What is the deal with the playoffs? Baseball Edition.
Playoffs. If you're into drama, this is the best time of year. It's also perfectly acceptable to strict your fandom to the playoffs. I get it. 162 games. That's a huge commitment. There's something equally impressive and frightening about those fans who never miss a game. On TV. On the Radio. In person. I mean season ticket holders? Committing to trekking to the ballpark 81+ times a year?? Takes a special kind of fan. But playoffs... they're something else. They also can be super confusing, so let's break it down.
The MLB has two conferences: the American League (AL) and the National League (NL)
Since 1994 those two conferences have each had 3 divisions: Eastern, Central, Western
The winner of each of those divisions makes the players.
To make sure the numbers weren't weird, a wild card spot was added. That means in the playoffs you end up with the top team from the Eastern Division, top team from the Central division, top team from the Western Division, and a Wild Card team that is the next best team from ANY Division in the league (one for AL, one for NL). That is... until 2012.
In 2012 a second wild card team was added. These two wild card teams play a 1 game playoff to determine who will advance to the divisional series. Basically.. it determines who will be the ACTUAL Wild Card team. It's pretty controversial. Some people love. Some people hate it.
Okay, so we have all our teams decided. What happens next?
American League:
(A) Wild Card Team 1 VS Wild Card Team 2: 1 game playoff
ALDS (American League Division Series):
(B) Winner of (A) VS the Division Champion OUTSIDE THEIR DIVISION with the best record: Best of 5 Series
(C) 2 remaining Division Champions: Best of 5 Series
ALCS (American League Conference Series):
(D) Winner of (B) VS Winner of (C): Best of 7 Series
National League:
(E) Wild Card Team 1 VS Wild Card Team 2: 1 game playoff
ALDS (American League Division Series):
(F) Winner of (E) VS the Division Champion OUTSIDE THEIR DIVISION with the best record: Best of 5 Series
(G) 2 remaining Division Champions: Best of 5 Series
ALCS (American League Conference Series):
(H) Winner of (F) VS Winner of (G): Best of 7 Series
World Series:
(I) Winner of (D) VS Winner of (H): Best of 7 Series
Confused yet? Let's take a more concrete example :-)
Let's use colors. Colors are fun.
American League:
Eastern: RED, 92-70
Central: BLUE, 90-72
Western: GREEN, 89-73
Wild Card 1: YELLOW, Eastern
Wild Card 2: ORANGE, Western
Wild Card Playoff: YELLOW plays ORANGE and YELLOW wins.
ALDS: YELLOW plays BLUE, because even though RED has the best record overall, YELLOW and RED are in the same division. RED plays GREEN. Both series are best of 5. YELLOW and RED win.
ALCS: YELLOW plays RED in a best of 7 series. RED wins.
National League:
Eastern: PINK, 88-74
Central: PURPLE, 91-71
Western: TEAL, 94-68
Wild Card 1: WHITE, Central
Wild Card 2: BLACK, Eastern
Wild Card Playoff: WHITE plays BLACK and BLACK wins.
NLDS: BLACK plays TEAL, because TEAL has the best record and BLACK and TEAL are not in the same division. PINK plays PURPLE. Both series are best of 5. TEAL and PINK win.
NLCS: TEAL plays PINK in a best of 7 series. TEAL wins.
World Series:
TEAL plays RED in a best of 7 series.
What about home field advantage?
You ready for this one? The winner of the All Star game determines home field advantage for the World Series.
Wait, what???? That meaningless game? Not so meaningless anymore.
Why is this important? The thing to remember here is this: When a game is played in a NL ballpark, its with NL rules. In an AL ballpark, AL rules. Key difference being AL uses a DH (Designated Hitter). This player bats in place of the pitcher. In the NL, the pitcher also bats.
For the Divisional and Conference rounds, the team with the regular season record gets home field advantage. The exception being that a Wild Card team will NEVER get home field advantage in these rounds, regardless of their regular season record.
Okay, I think that about covers it! You're totally an expert now.
At the very least... you know what the ALCS/ALDS and NLCS/NLDS stand for! Woohoo! You deserve a high five... with a glass of wine on the side.
xx