Division of Major League Baseball
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American League East Teams Location
The
American League East
is one of
Major League Baseball
's six divisions. MLB consists of an East, Central, and West division for each of its two 15-team leagues, the
American League
(AL) and
National League
(NL). This division was created before the start of the
1969
season along with the
American League West
division. Before that time, each league consisted of 10 teams without any divisions.
Four of the division's five teams are located in the
Eastern United States
, with the other team, the
Toronto Blue Jays
, in
Eastern Canada
. It is currently the only division that contains a non-American team. At the end of the Major League Baseball season, the team with the best record in the division earns one of the AL's six
playoff
spots.
[a]
History
[
edit
]
Baseball writers have long posited that the American League East is the toughest division in MLB;
[1]
[2]
during its 50-year existence, an AL East team has gone on to play in the
World Series
27 times, and 16 of those teams have been crowned World Series champions. Since the
1995
season, when the
wild-card
playoff berth was introduced, the AL East has produced 20 of the 32 wild-card teams for the American League, with the AL West sending seven teams, and only five coming from the AL Central.
When MLB split into divisions for the
1969
season, the American League, unlike the
National League
, split its 12 teams strictly on geography. The six teams then located in the
Eastern Time Zone
were all placed in the AL East, with the other six teams making up the AL West.
Realignment of 1972
[
edit
]
In September 1971, American League owners approved the move of the second
Washington Senators
franchise to
Arlington, Texas
, to become the
Texas Rangers
. With the Rangers moving to the AL West, the owners then debated whether the
Chicago White Sox
or
Milwaukee Brewers
should move to the AL East for 1972. The White Sox requested they be moved to the East under the argument of being an original AL franchise and playing most of their longtime rival teams, of which five were in the East.
The
Oakland Athletics
(formerly from Kansas City and Philadelphia) objected to moving the White Sox to the East; owner
Charlie Finley
was a Chicago native who wanted to continue to make three trips per season with his club to the Second City. The
Minnesota Twins
went a step further and objected to switching either the White Sox or Brewers out of fear of losing their closest geographic rivals and the Twins, citing the National League's lack of geographic accuracy (which placed the
Atlanta Braves
in the NL West) in forming its divisions as a reason why the Rangers should not have been shifted out of the East. The Twins also argued that the
National Football League
's
Dallas Cowboys
played (and still do play) in the
NFC East
despite being far from the
Northeast
.
The White Sox' pleas notwithstanding, the Brewers, who began as the
Seattle Pilots
in
1969
and had to endure long divisional road trips to Oakland and
Anaheim
(and vice-versa) in the AL West, were moved to the AL East.
| This section
needs expansion
with: history after 1972. You can help by
adding to it
.
(
September 2021
)
|
Division membership
[
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]
Current members
[
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]
Former members
[
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]
Timeline
[
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]
- A
AL East was formed with six teams due to the
1969 expansion
, as the AL grew from 10 teams to 12.
- B
Following the 1971 season, the Washington Senators franchise relocated and became the Texas Rangers of the
AL West
; the Milwaukee Brewers moved to the AL East to maintain an equal number of teams in each division.
- C
The Toronto Blue Jays were added in the
1977 expansion
, becoming the seventh team of the AL East.
- D
As part of the 1994 realignment, Cleveland and Milwaukee were moved to the newly created
AL Central
, reducing the AL East to five teams.
- E
The Tampa Bay Devil Rays were added in the
1998 expansion
while Detroit moved to the AL Central, maintaining the AL East at five teams.
- F
Entering the 2008 season, Tampa Bay's nicknamed changed from Devil Rays to Rays.
Champions by year
[
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]
- Team names link to the season in which each team played
* ? The Yankees and Red Sox finished with exact records, tied for the division championship; the Yankees won a
one-game tie-breaker
.
† ? Due to the
1981 Major League Baseball strike
, the season was split. The Yankees won the first half and defeated the second-half champion Brewers (62?45) in the postseason.
†† ? Due to the
1994?95 Major League Baseball strike
starting August 12, the season was not played to completion. The Yankees were leading at the time of the strike.
+ ? The Red Sox and Yankees finished tied for first place with identical records. The Yankees were declared division winners, due to having won the season series against the Red Sox, and the Red Sox received the wild card berth.
[b]
††† ? Due to the
COVID-19 pandemic
, the 2020 season was shortened to 60 games. By virtue of an expanded eight-team postseason format, the division runner-up Yankees also qualified for the playoffs.
AL East statistics
[
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]
Team
|
Division championships
|
Postseason records
[c]
|
Number
|
Year(s)
|
Most recent
|
Wild Card
[d]
|
ALDS
|
ALCS
|
World Series
|
New York Yankees
|
20
|
1976?1978, 1980?1981, 1996, 1998?2006, 2009, 2011?2012, 2019, 2022
|
2022
|
8
|
14?9
|
11?7
|
7?4
|
Baltimore Orioles
|
10
|
1969?1971, 1973?1974, 1979, 1983, 1997, 2014, 2023
|
2023
|
3
|
3?2
|
5?5
|
2?3
|
Boston Red Sox
|
10
|
1975, 1986, 1988, 1990, 1995, 2007, 2013, 2016?2018
|
2018
|
8
|
8?6
|
6?6
|
4?2
|
Toronto Blue Jays
|
6
|
1985, 1989, 1991?1993, 2015
|
2015
|
4
|
2?0
|
2?5
|
2?0
|
Tampa Bay Rays
|
4
|
2008, 2010, 2020?2021
|
2021
|
5
|
2?5
|
2?0
|
0?2
|
Detroit Tigers
|
3
|
1972, 1984, 1987
|
1987†
|
?
|
0?0
|
1?2
|
1?0
|
Milwaukee Brewers
|
1
|
1982
|
1982†
|
?
|
0?1
|
1?0
|
0?1
|
Cleveland Indians
|
0
|
?
|
?†
|
?
|
0?0
|
0?0
|
0?0
|
Washington Senators
|
0
|
?
|
?†
|
?
|
0?0
|
0?0
|
0?0
|
Total
|
53
|
1969?1993, 1995?present
|
2022
|
28
|
29?23
|
28?25
|
16?12
|
- †
Former division members
- Totals updated through conclusion of the 2022 postseason.
Other postseason teams
[
edit
]
Since the advent of the Wild Card, AL East teams have faced each other in the ALCS 5 times, the ALDS 4 times, and the Wild Card twice.
- See
List of American League Wild Card winners
(since 1994)
* ? From 2012 to 2019, and in 2021, the Wild Card was expanded to two teams. Those teams faced each other in the
Wild Card Game
to determine the final participant in the
American League Division Series
. In 2020 only, eight teams, including the three division winners, played in a best-of-three Wild Card Series, with the winners advancing to the Division Series. Starting in 2022, the Wild Card field was increased to three teams, and along with the lowest-ranked division winner, qualified for the best-of-three Wild Card Series to determine the remaining two slots in the Division Series.
** In
2013
, the
Texas Rangers
and the Tampa Bay Rays finished the season with the identical records of 91?71. A
one-game playoff
was held and the Rays won it 5?2 over the Rangers to capture the second Wild Card berth.
*** In
2016
, the Toronto Blue Jays and the Baltimore Orioles finished the season with the identical records of 89?73. However, the Blue Jays won the right to host the Wild Card Game by virtue of their 10?9 regular-season record against the Orioles.
**** Due to the
COVID-19 pandemic
, the season was shortened to 60 games.
***** In
2021
, the Boston Red Sox and the New York Yankees finished the season with the identical records of 92?70. However, the Red Sox won the right to host the Wild Card Game by virtue of their 10?9 regular-season record against the Yankees.
Beginning in 2022, the postseason has expanded to three division leaders and three wild cards per league.
Season results
[
edit
]
- Notes and Tiebreakers
- a
New York and Boston were tied for the division championship and played in a
tie-breaker game
. The Yankees won 5?4 to claim the division crown.
- b
New York and Boston were tied for the division championship and wild-card berth, but the Yankees claimed the division crown by winning the season series 10?9, relegating Boston to the wild-card spot. New York and
Los Angeles Angels
of the
American League West
were also tied for the second and third seed, but the Yankees were relegated to the third seed by losing the season series 6?4.
- c
Boston and
Cleveland
of the
American League Central
were tied for the first and second seed, but the Red Sox claimed the top overall seed by winning the season series 5?2, relegating Cleveland to the second seed.
- d
Tampa Bay and
Texas
of the
American League West
were tied for the second wild-card berth and played in a
tie-breaker game
. The Rays won 5?2 to claim the second wild-card spot.
- e
Toronto and Baltimore were tied for both wild-card berths, but the Blue Jays claimed the first wild-card spot by winning the season series 10?9, relegating Baltimore to the second wild-card spot.
- f
Boston and New York both finished with identical records, but the Red Sox claimed the first wild-card spot by winning the season series 10?9, relegating the Yankees to the second wild-card spot.
See also
[
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]
Notes
[
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]
- ^
The three division winners, plus three
wild card
teams, advance to the postseason.
- ^
Had a team from another division been the wild card, a one-game tie-breaker would have been played between the Yankees and Red Sox to decide the division champion.
- ^
Reflects postseason record of each team only during the team's time as a member of the AL East
- ^
Number of times qualifying as a wild card team
References
[
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]
External links
[
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]
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Organization
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