League Championship Series
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The '''League Championship Series''' ('''LCS''') is the official name for a round of playoffs in [[Major League Baseball]] which has been conducted since [[1969 in baseball|1969]]. In [[1981 in baseball|1981]], and since [[1995 in baseball|1995]], the two annual series have matched up the winners of the [[Division Series]], and the winners advance to meet in the [[World Series]].
The League Championship Series was promulgated in 1969, when both the [[National League]] and the [[American League]] increased in size from ten teams to twelve with the addition, via expansion, of the [[Washington Nationals|Montreal Expos]] and [[San Diego Padres]] to the former and the [[Kansas City Royals]] and [[Milwaukee Brewers|Seattle Pilots]](who are now the Milwaukee Brewers and have since moved to the [[National League|NL]]) to the latter. Concomitant with this, both leagues formed Eastern and Western Divisions, the first-place teams from which faced off in the LCS.
Originally, the League Championship Series were [[best-of-five playoff|best-of-five]], but were lengthened to [[best-of-seven playoff|best-of-seven]] in [[1985 in baseball|1985]]. Since 1995 the LCS has matched up the winners of the Division Series, which were added when both leagues realigned into three divisions, the winners thereof plus one [[wild card (sports)|wild card]] team in each league participating in the latter series, which is a [[best-of-five playoff|best-of-five]] (this change was actually supposed to take place in [[1994 in baseball|1994]], but postseason play was not held in that year due to a [[1994 Major League Baseball strike|players' strike]]).
Until [[1998 in baseball|1998]], the home-field advantage in the LCS was allocated on a rotating basis between the two (and from 1995 through [[1997 in baseball|1997]], among the three) division champions; since 1998 the team with the better record has had this advantage, except that in no case can the wild card ever secure the extra home game, regardless of regular-season records.
==See also==
* [[National League Championship Series]]
* [[American League Championship Series]]
[[Category:Baseball playoffs and champions]]
[[Category:National League Championship Series]]
[[Category:American League Championship Series]]
[[Category:Recurring events established in 1969]]
[[ja:リーグチャンピオンシップシリーズ]]