Museum of Baseballs: Major League Baseball National and American League Postseason Baseballs. From 1996 to 1999, and 2012-2019, Major League Baseball playoff games featured a Rawlings special event logo official game ball, unique for each season.
2012–2019 Rawlings MLB Postseason Baseballs
Wild Card, Division Series & League Championship Series
The triumphant return of Rawlings Major League Baseball Postseason (playoffs) Official Game Balls!
1996–1999 Rawlings National League & American League
Division & Championship Series Baseballs – NLDS, ALDS, NLCS, ALCS
In the ’90s, these were National and American League balls, naturally. The very last official National League and American League baseballs ever used in official game play were post season playoff baseballs, the 1999 ALCS and NLCS pictured above. This class of baseballs was special. It includes a few of the best designs and templates used in the big leagues.
In 2000, Major League Baseball’s commissioner’s office (Selig) dissolved the league presidents’ offices and ushered in a new era for the new millennium with the corporate blue ROMLB ball, thereby killing off these fantastic, historic individual league-stamped gems. What a shame. Playoff baseballs – Division and Championship Series – were discontinued after that ’99 season. But the league reversed course, at least temporarily, and brought them back in a new form in 2012.
MLB introduced a new playoff event ball in 2012, the MLB Postseason game ball. It became a universal ball made for all postseason matchups each year, from wild card games through AL and NL league championship series. From 2012 through 2017, these baseballs were stamped in smooth silver ink (though technically it may have been gray some years). Then the Big Leagues switched colors to that cold, dark, corporate MLB Manfred blue in 2018.
Unfortunately all special playoff and Postseason game balls were discontinued entirely following 2019. Now, the league only uses the standard MLB ROMLB game ball for all postseason playoff games. SHAME!
2012 MLB Postseason. 2013 MLB Postseason. 2014 MLB Postseason. 2015 MLB Postseason. 2016 MLB Postseason. 2017 MLB Postseason (Final silver-stamped MLB game ball). 2018 MLB Postseason. 2019 MLB Postseason (Final Major League Baseball Postseason commemorative game ball). (Commissioner Selig 2012–2014; Commissioner Manfred 2015–2019). 1996 ALDS Version 1. 1996 ALDS Version 2. 1996 NLDS Version 1. 1996 NLDS Version 2. 1996 ALCS Version 1. 1996 ALCS Version 2. 1996 NLCS Version 1. 1996 NLCS Version 2. 1997 ALDS Error/Canceled: misspelled “Amercian”. 1997 ALDS. 1997 NLDS. 1997 ALCS Error/Canceled: misspelled “Amercian”. 1997 ALCS. 1997 NLCS. 1998 ALDS. 1998 NLDS. 1998 ALCS. 1998 NLCS. 1999 ALDS. 1999 NLDS. 1999 American League Championship Series ALCS & 1999 National League Championship Series NLCS: The final AL & NL baseballs ever used. (NL President Coleman, AL President Budig)