What Is a Pennant Race in Baseball?
Quick answer
The late-season chase for a league championship, the pennant, whose winner goes to the World Series. Today it usually means the race for division titles and playoff spots.
In this article
A pennant race is the late-season chase among contending teams to win their league. The pennant itself is the league championship: the American League and National League champions each win one and meet in the World Series. Today, "pennant race" usually covers the whole September scramble for division titles and wild card spots.
Where the term comes from
Champions traditionally received a long, triangular flag, a pennant, to fly over their ballpark the next season. Before divisions existed, the team with the best regular-season record in each league won the pennant outright, so the race for first place was literally a pennant race.
How the pennant is won now
| Era | How a team won the pennant |
|---|---|
| Before 1969 | Best regular-season record in the league |
| 1969 onward | Win the League Championship Series (LCS) |
| Today | Win the LCS, after the Wild Card Series and Division Series |
The regular season now decides who gets into the playoffs and how they're seeded. Fans track each contender's magic number down the stretch.
Famous pennant races
- 1951: the New York Giants erased a 13-game deficit to the Dodgers and won a playoff on Bobby Thomson's "Shot Heard 'Round the World."
- 1964: the Phillies blew a six-and-a-half-game lead with 12 to play.
- 1978: the Yankees came back from 14 games behind the Red Sox and won a one-game playoff on Bucky Dent's home run.
- 2007: the Mets lost a seven-game lead with 17 games left.
- 2011: on the final night of the season, the Rays and Cardinals completed comebacks to claim wild card spots in one of the wildest nights in baseball history.
Why pennant races matter
A good race fills ballparks in September, makes every game feel like the playoffs and gives us baseball's best collapses and comebacks. With 12 playoff teams now, more clubs stay in the race longer than ever.
Related terms
More definitions: baseball terms explained.
Frequently asked questions
What is a pennant in baseball?
A pennant is the league championship. The American League and National League champions each win a pennant and meet in the World Series.
What is a pennant race?
It is the late-season fight among contending teams for a league title, and today for division titles and wild card spots too.
How do you win a pennant today?
By winning the League Championship Series, the final round of the playoffs within each league.
Why is it called a pennant?
Champions traditionally received a long triangular flag, a pennant, to fly at their ballpark. The flags are still raised the following season.
