American League East Division
Of Baseball
Wednesday,
March
28th - Michael Williams
American
League East Division is one of the six divisions of
Major League Baseball and it has come a long way
from when it was formed in 1969. The teams that are
currently in the American League East Division are
Baltimore Orioles, Boston Red Sox, New York Yankees,
Tampa Bay Devil Rays and Toronto Blue Jays.
The American League East
Division has undergone a lot of changes. In 1971 the
Washington Senators became the Texas Rangers and
joined the American League West Division while the
Milwaukee Brewers moved into the East Division. Then
in 1993, the Cleveland Indians and Milwaukee Brewers
moved to the American League Central Division which
are created the same year. The Tampa Bay Devil Rays
were added in the 1998 expansion while the Detroit
Tigers moved into the American League Central
Division.
The American League East Division is a fascinating
division. The leading East title winners are the New
York Yankees with 15, followed by Baltimore Orioles
with 8. Boston Red Sox and Toronto Blue Jays have
won 5 a piece, while the Detroit Tigers won 3 and
the Milwaukee Brewers 1.
In 1978, the Division championship was tie between
New York Yankees and the Boston Red Sox. There was a
one game playoff to decide the champion which the
Yankees won. There was a similar situation in 2005
when the New York Yankees and Boston Red Sox
finished the season tied for first place with
similar records. The Yankees won the season series
against Boston and took the division championship on
a tie-breaker game. However, the Red Sox were given
the wild card berth for having the best regular
season record among the teams that did not win a
Division title in the American League.
The 2006 AL East Division title was won by the New
York Yankees once again and one wonders whether in
the 2007 season, the Yankees can keep the momentum
going.
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