American League Division 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 consists of two best-of-five series, featuring the three division winners and the winner of the wild-card play-off.

History

The Division Series was implemented in 1981 as a one-off tournament because of a midseason strike, with the first place teams before the strike taking on the teams in first place after the strike. In 1994, it was returned permanently when Major League Baseball (MLB) restructured each league into three divisions, but with a different format than in 1981. In 1981, a split-season format forced the first ever 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 in the Western Division, the Oakland Athletics swept the Kansas City Royals (the only team with an overall losing record to ever make the postseason). Including the 2018 postseason, the Yankees have played in the most division series, with twenty appearances. In 2015, the Toronto Blue Jays and Houston Astros were the final American League teams to make their first appearances in the ALDS. The Astros had been in the National League through 2012, and had played in the National League Division Series (NLDS) seven times.

Determining the matchups

From 1998 to 2011, the wild card team was 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 met in the other series. However, if the wild-card team and the division winner with the best record were from the same division, the wild-card team played the division winner with the second-best record, and the remaining two division leaders played each other.

Beginning with the 2012 season, the wild card team that advances to the Division Series was to face the number 1 seed, regardless of whether or not they are in the same division. 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 (or head-to-head record if there is a tie between two or more teams), except for the wild card team, which never receives the home field advantage.

Beginning in 2003, MLB has implemented a new rule to give the team from the league that wins the All-Star Game with the best regular season record a slightly greater advantage. In order to spread out the Division Series games for broadcast purposes, the two ALDS series follow one of two off-day schedules. Starting in 2007, after consulting the MLBPA, MLB has decided to allow the team with the best record in the league that wins the All-Star Game to choose whether to use the seven-day schedule (1-2-off-3-4-off-5) or the eight-day schedule (1-off-2-off-3-4-off-5). The team only gets to choose the schedule; the opponent is still determined by win-loss records.

Initially, the best-of-5 series played in a 2-3 format, with the first two games set at home for the lower seed team and the last three for the higher seed.[1][2] Since 1998, the series has followed a 2-2-1 format,[3] where the higher seed team plays at home in Games 1 and 2, the lower seed plays at home in Game 3 and Game 4 (if necessary), and if a Game 5 is needed, the teams return to the higher seed's field. When MLB added a second wild card team in 2012, the Division Series re-adopted the 2-3 format due to scheduling conflicts. It reverted to the 2-2-1 format in 2013.

Results

Key
dagger Wild card
Year Winning team Manager Games Losing team Manager
1981 New York Yankees Bob Lemon 3–2 Milwaukee Brewers Buck Rodgers
Oakland Athletics Billy Martin 3–0 Kansas City Royals Dick Howser
1994 No Series due to a players' strike.
1995 Cleveland Indians Mike Hargrove 3–0 Boston Red Sox Kevin Kennedy
Seattle Mariners Lou Piniella 3–2 New York Yankeesdagger Buck Showalter
1996 New York Yankees Joe Torre 3–1 Texas Rangers Johnny Oates
Baltimore Oriolesdagger Davey Johnson 3–1 Cleveland Indians Mike Hargrove
1997 Baltimore Orioles Davey Johnson 3–1 Seattle Mariners Lou Piniella
Cleveland Indians Mike Hargrove 3–2 New York Yankeesdagger Joe Torre
1998 New York Yankees Joe Torre 3–0 Texas Rangers Johnny Oates
Cleveland Indians Mike Hargrove 3–1 Boston Red Soxdagger Jimy Williams
1999 New York Yankees Joe Torre 3–0 Texas Rangers Johnny Oates
Boston Red Soxdagger Jimy Williams 3–2 Cleveland Indians Mike Hargrove
2000 Seattle Marinersdagger Lou Piniella 3–0 Chicago White Sox Jerry Manuel
New York Yankees Joe Torre 3–2 Oakland Athletics Art Howe
2001 New York Yankees Joe Torre 3–2 Oakland Athleticsdagger Art Howe
Seattle Mariners Lou Piniella 3–2 Cleveland Indians Charlie Manuel
2002 Minnesota Twins Ron Gardenhire 3–2 Oakland Athletics Art Howe
Anaheim Angelsdagger Mike Scioscia 3–1 New York Yankees Joe Torre
2003 New York Yankees Joe Torre 3–1 Minnesota Twins Ron Gardenhire
Boston Red Soxdagger Grady Little 3–2 Oakland Athletics Ken Macha
2004 New York Yankees Joe Torre 3–1 Minnesota Twins Ron Gardenhire
Boston Red Soxdagger Terry Francona 3–0 Anaheim Angels Mike Scioscia
2005 Chicago White Sox Ozzie Guillén 3–0 Boston Red Soxdagger Terry Francona
Los Angeles Angels of Anaheim Mike Scioscia 3–2 New York Yankees Joe Torre
2006 Detroit Tigersdagger Jim Leyland 3–1 New York Yankees Joe Torre
Oakland Athletics Ken Macha 3–0 Minnesota Twins Ron Gardenhire
2007 Boston Red Sox Terry Francona 3–0 Los Angeles Angels of Anaheim Mike Scioscia
Cleveland Indians Eric Wedge 3–1 New York Yankeesdagger Joe Torre
2008 Boston Red Soxdagger Terry Francona 3–1 Los Angeles Angels of Anaheim Mike Scioscia
Tampa Bay Rays Joe Maddon 3–1 Chicago White Sox Ozzie Guillén
2009 New York Yankees Joe Girardi 3–0 Minnesota Twins Ron Gardenhire
Los Angeles Angels of Anaheim Mike Scioscia 3–0 Boston Red Soxdagger Terry Francona
2010 Texas Rangers Ron Washington 3–2 Tampa Bay Rays Joe Maddon
New York Yankeesdagger Joe Girardi 3–0 Minnesota Twins Ron Gardenhire
2011 Texas Rangers Ron Washington 3–1 Tampa Bay Raysdagger Joe Maddon
Detroit Tigers Jim Leyland 3–2 New York Yankees Joe Girardi
2012 Detroit Tigers Jim Leyland 3–2 Oakland Athletics Bob Melvin
New York Yankees Joe Girardi 3–2 Baltimore Oriolesdagger Buck Showalter
2013 Detroit Tigers Jim Leyland 3–2 Oakland Athletics Bob Melvin
Boston Red Sox John Farrell 3–1 Tampa Bay Raysdagger Joe Maddon
2014 Baltimore Orioles Buck Showalter 3–0 Detroit Tigers Brad Ausmus
Kansas City Royalsdagger Ned Yost 3–0 Los Angeles Angels of Anaheim Mike Scioscia
2015 Toronto Blue Jays John Gibbons 3–2 Texas Rangers Jeff Banister
Kansas City Royals Ned Yost 3–2 Houston Astrosdagger A. J. Hinch
2016 Cleveland Indians Terry Francona 3–0 Boston Red Sox John Farrell
Toronto Blue Jaysdagger John Gibbons 3–0 Texas Rangers Jeff Banister
2017 Houston Astros A. J. Hinch 3–1 Boston Red Sox John Farrell
New York Yankeesdagger Joe Girardi 3–2 Cleveland Indians Terry Francona
2018 Houston Astros A. J. Hinch 3–0 Cleveland Indians Terry Francona
Boston Red Sox Alex Cora 3–1 New York Yankeesdagger Aaron Boone
2019 New York Yankees Aaron Boone 3–0 Minnesota Twins Rocco Baldelli
Houston Astros A. J. Hinch 3–2 Tampa Bay Raysdagger Kevin Cash
2020 Tampa Bay Rays Kevin Cash 3–2 New York Yankees Aaron Boone
Houston Astros Dusty Baker 3–1 Oakland Athletics Bob Melvin

Appearances by team

Apps Team Wins Losses Win % Most recent
win
Most recent
appearance
Games
won
Games
lost
Game
win %
22 New York Yankees 13 9 .591 2019 2020 53 40 .570
13 Boston Red Sox 7 6 .538 2018 2018 22 24 .478
10 Cleveland Indians 5 5 .500 2016 2018 22 18 .550
9 Oakland Athletics 2 7 .222 2006 2020 19 21 .475
7 Los Angeles Angels 3 4 .429 2009 2014 10 15 .400
7 Texas Rangers 2 5 .286 2011 2016 9 18 .333
7 Minnesota Twins 1 6 .143 2002 2019 5 20 .200
6 Tampa Bay Rays 2 4 .333 2020 2020 12 15 .444
5 Detroit Tigers 4 1 .800 2013 2014 12 10 .545
5 Houston Astros 4 1 .800 2020 2020 14 7 .667
4 Baltimore Orioles 3 1 .750 2014 2014 11 5 .688
4 Seattle Mariners 3 1 .750 2001 2001 10 7 .588
3 Kansas City Royals 2 1 .667 2015 2015 6 5 .545
3 Chicago White Sox 1 2 .333 2005 2008 4 6 .400
2 Toronto Blue Jays 2 0 1.000 2016 2016 6 2 .750
1 Milwaukee Brewers[a] 0 1 .000 Never 1981 2 3 .400

Recurring matchups

Count Matchup Record Years
5 New York Yankees vs. Minnesota Twins Yankees, 5–0 2003, 2004, 2009, 2010, 2019
4 Boston Red Sox vs. Los Angeles Angels Red Sox, 3–1 2004, 2007, 2008, 2009
4 Cleveland Indians vs. Boston Red Sox Indians, 3–1 1995, 1998, 1999, 2016
3 Texas Rangers vs. New York Yankees Yankees, 3–0 1996, 1998, 1999
3 Cleveland Indians vs. New York Yankees Indians, 2–1 1997, 2007, 2017
2 New York Yankees vs. Oakland Athletics Yankees, 2–0 2000, 2001
2 New York Yankees vs. Anaheim-LA Angels Angels, 2–0 2002, 2005
2 Texas Rangers vs. Tampa Bay Rays Rangers, 2–0 2010, 2011
2 Oakland Athletics vs. Minnesota Twins Tied, 1–1 2002, 2006
2 Detroit Tigers vs. New York Yankees Tigers, 2–0 2006, 2011
2 Detroit Tigers vs. Oakland Athletics Tigers, 2–0 2012, 2013
2 Texas Rangers vs. Toronto Blue Jays Blue Jays, 2–0 2015, 2016

See also

Notes

  1. ^ The Milwaukee Brewers moved to the National League in 1998.

References

  1. ^ 1984 NL Championship Series, Baseball-Reference.com
  2. ^ 1997 AL Division Series, Baseball-Reference.com
  3. ^ Gillette, Gary; Palmer, Pete, eds. (2006). "October Classics: Postseason Series and Playoffs". The 2006 ESPN Baseball Encyclopedia. New York: Sterling Publishing. p. 1656.

External links


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