Does the All-Star Game still determine World Series home field?
From the 2003 season up to the present, the league that won the All-Star Game was to be given home-field advantage for the World Series (something Selig is considering ending, as the AL is unbeaten in every All-Star Game since 1997).
Now that the All-Star Game is an exhibition, one that doesn't determine home-field in the World Series, it appears MLB is willing to add in a fun, new element to decide the winner of the contest between the two leagues. It's also one that was agreed upon during the latest round of Collective Bargaining discussions.
After the 2002 Major League Baseball All-Star Game ended in a tie, MLB decided to award home-field advantage in the World Series to the winner of the All-Star Game. Originally implemented as a two-year trial from 2003 to 2004, the practice was extended.
From 2003-16, World Series home-field advantage was given to the team from the league that won that year's All-Star Game, a rule that was installed after a 7-7 tie in the 2002 Midsummer Classic.
Like all playoff series in the World Series, the team who finished with the better record in the regular season gets home-field advantage.
The Los Angeles Dodgers clinched the best record in Major League Baseball for the 2022 season and will have home-field advantage through the World Series. They currently have a franchise-record 109 wins with five games left to play.
Just a few hours removed from a historic 18-inning win over the Seattle Mariners that clinched a record sixth straight trip to the American League Championship Series, the Houston Astros received some more good news. The Astros have secured home-field advantage through the World Series.
In the postseason, the team with the better record has home field advantage in a majority of games; there are tiebreakers to determine which team gets the advantage in case the two have the same record.
Since 1998, the team with the better record has had home field advantage, but a wild card team can never secure the extra home game, regardless of regular-season records, unless both teams in the League Championship Series are wild cards (starting in 2022).
That rule had been in place since 2003, and it was almost universally hated. In 2017, the rule finally went to home-field advantage being assigned to whichever team had the better regular season record. Before 2003, it was simply an alternating pattern between the American League and National League.
Who gets home-field advantage in the playoffs?
Home field advantage is awarded to the higher seed in the MLB Playoffs in each round, regardless of record. For the two remaining teams who make it to the World Series, home field advantage is relinquished to the team with the highest regular season win percentage.
As a reminder, the team with the best regular-season winning percentage, regardless of postseason seeding, will host the World Series. That change was implemented back in 2017 following a run (2003-16) of home-field advantage going to the league that won the All-Star Game.
The World Series is a best of seven series with the team with the best regular-season record having home-field advantage. Games one and two are played at the home field of the team with the best record. Games three, four, and five (if necessary) are played at the home of the team with the worst record.
The wild cards in each league are the three teams with the best winning percentages among non-division winning teams. These wild card teams are assigned seeds No. 4 through No. 6, per their relative winning percentages.
In the 28 World Series since 1981, the team with home-field advantage has won 21 times, which is a monstrous 75 percent. This trend is just that, as the previous 30 World Series from 1951 to 1980 saw the team without home-field advantage win the championship 20 times, or two-thirds of the Fall Classics.
Reminder: MLB All-Star Game does not determine World Series home-field advantage. The MLB All-Star Game is, thankfully, no longer a game with any real meaning.
Home-field advantage is determined by the pennant winner with the better regular-season record. Before 2003, the World Series rotated between leagues. Former commissioner Bud Selig put the advantage on the line following the 7–7 tie after 11 innings in the 2002 All-Star Game.
In playoff series format, the home-field advantage is said to exist for whichever team would win the series if all remaining games in the series are won by the home team for that game. Therefore, it is possible for a visiting team to win a game and, hence, gain home-field advantage.
What is the Format of the Wild Card Series? Each Wild Card Series is played at the home ballpark of the higher seed. The teams will not alternate home-field advantage, and the games will be scheduled in a three-day window.
