American League Division Series

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MLB Playoffs
Division series American League Division Series National League Division Series Championship series American League Championship Series National League Championship Series World Series

In Major League Baseball, the American League Division Series (ALDS) determines which two teams from the American League will advance to the American League Championship Series. The Division Series consist of two best-of-five series, featuring the three division winners and a wild-card team (the non-division winning team with the best record).

1 History
2 Determining the matchups
3 Previous matchups
4 MVP
5 ALDS results
6 See also
7 External links

[edit] History

The Division Series was permanently created after the 1993 season when Major League Baseball restructured each league into three divisions, but their first regular playing was in 1995 due to the cancellation of the 1994 playoffs. Previously, because of a players' strike in 1981, a split-season format forced a divisional playoff series, in which the New York Yankees won the Eastern Division series over the Milwaukee Brewers (who were in the American League until 1998) in five games while the Oakland Athletics swept the Kansas City Royals in three games in the Western Division.

[edit] Determining the matchups

Since 1998, the wild-card team has been assigned to play the division winner with the best winning percentage (outside of their own division) in one series, and the other two division winners meet in the other series. The two series winners move on to the best-of-seven ALCS. Home field advantage goes to the team with the better regular season record, except for the wild card team, which never receives the home field advantage.

[edit] Previous matchups

Since the ALDS's inception, several pairs of opponents have met more than once. The Cleveland Indians and the Boston Red Sox played in 1995, 1998, and 1999, and the Texas Rangers played the New York Yankees in 1996, 1998, and 1999. Also, four matchups have occurred twice, three of which involving the Yankees; they played the Oakland Athletics in 2000 and 2001, the Anaheim-LA Angels in 2002 and 2005, and the Minnesota Twins in 2003 and 2004. The Athletics and the Twins make up the fourth such occurrence, meeting in 2002 and 2006.

[edit] MVP

There is currently no award for the Most Valuable Player of the Division Series.

[edit] ALDS results

Year	Winner	Loser	Wins	Losses
1981	New York Yankees	Milwaukee Brewers	3	2
1981	Oakland Athletics	Kansas City Royals	3	0
1994	Not held due to player strike.
1995	Cleveland Indians	Boston Red Sox	3	0
1995	Seattle Mariners	New York Yankees†	3	2
1996	New York Yankees	Texas Rangers	3	1
1996	Baltimore Orioles†	Cleveland Indians	3	1
1997	Baltimore Orioles	Seattle Mariners	3	1
1997	Cleveland Indians	New York Yankees†	3	2
1998	New York Yankees	Texas Rangers	3	0
1998	Cleveland Indians	Boston Red Sox†	3	1
1999	New York Yankees	Texas Rangers	3	0
1999	Boston Red Sox†	Cleveland Indians	3	2
2000	Seattle Mariners†	Chicago White Sox	3	0
2000	New York Yankees	Oakland Athletics	3	2
2001	New York Yankees	Oakland Athletics†	3	2
2001	Seattle Mariners	Cleveland Indians	3	2
2002	Minnesota Twins	Oakland Athletics	3	2
2002	Anaheim Angels†	New York Yankees	3	1
2003	New York Yankees	Minnesota Twins	3	1
2003	Boston Red Sox†	Oakland Athletics	3	2
2004	New York Yankees	Minnesota Twins	3	1
2004	Boston Red Sox†	Anaheim Angels	3	0
2005	Chicago White Sox	Boston Red Sox†	3	0
2005	Los Angeles Angels	New York Yankees	3	2
2006	Detroit Tigers†	New York Yankees	3	1
2006	Oakland Athletics	Minnesota Twins	3	0