The Toronto Blue Jays have advanced to the American League Championship Series for the first time in nearly a decade, and the win is officially on the rise.
But those new to the sport may need an explanation of exactly how it works, from the playoff sequence to the rules of the game.
Below we'll break down the basics.
WHAT IS THE POSTSEASON STRUCTURE?
The Major League Baseball postseason consists of four rounds. MLB used to be two organizations, the National League and the American League, but they have co-hosted the World Series since 1903 and were officially merged in 1999. Both leagues follow the same playoff format. The Blue Jays play in the American League.
The postseason begins with the wild card rounds, which are a series of best-of-three games featuring the four lowest-ranked teams that qualify for the playoffs in each league.
The Blue Jays won the American League East division title in the regular season, so they had to skip the wild card round.
After the wild card, teams play in a division series, where the first team to win three games advances to the championship series, which is a best-of-seven.
Championships are held between teams of the same league.
The winner of each league championship then advances to the World Series, which is also a best-of-seven matchup. The Blue Jays have won the World Series only twice: 1992 and 1993.
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WHY ARE THE BLUE JAYS IN THE AMERICAN LEAGUE IF THEY ARE A CANADIAN TEAM?
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In the 1970s, the American League wanted to create a team that would compete geographically with the Montreal Expos, who were part of the National League, and the Blue Jays were born.
In 2004, the Montreal Expos were moved to Washington, D.C., leaving the Blue Jays as Canada's only remaining team.
WHAT ARE THE RULES OF THE GAME?
If you want to know all the details, you can read the 192-page Major League Baseball rule book. But here are the basics.
Each game consists of nine innings. Each team has the right to bat during the inning, starting with the visiting team. The defensive team consists of a pitcher, catcher, infielders and outfielders.
The hitting team consists of nine batters.
The pitcher throws the ball to the catcher, and if the ball passes through the “strike zone”, the hitter may try to swing at it.
The strike zone is the area from the batter's knees to the shoulders above home base.
If the ball passes through the strike zone three times and the batter fails to hit it, either because he did not swing or because he missed the ball, he is out of the game. If a pitcher throws the ball and misses the strike zone four times and the batter doesn't swing, then the batter can “walk” to first base.
This is one of nine ways a batter can become a runner and advance to first base. However, the basic method is for the batter to hit the ball into the infield.
Once the batter hits the ball, he becomes a runner and heads to first base. If the fielder catches the ball before it hits the ground, the runner is out. If the ball touches the ground before it is caught, the person who catches it can try to get the runner out by touching the ball to the runner before he advances to the next base. In some cases, they only need to touch the base to which the runner is heading.
Each time a runner reaches his base after touching all three other bases, he scores a point called a “run.”
Once three players on an attacking team are out of the game, that team's turn ends.
HOW MANY PEOPLE ARE IN EACH TEAM?
In the postseason, each team has a roster of 26 players.
There are nine batters from each team and nine on the field. These are eight players who are both fielders and hitters, one player is the designated pitcher and one player replaces the pitcher when their team is at bat.
Other players in the lineup may be substituted in the batting order. Likewise, pitchers in the bullpen may be replaced by a starting pitcher.
Deciding when to replace players is part of the game strategy.
THE PLAYERS APPEAR TO SPIT A LOT. WHY?
Historically, players would chew tobacco while playing and spit out excess saliva from the chewing. Over the decades, the situation has changed, and now they chew the seeds.
Some players also chew gum while in the dugout and not play, or joke with each other. It's all part of the fun of the game.
This report by The Canadian Press was first published Oct. 12, 2025.
© 2025 The Canadian Press
