The 2008 Major League Baseball postseason was the playoff tournament of

Major League Baseball Major League Baseball (MLB) is a professional baseball organization and the oldest major professional sports league in the world. MLB is composed of 30 total teams, divided equally between the National League (NL) and the American League (AL), ...

for the 2008 season. The winners of the

League Division Series The Division Series is the quarterfinal round of the Major League Baseball playoffs. Four series are played in this round, two each for both the American League and the National League. 1981 season The first use of the term "Division Series" date ...

would move on to the

League Championship Series The League Championship Series (LCS) is the semifinal round of postseason play in Major League Baseball which has been conducted since 1969. In 1981, and since 1995, the two annual series have matched up the winners of the Division Series, an ...

to determine the pennant winners that face each other in the

World Series The World Series is the annual championship series of Major League Baseball (MLB) in the United States and Canada, contested since 1903 between the champion teams of the American League (AL) and the National League (NL). The winner of the World ...

. This was the first postseason since

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to not feature the

New York Yankees The New York Yankees are an American professional baseball team based in the New York City borough of the Bronx. The Yankees compete in Major League Baseball (MLB) as a member club of the American League (AL) East division. They are one of ...

, who had previously made thirteen straight appearances from

1995 File:1995 Events Collage V2.png, From left, clockwise: O.J. Simpson is acquitted of the murders of Nicole Brown Simpson and Ronald Goldman from the year prior in "The Trial of the Century" in the United States; The Great Hanshin earthquake str ...

to 2007. In the American League, the

Los Angeles Angels of Anaheim The Los Angeles Angels are an American professional baseball team based in the Los Angeles metropolitan area. The Angels compete in Major League Baseball (MLB) as a member club of the American League (AL) West division. Since 1966, the team h ...

returned to the postseason for the fifth time in seven years, the

Boston Red Sox The Boston Red Sox are an American professional baseball team based in Boston. The Red Sox compete in Major League Baseball (MLB) as a member club of the American League (AL) East division. Founded in as one of the American League's eigh ...

returned for the fifth time in six years, the

Chicago White Sox The Chicago White Sox are an American professional baseball team based in Chicago. The White Sox compete in Major League Baseball (MLB) as a member club of the American League (AL) Central division. The team is owned by Jerry Reinsdorf, and ...

made their third appearance in the past nine years, and the

Tampa Bay Rays The Tampa Bay Rays are an American professional baseball team based in St. Petersburg, Florida. The Rays compete in Major League Baseball (MLB) as a member club of the American League (AL) East division. Since its inception, the team's home v ...

made their postseason debut. In the National League, the Chicago Cubs returned for the third time in six years, marking the first time since

1906 Events January–February * January 12 – Persian Constitutional Revolution: A nationalistic coalition of merchants, religious leaders and intellectuals in Persia forces the shah Mozaffar ad-Din Shah Qajar to grant a constitution, ...

that both

Chicago (''City in a Garden''); I Will , image_map = , map_caption = Interactive Map of Chicago , coordinates = , coordinates_footnotes = , subdivision_type = Country , subdivision_name ...

teams made the postseason. The Cubs had Lou Pinella leading them to the division title. The Philadelphia Phillies made their second straight appearance, the

Los Angeles Dodgers The Los Angeles Dodgers are an American professional baseball team based in Los Angeles. The Dodgers compete in Major League Baseball (MLB) as a member club of the National League (NL) West division. Established in 1883 in the city of Brooklyn ...

made their third appearance in the past five years, and the Milwaukee Brewers made their first postseason appearance since 1982 (first as a member of the National League). The postseason began on October 1, 2008, and ended on October 29, 2008, with the Phillies defeating the Rays in five games in the

2008 World Series The 2008 World Series was the championship series of Major League Baseball's (MLB) 2008 season. The 104th edition of the World Series, it was a best-of-seven playoff between the National League (NL) champion Philadelphia Phillies and the Ame ...

. It was the first championship won by the Phillies since 1980.

Playoff seeds

The following teams qualified for the postseason:

American League

- 100–62, Clinched AL West #

- 97–65, Clinched AL East #

- 89–74, Clinched AL Central #

- 95–67, Clinched Wild Card

National League

# Chicago Cubs - 97–64, Clinched NL Central # Philadelphia Phillies - 92–70, Clinched NL East #

- 84–78, Clinched NL West # Milwaukee Brewers - 90–73, Clinched Wild Card

Playoff bracket

Note: Two teams in the same division could not meet in the division series.

American League Division Series

(1) Los Angeles Angels of Anaheim vs. (4) Boston Red Sox

In a rematch of the previous year's ALDS, the Red Sox again defeated the Angels to advance to the ALCS for the second year in a row. The Angels would sweep the Red Sox in the ALDS the next year.

(2) Tampa Bay Rays vs. (3) Chicago White Sox

In their postseason debut, the Rays defeated the White Sox in four games to advance to the ALCS for the first time in franchise history. The White Sox would not return to the postseason again until

2020 2020 was heavily defined by the COVID-19 pandemic, which led to global social and economic disruption, mass cancellations and postponements of events, worldwide lockdowns and the largest economic recession since the Great Depression in t ...

National League Division Series

(1) Chicago Cubs vs. (3) Los Angeles Dodgers

This was the first postseason meeting between the Cubs and Dodgers. The Dodgers swept the Cubs to return to the NLCS for the first time in two decades. Both teams would meet again in the NLCS in

2016 File:2016 Events Collage.png, From top left, clockwise: Bombed-out buildings in Ankara following the 2016 Turkish coup d'état attempt; the Impeachment of Dilma Rousseff, impeachment trial of Brazilian President Dilma Rousseff; Damaged houses duri ...

(won by the Cubs), and

2017 File:2017 Events Collage V2.png, From top left, clockwise: The War Against ISIS at the Battle of Mosul (2016-2017); aftermath of the Manchester Arena bombing; The Solar eclipse of August 21, 2017 ("Great American Eclipse"); North Korea tests a s ...

(won by the Dodgers).

(2) Philadelphia Phillies vs. (4) Milwaukee Brewers

The Phillies defeated the Brewers in four games to return to the NLCS for the first time since

. The Brewers would return to the postseason again in 2011, where they defeated the

Arizona Diamondbacks The Arizona Diamondbacks (colloquially known as the D-backs) are an American professional baseball team based in Phoenix. The Diamondbacks compete in Major League Baseball (MLB) as a member club of the National League (NL) West division. The ...

in five games in the NLDS before falling in the NLCS to the

St. Louis Cardinals The St. Louis Cardinals are an American professional baseball team based in St. Louis. The Cardinals compete in Major League Baseball (MLB) as a member club of the National League (NL) Central division. Since the 2006 season, the Cardinals ha ...

American League Championship Series

(2) Tampa Bay Rays vs. (4) Boston Red Sox

This was the first postseason meeting between the Rays and Red Sox. Despite blowing a 3–1 series lead, the Rays managed to hold on and advance to the World Series for the first time in franchise history, denying the Red Sox a shot at back-to-back titles. The Red Sox would return to the ALCS in

2013 File:2013 Events Collage V2.png, From left, clockwise: Edward Snowden becomes internationally famous for leaking classified NSA wiretapping information; Typhoon Haiyan kills over 6,000 in the Philippines and Southeast Asia; The Dhaka garment fa ...

, where they defeated the Detroit Tigers in six games to capture the pennant. The Rays would win their next AL pennant in

against the Houston Astros in seven games. The Rays and Red Sox would meet again in the ALDS in

, and

2021 File:2021 collage V2.png, From top left, clockwise: the James Webb Space Telescope was launched in 2021; Protesters in Yangon, Myanmar following the coup d'état; A civil demonstration against the October 2021 coup in Sudan; Crowd shortly after t ...

, with both being won by the Red Sox.

National League Championship Series

(2) Philadelphia Phillies vs. (3) Los Angeles Dodgers

This was the fourth postseason meeting between the Phillies and Dodgers. They had previously met in the NLCS in

1977 Events January * January 8 – Three bombs explode in Moscow within 37 minutes, killing seven. The bombings are attributed to an Armenian separatist group. * January 10 – Mount Nyiragongo erupts in eastern Zaire (now the Democrat ...

, 1978 and

1983 The year 1983 saw both the official beginning of the Internet and the first mobile cellular telephone call. Events January * January 1 – The migration of the ARPANET to TCP/IP is officially completed (this is considered to be the beginning ...

, with the Dodgers winning the former two and the Phillies winning the latter. The Phillies defeated the Dodgers in five quick games to return to the World Series for the first time since

. The two teams met again in next year's NLCS, with the same result as this series.

2008 World Series

(AL2) Tampa Bay Rays vs. (NL2) Philadelphia Phillies

† - Game suspended in the sixth inning due to rain. This was the first World Series since 2003 to feature a team from

Florida Florida is a state located in the Southeastern region of the United States. Florida is bordered to the west by the Gulf of Mexico, to the northwest by Alabama, to the north by Georgia, to the east by the Bahamas and Atlantic Ocean, and to ...

, and the first since

to feature a team from

Pennsylvania Pennsylvania (; ( Pennsylvania Dutch: )), officially the Commonwealth of Pennsylvania, is a state spanning the Mid-Atlantic, Northeastern, Appalachian, and Great Lakes regions of the United States. It borders Delaware to its southeast, ...

. The Phillies defeated the Rays in five games to win their first championship since 1980. This was the first championship of the four major North American sports leagues won by a team from

Philadelphia Philadelphia, often called Philly, is the List of municipalities in Pennsylvania#Municipalities, largest city in the Commonwealth (U.S. state), Commonwealth of Pennsylvania, the List of United States cities by population, sixth-largest city i ...

since 1983, when the Philadelphia 76ers won the

1983 NBA Finals The 1983 NBA World Championship Series, also known as Showdown '83, was the championship round of the National Basketball Association (NBA)'s 1982–83 season, and the culmination of the season's playoffs. It was the last NBA Championship Serie ...

. The Rays would return to the World Series again in

, but were defeated by the

in six games. The Phillies returned to the World Series the very

next year "Next Year" is a song released as the last single from the third Foo Fighters' album ''There Is Nothing Left to Lose''. History A shorter version (running at just 3:21 compared to the original's 4:36) was released as a single in 2000 and wa ...

in hopes of defending their title, but fell to the

in six games.

References

External links

League Baseball Standings & Expanded Standings - 2008
{{DEFAULTSORT:2008 Major League Baseball Season Major League Baseball postseason