The Division Series is the quarterfinal round of the Major League Baseball postseason . Four series are played in this round, two each for both the American League and the National League .
76-502: The first use of the term "Division Series" dates from 1981 , when due to a mid-season players' strike , that season was divided into two halves, with the winners of each half from each division (West and East at the time) playing one another in a best-of-five series to decide which team would represent that division in the League Championship Series (this format being common in minor-league baseball). But because
152-693: A write-in candidate by fans, in 1974. He was later the Most Valuable Player of that game as well as the National League MVP for that year. From 2002 to 2018, the final roster selection has been made by the public via the All-Star Final Vote . Until 2003, reserves and pitchers were chosen by the manager. Player voting was re-introduced in 2003 after the managers were criticized for picking players from their own team over more deserving players from other teams. This
228-513: A designated hitter – while in National League ballparks, managers have scheduled the pitcher to hit, though pinch hitters have almost always been used in practice. This allows a deserving nonstarter to make a plate appearance. In 2010, Major League Baseball announced the designated hitter rule would apply for every All-Star Game; while the 2010 game was already to have the DH,
304-413: A few select position players and pitchers. This has resulted in some fan dissatisfaction and controversy when these players are never actually used in the game, such as Tim Wakefield in the 2009 All-Star Game. Such a move has resulted in calls to allow limited re-entry of players who have been replaced during the game (in addition to catchers, which is already allowed), thereby giving the freedom to use all
380-535: A record for the most players from one team starting in the All-Star game. However, after MLB cancelled 65 million votes deemed to be fraudulent, the final starting roster included only Salvador Pérez , Lorenzo Cain , Alcides Escobar , and Alex Gordon (Gordon would be replaced due to injury ). The only other Royals to make the final lineup were Mike Moustakas , Kelvin Herrera and Wade Davis ; Moustakas as
456-425: A starter were questioned by some sportswriters. Steinbach wound up being named the game's Most Valuable Player, hitting a home run and a sacrifice fly to get both RBIs in a 2–1 win. Since the dawn of the internet age, online voting has again led to ballot stuffing. In 1999, Chris Nandor, a Red Sox fan, utilized a simple computer program to vote for Nomar Garciaparra over 39,000 times. Upon discovery, MLB rejected
532-561: Is meant to mark the symbolic halfway point of the MLB season (though not the mathematical halfway point, which, for most seasons, falls within the previous calendar week). Both leagues share an All-Star break , with no regular-season games scheduled from the day before through two days after the All-Star Game, with the exception of a single Thursday night game starting in the 2018 season. Some additional events and festivities associated with
608-464: The Chicago Tribune , and supported by American League president Will Harridge , who lobbied baseball executives to create the event. Initially intended to be a one-time event, its success resulted in making the contest an annual one. From 1959 to 1962 , two All-Star Games were held each season, in order to increase the money going to the players' pension fund. This practice ended after
684-574: The 1995 regular season to have 18 fewer games for each team than the standard 162 [for a total of 144 games]). Since its inception, the Division Series has been best-of-five ; however, both the method of awarding home-field advantage in the series and which games the team getting the advantage would host were changed in 1998 . Originally, the East, Central, and West Division champions rotated home-site priority, with two division winners getting
760-524: The 2010 edition . The AL and NL All-Stars are selected through the following process: Since the first game, American League players have worn their respective team uniforms rather than wearing uniforms made specifically for the game, while National League players waited until the second game to do this. In the first game, the National League All-Star Team wore gray uniforms with navy blue letters spelling "NATIONAL LEAGUE" across
836-541: The 2011 game was the first played in a National League park with a DH. The All-Star Game Most Valuable Player Award is presented annually to the most outstanding player of each season's All-Star Game. Presented each year beginning in 1962 (two games were held in 1962 and an award was presented for each game), the MVP award was originally called the Arch Ward Memorial Award , after the man who came up with
SECTION 10
#1732772996491912-407: The 2025 game , however, MLB reverted to wearing team uniforms at the All-Star Game. Starting with the 2014 All-Star Game, players began to wear special All-Star Game caps. For the workout, batting practice and Home Run Derby contest, players started using one type of cap with colors corresponding the league. For the All-Star Game day, players started wearing a cap with the team's logo on front and
988-636: The Cincinnati Reds and the St. Louis Cardinals had the two best won-lost records (in both halves of the season combined) in the National League West and East respectively, with the Reds having the best overall winning percentage in all of Major League Baseball, yet neither advanced to the playoffs because they finished second in their divisions in each half. Until the 2012 format revision, this
1064-430: The Cincinnati Reds stuffed the ballot box (see below), and elected a Red to every position except first base. Commissioner Ford Frick stepped in and removed two Reds from the lineup. As a response to this unfairness, fan voting was discontinued; players, coaches, and managers were given the sole authority to elect starting position players, for the next dozen years. Between the lack of fan input and over-exposure due to
1140-773: The New York Yankees , both left their teams and found new jobs in the other league : Keane was hired to manage the Yankees, and Berra became a player-coach with the New York Mets . The Philadelphia Phillies and Cincinnati Reds had finished in a second-place tie in the NL; the Chicago White Sox had finished second in the AL. Cincinnati's manager, Fred Hutchinson , had died in the off-season, so Gene Mauch of
1216-708: The Oakland Athletics to the 1973 World Series. In 1974, he became manager of the California Angels , whose uniform he wore for the game. Tony La Russa , who managed the World Series champion St. Louis Cardinals in 2011, and retired after the season, came back to manage the National League in 2012. In 1979, Bob Lemon managed the American League team after having been fired by New York Yankees owner George Steinbrenner . Lemon led
1292-684: The Philadelphia Phillies at Citizens Bank Park (but scheduled for 2026) and the Atlanta Braves at Truist Park (scheduled in 2021 before the game was moved; now scheduled for 2025). Three teams have won the World Series in the same year their stadium hosted the All-Star Game: the 1939 New York Yankees , the 1959 Los Angeles Dodgers , and the 1977 New York Yankees . The venues traditionally alternated between
1368-560: The World Series , capturing the franchise's fifth World Series title. The season had a players' strike , which lasted from June 12 to July 31, and split the season into two halves. Teams that won their division in each half of the season advanced to the playoffs. This was the first split season in American League history, and second for the National League , which had played a split season in 1892 . The All-Star Game
1444-465: The " Midsummer Classic ", is an annual professional baseball game sanctioned by Major League Baseball (MLB) and contested between the all-stars from the American League (AL) and National League (NL). Starting fielders are selected by fans , pitchers are selected by managers , and reserves are selected by players and managers. The game is usually played on the second or third Tuesday in July, and
1520-518: The #1 and #4 seed were in the same division. Because teams from the same division couldn't play each other in the first round, if the normal matchups would cause this, then the #1 seed played the #3 seed, and the #2 seed played the #4 seed. In all cases, the top two seeds had home-field advantage. From 2007–2011, the #1 seed of the league that won the All-Star Game was given another advantage. In addition to earning home-field advantage throughout
1596-472: The 1994 series was not played due to the strike), the Division and League Championship Series was aired by the league's television operation, The Baseball Network , a joint syndication package between ABC and NBC. In order to increase viewership, all games were played in primetime at consistent times, and each affiliate of the network carrying the series could only air one of the games each night, determined by
SECTION 20
#17327729964911672-412: The 2017 All-Star Game was awarded to Miami, marking a third straight game hosted at an NL venue. This was done because, from 2003 to 2016, the league who won the All-Star Game was given home field advantage in the World Series, and MLB did not want to allow the NL to have the last at-bat in an All-Star Game for three straight years. MLB ended this practice in 2017, and the All-Star Game reverted to having
1748-692: The AL being one game ahead in turn. The NL hosted two consecutive games in 2006 and 2007 (Pittsburgh and San Francisco), and in 2021 and 2022 (in Denver and in Los Angeles). The NL also hosted four straight games from 2015 to 2018 (in Cincinnati, San Diego, Miami, and Washington). The AL hosted two consecutive games in 2023 and 2024 (in Seattle and in Arlington, Texas). During the first two decades of
1824-598: The AL's Texas Rangers . Baseball teams put on benefit games for the families of players who died unexpectedly. For example, the Addie Joss Benefit Game in 1911 raised $ 12,914 for the Joss family ($ 422,288 in current dollar terms). The first All-Star Game was held on July 6, 1933 , at Comiskey Park in Chicago as part of the 1933 World's Fair , and was initiated by Arch Ward , then sports editor for
1900-446: The All-Star Game logo on the right side. In 1933 and 1934, the fans selected the 18 starters for game and the managers chose the rest of the teams players. From 1935 through 1944 and in 1946, the manager of each All-Star squad selected the entire team; in 1945, no MLB All-Star Game was held and no All-Stars were officially named. In 1947, fans were given the opportunity to vote on the eight starting position players, but in 1957, fans of
1976-435: The All-Star Game, and if necessary, the game could have been finished in the morning or afternoon on Wednesday/Thursday if the situation warranted it. Furthermore, various writers have stated that home-field advantage in the World Series should be decided based on the regular season records of the participants, not on an exhibition game such as the All-Star Game played several months earlier. Some writers especially questioned
2052-478: The American and National Leagues every year, with an AL team hosting in an odd-numbered year and an NL club hosting in an even-numbered year. This tradition has been broken several times; the first time was in 1951, when the AL's Detroit Tigers hosted the game as part of the city's 250th birthday (corrected by the NL hosting the next two seasons). The second was when the two-game format from 1959 to 1962 resulted in
2128-459: The Brewers) declared that the game would end after 11 innings, and it ended in a 7–all tie. The crowd booed and threw beer bottles onto the field, and the media were highly critical of this unsatisfactory conclusion. To provide additional incentive for victory, Major League Baseball reached an agreement with the players union to award home-field advantage for the World Series to the champion of
2204-642: The Browns in 1948), while Shibe Park was the All-Star venue twice in nine years (the Athletics hosted in 1943 and the Phillies in 1952). The "home team" has traditionally been the league in which the host franchise plays its games. The lone exception has been the 2016 Game in which the AL was the "home" team, despite its being played in Petco Park , home of the NL's San Diego Padres . This was announced after
2280-451: The Game in many years – or ever – tend to get selected. Over time, this has resulted in certain cities being selected to host more often than others. Cleveland Stadium and the original Yankee Stadium have each hosted four All-Star Games, the most of any venue, and New York City has hosted more Games than any other city, having done so nine times in five different stadiums. At
2356-491: The Game's history, there were two pairs of teams that shared ballparks. In Philadelphia , the AL's Athletics and NL's Phillies both played at Shibe Park , and in St. Louis , the AL's Browns and NL's Cardinals shared Sportsman's Park . This led to some shorter-than-usual gaps between All-Star Games played at the same venue; Sportsman's Park hosted the All-Star Game twice in eight years (the Cardinals hosted in 1940 and
Division Series - Misplaced Pages Continue
2432-579: The National League team despite having moved from the National League champion San Francisco Giants to the Chicago Cubs . This has also included situations where the person is no longer actively managing a team. For the first All-Star Game, intended as a one-time event, Connie Mack and John McGraw were regarded as baseball's venerable managers, and were asked to lead the American and National League teams, respectively. McGraw came out of retirement for that purpose. Dick Williams resigned after managing
2508-422: The National League's best record received it in 2010. A revised playoff system was utilized beginning with the 2012 season , which added a second wild-card team for each league. The two wild card teams in each league played a one game playoff to advance. The winner of this game advanced to play the #1 seed in the league in the Division Series, regardless of whether the two teams were in the same division. Because
2584-563: The Phillies and Al López of the White Sox were chosen to be the managers for the 1965 All-Star Game. The rule may have been abandoned again in 2020, as the manager of the 2019 American League champion Houston Astros , A. J. Hinch , was suspended for the 2020 season (and subsequently fired by the Astros) for his role in the Astros' scandal involving the usage of video to steal signs ; however
2660-638: The Sunday newspaper to make it easy for Reds fans to vote often for their favorite stars. Commissioner Ford Frick appointed Willie Mays of the New York Giants and Hank Aaron of the Milwaukee Braves to substitute for Reds players Gus Bell and Wally Post , and took fan voting rights away in future games; Bell was kept as a reserve, while Post was injured and would have been unable to play in any event. Managers, players, and coaches picked
2736-432: The Yankees to the 1981 World Series but did not make it to the '82 All-Star Game as manager after again being fired by Steinbrenner, so Billy Martin , skipper of the 1981 AL runner-up Oakland Athletics , led the All-Star squad. There have been some exceptional cases where the usual rule was abandoned. After the 1964 season and the World Series , the managers, Johnny Keane of the St. Louis Cardinals and Yogi Berra of
2812-438: The bracket does not re-seed. There has been some criticism on how Major League Baseball schedules Division Series games. Teams with large national fan followings like the New York Yankees are almost always scheduled to play in prime time at 8 p.m. ET /5 p.m. PT to generate the highest TV ratings . As a result, West Coast teams generally have to play on the road in the afternoon, when many of their fans are unable to watch
2888-808: The concept of the All-Star Game in 1933. In 1970, the name was changed to the Commissioner's Trophy (two NL players were presented the award in 1975); however, the name change was reversed in 1985, so that the World Series Trophy (first awarded in 1967) could be renamed the Commissioner's Trophy . In 2002, the trophy itself retained its eponym, while the award itself was dedicated as The Ted Williams Most Valuable Player Award , in honor of former Boston Red Sox player Ted Williams , who had died earlier that year. The first tie in an All-Star Game occurred on July 31, 1961 at Fenway Park in Boston when
2964-407: The disadvantaged teams the unusual luxury of starting a series at home, and a guarantee that they play two games at home, whereas the advantaged team may play only one game at home if the series ends in a three-game sweep. The two division champions with the best regular-season records have been accorded with the home-field advantage, forcing the worst division winner to play an extra road game. Also,
3040-499: The double All-Star games in 1959–1962, interest in the game was thought to be waning. As part of the rise of the MLB Promotion Corporation's attempts to modernize marketing of baseball, fan balloting for the starting eight was restored for the 1970 game. Sometime in the 1960s, the distinction between left-fielder, center-fielder, and right-fielder was dropped, and it was provided that the top three vote-getters in
3116-399: The entire playoffs, they were allowed to choose their schedule for the series. They could either choose to have an extra day off (usually between games 1 and 2) during the series and start a day early, or start a day late, with one less off day (only having travel days off, between games 2 and 3, and if necessary 4 and 5). The American League's best record received this option from 2007–2009 and
Division Series - Misplaced Pages Continue
3192-454: The entire team until 1969, when the vote for starters again returned to the fans. To prevent a repeat of this incident, from 1970 until the start of internet voting, each team has been given the same number of ballots to hand out. In 1998, that number was roughly 400,000 ballots. The 1988 Game was surrounded by tacit accusations against Oakland Athletics fans of stuffing the ballot box in favor of catcher Terry Steinbach , whose qualifications as
3268-439: The extra home game, and third one not having the extra game along with the wild-card team, who never had it. The 2–3 format was used in which the disadvantaged team hosted the first two games, and the team with the advantage hosted the remaining game(s). This made it impossible for the disadvantaged team to clinch the series at home. A similar format had been used for the League Championship Series from 1969 to 1984. It also allowed
3344-413: The first occasion of this happening since 1981. With the expansion of the postseason to six teams per league since the 2022 season, only the two best division winners earn byes to the Division Series. The wild card round was expanded to a best-of-three series and the winners of that round advance to the Division Series. In this round, the #1 seed faces the 4/5 winner, and the #2 seed plays the 3/6 winner;
3420-544: The format called for the top team in the AL East to play the 2nd place team in the AL West and vice versa. In 1994 , both the National League and the American League realigned, with the number of divisions in both increasing from two to three (adding a Central Division, with fewer teams in each division). At the same time, the number of teams qualifying for baseball's postseason was doubled, from four to eight; henceforth
3496-415: The format changed to a 2–2–1 layout with the team having home-field advantage hosting Games 1, 2, and (if necessary) 5. In both the AL and the NL, the three division champions were automatically given the top three seeds, seeded #1–3 based on record, and the wild-card was given the 4th seed regardless of record. In both the AL and the NL, the #1 seed played the #4 seed and the #2 seed played the #3 seed, unless
3572-411: The format was added well after the regular season schedule was announced, the 2012 Division Series used a 2–3 format. From 2013 to 2021, the Division Series used the 2–2–1 format previously used. The 2020 postseason was modified from its usual format due to the temporary expansion of the playoffs for the 60-game regular season. After a best-of-three Wild Card Series, the winners of the 1/8 matchup faced
3648-467: The front of the jersey with "NL" caps. Game-specific uniforms are made every year, but are not worn for the game itself. Instead these uniforms were worn during batting practice and the Home Run Derby . From the 2021 to the 2024 games , Major League Baseball and Nike released new All-Star Game uniforms annually, and these uniforms would be worn by the players during the game. Starting with
3724-539: The game because they are at work or school. Conversely, when games on the West Coast are played at 10 p.m. ET/7 p.m. PT, many fans on the East Coast are unable to watch a game in its entirety, due to work or school the next day and games ending around 1 a.m. ET/10 p.m. PT, while most West Coast fans are able to watch the entire game as it will not end as late on the West Coast. However, in 1995, (as aforementioned,
3800-552: The game take place each year close to and during this break in the regular season. No official MLB All-Star Games were held in 1945 and 2020, and no official selection of players took place, due to World War II travel restrictions and the COVID-19 pandemic , respectively. Two All-Star Games were held each season from 1959 to 1962. The most recent All-Star Game was held on July 16, 2024, at Globe Life Field in Arlington , home of
3876-483: The game was called at 1–1 after nine innings due to rain; the only other rain-shortened game was in 1952 , but the National League defeated the American League, 3–2 in five innings. The 2002 All-Star Game, held in Milwaukee, ended in controversy in the 11th inning when both teams ran out of substitute players available to pitch in relief . At that point, Commissioner Bud Selig (a Milwaukee native and former owner of
SECTION 50
#17327729964913952-583: The game was canceled due to the CoViD-19 pandemic. Because of the season-ending 1994–95 MLBPA strike where the season was abandoned without official league champions, the 1995 game featured the "unofficial" league champions, the managers of the clubs leading their respective leagues' won-loss records, Buck Showalter of the New York Yankees and Felipe Alou of the Montreal Expos for the All-Star Game. The All-Star Game roster size for each league
4028-421: The greater urgency of winning the game, due to the former rule that the winning league attains home field advantage in the World Series . A number of compromises were suggested in the sports/news media as measures to mitigate these selection issues, including limiting the number of representatives a particular team could have; or requiring only that a certain percentage of the 30 teams be represented; or expanding
4104-432: The host team's league serve as the home team. Since 1934, the managers of the game are the managers of the previous year's league pennant winners and World Series clubs. The coaching staff for each team is selected by its manager. This honor is given to the manager, not the team, so it is possible that the All-Star manager could no longer be with the team with which he won. This happened in 2003, when Dusty Baker managed
4180-418: The integrity of this rule after the 2014 All-Star Game , when St. Louis Cardinals pitcher Adam Wainwright suggested that he intentionally gave Derek Jeter some easy pitches to hit in the New York Yankees ' shortstop's final All-Star appearance before he retired at the end of that season. In 2019 and 2021, any All-Star games that ended up tied after regulation would have had each extra inning start with
4256-483: The large-market teams from totally dominating the squad, and keeps fan and media interest in the game, as fans would not be interested in the game if their team did not have any players involved. Opponents of the rule contend that the purpose of the game is to spotlight Major League Baseball's best players, and that some players from stronger teams are left off the roster in favor of possibly less deserving players from weaker teams. Both these arguments were strengthened by
4332-403: The league that won the All-Star Game, for 2003 and 2004. The agreement was extended for both 2005 and 2006, and it remained in place until 2016. Since 2017, home-field advantage has been awarded to the World Series team having the better regular season record. Previously, home-field advantage in the World Series alternated between the two leagues each year. The American League took advantage of
4408-454: The new rule in each of its first seven years: between 2003 and 2009, the American League won four Series and the National League won three. The National League champion benefited from this rule for the first time in 2010 . Even with this rule in effect, there was no guarantee that a repeat of the 2002 situation would not occur; to avoid future ties due to lack of available players, managers have been instructed to (and have voluntarily) hold back
4484-525: The only non-Red elected to start for the National League was St. Louis Cardinals first baseman Stan Musial . While the Reds were a good offensive team, most baseball observers agreed that they did not deserve seven starters in the All-Star Game. An investigation ordered by Commissioner Ford Frick showed that over half of the ballots cast came from Cincinnati, as the Cincinnati Enquirer had printed up pre-marked ballots and distributed them with
4560-422: The outfield category would start regardless of position. Oft-heard remarks prior to this time included ones such as "If you had Clemente , you couldn't have Aaron ", and so on. Rico Carty was the first player ever selected to an All-Star team as a write-in candidate by fans, in 1970, the first year that voting was given back to the fans. Steve Garvey was the second player ever selected to an All-Star team as
4636-481: The owners agreed to give the players a larger share of the income from a single game. According to the Baseball Database provided by Sean Lahman , a total of 2,010 individual players have been selected for an All-Star game between 1933 and 2024. MLB chooses the venue for the All-Star Game. The criteria for venue selection are subjective; generally, cities with new ballparks and those who have not hosted
SECTION 60
#17327729964914712-457: The players on the roster without leaving teams with the situation where no players are available, as was the case in 2002. Since 2010, each league's manager is allowed to designate one position player who can re-enter the game to replace an injured or ejected player at any position, in addition to the existing rule covering catchers. A tie game could have also been deemed a "suspended game" in which case it would have ended tied if no make-up date
4788-548: The same time, the New York Mets did not host for 48 seasons (1965–2012), while the Los Angeles Dodgers did not host for 42 years, (1980–2022). (They were scheduled to host the 2020 Major League Baseball All-Star Game before it was canceled by the COVID-19 pandemic .) The Tampa Bay Rays are currently the only club yet to host an All-Star Game, and 3 other teams have never hosted the All-Star Game at their current stadium: The New York Yankees at Yankee Stadium ,
4864-565: The size of the All-Star rosters. The only exception is if a team trades its lone All-Star before the game; in this case, its league's All-Star Game manager is not required to include another player from that team. In 1957, Cincinnati Reds fans stuffed the ballot box and elected seven Reds players to start in the All-Star Game: Johnny Temple (2B), Roy McMillan (SS), Don Hoak (3B), Ed Bailey (C), Frank Robinson (LF), Gus Bell (CF), and Wally Post (RF), and
4940-399: The station's area. While this prevented the issue of afternoon games (and did, as planned, increase viewership), the plan drew ire from critics for not allowing viewers to choose the games they want to watch during the post-season. 1981 Major League Baseball season The 1981 Major League Baseball season culminated with the Los Angeles Dodgers defeating the New York Yankees in
5016-437: The three first-place teams from each league's divisions would reach the postseason, along with one wild card team from each league (the latter being the second-place finisher with the best regular-season record). However, this expanded playoff format did not return until the following year, because a players' strike , which began on August 12, 1994, led to the cancellation of that season's playoffs and World Series (and caused
5092-422: The total for each league to 33 players. The following year , MLB announced that an extra position player would be added to each roster for the 2010 game and beyond, bringing the total to 34 for each league. One continuing controversy of the player selection process is the rule that each team has to have at least one representative on its league's All-Star roster. Supporters of the rule point out that this prevents
5168-408: The two halves of the season were independent of one another, the winner of the first half had no real incentive to try to win the second half as well (since, unlike in the minor leagues, if the same team did win both halves it was not given a bye into the next round), and a team that won neither half could have actually had the best overall record in the division; indeed, the latter actually occurred, as
5244-525: The votes. In 2015, Kansas City Royals fans were accused of stuffing the ballot box when eight of their players ( Salvador Pérez , Lorenzo Cain , Mike Moustakas , Alcides Escobar , Eric Hosmer , Kendrys Morales , Alex Gordon , and Omar Infante ) were leading the ballots at their respective positions before the final tally was taken. Had this result stood, the only non-Royal in the American League's starting lineup would have been Los Angeles Angels of Anaheim player Mike Trout . This also would have been
5320-554: The winner of the AL All-Star Final Vote while Herrera and Davis, both pitchers, were chosen through either Player Ballots or by Royals and AL Manager, Ned Yost . In 1989, a designated hitter was allowed in the All-Star Game for the first time. Between 1989 and 2010, the designated hitter rule was applied based on the league in which the host team plays; it was used for games played in American League ballparks – in each such instance, both teams used
5396-473: The winners of the 4/5 matchup while the 2/7 faced the 3/6. Each of the four matchups were played in consecutive days at neutral sites, with the usual 2–2–1 structure used to determine the designated home teams. When every team from the Central divisions lost, it meant that all four Division Series matchups would feature teams from the same division playing each other (i.e. East playing East and West playing West),
5472-456: Was 18 in 1933, 20 from 1934 to 1938, 25 from 1939 to 1981, 30 from 1982 to 2002, 32 from 2003 to 2008, 33 in 2009, and beginning in 2010, there have been 34 players on each league's team roster. One continuing controversy of the player selection process is the rule that each team has to have at least one representative on its league's All-Star roster. On April 29, 2010, MLB announced several rules changes for future All-Star games, effective with
5548-519: Was originally scheduled for July 14, but was canceled due to the strike. It was ultimately played on August 9, as a prelude to the second half of the season, which began the following day. NOTE: Due to a strike in mid-season, the season was divided into a first half and a second half. The division winner of the first half (denoted E1, W1) played the division winner of the second half (denoted E2, W2). Major League Baseball All-Star Game The Major League Baseball All-Star Game , also known as
5624-529: Was particularly evident in 2002, when National League manager Bob Brenly selected his own catcher, Damian Miller , over the more deserving Paul Lo Duca ; while American League manager Joe Torre selected his own third baseman, Robin Ventura , over the Oakland Athletics ' Gold Glove and Silver Slugger -winning third baseman Eric Chavez . Before the 2009 game, Major League Baseball announced that an additional pitcher would be added to each roster, bringing
5700-469: Was scheduled, but it would be extremely difficult to find such a make-up date in any event as Major League Baseball would have to postpone one or more days of the regular season and/or schedule the make-up date on a travel day during the postseason, the latter which would be unfair to teams involved in the upcoming series. Since 2012, there have been off days for all teams on the Wednesday and Thursday after
5776-406: Was the only Division Series which actually consisted of teams from the same division playing each other. This particular Division Series was meant as a one-off series due to the strike. In 1993 , the owners approved the reintroduction of the Division Series, this time on a permanent basis, given the fact that three of the four series in the one-off 1981 Division Series went to a game 5. Originally,
#490509