List of Major League Baseball postseason teams

This article is a list of the teams that have participated in the Major League Baseball (MLB) postseason, the elimination tournament conducted after the regular season by which MLB determines its World Series champion for a given year.

The MLB postseason format has evolved throughout its history, with the number of participating teams increasing from two (for its first six-plus decades) to the current 10, with a special format in 2020 having 16. The World Series was first played in 1903, when the champions of the established National League (NL) and the upstart American League (AL) met for a playoff series. From that time through 1968, the two leagues (which each had eight teams through 1960) each sent only its team with the best regular-season record to the World Series. In 1969, as each league had expanded to 12 teams, each league was divided into East and West divisions and another playoff round was created. This round became known as the League Championship Series (LCS), with the four division champions competing for a spot in the World Series every year. This format lasted until 1993.

In 1994, the again-expanded leagues were re-organized into three separate divisions, and another playoff round was established, called the Division Series (DS). In this format, for each league, the champions of the East, Central, and West divisions would be joined in the playoffs by a Wild Card team. The addition of the Wild Card allowed a team that was not a division winner but still had one of the top regular-season records to enter the postseason. In 1998, the system was slightly modified so that the division winners with better regular-season records would be rewarded with homefield advantage in the division series and LCS. In 2012, the structure was adjusted such that two teams from each league receive Wild Card berths and then play a single game against each other to determine who advances to the Division Series. It also eliminated the previous restriction that the wild card team could not play a team in its own division in the first round. Until 2019, this was the playoff format used in MLB.

Three anomalies in the above-described system occurred. In 1904, the World Series did not take place because the National League champion did not wish to participate and the leagues had not yet agreed to require their champions to do so. In 1981, there was a Division Series due to a split season brought about by a midsummer player's strike. And in 1994, the postseason did not take place due to a player's strike.

Postseason appearances by franchise

Year in Italics with Asterisk* = Wild Card Game/Series loser
Year in Italics = Division Series loser
Year in Roman = Championship Series loser
Year in Bold Italics = World Series loser
Year in Bold = World Series winner

Franchise		Years	Postseason Appearances
ARI	Arizona Diamondbacks	1998–present	1999, 2001, 2002, 2007, 2011, 2017
ATL	Boston Braves	1903–1952	1914, 1948
	Milwaukee Braves	1953–1965	1957, 1958
	Atlanta Braves	1966–present	1969, 1982, 1991, 1992, 1993, 1995, 1996, 1997, 1998, 1999, 2000, 2001, 2002, 2003, 2004, 2005, 2010, 2012*, 2013, 2018, 2019, 2020
BAL	St. Louis Browns	1903–1953	1944
	Baltimore Orioles	1954–present	1966, 1969, 1970, 1971, 1973, 1974, 1979, 1983, 1996, 1997, 2012, 2014, 2016*
BOS	Boston Red Sox	1903–present	1903, 1912, 1915, 1916, 1918, 1946, 1967, 1975, 1986, 1988, 1990, 1995, 1998, 1999, 2003, 2004, 2005, 2007, 2008, 2009, 2013, 2016, 2017, 2018
CHC	Chicago Cubs	1903–present	1906, 1907, 1908, 1910, 1918, 1929, 1932, 1935, 1938, 1945, 1984, 1989, 1998, 2003, 2007, 2008, 2015, 2016, 2017, 2018*, 2020*
CWS	Chicago White Sox	1903–present	1906, 1917, 1919, 1959, 1983, 1993, 2000, 2005, 2008, 2020*
CIN	Cincinnati Reds	1903–present	1919, 1939, 1940, 1961, 1970, 1972, 1973, 1975, 1976, 1979, 1990, 1995, 2010, 2012, 2013*, 2020*
CLE	Cleveland Indians	1903–present	1920, 1948, 1954, 1995, 1996, 1997, 1998, 1999, 2001, 2007, 2013*, 2016, 2017, 2018, 2020*
COL	Colorado Rockies	1993–present	1995, 2007, 2009, 2017*, 2018
DET	Detroit Tigers	1903–present	1907, 1908, 1909, 1934, 1935, 1940, 1945, 1968, 1972, 1984, 1987, 2006, 2011, 2012, 2013, 2014
HOU	Houston Astros	1962–present	1980, 1981, 1986, 1997, 1998, 1999, 2001, 2004, 2005, 2015, 2017, 2018, 2019, 2020
KC	Kansas City Royals	1969–present	1976, 1977, 1978, 1980, 1981, 1984, 1985, 2014, 2015
LAA	Los Angeles/California/Anaheim Angels	1961–present	1979, 1982, 1986, 2002, 2004, 2005, 2007, 2008, 2009, 2014
LAD	Brooklyn Dodgers	1903–1957	1916, 1920, 1941, 1947, 1949, 1952, 1953, 1955, 1956
	Los Angeles Dodgers	1958–present	1959, 1963, 1965, 1966, 1974, 1977, 1978, 1981, 1983, 1985, 1988, 1995, 1996, 2004, 2006, 2008, 2009, 2013, 2014, 2015, 2016, 2017, 2018, 2019, 2020
MIA	Florida/Miami Marlins	1993–present	1997, 2003, 2020
MIL	Seattle Pilots	1969	–
	Milwaukee Brewers	1970–present	1981, 1982, 2008, 2011, 2018, 2019*, 2020*
MIN	Washington Senators	1903–1960	1924, 1925, 1933
	Minnesota Twins	1961–present	1965, 1969, 1970, 1987, 1991, 2002, 2003, 2004, 2006, 2009, 2010, 2017*, 2019, 2020*
NYM	New York Mets	1962–present	1969, 1973, 1986, 1988, 1999, 2000, 2006, 2015, 2016*
NYY	New York Yankees	1903–present	1921, 1922, 1923, 1926, 1927, 1928, 1932, 1936, 1937, 1938, 1939, 1941, 1942, 1943, 1947, 1949, 1950, 1951, 1952, 1953, 1955, 1956, 1957, 1958, 1960, 1961, 1962, 1963, 1964, 1976, 1977, 1978, 1980, 1981, 1995, 1996, 1997, 1998, 1999, 2000, 2001, 2002, 2003, 2004, 2005, 2006, 2007, 2009, 2010, 2011, 2012, 2015*, 2017, 2018, 2019, 2020
OAK	Philadelphia Athletics	1903–1954	1905, 1910, 1911, 1913, 1914, 1929, 1930, 1931
	Kansas City Athletics	1955–1967	–
	Oakland Athletics	1968–present	1971, 1972, 1973, 1974, 1975, 1981, 1988, 1989, 1990, 1992, 2000, 2001, 2002, 2003, 2006, 2012, 2013, 2014*, 2018*, 2019*, 2020
PHI	Philadelphia Phillies	1903–present	1915, 1950, 1976, 1977, 1978, 1980, 1981, 1983, 1993, 2007, 2008, 2009, 2010, 2011
PIT	Pittsburgh Pirates	1903–present	1903, 1909, 1925, 1927, 1960, 1970, 1971, 1972, 1974, 1975, 1979, 1990, 1991, 1992, 2013, 2014*, 2015*
SD	San Diego Padres	1969–present	1984, 1996, 1998, 2005, 2006, 2020
SEA	Seattle Mariners	1977–present	1995, 1997, 2000, 2001
SF	New York Giants	1903–1957	1905, 1911, 1912, 1913, 1917, 1921, 1922, 1923, 1924, 1933, 1936, 1937, 1951, 1954
	San Francisco Giants	1958–present	1962, 1971, 1987, 1989, 1997, 2000, 2002, 2003, 2010, 2012, 2014, 2016
STL	St. Louis Cardinals	1903–present	1926, 1928, 1930, 1931, 1934, 1942, 1943, 1944, 1946, 1964, 1967, 1968, 1982, 1985, 1987, 1996, 2000, 2001, 2002, 2004, 2005, 2006, 2009, 2011, 2012, 2013, 2014, 2015, 2019, 2020*
TB	Tampa Bay Devil Rays/Rays	1998–present	2008, 2010, 2011, 2013, 2019, 2020
TEX	Washington Senators	1961–1971	–
	Texas Rangers	1972–present	1996, 1998, 1999, 2010, 2011, 2012*, 2015, 2016
TOR	Toronto Blue Jays	1977–present	1985, 1989, 1991, 1992, 1993, 2015, 2016, 2020*
WSH	Montreal Expos	1969–2004	1981
	Washington Nationals	2005–present	2012, 2014, 2016, 2017, 2019

Franchise records by postseason round

Updated through the 2020 postseason.

Franchise	Wild Card Game/Series Won	Wild Card Game/Series Total	Division Series Won	Division Series Total	League Championship Series Won	League Championship Series Total	World Series Won	World Series Total	Total Postseason Appearances
Arizona Diamondbacks	1	1	2	6	1	2	1	1	6
Boston / Milwaukee / Atlanta Braves	1	2	7	16	5	12	3	9	26
St. Louis Browns / Baltimore Orioles	1	2	3	4	5	10	3	7	14
Boston Red Sox	0	0	7	13	6	11	9	13	24
Chicago Cubs	1	3	4	7	1	6	3	11	21
Chicago White Sox	0	1	1	3	1	3	3	5	10
Cincinnati Reds	0	2	1	3	5	8	5	9	16
Cleveland Indians	0	2	5	10	3	5	2	6	15
Colorado Rockies	1	2	1	4	1	1	0	1	5
Detroit Tigers	0	0	4	5	3	7	4	11	16
Houston Astros	2	2	6	12	3	8	1	3	14
Kansas City Royals	1	1	2	3	4	8	2	4	9
Los Angeles / California / Anaheim Angels	0	0	3	7	1	6	1	1	10
Brooklyn / Los Angeles Dodgers	1	1	8	15	8	14	7	21	34
Florida/Miami Marlins	1	1	2	3	2	2	2	2	3
Seattle Pilots / Milwaukee Brewers	0	2	2	4	1	3	0	1	7
Washington Senators / Minnesota Twins	0	2	1	7	2	5	3	6	17
New York Mets	0	1	4	4	5	8	2	5	9
New York Yankees	3	4	13	22	11	17	27	40	56
Philadelphia / Kansas City / Oakland Athletics	1	4	2	9	6	11	9	14	29
Philadelphia Phillies	0	0	3	6	5	9	2	7	14
Pittsburgh Pirates	1	3	0	1	2	9	5	7	17
San Diego Padres	1	1	1	5	2	2	0	2	6
Seattle Mariners	0	0	3	4	0	3	0	0	4
New York / San Francisco Giants	2	2	4	8	5	7	8	20	26
St. Louis Cardinals	1	2	11	14	7	14	11	19	30
Tampa Bay Devil Rays / Rays	3	3	2	6	2	2	0	2	6
Washington Senators / Texas Rangers	0	1	2	7	2	2	0	2	8
Toronto Blue Jays	1	2	2	2	2	7	2	2	8
Montreal Expos / Washington Nationals	1	1	2	6	1	2	1	1	6
Totals	24	48	108	216	102	204	116	232	466

See also

• List of Major League Baseball postseason series
• List of Major League Baseball franchise postseason droughts
• List of Major League Baseball franchise postseason streaks

External links

• MLB Postseason History at Baseball-Reference.com