If an individual or team fails to qualify in the conventional manner, such as by winning a qualifying stage, they are given a wild card entry into the tournament or playoffs.
The two clubs from each of the two leagues (American and National) that qualify for the postseason despite not winning their division in Major League Baseball (MLB) are known as wild card teams.
After the three division winners, both leagues’ clubs have the second-and third-best winning percentages in their respective leagues. First introduced in 1994, the wild card allowed one wild card club per league to go to the Division Series and meet a division champion in the postseason.
Each season from 1995 through 2011, there have been one wild card club in the American League; since 2012, there have been two wild card teams every season.
Twenty-four players have come out of the AL East, five players from the AL Central, and eight players from the AL West. There are no other teams in baseball history with as many wild card appearances as the Boston Red Sox and New York Yankees.
Since the inception of the wild card berths, The New York Yankees are the first team to win and have won the feat 8 times.
YEARS THE YANKEES HAVE WON THE AMERICAN LEAGUE WILD CARD
1995
1997
2007
2010
2015
2017
2018
2021
