The wild card was established for Major League Baseball's playoffs in 1994 with the intention of helping the best teams that did not win their division to still have a chance to win the World Series. The restructuring of both the American and National Leagues from two divisions each to three made it necessary to either give one team a bye in the first round of playoffs, or create the wild card for the best second-place team. In addition, the wild card guaranteed that the team with the second best record in each league would qualify for the playoffs, even if they were in the same division with the team having the best record.
There were no division or wild-card winners in 1994, due to the 1994 Major League Baseball strike.
As of October 2011, the AL East has produced 13 of 17 wild-card teams; the AL West is second with three teams, while the AL Central has qualified a wild-card team only once.
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As of 2009, two AL wild-card teams went on to win the World Series (Anaheim and Boston). One team won the AL pennant but lost the World Series (Detroit). Six other teams won the division series but lost the championship series.
| Rank | Team | Total | Year(s) |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Boston Red Sox | 7 | 1998, 1999, 2003, 2004, 2005, 2008, 2009 |
| 2 | New York Yankees | 4 | 1995, 1997, 2007, 2010 |
| T-3 | Baltimore Orioles | 1 | 1996 |
| T-3 | Seattle Mariners | 1 | 2000 |
| T-3 | Oakland Athletics | 1 | 2001 |
| T-3 | Los Angeles Angels of Anaheim | 1 | 2002 |
| T-3 | Detroit Tigers | 1 | 2006 |
| T-3 | Tampa Bay Rays | 1 | 2011 |
| AL Team | Series Record |
|---|---|
| Baltimore Orioles | 1–0 |
| Detroit Tigers | 1–0 |
| Los Angeles Angels of Anaheim | 1–0 |
| Seattle Mariners | 1–0 |
| Boston Red Sox | 4–3 |
| New York Yankees | 1–3 |
| Oakland Athletics | 0–1 |
| Tampa Bay Rays | 0–1 |
| combined | 9–8 |