American League East

AL East

League	American League
Sport	Major League Baseball
Founded	1969
No. of teams	5
Most recent champion(s)	New York Yankees (17th title)
Most titles	New York Yankees (17)

The American League Eastern Division is one of Major League Baseball's six divisions (An Eastern, Central, and Western division for each of the two leagues). This division was created before the start of the 1969 season along with the Western 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. At the end of the MLB season, the team with the best record in the division earns one of the American League's four playoff spots. The most recent team to win this division was the New York Yankees in 2011.

During its 41-year existence, an Eastern Division team has gone on to play in the World Series 25 times, and 14 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 the wild-card team for the American League in 12 out of the 16 years (the Western Division three, and the Central Division just one).

Contents 1 Current members 2 Former Members 3 The Division Members 4 AL East champions by year 5 AL East statistics 6 Wild-Card winners produced 7 See also 8 References

Current members

• Baltimore Orioles - Founding member
• Boston Red Sox - Founding member
• New York Yankees - Founding member
• Tampa Bay Rays - Joined in 1998 as an expansion team (as the Tampa Bay Devil Rays)
• Toronto Blue Jays - Joined in 1977 as an expansion team

Former Members

• Cleveland Indians - Founding member; moved to the AL Central.
• Detroit Tigers - Founding member, moved in 1998 to the AL Central
• Milwaukee Brewers - Joined in 1972, stayed through 1993; then moved to the American League Central Division; later joined National League Central Division in 1998
• Washington Senators - Founding member, stayed through 1971; relocated to Arlington, Texas in 1972 (becoming the Texas Rangers); moved to the AL West

The Division Members

Time period	Members	Changes from the previous set-up
1969 – 71	Baltimore Orioles, Boston Red Sox, Cleveland Indians, Detroit Tigers, New York Yankees, Washington Senators	Creation of division due to 1969 expansion
1972 – 76	Baltimore Orioles, Boston Red Sox, Cleveland Indians, Detroit Tigers, Milwaukee Brewers, New York Yankees	Washington franchise moved to Dallas/Ft. Worth, became Texas Rangers and moved into AL West. Either Milwaukee or the Chicago White Sox would have had to move to the East, eventually it was decided that Milwaukee make the switch.
1977 – 93	Baltimore Orioles, Boston Red Sox, Cleveland Indians, Detroit Tigers, Milwaukee Brewers, New York Yankees, Toronto Blue Jays	Toronto added in 1977 expansion
1994 – 97	Baltimore Orioles, Boston Red Sox, Detroit Tigers, New York Yankees, Toronto Blue Jays	Due to 1994 realignment, Cleveland and Milwaukee were moved to newly-created AL Central
1998 – 2007	Baltimore Orioles, Boston Red Sox, New York Yankees, Tampa Bay Devil Rays, Toronto Blue Jays	Tampa Bay added in 1998 expansion along with the Tigers moving to AL Central
2008 – present	Baltimore Orioles, Boston Red Sox, New York Yankees, Tampa Bay Rays, Toronto Blue Jays	Tampa Bay Devil Rays become Tampa Bay Rays

AL East champions by year

• Team names link to the season in which each team played

Year	Winner	Record	%	Playoffs
1969	Baltimore Orioles	109–53	.673	Lost World Series to New York, 4–1
1970	Baltimore Orioles	108–54	.667	Won World Series over Cincinnati, 4–1
1971	Baltimore Orioles	101–57	.639	Lost World Series to Pittsburgh, 4–3
1972	Detroit Tigers	86–70	.551	Lost ALCS to Oakland, 3–2
1973	Baltimore Orioles	97–65	.599	Lost ALCS to Oakland, 3–2
1974	Baltimore Orioles	91–71	.562	Lost ALCS to Oakland, 3–1
1975	Boston Red Sox	95–65	.594	Lost World Series to Cincinnati, 4–3
1976	New York Yankees	97–62	.610	Lost World Series to Cincinnati, 4–0
1977	New York Yankees	100–62	.617	Won World Series over Los Angeles, 4–2
1978	New York Yankees‡	100–63	.613	Won World Series over Los Angeles, 4–2
1979	Baltimore Orioles	102–57	.642	Lost World Series to Pittsburgh, 4–3
1980	New York Yankees	103–59	.636	Lost ALCS to Kansas City, 3–0
1981	New York Yankees*	59–48	.551	Lost World Series to Los Angeles, 4–2
1982	Milwaukee Brewers	95–67	.586	Lost World Series to St. Louis, 4–3
1983	Baltimore Orioles	98–64	.605	Won World Series over Philadelphia, 4–1
1984	Detroit Tigers	104–58	.642	Won World Series over San Diego, 4–1
1985	Toronto Blue Jays	99–62	.615	Lost ALCS to Kansas City, 4–3
1986	Boston Red Sox	95–66	.590	Lost World Series to New York, 4–3
1987	Detroit Tigers	98–64	.605	Lost ALCS to Minnesota, 4–1
1988	Boston Red Sox	89–73	.549	Lost ALCS to Oakland, 4–0
1989	Toronto Blue Jays	89–73	.549	Lost ALCS to Oakland, 4–1
1990	Boston Red Sox	88–74	.543	Lost ALCS to Oakland, 4–0
1991	Toronto Blue Jays	91–71	.562	Lost ALCS to Minnesota, 4–1
1992	Toronto Blue Jays	96–66	.593	Won World Series over Atlanta, 4–2
1993	Toronto Blue Jays	95–67	.586	Won World Series over Philadelphia, 4–2
1994	Strike Shortened Season§			No Postseason
1995	Boston Red Sox	86–58	.597	Lost ALDS to Cleveland, 3–0
1996	New York Yankees	92–70	.568	Won World Series over Atlanta, 4–2
1997	Baltimore Orioles	98–64	.605	Lost ALCS to Cleveland, 4–2
1998	New York Yankees	114–48	.704	Won World Series over San Diego, 4–0
1999	New York Yankees	98–64	.605	Won World Series over Atlanta, 4–0
2000	New York Yankees	87–74	.540	Won World Series over New York, 4–1
2001	New York Yankees	95–65	.594	Lost World Series to Arizona, 4–3
2002	New York Yankees	103–58	.640	Lost ALDS to Anaheim, 3–1
2003	New York Yankees	101–61	.623	Lost World Series to Florida, 4–2
2004	New York Yankees	101–61	.623	Lost ALCS to Boston, 4–3
2005	New York Yankees††	95–67	.586	Lost ALDS to Los Angeles, 3–2
2006	New York Yankees	97–65	.599	Lost ALDS to Detroit, 3–1
2007	Boston Red Sox	96–66	.593	Won World Series over Colorado, 4–0
2008	Tampa Bay Rays	97–65	.599	Lost World Series to Philadelphia, 4–1
2009	New York Yankees	103–59	.636	Won World Series over Philadelphia, 4–2
2010	Tampa Bay Rays	96–66	.593	Lost ALDS to Texas, 3–2
2011	New York Yankees	97–65	.599	Lost ALDS to Detroit, 3–2

‡ - 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 (62–45) 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

Team	Division Championships	Last Year Won	WildCard Appearances	Divisional Series Record	AL Championship Record	World Series Record
Current Teams in Division:
New York Yankees	17	2011	4	9 – 6	11 – 3	7 – 4
Baltimore Orioles	8	1997	1	2 – 0	5 – 4	2 – 3
Boston Red Sox	6	2007	7	5 – 4	4 – 5	2 – 2
Toronto Blue Jays	5	1993	—	0 – 0	2 – 3	2 – 0
Tampa Bay Rays	2	2010	1	1 – 1	1 – 0	0 – 1
Former Teams in Division:
Detroit Tigers	3	1987	—	0 – 0	1 – 2	1 – 0
Milwaukee Brewers	1	1982	—	0 – 0	1 – 0	0 – 1
Cleveland Indians	0	—	—	0 – 0	0 – 0	0 – 0
TOTAL	42		12	17 – 11	25 – 17	14 – 11

Wild-Card winners produced

Since the advent of the Wild Card, AL East teams have faced each other in the ALCS 5 times.

See List of American League Wild Card winners (since 1994)

Year	Winner	Record	%	GB	Playoffs
1995	New York Yankees	79–65	.549	7	Lost ALDS to Seattle, 3–2
1996	Baltimore Orioles	88–74	.543	4	Lost ALCS to New York, 4–1
1997	New York Yankees	96–66	.593	2	Lost ALDS to Cleveland, 3–2
1998	Boston Red Sox	92–70	.568	22	Lost ALDS to Cleveland, 3–1
1999	Boston Red Sox	94–68	.580	4	Lost ALCS to New York, 4–1
2003	Boston Red Sox	95–67	.586	6	Lost ALCS to New York, 4–3
2004	Boston Red Sox	98–64	.605	3	Won World Series over St. Louis, 4–0
2005	Boston Red Sox	95–67	.586	0	Lost ALDS to Chicago, 3–0
2007	New York Yankees	94–68	.580	2	Lost ALDS to Cleveland, 3–1
2008	Boston Red Sox	95–67	.586	2	Lost ALCS to Tampa Bay, 4–3
2009	Boston Red Sox	95–67	.586	8	Lost ALDS to Los Angeles, 3–0
2010	New York Yankees	95–67	.586	1	Lost ALCS to Texas, 4–2
2011	Tampa Bay Rays	91–71	.562	6	Lost ALDS to Texas, 3–1

See also

• American League Central
• American League West
• National League East
• National League Central
• National League West

References

• MLB Final Standings By Year

AL	East	Central	West
	Baltimore Orioles	Chicago White Sox	Los Angeles Angels of Anaheim
	Boston Red Sox	Cleveland Indians	Oakland Athletics
	New York Yankees	Detroit Tigers	Seattle Mariners
	Tampa Bay Rays	Kansas City Royals	Texas Rangers
	Toronto Blue Jays	Minnesota Twins
NL	East	Central	West
	Atlanta Braves	Chicago Cubs	Arizona Diamondbacks
	Miami Marlins	Cincinnati Reds	Colorado Rockies
	New York Mets	Houston Astros	Los Angeles Dodgers
	Philadelphia Phillies	Milwaukee Brewers	San Diego Padres
	Washington Nationals	Pittsburgh Pirates	San Francisco Giants
		St. Louis Cardinals
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