American League Central

AL Central
League American League
Sport Major League Baseball
Founded 1994
No. of teams
  Chicago White Sox
  Cleveland Indians
  Detroit Tigers
  Kansas City Royals
  Minnesota Twins
Most recent champion(s)
  Kansas City Royals

(1st title)

Most titles
  Cleveland Indians

(7)

The American League Central is one of six divisions in Major League Baseball. This division was formed in the realignment in 1994, and its teams are all located in the Midwestern United States. The Central is currently the only division in the Major Leagues in which all of its members have two or more World Series wins.

Division membership

Current members

Former member

Membership timeline

Place cursor over year for division champ or World Series team.

Years
AL Central Division[A]
94 95 96 97 98 99 00 01 02 03 04 05 06 07 08 09 10 11 12 13 14 15
Chicago White Sox
Cleveland Indians
Kansas City Royals
Minnesota Twins
Milwaukee Brewers[B]  
  Detroit Tigers[B]
     Team not in division      Division won World Series      Division won AL Championship
A Creation of division due to the realignment (the Chicago White Sox, Kansas City Royals, and Minnesota Twins from the AL West, and the Cleveland Indians and Milwaukee Brewers from the AL East)
B Due to the expansion in 1998, placing a new team in St. Petersburg, Florida, the Tigers moved in from AL East, and also to give each league an even number of teams, the Brewers moved into NL Central

Champions by year

The Chicago White Sox and Kansas City Royals are the only teams from the AL Central division to have won the World Series since the league realignment in 1994.

Year Winner Record % Playoff finish
1994 No winner *
1995 Cleveland Indians 100–44 .694 Lost World Series to Atlanta, 4–2
1996 Cleveland Indians 99–62 .615 Lost ALDS to Baltimore, 3–1
1997 Cleveland Indians 86–75 .534 Lost World Series to Florida, 4–3
1998 Cleveland Indians 89–73 .549 Lost ALCS to New York, 4–2
1999 Cleveland Indians 97–65 .599 Lost ALDS to Boston, 3–2
2000 Chicago White Sox 95–67 .586 Lost ALDS to Seattle, 3–0
2001 Cleveland Indians 91–71 .562 Lost ALDS to Seattle, 3–2
2002 Minnesota Twins 94–67 .584 Lost ALCS to Anaheim, 4–1
2003 Minnesota Twins 90–72 .556 Lost ALDS to New York, 3–1
2004 Minnesota Twins 92–70 .568 Lost ALDS to New York, 3–1
2005 Chicago White Sox 99–63 .611 Won World Series over Houston, 4–0
2006 Minnesota Twins 96–66 .593 Lost ALDS to Oakland, 3–0
2007 Cleveland Indians 96–66 .593 Lost ALCS to Boston 4–3
2008 Chicago White Sox ** 89–74 .546 Lost ALDS to Tampa Bay 3–1
2009 Minnesota Twins # 87–76 .534 Lost ALDS to New York, 3–0
2010 Minnesota Twins 94–68 .580 Lost ALDS to New York, 3–0
2011 Detroit Tigers 95–67 .586 Lost ALCS to Texas, 4–2
2012 Detroit Tigers 88–74 .543 Lost World Series to San Francisco, 4–0
2013 Detroit Tigers 93–69 .574 Lost ALCS to Boston, 4–2
2014 Detroit Tigers 90–72 .556 Lost ALDS to Baltimore, 3–0
2015 Kansas City Royals 95–67 .586 Won World Series over New York, 4–1

* Due to the 1994 Major League Baseball strike starting August 12, no official winner became victorious. The Chicago White Sox were leading at the time that the strike broke out.

** In 2008, the Minnesota Twins and the Chicago White Sox finished the season with the identical records of 88–74. A one-game playoff was held and the White Sox won it 1–0 over the Twins to capture the division title.

# In 2009, the Minnesota Twins and the Detroit Tigers finished the season with identical records of 86–76. A one-game playoff was held, and the Twins won it 6–5 in 12 innings over the Tigers to capture the division title.

Wild-card winners produced

In 1994, the Cleveland Indians were sitting atop the wild-card standings and would have qualified for the postseason as the AL's first wild card but on August 12 of that year, the season came to a screeching halt due to a work stoppage, cancelling the remainder of the regular season and postseason. In 2006, twelve years after the creation of the wild card, the Detroit Tigers earned the wild card ending the Boston Red Sox three-year reign of winning the wildcard. This also meant that the Central division had finally produced a "wild card" team that actually competed in the playoffs, becoming the last division to do so. MLB revamped the postseason starting in 2012, creating a new single-game playoff where two wildcards competed against each other while the division winners each received a bye. The winner of the American League wild card game moves on to face the top-seeded team of the AL in the American League Division Series. In 2013, the Indians became the first team from the AL Central to qualify as a wild card under the new postseason format. In 2014, the Kansas City Royals ended a 29-year postseason drought returning to the playoffs for the first time since winning the World Series in 1985.

Year Winner Record % GB Playoffs
2006 Detroit Tigers 95–67 .586 1 Lost World Series to St. Louis, 4–1
2013 Cleveland Indians 92–70 .568 1 Lost ALWC to Tampa Bay
2014 Kansas City Royals 89–73 .549 1 Lost World Series to San Francisco, 4–3

Championships won by team

Team Championships Last year won Year(s)
Cleveland Indians 7 2007 1995, 1996, 1997, 1998, 1999, 2001, 2007
Minnesota Twins 6 2010 2002, 2003, 2004, 2006, 2009, 2010
Detroit Tigers 4 2014 2011, 2012, 2013, 2014
Chicago White Sox 3 2008 2000, 2005, 2008
Kansas City Royals 1 2015 1985, 2015
Milwaukee Brewers 0 N/A N/A

Current division members in bold

See also

References

This article is issued from Wikipedia - version of the Saturday, April 30, 2016. The text is available under the Creative Commons Attribution/Share Alike but additional terms may apply for the media files.