We're just a week into the 2025 postseason, and already we've seen some downright electric atmospheres all around the league. Playoff stalwarts like the New York Yankees and Philadelphia Phillies have brought it, while success-starved crowds in Seattle, Toronto and Milwaukee have nearly come unglued while helping their teams to early wins. In a short series between talented teams where every little thing takes on outsized importance, you can never underestimated the impact of good, old-fashioned home-field advantage.
But that got us wondering: Just what is the best home-field advantage in baseball, especially this time of year? We wanted more than simply vibes-based analysis, so we decided to consult the data, looking at each team's win-loss record in home playoff games dating back to 2015. (We removed the 2020 season from consideration here for obvious reasons.) It's not a perfect metric, but it gives us an idea of which ballparks really have become a fortress in October.
Which home crowd is on top? And which have been coasting a bit too much on reputation of late? Let's break it down.
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The five best playoff environments in baseball, based on results
1. Kansas City Royals, Kauffman Stadium (7-3, .700)
Admittedly, the run to the World Series in 2015 is doing the heavy lifting here: Kansas City went a whopping 7-1 at home that October, dropping Game 1 of the ALDS to the Houston Astros and then never losing at Kauffman Stadium again. Things went less well the next time around, as the Royals dropped both games at home in their ALDS loss to the New York Yankees last season. But still, the numbers don't lie: When Kansas City has a team to support, they turn their home field into a fortress.
2. Philadelphia Phillies, Citizens Bank Park (13-7, .650)
Red October has taken on water recently: After dropping two in a row to the Los Angeles Dodgers to start the NLDS this week, Philly has now lost five of its last six playoff home games, a stretch that dates back to Games 6 and 7 of the 2023 NLCS against the Arizona Diamondbacks.
It's a testament to just how impenetrable the Bank was prior to that they still rank so highly on this list. The Phillies went a ridiculous 12-2 at home in October prior to this recent rough patch, a stretch that includes not one but two different six-game winning streaks — the main reason why they were able to get all the way to the World Series back in 2022. It may not feel as invincible as it once did, but that has more to do with the players on the field than anything else.
3. Atlanta Braves, Truist Park (11-6, .647)
Again, we have a recent World Series run inflating the record a bit. The 2021 miracle Braves went 7-1 at home that October, sweeping the Brewers and Dodgers before winning two of three against the Houston in the Fall Classic. The record before and after that magical stretch is more mixed, though hardly bad, and it does still include moments like this:
4. New York Yankees, Yankee Stadium (19-12, .613)
Much has been (justifiably) made of the Yankees' postseason struggles during the Aaron Boone/Aaron Judge era, but one thing's clear: You can't blame the Bronx. New York's 2017 run helped turn the new Yankee Stadium from an antiseptic office park into something more closely resembling the madhouse the old one used to be, with a 6-1 home record that included a clean sweep of the Astros in the ALCS.
It's been a mixed bag of late, and the collapse in Game 5 of last year's World Series shows that this team is hardly impenetrable at home (or anywhere, really). But it remains a difference-making atmosphere, as Tuesday night's comeback in ALDS Game 3 can attest.
5. Los Angeles Dodgers, Dodger Stadium (28-19, .596)
Prior to their World Series wins in both 2020 and 2024, the Dodgers had developed a reputation as a team that came up small in October. And to be sure, there are some black marks here, like Game 7 of the 2017 World Series or Game 5 of the 2019 NLDS. Amid those conspicuous failures, though, is a whole lot of winning, and last year's title run — which included close-out wins at home in both the NLDS and NLCS as well as an all-timer in Game 1 of the Fall Classic — has them closing out the top five.
The five worst playoff environments in baseball, based on results
1. Texas Rangers, Globe Life Park (2-8, .200)
This one spans two different ballparks, so it's not even like you can blame bad real estate. Texas lost all four of its home games in consecutive ALDS matchups against the Blue Jays in 2015 and 2016, back when they called the Ballpark in Arlington home. And even a move to Globe Life Park didn't improve matters much: The Rangers captured the 2023 World Series in spite of their home crowd, not because of them, losing all three home games in the ALCS and splitting two against the D-backs. (Though admittedly, the one win was pretty incredible.)
2. St. Louis Cardinals, Busch Stadium (2-6, .250)
Insert your most obvious "Best Fans in Baseball" joke here. The Cardinals split a pair of home games against the rival Cubs in the 2015 NLDS, and they've proceeded to win exactly one (1) postseason game at Busch Stadium since.
That lone victory came against the Braves in the 2019 NLDS, although St. Louis followed it up by both home games of the NLCS to the Nationals. They were swept at home by the Phillies in 2022 as well, and the simple fact is that it's been an awfully long time since we've seen a Cardinals crowd well and truly rocking. Some of that has to do with the product on the field, and some of it has to do with some early postseason start times they've been stuck with. But the numbers don't lie.
3. Washington Nationals, Nationals Park (6-8, .429)
Speaking of the Nationals! The 2019 title team were road warriors, losing all three games of that year's World Series at home while winning four on the road to win it all. Prior to that, Nationals Park had been a house of October horrors for Bryce Harper and Co., including a crushing elimination loss to the Dodgers back in 2016. We will say this, though: When Nats fans have a reason to go wild, they do go wild.
4. Arizona Diamondbacks, Chase Field (4-5, .444)
D-backs fans have certainly witnessed some highs, most especially an NLDS upset-clinching win in Game 3 against the Dodgers back in 2023. But they lost all three home games in that year's World Series, and they've made it to October just twice since 2017.
5. New York Mets, Citi Field (8-8, .500)
A .500 record in the postseason certainly isn't anything to feel shame about, and anyone who's watched a playoff game at Citi Field either live or on television will tell you that this certainly isn't a matter of Mets fans not being raucous enough. But for every peak — the Francisco Lindor grand slam, the David Wright homer back in 2015 — there has been a corresponding valley (losing a best-of-three Wild Card series to the Padres in 2022, getting dogwalked by the Dodgers in last year's NLCS).