked with taking a certain number of tricks per...

  • How to Identify Wild Card Football Cards

    AAA Sports Incorporated released Wild Card National Football League football cards from 1991 to 1993. The sets featured the Wild Card logo....

Related Ads

thumbnail
Featured