The Cleveland Guardians and Chicago White Sox were both formed as minor league teams in the 1890's before joining the American League in 1901. They have been fierce rivals in the American League Central standings since 1994. Despite all of their history — and plentiful amount of competitive regular season matchups — the Guardians and White Sox have surprisingly never played one another in the MLB playoffs, according to Jon Morosi of MLB Network.

The Guardians clinched the American League Central division this season while the White Sox landed a postseason spot as the No. 6 seed. Chicago cruised to a 2-0 series win over the Houston Astros in the American League Wild Card Series, clinching the series victory with a 7-3 win on Wednesday. The stage is now set for the AL Central rivals to finally go head-to-head in the postseason.

So, why haven't these teams played each other in the playoffs before?

Why Guardians, White Sox haven't met in postseason before

Cleveland Guardians third baseman Jose Ramirez (11) steals second as Chicago White Sox shortstop Colson Montgomery (12) bobbles the ball during the sixth inning at Progressive Field.
Ken Blaze-Imagn Images

Before the invention of the Wild Card, only pennant winners and division winners advanced to the postseason. In baseball's early history, there were no divisions. Divisions were finally formed in 1969, but there was no Central. Rather, the leagues adopted two six-team divisions in the East and the West.

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Small-market teams such as the Guardians and, although they are not as small of a market, the White Sox had to consistently go up against juggernauts such as the New York Yankees. It wasn't often that Cleveland and Chicago were at or even near the top of their divisions.

The AL and NL Central as well as Wild Cards were formed in 1994. Through the years, MLB has added more Wild Card teams. For many years, the league only had one Wild Card ball club. If that was still the case, the White Sox wouldn't have even reached the postseason this year.

Now that there is a No. 6 seed (third Wild Card team), there are more opportunities for ball clubs to reach the postseason. It also means teams that would not have previously gone head-to-head in the postseason will finally meet.

Game 1 of the ALDS between the White Sox and Guardians is scheduled for Saturday at Progressive Field in Cleveland.