In 1981, a split-season format forced the first ever divisional playoff series, in which the New York Yankees won the Eastern Division series over the Milwaukee Brewers (who were in the American League until 1998) in five games while in the Western Division, the Oakland Athletics swept the Kansas City Royals (the only team with an overall losing record to ever make the postseason).
Despite being planned for the 1994 season, the postseason was cancelled that year due to the 1994–95 Major League Baseball strike.
From 1994 to 2011, the wild card was given to the team in the American League with the best overall record that was not a division champion.
As of 2022, the Yankees have played in and won the most division series, with thirteen wins in twenty-two appearances.
In 2015, the Toronto Blue Jays and Houston Astros were the final American League teams to make their first appearances in the ALDS.
[8][9][10] Beginning in 2003, MLB has implemented a new rule to give the team from the league that wins the All-Star Game with the best regular season record a slightly greater advantage.
When MLB added a second wild card team in 2012, the Division Series re-adopted the 2–3 format due to scheduling conflicts.