American League East


The American League East is one of Major League Baseball 's six divisions. This division was created before the start of the season along with the American League West division. Before that time the American League had existed as a single league of 10 teams.
Four of its five teams are located in the Eastern United States, with the other in Central Canada. It is currently the only division to contain a non-American team. At the end of the MLB season, the team with the best record in the division earns one of the American League's five playoff spots. The most recent team to win this division was the New York Yankees in 2019.

History

Writers have long posited that the American League East is the toughest division in MLB; during its 50-year existence, an East division 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 season when the wild-card playoff berth was introduced, the AL East has produced 20 of the 31 wild-card teams for the American League.
When the Major Leagues split into divisions for the 1969 season, the American League, unlike the National League, split its 12 teams strictly on geography. The six teams located in the Eastern Time Zone were placed in the East division, and the other six were placed in the West division.
In September 1971, American League owners approved the move of the second Washington Senators franchise to Arlington, Texas to become the Texas Rangers. The owners then debated whether the Chicago White Sox or Milwaukee Brewers should move to the East division for 1972, with the Rangers moving to the West. The White Sox requested they be moved to the East, stating they were an original American League franchise and wanted to play more games against other old-line A.L. teams, five of which were in the East.
The Oakland Athletics 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 Windy City. The Minnesota Twins went a step farther and objected to switching either the White Sox or Brewers. The Twins wanted to keep nearby Chicago and Milwaukee as division rivals, citing the National League's lack of geographic accuracy in forming its divisions as a reason why the Rangers should not have been shifted out of the East. The Twins also noted the National Football League's Dallas Cowboys played in the NFC East.
The White Sox' pleas fell on deaf ears, and the Brewers, who began as the Seattle Pilots in 1969, were moved to the East.

Division membership

Current members

Champions by year

‡ – In 1978, the New York Yankees ended up in a tie with the Boston Red Sox for the division championship, and won a 1-game playoff against Boston.
* – Due to the players' strike, the season was split. New York won the first half and defeated second-half champion Milwaukee in the postseason.
§ – Due to the 1994 baseball strike starting August 12, no official winner was awarded. New York was leading at the strike.
†† – The Boston Red Sox and New York Yankees finished the 2005 season tied for first place with identical records. New York won the season series against Boston and was awarded the tie-breaker; Boston was awarded the wild card berth. Had a team from another division won the wild card, a one-game playoff would have decided the division champion.
The Cleveland Indians were the only team to not win the AL East before the 1994 division realignment.

AL East statistics

Wild Card winners produced

Since the advent of the Wild Card, AL East teams have faced each other in the ALCS 5 times and the ALDS twice.
YearWinnerRecord%GBPlayoffs
1995New York Yankees79–65.5497Lost ALDS to Seattle, 3–2
1996Baltimore Orioles88–74.5434Lost ALCS to New York, 4–1
1997New York Yankees96–66.5932Lost ALDS to Cleveland, 3–2
1998Boston Red Sox92–70.56822Lost ALDS to Cleveland, 3–1
1999Boston Red Sox94–68.5804Lost ALCS to New York, 4–1
2003Boston Red Sox95–67.5866Lost ALCS to New York, 4–3
2004Boston Red Sox98–64.6053Won World Series over St. Louis, 4–0
2005Boston Red Sox95–67.5860Lost ALDS to Chicago, 3–0
2007New York Yankees94–68.5802Lost ALDS to Cleveland, 3–1
2008Boston Red Sox95–67.5862Lost ALCS to Tampa Bay, 4–3
2009Boston Red Sox95–67.5868Lost ALDS to Los Angeles, 3–0
2010New York Yankees95–67.5861Lost ALCS to Texas, 4–2
2011Tampa Bay Rays91–71.5626Lost ALDS to Texas, 3–1
2012*Texas Rangers93–69.5741Lost ALWC to Baltimore
2012*Baltimore Orioles93–69.5742Lost ALDS to New York, 3–2
2013Cleveland Indians92–70.5681Lost ALWC to Tampa Bay
2013Tampa Bay Rays**92–71.5645½Lost ALDS to Boston, 3–1
2014Kansas City Royals89–73.5491Lost World Series to San Francisco, 4-3
2014Oakland Athletics88–74.54310Lost ALWC to Kansas City
2015New York Yankees87–75.5376Lost ALWC to Houston
2015Houston Astros86–76.5312Lost ALDS to Kansas City, 3–2
2016Toronto Blue Jays***89–73.5494Lost ALCS to Cleveland, 4–1
2016Baltimore Orioles***89–73.5494Lost ALWC to Toronto
2017New York Yankees91–71.5622Lost ALCS vs. Houston, 4-3
2017Minnesota Twins85–77.52517Lost ALWC to New York
2018New York Yankees100–62.6178Lost ALDS to Boston, 3–1
2018Oakland Athletics97–65.5996Lost ALWC to New York
2019Oakland Athletics97–65.59910Lost ALWC to Tampa Bay
2019Tampa Bay Rays96–66.5937Lost ALDS to Houston, 3–2

* – Starting with the 2012 season, there are two Wild Card winners in each league. The qualifiers play a single-game playoff to determine who will face the top-seeded team in the American League Division Series.
** In, 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, 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.