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Revision as of 18:59, 5 February 2010 by 67.66.44.224 (talk)(diff) ← Previous revision | Latest revision (diff) | Newer revision → (diff)The American League Central is one of three divisions in Major League Baseball's American League. The division was formed in the 1994 realignment. Its teams are all located in the Midwestern United States. It is currently the only division in the MLB where all of its members have won the World Series at least once (though only one team has won the World Series as a member of the AL Central).
Division membership
Current members
- Chicago White Sox – Founding member; formerly of the AL West
- Cleveland Indians – Founding member; formerly of the AL East
- Detroit Tigers – Joined in 1998; formerly of the AL East
- Kansas City Royals – Founding member; formerly of the AL West
- Minnesota Twins – Founding member; formerly of the AL West
Division lineups
| Time period | Lineup | Changes from previous setup | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
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| 1994–1997 | Chicago White Sox, Cleveland Indians, Kansas City Royals, Milwaukee Brewers, Minnesota Twins | Creation of division due to 1994 realignment (Chicago, Kansas City and Minnesota from AL West, Cleveland and Milwaukee from AL East) | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| 1998–2004 | Chicago White Sox, Cleveland Indians, Detroit Tigers, Kansas City Royals, Milwaukee Brewers, Minnesota Twins | Due to 1998 expansion, Detroit joined from AL East | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| 2005-present | Chicago White Sox, Cleveland Indians, Detroit Tigers, Kansas City Royals, Minnesota Twins | Milwaukee leaved the division moving into NL Central
AL Central champions by yearSince its inception, the Chicago White Sox are the only team from the AL Central division to have won the World Series.
§ Due to the players' strike starting August 12, no official winner was awarded. Chicago was leading at the strike.
Wild-card winners producedMain article: List of American League Wild Card winnersThe Central division was the last division in baseball to produce a wild-card team that actually competed in the playoffs — in 2006 — 12 years after its creation. (In 1994, the AL's first wild-card team — the Indians — did not play, because there were no postseason playoffs that year.) On September 24, 2006, a victory by the Twins guaranteed the wild card would come from the division, eliminating the Red Sox of the American League East from wild-card contention and ending a three-year streak of wild-card appearances by the Red Sox. The Twins eliminated the White Sox from playoff contention on September 25 and then passed the Tigers on the last day of the regular season to give the Tigers the wild-card slot. Detroit went on to win the American League Championship.
§ Due to the players' strike, no official wild card winner was awarded. Cleveland was leading the wild card at the strike. AL Central titles won by team
See also
References
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