Jones, now a Hall of Famer and consultant for the Braves, had announced his coming retirement at the beginning of the 2012 season. Not only was this just the Braves’ second playoff appearance since their unprecedented streak of 14-consecutive division titles ended in 2005, but it was legendary third baseman Chipper Jones’ final season. And so, as our ever-evolving national pastime ushers in a new postseason format, it seems appropriate to reflect on that wild afternoon in Atlanta that introduced the playoff tournament’s last major change. In its first iteration, the stakes of the single-game scheme acted as a magnifying glass to sunlight, increasing the intensity of every pitch, play, and call on the field and created one of the most infamous single-game stadium atmospheres in MLB history. 5, 2012, at Turner Field in Atlanta, Georgia, was one of the most controversial games in recent MLB history. Louis Cardinals and Atlanta Braves on Oct. Indicative of the unique brand of baseball that this novel playoff format would bring, the first ever Wild Card Game, played between the St. Baseball fans were guaranteed the stakes, drama, and oddities usually reserved for Game 7s, all at the beginning of October.
While there were always valid arguments against the representative nature of the Wild Card Game (the fractional equivalent to the length of the regular season is about a six-minute NFL game), the thrilling nature of these games was undeniable. This new playoff format brings an end to MLB’s decade-long experiment with the play-in, single-elimination Wild Card Game. This year, for the first time since 2011, all teams that qualify for the MLB postseason are guaranteed to play multiple games after finishing the regular season calendar. The first MLB single-elimination Wild Card game also resulted in a legendarily controversial call.
The Braves and Cardinals share a bit of postseason history.
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