| Tournament details | |
|---|---|
| Dates | October 4–20, 1988[1] |
| Teams | 4 |
| Final positions | |
| Champions | Los Angeles Dodgers (6th title) |
| Runner-up | Oakland Athletics (11th World Series appearance) |
| Tournament statistics | |
| MVP | Orel Hershiser (LA) |
The 1988 Major League Baseball postseason was the playoff tournament of Major League Baseball for the 1988 season. The winners of each division advance to the postseason and face each other in a League Championship Series to determine the pennant winners that face each other in the World Series.
In the National League, the New York Mets returned to the postseason for the second time in three years, and the Los Angeles Dodgers returned to the postseason for the fourth and final time this decade. In the American League, the Oakland Athletics returned to the postseason for the first time since 1981, and the Boston Red Sox also returned for the second time in three years.
The playoffs began on October 4, 1988, and concluded on October 20, 1988, with the Dodgers shocking the Athletics in five games in the 1988 World Series. The series was notable for injured Dodger Kirk Gibson's dramatic pinch-hit walk-off home run off Athletics closer Dennis Eckersley in Game 1. It was the second title in nine years for the Dodgers, and their sixth overall.