| Tournament details | |
|---|---|
| Dates | October 9–21, 1976[1] |
| Teams | 4 |
| Final positions | |
| Champions | Cincinnati Reds (4th title) |
| Runner-up | New York Yankees (30th World Series appearance) |
| Tournament statistics | |
| MVP | Johnny Bench (CIN) |
The 1976 Major League Baseball postseason was the playoff tournament of Major League Baseball for the 1976 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.
This edition of the postseason featured new teams - In the American League, the Kansas City Royals made their first postseason appearance in franchise history, and the New York Yankees returned to the postseason for the first time since the 1964 World Series. In the National League, the Philadelphia Phillies made their first postseason appearance since the 1950 World Series, and the Cincinnati Reds returned for the fifth time in the past seven seasons. This was the first of three consecutive postseasons to feature the Royals, Yankees, and Phillies, and they would also appear in the postseason in 1980, 1981 and 2024.
The playoffs began on October 9, 1976, and concluded on October 21, 1976, with the Cincinnati Reds sweeping the New York Yankees in the 1976 World Series. It was the fourth title for the Reds overall, and the Reds became the sixth franchise in MLB history to repeat as World Series champions.[2] The Reds became the first team (and the only team to date) to go undefeated in the postseason in the divisional era.