Were the there only two divisions in each league? Did the divisional winner with the best record get a bye?
2007-06-24 08:26:40 · 6 answers · asked by bryan s 1 in Sports ➔ Baseball
Prior to 1969 there were no divisions, only the National League and the American League, and no playoffs. At the end of the season the first place team in each league played in the World Series. Starting in 1969 each league was split into two divisions, and at the end of the season the first place team in each division played for the league championship. Starting in 1995 the leagues were split into 3 divisions and the wild card was added, which is the team with the bes record not to win their division. There are no byes in the MLB playoffs.
2007-06-24 08:57:09 · answer #1 · answered by Mike W 7 · 0⤊ 0⤋
Like everyone else is saying there where only two divisions in each league and the Playoffs consisted of only the ALCS, NLCS and the World Series. The wild card and revamping of divisions was an outstanding idea. The system is much better now. Did you know that when this idea was proposed only one MLB owner voted against it? You know who it was..... that's right The President of the United Stated Mr. George W. Bush! We should have seen it coming........
2007-06-28 06:39:43 · answer #2 · answered by Jason M 2 · 0⤊ 0⤋
There were only 2 divisions, so East Division vs West Division then World Series.
2007-06-24 08:32:55 · answer #3 · answered by Anthony R 3 · 0⤊ 0⤋
1901-1968: best record in each league was awarded the "pennant" and accorded the league champion. In cases of a tie, either a one-game (AL) or best two-of-three (NL) playoff was added to the season for the two teams to determine the champion (there has never yet been a more-than-two way tie). (If you ever read olde-tyme references to teams in this era finishing in the "first division" or "second division", that was writer shorthand for finishing in the top half or bottom half of the league standings. This metaphor has largely gone by the wayside.)
In 1903 and 1905-68, the two league champions played the World Series (usually best four-of-seven but there was a five-of-nine format used four times, 1903 and 1919-21) to determine the overall season champion.
1969-93: concurrent with the 1969 four-team expansion (Royals, Expos, Padres, and Pilots, which moved and became the Brewers in 1970), each league was realigned into two divisions (East and West; neither very imaginative nor very accurate, as Atlanta ended up in the NL West, as the most obviously whacko example, but this was mostly due to political scheduling purposes which are no longer important). Ties, when they occurred, were settled by a one-game playoff (the NL abandoned its 2-of-3 for purposes of speeding things up). The two division champions per league met in the (American or National) League Championship Series (best three-of-five from 1969-84, best four-of-seven since then) to determine league champions, which then advanced to the World Series, etc.
The one exception was 1981, when due to labor issues, the season ended up with approximately a 50-day hole in the middle. Division champions were assigned based upon standings from the first and second "halves" of the season (no team won both halves). First and second half champs per division met in a one-time, best three-of-five Division Series; winners advanced to their respective (A|N)LCS, then the World Series, etc. (Trivia: thanks to this awkward format, the team with the best record on the season, Cincinnati, which finished second in its division in both halves, did not earn a postseason berth; while Kansas City, which did win one half, became the only sub-.500 team yet to play in the postseason. Stump your friends.)
1994: don't even ask. (No postseason due to labor issues.) The first year of the three-divisions-per-league alignment.
1995-present: and we enter the wild card/eight postseason teams era (which would have begun in 1994, but did not).
2007-06-24 10:04:57 · answer #4 · answered by Chipmaker Authentic 7 · 1⤊ 0⤋
Yes, only two divisions. East and West in each league. They had NLCS and ALCS. Whoever won the championship series went to the Fall Classic.
No, no byes in baseball.
2007-06-24 08:35:50 · answer #5 · answered by oysterchowder2004 3 · 0⤊ 0⤋
oldy days
four divisions and top two two would play
1969 example Mets Braves
1969 Minn and Balt
Mets won and Balt won
Then to the World Series and Mets won.
Old old days
NL-AL
Yanks and St. Louis as example
Did I help you
2007-06-24 08:51:49 · answer #6 · answered by Michael M 7 · 0⤊ 0⤋