when did the one game wild card start
Major League Baseball wild card From 1969 through 1993, division leaders in each league advanced to the League Championship Series, with the winners of each LCS meeting in the World Series. However, an expanding number of teams over the years made making the playoffs increasingly difficult. The new system was instituted in 1994 (but first used in 1995 because a players strike canceled the 1994 playoffs) when Major League Baseball expanded from two to three divisions per league. In the new three-division leagues, each league had four teams in the playoffs. In addition to the three division winners, a wild-card team made the playoffs as the fourth seed. This was the team with the most wins amongst non-division winners. The wild-card matchup was played in the first round between the League leader in wins and the wild-card team, unless both teams were in the same division, which resulted in the wild card facing the second-best division winner in the league.