American League Division Series facts for kids

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 each of the two division winners with the best records and the winners 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 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).

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. Each of the division winners, along with one wild card team, qualify for the Division Series. Despite being planned for the 1994 season, the postseason was cancelled that year due to the 1994–95 Major League Baseball strike. In 1995, the first season to feature a division series, the Western Division champion Seattle Mariners defeated the wild card New York Yankees three games to two, while the Central Division champion Cleveland Indians defeated the Eastern Division champion Boston Red Sox in a three-game sweep.

From 1994 to 2011, the wild card was given to the team in the American League with the best overall record that was not a division champion. Beginning with the 2012 season, a second wild card team was added, and the two wild card teams play a single-game playoff to determine which team would play in the ALDS. For the 2020 Major League Baseball season only, there was an expanded playoff format, owing to an abbreviated 60-game regular season due to the COVID-19 pandemic. Eight teams qualified from the American League: the top two teams in each division plus the next two best records among the remaining teams. These eight teams played a best-of-three-game series to determine placement in the ALDS. The regular format returned for the 2021 season.

As of 2022, the Yankees have played in and won the most division series, with thirteen wins in twenty-two 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. The Astros are the only team to win the ALDS in six consecutive seasons. The Yankees record of four consecutive victories was broken by the Astros with their victory in the 2021 ALDS against the Tampa Bay Rays.

Determining the matchups

The ALDS is a best-of-five series where the divisional winner with the best winning percentage in the regular season hosts the winner of the Wild Card Series between the top two wild card teams in one matchup, and the divisional winner with the second best winning percentage hosts the winner of the series between the lowest-seeded divisional winner and the lowest-seeded wild card team. (From 2012 to 2021, the wild card team was assigned to play the divisional winner with the best winning percentage in the regular season in one series, and the other two division winners met in the other series. From 1998 to 2011, 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.) The two series winners move on to the best-of-seven ALCS. According to Nate Silver, the advent of this playoff series, and especially of the wild card, has caused teams to focus more on "getting to the playoffs" rather than "winning the pennant" as the primary goal of the regular season.

From 2012 to 2021, the wild card team that advances to the Division Series was to face the number 1 seed, regardless whether or not they are in the same division. The two series winners move on to the best-of-seven ALCS. Beginning with the 2022 season, the winner between the lowest-ranked division winner and lowest-ranked wild card team faces the number 2 seed division winner in the Division Series, while the 4 v. 5 wild card winner still faces the number 1 seed, as there is no reseeding even if the 6-seeded wild card advances. 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. Since 1998, the series has followed a 2–2–1 format, 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. However, it reverted to the 2–2–1 format starting the next season, 2013.

Results

Key

	Wild card

Year	Winning team	Manager	Games	Losing team	Manager
1981	New York Yankees	Lemon, BobBob Lemon	3–2	Milwaukee Brewers	Rodgers, BuckBuck Rodgers
	Oakland Athletics	Martin, BillyBilly Martin	3–0	Kansas City Royals	Howser, DickDick Howser
1994	No Series due to a players' strike.
1995	Cleveland Indians	Hargrove, MikeMike Hargrove	3–0	Boston Red Sox	Kennedy, KevinKevin Kennedy
	Seattle Mariners	Piniella, LouLou Piniella	3–2	New York Yankees	Showalter, BuckBuck Showalter
1996	New York Yankees	Torre, JoeJoe Torre	3–1	Texas Rangers	Oates, JohnnyJohnny Oates
	Baltimore Orioles	Johnson, DaveyDavey Johnson	3–1	Cleveland Indians	Hargrove, MikeMike Hargrove
1997	Baltimore Orioles	Johnson, DaveyDavey Johnson	3–1	Seattle Mariners	Piniella, LouLou Piniella
	Cleveland Indians	Hargrove, MikeMike Hargrove	3–2	New York Yankees	Torre, JoeJoe Torre
1998	New York Yankees	Torre, JoeJoe Torre	3–0	Texas Rangers	Oates, JohnnyJohnny Oates
	Cleveland Indians	Hargrove, MikeMike Hargrove	3–1	Boston Red Sox	Williams, JimyJimy Williams
1999	New York Yankees	Torre, JoeJoe Torre	3–0	Texas Rangers	Oates, JohnnyJohnny Oates
	Boston Red Sox	Williams, JimyJimy Williams	3–2	Cleveland Indians	Hargrove, MikeMike Hargrove
2000	Seattle Mariners	Piniella, LouLou Piniella	3–0	Chicago White Sox	Manuel, JerryJerry Manuel
	New York Yankees	Torre, JoeJoe Torre	3–2	Oakland Athletics	Howe, ArtArt Howe
2001	New York Yankees	Torre, JoeJoe Torre	3–2	Oakland Athletics	Howe, ArtArt Howe
	Seattle Mariners	Piniella, LouLou Piniella	3–2	Cleveland Indians	Manuel, CharlieCharlie Manuel
2002	Minnesota Twins	Gardenhire, RonRon Gardenhire	3–2	Oakland Athletics	Howe, ArtArt Howe
	Anaheim Angels	Scioscia, MikeMike Scioscia	3–1	New York Yankees	Torre, JoeJoe Torre
2003	New York Yankees	Torre, JoeJoe Torre	3–1	Minnesota Twins	Gardenhire, RonRon Gardenhire
	Boston Red Sox	Little, GradyGrady Little	3–2	Oakland Athletics	Macha, KenKen Macha
2004	New York Yankees	Torre, JoeJoe Torre	3–1	Minnesota Twins	Gardenhire, RonRon Gardenhire
	Boston Red Sox	Francona, TerryTerry Francona	3–0	Anaheim Angels	Scioscia, MikeMike Scioscia
2005	Chicago White Sox	Guillén, OzzieOzzie Guillén	3–0	Boston Red Sox	Francona, TerryTerry Francona
	Los Angeles Angels of Anaheim	Scioscia, MikeMike Scioscia	3–2	New York Yankees	Torre, JoeJoe Torre
2006	Detroit Tigers	Leyland, JimJim Leyland	3–1	New York Yankees	Torre, JoeJoe Torre
	Oakland Athletics	Macha, KenKen Macha	3–0	Minnesota Twins	Gardenhire, RonRon Gardenhire
2007	Boston Red Sox	Francona, TerryTerry Francona	3–0	Los Angeles Angels of Anaheim	Scioscia, MikeMike Scioscia
	Cleveland Indians	Wedge, EricEric Wedge	3–1	New York Yankees	Torre, JoeJoe Torre
2008	Boston Red Sox	Francona, TerryTerry Francona	3–1	Los Angeles Angels of Anaheim	Scioscia, MikeMike Scioscia
	Tampa Bay Rays	Maddon, JoeJoe Maddon	3–1	Chicago White Sox	Guillén, OzzieOzzie Guillén
2009	New York Yankees	Girardi, JoeJoe Girardi	3–0	Minnesota Twins	Gardenhire, RonRon Gardenhire
	Los Angeles Angels of Anaheim	Scioscia, MikeMike Scioscia	3–0	Boston Red Sox	Francona, TerryTerry Francona
2010	Texas Rangers	Washington, RonRon Washington	3–2	Tampa Bay Rays	Maddon, JoeJoe Maddon
	New York Yankees	Girardi, JoeJoe Girardi	3–0	Minnesota Twins	Gardenhire, RonRon Gardenhire
2011	Texas Rangers	Washington, RonRon Washington	3–1	Tampa Bay Rays	Maddon, JoeJoe Maddon
	Detroit Tigers	Leyland, JimJim Leyland	3–2	New York Yankees	Girardi, JoeJoe Girardi
2012	Detroit Tigers	Leyland, JimJim Leyland	3–2	Oakland Athletics	Melvin, BobBob Melvin
	New York Yankees	Girardi, JoeJoe Girardi	3–2	Baltimore Orioles	Showalter, BuckBuck Showalter
2013	Detroit Tigers	Leyland, JimJim Leyland	3–2	Oakland Athletics	Melvin, BobBob Melvin
	Boston Red Sox	Farrell, JohnJohn Farrell	3–1	Tampa Bay Rays	Maddon, JoeJoe Maddon
2014	Baltimore Orioles	Showalter, BuckBuck Showalter	3–0	Detroit Tigers	Ausmus, BradBrad Ausmus
	Kansas City Royals	Yost, NedNed Yost	3–0	Los Angeles Angels of Anaheim	Scioscia, MikeMike Scioscia
2015	Toronto Blue Jays	Gibbons, JohnJohn Gibbons	3–2	Texas Rangers	Banister, JeffJeff Banister
	Kansas City Royals	Yost, NedNed Yost	3–2	Houston Astros	Hinch, A. J.A. J. Hinch
2016	Cleveland Indians	Francona, TerryTerry Francona	3–0	Boston Red Sox	Farrell, JohnJohn Farrell
	Toronto Blue Jays	Gibbons, JohnJohn Gibbons	3–0	Texas Rangers	Banister, JeffJeff Banister
2017	Houston Astros	Hinch, A. J.A. J. Hinch	3–1	Boston Red Sox	Farrell, JohnJohn Farrell
	New York Yankees	Girardi, JoeJoe Girardi	3–2	Cleveland Indians	Francona, TerryTerry Francona
2018	Houston Astros	Hinch, A. J.A. J. Hinch	3–0	Cleveland Indians	Francona, TerryTerry Francona
	Boston Red Sox	Cora, AlexAlex Cora	3–1	New York Yankees	Boone, AaronAaron Boone
2019	New York Yankees	Boone, AaronAaron Boone	3–0	Minnesota Twins	Baldelli, RoccoRocco Baldelli
	Houston Astros	Hinch, A. J.A. J. Hinch	3–2	Tampa Bay Rays	Cash, KevinKevin Cash
2020	Tampa Bay Rays	Cash, KevinKevin Cash	3–2	New York Yankees	Boone, AaronAaron Boone
	Houston Astros	Baker, DustyDusty Baker	3–1	Oakland Athletics	Melvin, BobBob Melvin
2021	Boston Red Sox	Cora, AlexAlex Cora	3–1	Tampa Bay Rays	Cash, KevinKevin Cash
	Houston Astros	Baker, DustyDusty Baker	3–1	Chicago White Sox	La Russa, TonyTony La Russa
2022	Houston Astros	Baker, DustyDusty Baker	3–0	Seattle Mariners	Servais, ScottScott Servais
	New York Yankees	Boone, AaronAaron Boone	3–2	Cleveland Guardians	Francona, TerryTerry Francona
2023	Texas Rangers	Bochy, BruceBruce Bochy	3–0	Baltimore Orioles	Hyde, BrandonBrandon Hyde
	Houston Astros	Baker, DustyDusty Baker	3–1	Minnesota Twins	Baldelli, RoccoRocco Baldelli

Appearances by team

Years of appearance

In the sortable table below, teams are ordered first by number of wins, then by number of appearances, and finally by year of first appearance. In the "Season(s)" column, bold years indicate winning appearances.

Frequent matchups

See also

• National League Division Series (NLDS)
• List of American League pennant winners
• List of National League pennant winners
• List of World Series champions
• MLB division winners
• MLB postseason