A Retroactive 6-Team MLB Postseason (1969-1993)

Major League Baseball has traditionally had the smallest postseason field of the four major North American sports leagues. However, in recent years MLB has started following in the footsteps of its competitors. 2022 marked the first season of a revised postseason format, in which six teams made the postseason for both the National and American Leagues - up from five in previous years and four from 1994-2011. These six teams are comprised of three division winners (receiving the top three seeds) and three wild card teams. The top two division winners receive a bye to the best-of-five League Division Series, while the the other four teams play in a best-of-three Wild Card Series.

Image credit: CBS Sports

I thought it would be an interesting exercise to explore what an expanded postseason format would have looked like historically in MLB. Specifically, I wanted to look at the era from 1969 to 1993, during which both the AL and NL had two divisions. In that period, the winners of the two divisions played in a League Championship Series, initially best-of-five, then best-of-seven from 1985 onward. 

Under my hypothetical six-team format, the two division winners would have advanced automatically to a best-of-five League Division Series, while four wild card teams would have played each other in a best-of-three Wild Card Series. This marks a key departure from today's format in two respects: no division winner has to play a Wild Card Series, and it is guaranteed that the team with the second-best record in a league would not have to play the team with the best record prior to the LCS, regardless of if they are a wild card team or division winner. 

Before I share what this would have looked like for each season, I want to make a few observations. First, one key advantage of this format would have been that it ensures that the team with the second-best record would have had an opportunity to reach the World Series via the postseason. In many seasons from 1969-1993, a team with the second-best record lost their own division race, while a team with an inferior record won the opposite division. Notably, twice a team won 100+ regular season games but failed to make the postseason - the Baltimore Orioles in 1980 and the San Francisco Giants in 1993.

Another observation is that while there may be concerns about the quality of teams reaching the postseason in an expanded format, the reality is that upwards of 97% of teams that hypothetically would have made the postseason would have had a .500 or better win percentage. Only 7 out of 300 teams would have made it in with a losing record. Considering that both leagues had at least 12 teams throughout it stands to reason that a format sending the top-half of the league to the postseason would generally result in teams with winning records making it in. Indeed the expansion of the American League to 14 teams in 1977 would have all but guaranteed this, with only one losing team potentially making the postseason in 17 seasons. Conversly, there still exists the possibility that teams with winning records would still miss the postseason, more so in the American League after the 1977 expansion. Those teams are also noted below.

Lastly, a note that this exercise cannot account for every change that this format would have potentially induced - particularly personnel decisions or managerial strategies for teams that would have now found themselves in playoff races they were not in otherwise. I do try to account for obvious changes that can be easily accounted for. Most notably, the absence of playoffs to decide division winners or wild cards in the new format is reflected through the use of tiebreaker criteria. This results, for instance, in the Los Angeles Dodgers winning the NL West over the Houston Astros in 1980 via a head-to-head record tiebreaker as opposed to a one-game playoff.

Without further ado, here are hypothetical postseason matchups for 1969-1993:

1969

NL Wild Card Series

#3 Chicago Cubs (93-69) vs #6 Pittsburgh Pirates (88-74)

#4 San Francisco Giants (90-72) vs #5 Cincinnati Reds (89-73)

NL Division Series

#1 New York Mets (100-62) vs #4 San Francisco/#5 Cincinnati

#2 Atlanta Braves (93-69) vs #3 Chicago/#6 Pittsburgh

AL Wild Card Series

#3 Detroit Tigers (90-72) vs #6 Washington Senators (86-76)

#4 Oakland Athletics (88-74) vs #5 Boston Red Sox (87-75)

AL Division Series

#1 Baltimore Orioles (109-53) vs #4 Oakland/#5 Boston

#2 Minnesota Twins (97-65) vs #3 Detroit/#6 Washington

Other winning teams: St. Louis Cardinals (87-75), Los Angeles Dodgers (85-77)

1970 

NL Wild Card Series

#3 Los Angeles Dodgers (87-74) vs #6 New York Mets (83-79)

#4 San Francisco Giants (86-76) vs. #5 Chicago Cubs (84-78)

NL Division Series

#1 Cincinnati Reds (102-60) vs #4 San Francisco/#5 Chicago

#2 Pittsburgh Pirates (89-73) vs #3 Los Angeles/#6 New York

AL Wild Card

#3 New York Yankees (93-69) vs #6 California Angels (86-76)

#4 Oakland Athletics (89-73) vs #5 Boston Red Sox (87-75)

AL Division Series

#1 Baltimore Orioles (108-54) vs #4 Oakland/#5 Boston

#2 Minnesota Twins (98-64) vs #3 New York/#6 California

1971

NL Wild Card Series

#3 St. Louis Cardinals (90-72) vs #6 New York Mets (83-79)

#4 Los Angeles Dodgers (89-73) vs #5 Chicago Cubs (83-79)

NL Division Series

#1 Pittsburgh Pirates (97-65) vs #4 Los Angeles/#5 Chicago

#2 San Francisco Giants (90-72) vs #3 St. Louis/#6 New York

AL Wild Card Series

#3 Detroit Tigers (91-71) vs #6 New York Yankees (82-80)

#4 Kansas City Royals (85-76) vs #5 Boston Red Sox (85-77)

AL Division Series

#1 Baltimore Orioles (101-57) vs #4 Kansas City/#5 Boston

#2 Oakland Athletics (101-60) vs #3 Detroit/#6 New York

Other winning teams: Atlanta Braves (82-80)

1972

NL Wild Card Series

#3 Houston Astros (84-69) vs #6 New York Mets (83-73)

#4 Chicago Cubs (85-70) vs #5 Los Angeles Dodgers (85-70)

NL Division Series

#1 Pittsburgh Pirates (96-59) vs #4 Chicago/#5 Los Angeles

#2 Cincinnati Reds (95-59) vs #3 Houston/#6 New York

AL Wild Card Series

#3 Chicago White Sox (87-67) vs #6 New York Yankees (79-76)

#4 Boston Red Sox (85-70) vs #5 Baltimore Orioles (80-74)

AL Division Series

#1 Oakland Athletics (93-62) vs #4 Boston/#5 Baltimore

#2 Detroit Tigers (86-70) vs #3 Chicago/#6 New York

1973

NL Wild Card Series

#3 Los Angeles Dodgers (95-66) vs #6 St. Louis Cardinals (81-81)

#4 San Francisco Giants (88-74) vs #5 Houston Astros (82-80)

NL Division Series

#1 Cincinnati Reds (99-63) vs #4 San Francisco/#5 Houston

#2 New York Mets (82-79) vs #3 Los Angeles/#6 St. Louis

AL Wild Card Series

#3 Boston Red Sox (89-73) vs #6 Minnesota Twins (81-81)

#4 Kansas City Royals (88-74) vs #5 Detroit Tigers (85-77)

AL Division Series

#1 Baltimore Orioles (97-65) vs #4 Kansas City/#5 Detroit

#2 Oakland Athletics (94-68) vs #3 Boston/#6 Minnesota

1974

NL Wild Card Series

#3 Cincinnati Reds (98-64) vs #6 Houston Astros (81-81)

#4 Atlanta Braves (88-74) vs #5 St. Louis Cardinals (86-75)

NL Division Series

#1 Los Angeles Dodgers (102-60) vs #4 Atlanta/#5 St. Louis

#2 Pittsburgh Pirates (88-74) vs #3 Cincinnati/#6 Houston

AL Wild Card Series

#3 New York Yankees (89-73) vs #6 Minnesota Twins (82-80)

#4 Texas Rangers (84-76) vs #5 Boston Red Sox (84-78)

AL Division Series

#1 Baltimore Orioles (91-71) vs #4 Texas/#5 Boston

#2 Oakland Athletics (90-72) vs #3 New York/#6 Minnesota

1975

NL Wild Card Series

#3 Los Angeles Dodgers (88-74) vs #6 St. Louis Cardinals (82-80)

#4 Philadelphia Phillies (86-76) vs #5 New York Mets (82-80)

NL Division Series

#1 Cincinnati Reds (108-54) vs #4 Philadelphia/#5 New York

#2 Pittsburgh Pirates (92-69) vs #3 Los Angeles/#6 St. Louis

AL Wild Card Series

#3 Baltimore Orioles (90-69) vs #6 Cleveland Indians (79-80)

#4 Kansas City Royals (91-71) vs #5 New York Yankees (83-77)

AL Division Series

#1 Oakland Athletics (98-64) vs #4 Kansas City/#5 New York

#2 Boston Red Sox (95-65) vs #3 Baltimore/#6 Cleveland

1976

NL Wild Card Series

#3 Los Angeles Dodgers (92-70) vs #6 Houston Astros (80-82)

#4 Pittsburgh Pirates (92-70) vs #5 New York Mets (86-76)

NL Division Series

#1 Cincinnati Reds (102-60) vs #4 Pittsburgh/#5 New York

#2 Philadelphia Phillies (101-61) vs #3 Los Angeles/#6 Houston

AL Wild Card Series

#3 Baltimore Orioles (88-74) vs #6 Boston Red Sox (83-79)

#4 Oakland Athletics (87-74) vs #5 Minnesota Twins (85-77)

AL Division Series

#1 New York Yankees (97-62) vs #4 Oakland/#5 Minnesota

#2 Kansas City Royals (90-72) vs #3 Baltimore/#6 Boston

Other winning teams: Cleveland Indians (81-78)

1977

NL Wild Card Series

#3 Pittsburgh Pirates (96-66) vs #6 Houston Astros (81-81)

#4 Cincinnati Reds (88-74) vs #5 St. Louis Cardinals (83-79)

NL Division Series

#1 Philadelphia Phillies (101-61) vs #4 Cincinnati/#5 St. Louis

#2 Los Angeles Dodgers (98-64) vs #3 Pittsburgh/#6 Houston

AL Wild Card Series

#3 Boston Red Sox (97-64) vs #6 Chicago White Sox (90-72)

#4 Baltimore Orioles (97-64) vs #5 Texas Rangers (94-68)

AL Division Series

#1 Kansas City Royals (102-60) vs #4 Baltimore/#5 Texas

#2 New York Yankees (100-62) vs #3 Boston/#6 Chicago

Other winning teams: Minnesota Twins (84-77)

1978

NL Wild Card Series

#3 Cincinnati Reds (92-69) vs #6 San Diego Padres (84-78)

#4 San Francisco Giants (89-73) vs #5 Pittsburgh Pirates (88-73)

NL Division Series

#1 Los Angeles Dodgers (95-67) vs #4 San Francisco/#5 Pittsburgh

#2 Philadelphia Phillies (90-72) vs #3 Cincinnati/#6 San Diego

AL Wild Card Series

#3 Boston Red Sox (99-63) vs #6 Texas Rangers (87-75)

#4 Milwaukee Brewers (93-69) vs #5 Baltimore Orioles (90-71)

AL Division Series

#1 New York Yankees (99-63) vs #4 Milwaukee/#5 Baltimore

#2 Kansas City Royals (92-70) vs #3 Boston/#6 Texas

Other winning teams: California Angels (87-75), Detroit Tigers (86-76)

1979

NL Wild Card Series

#3 Montreal Expos (95-65) vs #6 Philadelphia Phillies (84-78)

#4 Houston Astros (89-73) vs #5 St. Louis Cardinals (86-76)

NL Division Series

#1 Pittsburgh Pirates (98-64) vs #4 Houston/#5 St. Louis

#2 Cincinnati Reds (90-71) vs #3 Montreal/#6 Philadelphia

AL Wild Card Series

#3 Milwaukee Brewers (95-66) vs #6 Detroit Tigers (85-76)

#4 Boston Red Sox (91-69) vs #5 New York Yankees (89-71)

AL Division Series

#1 Baltimore Orioles (102-57) vs #4 Boston/#5 New York

#2 California Angels (88-74) vs #3 Milwaukee/#6 Detroit

Other winning teams: Kansas City Royals (85-77), Texas Rangers (83-79), Minnesota Twins (82-80), Cleveland Indians (81-80)

1980

NL Wild Card Series

#3 Houston Astros (92-70) vs #6 Pittsburgh Pirates (83-79)

#4 Montreal Expos (90-72) vs #5 Cincinnati Reds (89-73)

NL Division Series

#1 Los Angeles Dodgers (92-70) vs #4 Montreal/#5 Cincinnati

#2 Philadelphia Phillies (91-71) vs #3 Houston/#6 Pittsburgh

AL Wild Card Series

#3 Baltimore Orioles (100-62) vs #6 Detroit Tigers (84-78)

#4 Milwaukee Brewers (86-76) vs #5 Boston Red Sox (83-77)

AL Division Series

#1 New York Yankees (103-59) vs #4 Milwaukee/#5 Boston

#2 Kansas City Royals (97-65) vs #3 Baltimore/#6 Detroit

Other winning teams: Oakland Athletics (83-79), Atlanta Braves (81-80)

1981

NL Wild Card Series

#3 Los Angeles Dodgers (63-47) vs #6 Philadelphia Phillies (59-48)

#4 Houston Astros (61-49) vs #5 Montreal Expos (60-48)

NL Division Series

#1 Cincinnati Reds (66-42) vs #4 Houston/#5 Montreal

#2 St. Louis Cardinals (59-43) vs #3 Los Angeles/#6 Philadelphia

AL Wild Card Series

#3 Baltimore Orioles (59-46) vs #6 Boston Red Sox (59-49)

#4 New York Yankees (59-48) vs #5 Detroit Tigers (60-49)

AL Division Series

#1 Oakland Athletics (64-45) vs #4 New York/#5 Detroit

#2 Milwaukee Brewers (62-47) vs #3 Baltimore/#6 Boston

Other winning teams: Texas Rangers (57-48), Chicago White Sox (54-52), Cleveland Indians (52-51), San Francisco Giants (56-55)

1982

NL Wild Card Series

#3 Philadelphia Phillies (89-73) vs #6 Montreal Expos (86-76)

#4 Los Angeles Dodgers (88-74) vs #5 San Francisco Giants (87-75)

NL Division Series

#1 St. Louis Cardinals (92-70) vs #4 Los Angeles/#5 San Francisco

#2 Atlanta Braves (89-73) vs #4 Philadelphia/#6 Montreal

AL Wild Card Series

#3 Baltimore Orioles (94-68) vs #6 Chicago White Sox (87-75)

#4 Kansas City Royals (90-72) vs #5 Boston Red Sox (89-73)

AL Division Series

#1 Milwaukee Brewers (95-67) vs #4 Kansas City/#5 Boston

#2 California Angels (93-69) vs #3 Baltimore/#6 Chicago

Other winning teams: Pittsburgh Pirates (84-78), Detroit Tigers (83-79)

1983

NL Wild Card Series

#3 Atlanta Braves (88-74) vs #6 Montreal Expos (82-80)

#4 Houston Astros (85-77) vs #5 Pittsburgh Pirates (84-78)

NL Division Series

#1 Los Angeles Dodgers (91-71) vs #4 Houston/#5 Pittsburgh

#2 Philadelphia Phillies (90-72) vs #3 Atlanta/#6 Montreal

AL Wild Card Series

#3 Detroit Tigers (92-70) vs #6 Milwaukee Brewers (87-75)

#4 New York Yankees (91-71) vs #5 Toronto Blue Jays (89-73)

AL Division Series

#1 Chicago White Sox (99-63) vs #4 New York/#5 Toronto

#2 Baltimore Orioles (98-64) vs #3 Detroit/#6 Milwaukee

1984

NL Wild Card Series

#3 New York Mets (90-72) vs #6 Atlanta Braves (80-82)

#4 St. Louis Cardinals (84-78) vs #5 Philadelphia Phillies (81-81)

NL Division Series

#1 Chicago Cubs (96-65) vs #4 St. Louis/#5 Philadelphia

#2 San Diego Padres (92-70) vs #3 New York/#6 Atlanta

AL Wild Card Series

#3 Toronto Blue Jays (89-73) vs #6 Baltimore Orioles (85-77)

#4 New York Yankees (87-75) vs #5 Boston Red Sox (86-76)

AL Division Series

#1 Detroit Tigers (104-58) vs #4 New York/#5 Boston

#2 Kansas City Royals (84-78) vs #3 Toronto/#6 Baltimore

1985

NL Wild Card Series

#3 New York Mets (98-64) vs #6 Houston Astros (83-79)

#4 Cincinnati Reds (89-72) vs #5 Montreal Expos (84-77)

NL Division Series

#1 St. Louis Cardinals (101-61) vs #4 Cincinnati/#5 Montreal

#2 Los Angeles Dodgers (95-67) vs #3 New York/#6 Houston

AL Wild Card Series

#3 New York Yankees (97-64) vs #6 Detroit Tigers (84-77)

#4 California Angels (90-72) vs #5 Chicago White Sox (85-77)

AL Division Series

#1 Toronto Blue Jays (99-62) vs #4 California/#5 Chicago

#2 Kansas City Royals (91-71) vs #3 New York/#6 Detroit

Other winning teams: Baltimore Orioles (83-78), San Diego Padres (83-79)

1986

NL Wild Card Series

#3 Philadelphia Phillies (86-75) vs #6 St. Louis Cardinals (79-82)

#4 Cincinnati Reds (86-76) vs #5 San Francisco Giants (83-79)

NL Division Series

#1 New York Mets (108-54) vs #4 Cincinnati/#5 San Francisco

#2 Houston Astros (96-66) vs #3 Philadelphia/#6 St. Louis

AL Wild Card Series

#3 New York Yankees (90-72) vs #6 Toronto Blue Jays (86-76)

#4 Detroit Tigers (87-75) vs #5 Texas Rangers (87-75)

AL Division Series

#1 Boston Red Sox (95-66) vs #4 Detroit/#5 Texas

#2 California Angels (92-70) vs #3 New York/#6 Toronto

Other winning teams: Cleveland Indians (84-78)

1987

NL Wild Card Series

#3 New York Mets (92-70) vs #6 Philadelphia Phillies (80-82)

#4 Montreal Expos (91-71) vs #5 Cincinnati Reds (84-78)

NL Division Series

#1 St. Louis Cardinals (95-67) vs #4 Montreal/#5 Cincinnati

#2 San Francisco Giants (90-72) vs #3 New York/#6 Philadelphia

AL Wild Card Series

#3 Toronto Blue Jays (96-66) vs #6 Kansas City Royals (83-79)

#4 Milwaukee Brewers (91-71) vs #5 New York Yankees (89-73)

AL Division Series

#1 Detroit Tigers (98-64) vs #4 Milwaukee/#5 New York

#2 Minnesota Twins (85-77) vs #3 Toronto/#6 Kansas City

1988

NL Wild Card Series

#3 Cincinnati Reds (87-74) vs #6 San Francisco Giants (83-79)

#4 Pittsburgh Pirates (85-75) vs #5 San Diego Padres (83-78)

NL Division Series

#1 New York Mets (100-60) vs #4 Pittsburgh/#5 San Diego

#2 Los Angeles Dodgers (94-67) vs #3 Cincinnati/#6 San Francisco

AL Wild Card Series

#3 Minnesota Twins (91-71) vs #6 Toronto Blue Jays (87-75)

#4 Detroit Tigers (88-74) vs #5 Milwaukee Brewers (87-75)

AL Division Series

#1 Oakland Athletics (104-58) vs #4 Detroit/#5 Milwaukee

#2 Boston Red Sox (89-73) vs #3 Minnesota/#6 Toronto

Other winning teams: New York Yankees (85-76), Kansas City Royals (84-77), Houston Astros (82-80)

1989

NL Wild Card Series

#3 San Diego Padres (89-73) vs #6 St. Louis Cardinals (86-76)

#4 New York Mets (87-75) vs #5 Houston Astros (86-76)

NL Division Series

#1 Chicago Cubs (93-69) vs #4 New York/#5 Houston

#2 San Francisco Giants (92-70) vs #3 San Diego/# St. Louis

AL Wild Card Series

#3 Kansas City Royals (92-70) vs #6 Boston Red Sox (83-79)

#4 California Angels (91-71) vs #5 Baltimore Orioles (87-75)

AL Division Series

#1 Oakland Athletics (99-63) vs #4 California/#5 Baltimore

#2 Toronto Blue Jays (89-73) vs #3 Kansas City/#6 Boston

Other winning teams: Texas Rangers (83-79)

1990

NL Wild Card Series

#3 New York Mets (91-71) vs #6 San Francisco Giants (85-77)

#4 Los Angeles Dodgers (86-76) vs #5 Montreal Expos (85-77)

NL Division Series

#1 Pittsburgh Pirates (95-67) vs #4 Los Angeles/#5 Montreal

#2 Cincinnati Reds (91-71) vs #3 New York/#6 San Francisco

AL Wild Card Series

#3 Chicago White Sox (94-68) vs #6 California Angels (80-82)

#4 Toronto Blue Jays (86-76) vs #5 Texas Rangers (83-79)

AL Division Series

#1 Oakland Athletics (103-59) vs #4 Toronto/#5 Texas

#2 Boston Red Sox (88-74) vs #3 Chicago/#6 California

1991

NL Wild Card Series

#3 Los Angeles Dodgers (93-69) vs #6 Philadelphia Phillies (78-84)

#4 San Diego Padres (84-78) vs #5 St. Louis Cardinals (84-78)

NL Division Series

#1 Pittsburgh Pirates (98-64) vs #4 San Diego/#5 St. Louis

#2 Atlanta Braves (94-68) vs #3 Los Angeles/#6 Philadelphia

AL Wild Card Series

#3 Chicago White Sox (87-75) vs #6 Oakland Athletics (84-78)

#4 Texas Rangers (85-77) vs #5 Boston Red Sox (84-78)

AL Division Series

#1 Minnesota Twins (95-67) vs #4 Texas/#5 Boston

#2 Toronto Blue Jays (91-71) vs #3 Chicago/#6 Oakland

Other winning teams: Detroit Tigers (84-78), Milwaukee Brewers (83-79), Seattle Mariners (83-79), Kansas City Royals (82-80)

1992

NL Wild Card Series

#3 Cincinnati Reds (90-72) vs #6 San Diego Padres (82-80)

#4 Montreal Expos (87-75) vs #5 St. Louis Cardinals (83-79)

NL Division Series

#1 Atlanta Braves (98-64) vs #4 Montreal/#5 St. Louis

#2 Pittsburgh Pirates (96-66) vs #3 Cincinnati/#6 San Diego

AL Wild Card Series

#3 Milwaukee Brewers (92-70) vs #6 Chicago White Sox (86-76)

#4 Minnesota Twins (90-72) vs #5 Baltimore Orioles (89-73)

AL Division Series

#1 Oakland Athletics (96-66) vs #4 Minnesota/#5 Baltimore

#2 Toronto Blue Jays (96-66) vs #3 Milwaukee/#6 Chicago

1993

NL Wild Card Series

#3 San Francisco Giants (103-59) vs #6 Houston Astros (85-77)

#4 Montreal Expos (94-68) vs #5 St. Louis Cardinals (87-75)

NL Division Series

#1 Atlanta Braves (104-58) vs #4 Montreal/#5 St. Louis

#2 Philadelphia Phillies (97-65) vs #3 San Francisco/#6 Houston

AL Wild Card Series

#3 New York Yankees (88-74) vs #6 Baltimore Orioles (85-77)

#4 Texas Rangers (86-76) vs #5 Detroit Tigers (85-77)

AL Division Series

#1 Toronto Blue Jays (95-67) vs #4 Texas/#5 Detroit

#2 Chicago White Sox (94-68) vs #3 New York/#6 Baltimore

Other winning teams: Chicago Cubs (84-78), Kansas City Royals (84-78), Seattle Mariners (82-80)

Now that we've done the year-by-year overview, let's take a look at the breakdown for each team:

National League

Atlanta Braves (8 appearances, 5 division titles): 1969*, 1974, 1982*, 1983, 1984, 1991*, 1992*, 1993*

Chicago Cubs (6 appearances, 2 division titles): 1969, 1970, 1971, 1972, 1984*, 1989*

Cincinnati Reds (18 appearances, 8 division titles): 1969, 1970*, 1972*, 1973*, 1974, 1975*, 1976*, 1977, 1978, 1979*, 1980, 1981*, 1985, 1986, 1987, 1988, 1990*, 1992

Colorado Rockies: none

Florida Marlins: none

Houston Astros (13 appearances, 1 division title): 1972, 1973, 1974, 1976, 1977, 1979, 1980, 1981, 1983, 1985, 1986*, 1989, 1993

Los Angeles Dodgers (17 appearances, 7 division titles): 1970, 1971, 1972, 1973, 1974*, 1975, 1976, 1977*, 1978*, 1980*, 1981, 1982, 1983*, 1985*, 1988*, 1990, 1991

Montreal Expos (10 appearances, 0 division titles): 1979, 1980, 1981, 1982, 1983, 1985, 1987, 1990, 1992, 1993

New York Mets (14 appearances, 4 division titles): 1969*, 1970, 1971, 1972, 1973*, 1975, 1976, 1984, 1985, 1986*, 1987, 1988*, 1989, 1990

Philadelphia Phillies (14 appearances, 6 division titles): 1975, 1976*, 1977*, 1978*, 1979, 1980*, 1981, 1982, 1983*, 1984, 1986, 1987, 1991, 1993*

Pittsburgh Pirates (16 appearances, 9 division titles): 1969, 1970*, 1971*, 1972*, 1974*, 1975*, 1976, 1977, 1978, 1979*, 1980, 1983, 1988, 1990*, 1991*, 1992*

San Diego Padres (6 appearances, 1 division title): 1978, 1984*, 1988, 1989, 1991, 1992

San Francisco Giants (12 appearances, 3 division titles): 1969, 1970, 1971*, 1973, 1978, 1982, 1986, 1987*, 1988, 1989*, 1990, 1993

St. Louis Cardinals (16 appearances, 4 division titles): 1971, 1973, 1974, 1975, 1977, 1979, 1981*, 1982*, 1984, 1985*, 1986, 1987*, 1989, 1991, 1992, 1993

American League

Baltimore Orioles (19 appearances, 7 division titles): 1969*, 1970*, 1971*, 1972, 1973*, 1974*, 1975, 1976, 1977, 1978, 1979*, 1980, 1981, 1982, 1983*, 1984, 1989, 1992, 1993

Boston Red Sox (20 appearances, 4 division titles): 1969, 1970, 1971, 1972, 1973, 1974, 1975*, 1976, 1977, 1978, 1979, 1980, 1981, 1982, 1984, 1986*, 1988*, 1989, 1990*, 1991

California Angels (7 appearances, 3 division titles): 1970, 1979*, 1982*, 1985, 1986*, 1989, 1990

Chicago White Sox (9 appearances, 2 division titles): 1972, 1977, 1982, 1983*, 1985, 1990, 1991, 1992, 1993*

Cleveland Indians (1 appearance, 0 division titles): 1975

Detroit Tigers (14 appearances, 3 division titles): 1969, 1971, 1972*, 1973, 1979, 1980, 1981, 1983, 1984*, 1985, 1986, 1987*, 1988, 1993

Kansas City Royals (12 appearances, 6 division titles): 1971, 1973, 1975, 1976*, 1977*, 1978*, 1980*, 1982, 1984*, 1985*, 1987, 1989

Milwaukee Brewers (9 appearances, 2 division titles): 1978, 1979, 1980, 1981*, 1982*, 1983, 1987, 1988, 1992

Minnesota Twins (9 appearances, 4 division titles): 1969*, 1970*, 1973, 1974, 1976, 1987*, 1988, 1991*, 1992

New York Yankees (17 appearances, 4 division titles): 1970, 1971, 1972, 1974, 1975, 1976*, 1977*, 1978*, 1979, 1980*, 1981, 1983, 1984, 1985, 1986, 1987, 1993

Oakland Athletics (14 appearances, 10 division titles): 1969, 1970, 1971*, 1972*, 1973*, 1974*, 1975*, 1976, 1981*, 1988*, 1989*, 1990*, 1991, 1992*

Seattle Mariners: none

Texas Rangers/Washington Senators (8 appearances, 0 division titles): 1969, 1974, 1977, 1978, 1986, 1990, 1991, 1993

Toronto Blue Jays (11 appearances, 5 division titles): 1983, 1984, 1985*, 1986, 1987, 1988, 1989*, 1990, 1991*, 1992*, 1993*

The Seventh Inning

The bottom of the seventh inning was a disaster for the Mets last night. First of all, I seriously question why Noah Syndergaard started the inning in the first place. He had already thrown 101 pitches, it was the 7th inning, and Terry Collins had pretty much his entire bullpen at his disposal, having used only Clippard and Familia on Friday and with an off-day today. Granted, Syndergaard did strike out Yasmani Grandal, but Collins should have yanked him after the walk to Kike Hernandez. Instead, he let him face Utley, and that's where all the trouble started.

Despite Syndergaard's efforts to keep him on first base, Hernandez ended up stealing second base, and the now distracted and tired pitcher gave up a single to Utley. At which point Collins had no choice but to go to the bullpen. For the life of me, however, I can not understand why he went to Bartolo Colon. In a 1-run game, with runners on first and third and 1 out, what the Mets really needed was a strikeout. I don't care that Howie Kendrick was 2-for-22 against Colon; you don't put in a guy with 6.3 SO/9 who'd only made two relief appearances all year.

So no one should be surprised that Kendrick made contact. Daniel Murphy flipped the ball to Ruben Tejada at second base, at which point the game lost all sense of logic. While the run comes in to score, Utley barrels into Tejada as he is turning around to throw to first base. Utley is called out, and Tejada finds himself on the ground unable to get up.

As the delay continues for several minutes, Don Mattingly eventually comes out of the dugout to challenge the out-call at second base. (I seriously question whether the Dodgers would have challenged without this delay.) After review, Utley is called safe. (Which by the way wasn't really that clear of an overturn in my opinion.) This is inexplicable for several reasons. First, and most obviously, he never touched second base. The MLB's rationale that the umpire can award him the base because the call was wrong is total BS. Utley didn't miss second base because the umpire called him out; he never even made an attempt to touch second base because he knew he would be called out. That play at second base by Tejada, even if it wasn't technically a "neighborhood play", has pretty much always been called an out through baseball history. If Utley actually thought he had a chance to be safe he would have, you know, slid into second base. But he didn't. Plain and simple. Instead, Utley is essentially rewarded for taking out Tejada (note that Tejada never had an opportunity to attempt to tag Utley even if he didn't touch second base, while Utley went straight to the dugout even though he had ample opportunity to touch the bag.)

At the very least, Utley should have been called out, the game would have been tied, and the inning would have ended when Addison Reed got the next batter to fly out to left. But the inning continued, and the Dodgers ended up scoring three more runs (including one by Utley) to take a 5-2 lead. A completely deflated Mets team, who then learned that Ruben Tejada had broken his leg, had no chance after that.

And now, this morning, I see this rule:

"Rule 6.05 reads:

A batter is out when --

(m) A preceding runner shall, in the umpire's judgment, intentionally interfere with a fielder who is attempting to catch a thrown ball or to throw a ball in an attempt to complete any play:

Rule 6.05(m) Comment: The objective of this rule is to penalize the offensive team for deliberate, unwarranted, unsportsmanlike action by the runner in leaving the baseline for the obvious purpose of crashing the pivot man on a double play, rather than trying to reach the base. Obviously this is an umpire's judgment play."

and this one:

"Rule 7.09:

It is interference by a batter or a runner when --

(e) If, in the judgment of the umpire, a base runner willfully and deliberately interferes with a batted ball or a fielder in the act of fielding a batted ball with the obvious intent to break up a double play, the ball is dead. The umpire shall call the runner out for interference and also call out the batter-runner because of the action of his teammate. In no event may bases be run or runs scored because of such action by a runner."

Rules like these are designed to protect players from things like, I don't know, HAVING THEIR LEG BROKEN when someone leaves the baseline to break up a double play. Which is exactly what Utley did. He knew he was out at second, so he never even tried to reach second base. He "slid" (which is probably a generous term anyways) exceptionally late, when he was already parallel to the bag.

Clearly both of these rules should have applied. Take your pick. So, in reality, Utley should have been called out, Kendrick should have been called out, Hernandez should never have scored, and the game should have gone to the eighth inning with the Mets up 2-1.

And still, none of that would have changed the fact that Chase Utley broke Ruben Tejada's leg. Honestly, the worst part of this whole thing is that Utley didn't even have to do what he did. If he had just slid into second base, Kendrick almost certainly would have been safe anyway. Tejada would have had to make an essentially impossible throw to get him out at first base. And while Utley would have initially been called out, the Dodgers might still have challenged and gotten the call legitimately overturned. So the outcome would have been the same.

Except Ruben Tejada would not have a broken leg. 

Drew Storen's Very Bad Night

In last night's meltdown against the Cardinals, Drew Storen had one of the worst relief outings in MLB postseason history. Here are the worst relievers by WPA:

Rk	Player	Date	Series	Gm#	Tm	Opp	Rslt	App,Dec	IP	H	R	ER	BB	SO	ERA	WPA
1	Ron Reed	1976-10-12	NLCS	3	PHI	CIN	L 6-7	7-9 ,BS	2.0	5	4	4	1	1	18.00	-0.937
2	Jose Valverde	2012-10-10	ALDS	4	DET	OAK	L 3-4	9-9f ,BL	0.2	4	3	3	0	1	40.50	-0.913
3	Donnie Moore	1986-10-12	ALCS	5	CAL	BOS	L 6-7	9-11 ,BL	2.0	4	2	2	1	0	9.00	-0.906
4	Ryan Franklin	2009-10-08	NLDS	2	STL	LAD	L 2-3	9-9f ,BL	0.1	2	2	0	2	0	0.00	-0.893
5	Dan Quisenberry	1985-10-09	ALCS	2	KCR	TOR	L 5-6	8-10f,L	2.2	5	3	1	0	2	3.38	-0.867
6	Ed Summers	1908-10-10	WS	1	DET	CHC	L 6-10	3-9f ,L	6.2	9	6	5	1	2	6.75	-0.866
7	Drew Storen	2012-10-12	NLDS	5	WSN	STL	L 7-9	9-9f ,BL	1.0	3	4	4	2	2	36.00	-0.845
8	Clay Carroll	1972-10-19	WS	4	CIN	OAK	L 2-3	9-9f ,BL	0.0	3	1	1	0	0	inf	-0.831
9	Dennis Eckersley	1988-10-15	WS	1	OAK	LAD	L 4-5	9-9f ,BL	0.2	1	2	2	1	1	27.00	-0.828
10	Dave Smith	1986-10-11	NLCS	3	HOU	NYM	L 5-6	9-9f ,BL	0.1	2	2	2	0	0	54.00	-0.816

Provided by Baseball-Reference.com: View Play Index Tool Used
Generated 10/13/2012.

Raul

Two quick notes on Ibanez's game last night:

(1) Ibanez became the first player in postseason history to hit 2 home runs in a game entered as a pinch hitter:

Rk	Player	Date	Series	Gm#	Tm	Opp	Rslt	HR	BOP	Pos. Summary
1	Raul Ibanez	2012-10-10	ALDS	3	NYY	BAL	W 3-2	2	3	PH DH
2	Ben Francisco	2011-10-04	NLDS	3	PHI	STL	W 3-2	1	9	PH
3	Eric Hinske	2010-10-10	NLDS	3	ATL	SFG	L 2-3	1	8	PH
4	Hideki Matsui	2009-10-31	WS	3	NYY	PHI	W 8-5	1	9	PH
5	Orlando Hudson	2009-10-21	NLCS	5	LAD	PHI	L 4-10	1	9	PH

Provided by Baseball-Reference.com: View Play Index Tool Used
Generated 10/11/2012.

(2) Ibanez had the second highest WPA ever for a pinch hitter in the postseason, and the fifth highest for any player:

Rk	Player	Date	Series	Gm#	Tm	Opp	Rslt	WPA	RE24	aLI	BOP	Pos. Summary
1	Kirk Gibson	1988-10-15	WS	1	LAD	OAK	W 5-4	0.870	1.796	4.830	9	PH
2	Raul Ibanez	2012-10-10	ALDS	3	NYY	BAL	W 3-2	0.828	2.000	2.465	3	PH DH
3	Cookie Lavagetto	1947-10-03	WS	4	BRO	NYY	W 3-2	0.822	1.881	6.750	1	PH
4	Francisco Cabrera	1992-10-14	NLCS	7	ATL	PIT	W 3-2	0.737	1.674	10.750	9	PH
5	Gonzalo Marquez	1972-10-07	ALCS	1	OAK	DET	W 3-2	0.710	1.646	6.990	8	PH

Provided by Baseball-Reference.com: View Play Index Tool Used
Generated 10/11/2012.

Rk	Player	Date	Series	Gm#	Tm	Opp	Rslt	WPA	RE24	aLI	BOP	Pos. Summary
1	David Freese	2011-10-27	WS	6	STL	TEX	W 10-9	0.969	3.117	2.306	6	3B
2	Kirk Gibson	1988-10-15	WS	1	LAD	OAK	W 5-4	0.870	1.796	4.830	9	PH
3	Steve Garvey	1984-10-06	NLCS	4	SDP	CHC	W 7-5	0.854	4.682	1.814	3	1B
4	Lance Berkman	2011-10-27	WS	6	STL	TEX	W 10-9	0.832	3.655	2.546	4	RF
5	Raul Ibanez	2012-10-10	ALDS	3	NYY	BAL	W 3-2	0.828	2.000	2.465	3	PH DH

Provided by Baseball-Reference.com: View Play Index Tool Used
Generated 10/11/2012.