In 1981, a split-season format forced the first ever divisional playoff series, in which the Montreal Expos won the Eastern Division series over the Philadelphia Phillies in five games while in the Western Division, the Los Angeles Dodgers defeated the Houston Astros, also in five games (the Astros were members of the National League until 2012).
Despite being planned for the 1994 season, the post-season 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 National League with the best overall record that was not a division champion.
As of 2021, the Atlanta Braves have currently played in the most NL division series with seventeen appearances.
Milwaukee had competed in an American League Division Series in the strike-shortened 1981 season.
[8][9][10] Beginning in 2003, MLB has implemented a new rule to give the team with the best regular season record from the league that wins the All-Star Game 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.