List of American League Wild Card winners

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The wild card was established for Major League Baseball's playoffs in 1994 with the intention of helping the best teams that did not win their division to still have a chance to win the World Series. The restructuring of both the American and National Leagues from two divisions each to three made it necessary to either give one team a bye in the first round of playoffs, or create the wild card for the best second-place team. In addition, the wild card guaranteed that the team with the second best record in each league would qualify for the playoffs, even if they were in the same division with the team having the best record.

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[edit] AL wild card qualifiers by year

Year Team Record % Playoffs
1994 Cleveland Indians§ 66-47 .584 No Playoffs
1995 New York Yankees 78-65 .549 Lost Division Series to Seattle, 3-2
1996 Baltimore Orioles 88-74 .543 Lost ALCS to New York Yankees, 4-1
1997 New York Yankees 96-66 .586 Lost Division Series to Cleveland, 3-2
1998 Boston Red Sox 92-70 .568 Lost Division Series to Cleveland, 3-1
1999 Boston Red Sox 94-68 .580 Lost ALCS to New York Yankees, 4-1
2000 Seattle Mariners 91-71 .562 Lost ALCS to New York Yankees, 4-2
2001 Oakland Athletics 102-60 .630 Lost Division Series to New York Yankees, 3-2
2002 Anaheim Angels 99-63 .611 Won World Series over San Francisco Giants, 4-3
2003 Boston Red Sox 95-67 .586 Lost ALCS to New York Yankees, 4-3
2004 Boston Red Sox 98-64 .605 Won World Series over St. Louis, 4-0
2005 Boston Red Sox 95-67 .586 Lost Division Series to Chicago (AL), 3-0
2006 Detroit Tigers 95-67 .586 Lost World Series to St. Louis, 4-1
2007 New York Yankees 94-68 .580 Lost in Division Series to Cleveland Indians 3-1

§ – Due to the players' strike, no official winner was awarded. Cleveland was leading at the strike.

[edit] Most AL wild card appearances

Rank Team Total Year(s)
1 Boston Red Sox 5 1998, 1999, 2003, 2004, 2005
2 New York Yankees 3 1995, 1997, 2007
T-3 Baltimore Orioles 1 1996
T-3 Seattle Mariners 1 2000
T-3 Oakland Athletics 1 2001
T-3 Anaheim Angels 1 2002
T-3 Detroit Tigers 1 2006

[edit] Team records as AL wild card qualifier

AL Team Series Record
Boston Red Sox 5-4
Anaheim Angels 3-0
Detroit Tigers 2-1
Baltimore Orioles 1-1
Seattle Mariners 1-1
Oakland Athletics 0-1
New York Yankees 0-3

[edit] See also

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