 | |
| Tournament details | |
|---|---|
| Dates | October 1–29, 2008[1] |
| Teams | 8 |
| Final positions | |
| Champions | Philadelphia Phillies (2nd title) |
| Runner-up | Tampa Bay Rays (1st World Series appearance) |
| Tournament statistics | |
| MVP | Cole Hamels (PHI) |
The 2008 Major League Baseball postseason was the playoff tournament of Major League Baseball for the 2008 season. The winners of the Division Series would move on to the League Championship Series to determine the pennant winners that face each other in the World Series.
In the American League, the Los Angeles Angels of Anaheim returned to the postseason for the fifth time in seven years, the Boston Red Sox returned for the fifth time in six years, the Chicago White Sox made their third appearance in the past nine years, and the Tampa Bay Rays made their postseason debut. This was the first postseason since 1993 to not feature the New York Yankees, who had previously made thirteen straight appearances from 1995 to 2007.
In the National League, the Chicago Cubs returned for the third time in six years, marking the first time since 1906 that both Chicago 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 made their third appearance in the past five years, and the Milwaukee Brewers ended over a quarter-century of futility by making their first postseason appearance since 1982 (first as a member of the National League), ending what was the longest postseason appearance drought in the league at the time.
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. It was the first championship won by the Phillies since 1980.
- ^ "2008 Major Leagues Schedule". Baseball-Reference.com. Retrieved July 13, 2022.