It’s October, and with that comes MLB playoff baseball. It’s what all thirty MLB teams work for, but only ten teams achieve each year. All 162 games in the regular season only matter for one month.

Players have the drive to win, games are more competitive. Whether it’s to receive a bonus from their teams or to win a ring, the players want it.

“It’s not how you start the season, it’s how you finish. If you wind up helping the team make the playoffs, that’s what you play for. You don’t play to put up your numbers, but to try to get a chance to make it to the World Series,” says Albert Pujols, a future Hall of Fame member.

The fans also want it. The atmosphere in the ballparks is unmatched. When a home run is hit, or someone strikes out, the audience erupts.

Another bonus to the MLB playoffs is seeing the best teams and best players in the world face off. Both teams go at it to make it to the next round with the hopes of winning it all.

The way the brackets are determined are by the teams regular season record. In the the MLB, there are two leagues: American and National. The teams with the top five record of both conferences make it to the playoffs. The four and five seed play each other first in the wild-card game. Whoever wins that game faces the first seed.

This year, multiple teams made it to the playoffs that was not there last year. The Oakland Athletics, Milwaukee Brewers, Colorado Rockies, and Atlanta Braves all made the playoffs this year.

The Boston Red Sox, Houston Astros, Cleveland Indians, New York Yankees, Chicago Cubs, and Los Angeles Dodgers all made it to the playoffs last year.

The Houston Astros look to defend their title, after winning the World Series last year.

According to fivethirtyeight.com, the Houston Astros have the highest chance of winning it all with a 38% chance.

Overall, the MLB playoffs are a special sort of baseball. It’s not your everyday game. These games mean something to both the players and the fans. The playoff atmosphere is unique to the MLB. There’s never a dull moment in the postseason.