Major League Baseball is home to one of the greatest postseasons in all of sports. Teams battle in the chilly month of October for the ultimate prize of winning a World Series trophy. The Fall Classic comes amidst the start of the collegiate and professional football seasons so its madness can often be overlooked. The die-hard baseball fans know what kind of roller coaster ride the conclusion of the season could entail so here's an inside view on this fan-favorite season.
Here are a few facts about the league as a basis of knowledge.
The MLB was founded in 1903 and is comprised of 30 teams.
The league has the longest regular season of all professional sports stretching from early April to late September; the teams play a total of 162 games.
The league is split up into two conferences: American League and National League.
Each league is split up into three divisions: West, Central and East.
Ten teams make the playoffs: five teams from each conference: three division winners and two wild card teams -- teams who did not win their division but had the best records of the remaining teams.
The playoffs are split up into four rounds. The wild card teams play each other once and then the winner plays the conference winner with the best record. That leaves eight teams who battle it out in the three remaining rounds. The second round is a best of five series while the third and fourth are best of seven.
The series format makes it harder for Cinderella teams to make it deep in the playoffs unlike in college basketball, with March Madness, and professional football. This format almost ensures that the two best teams will line up against each other in the championship.
You may think that professional basketball and hockey also play under that format, so why is baseball any better? The NBA and NHL send 16 teams to the playoffs whereas the MLB only sends 10. This proves that the postseason will be filled with ALL of the best teams and only the best teams. Since so few teams make it, that makes every game important.
It is especially important for the wild card teams since they only have one game to play in order to move on to the next round. They played so many games and only have one opportunity to move on toward the prize. The players will leave everything they have out there because they do not have a couple games like the rest of the teams do.
The kings of October happen to reside in St. Louis and New York. The Cardinals and Yankees have a combined 38 World Series titles. These two ball clubs are constantly at the pinnacle of the Fall Classic. The 2015 postseason is special because, although it does contain those two organizations, it has a bunch of teams that have been in a success-drought. The Chicago Cubs haven’t won a title since 1907, a pennant since 1945, or even reached the playoffs since 2008. The Toronto Blue Jays won their division for the first time since 1993. The Houston Astros changed conferences in 2013 and made the playoffs for the first time since 2005. The New York Mets haven’t been to the playoffs in nine years. The Los Angeles Dodgers have made the playoffs rather frequently but haven’t clinched a title since 1988. The Kansas City Royals made it to the World Series in 2014, but hadn’t made the playoffs since 1985.
As you can see, the MLB postseason is home to some of the most dramatic sporting moments of the year. That is why it is the best playoff system of all sports. This year is due for some extra excitement and hopefully my beloved Cubbies can come out on top for the first time in 107 years.
