| Tournament details | |
|---|---|
| Dates | September 29 – October 21, 1998[1] |
| Teams | 8 |
| Final positions | |
| Champions | New York Yankees (24th title) |
| Runner-up | San Diego Padres (2nd World Series appearance) |
| Tournament statistics | |
| MVP | Scott Brosius (NYY) |
The 1998 Major League Baseball postseason was the playoff tournament of Major League Baseball for the 1998 season. The winners of the League Division Series would move on to the League Championship Series to determine the pennant winners that face each other in the World Series. This was the first postseason in which teams were seeded by their respective win–loss records within their respective leagues.[2][3]
In the American League, the New York Yankees and Cleveland Indians returned to the postseason for the fourth year in a row, and the Boston Red Sox returned to the postseason for the third time that decade, and the Texas Rangers returned to the postseason for the second time in three years.
In the National League, the Atlanta Braves made their seventh straight postseason appearance, the Chicago Cubs returned to the postseason for the first time since 1989, the San Diego Padres were making their second appearance in the past three years, and the Houston Astros returned for the second year in a row, marking the first time that both Texas MLB teams made the postseason.
The postseason began on September 29, 1998, and ended on October 21, 1998, with the 114-win New York Yankees sweeping the San Diego Padres in the 1998 World Series. It was the Yankees' 24th championship in franchise history, tying the Montreal Canadiens for the most championship wins in North American sports.