1. 90’s Baby! The Wild Card was created in 1993 after MLB expanded from two to three divisions in each league. Because of the 1994 strike, the Wild Card didn’t actually see action until the 1995 season.
2. Only in Florida! The Florida Marlins have two World Series Championships to their name, and both came when they entered the Playoffs as the Wild Card team in 1997 and 2003. #Wild
3. A tougher challenge! Since the Wild Card format changed to a single-elimination game in 2012, only one (!) Wild Card Team has gone on to win the World Series. That team was the even-year-magic, 2014 San Francisco Giants.
4. Just the cream of the crop. Even with two Wild Card teams in each league, only 10 out of the 30 MLB teams make the playoffs every season. That’s just 33.3%, the lowest percentage of EVERY major sports league in the country!
5. Not one for offense. The Diamondbacks 11-8 victory over the Rockies in the 2017 NL Wild Card Game is the HIGHEST scoring Wild Card Game to date. Think we’ll see the A’s and Rays break the record tonight?