American League

American League
AL logo.png
Sport Baseball
Founded 1901
No. of teams 14
Country(ies)  Canada
 United States
Most recent champion(s) New York Yankees
Most titles New York Yankees (40)

The American League of Professional Baseball Clubs, or simply the American League (AL), is one of two leagues that make up Major League Baseball in the United States and Canada. It developed from the Western League, a minor league based in the Great Lakes states, that eventually aspired to major league status. The league is often called the Junior Circuit because it was elevated to Major League status in 1901, 25 years after the formation of the National League (the "Senior Circuit"). The American League champion plays in the World Series against the National League champion after the end of every season. Through the 2009 season, American League teams have won 62 of the 105 World Series played since 1903, with 27 of those coming from the New York Yankees alone. The New York Yankees are currently the defending American League and World Series champions. The New York Yankees have won 40 American League titles, the most in the league's history, followed by the Oakland Athletics (15) and the Boston Red Sox (12).

Contents

History

Originally a minor league known as the Western League, the league later developed into a major league after the American Association disbanded. In its early history, the Western League struggled until 1894, when Ban Johnson became the president of the league. Johnson led the Western League into major league status and soon became the president of the newly renamed American League. Babe Ruth, noted as one of the most prolific hitters in Major League Baseball history, spent the majority of his career in the American League. The American League has one notable difference over the National League, and that is the designated hitter rule. Under the rule, a team may use a batter in their lineup who is not in the field defensively, compared to the old rule that made it mandatory for the pitcher to hit.

In 1977, the league expanded to fourteen teams, when the Seattle Mariners and Toronto Blue Jays were enfranchised. The Toronto franchise was the AL's attempt to compete with the National League's Montreal Expos while the Mariners were added in an attempt to settle a pending $90 million lawsuit against the league by the city of Seattle over the quick departure of the Pilots in 1970.

In 1994, the league, along with the National League, reorganized again, into three divisions (East, West, and Central) and added a third round to the playoffs in the form of the League Divisional Series, with the best second-place team advancing to the playoffs as a wild-card team, in addition to the three divisional champions. In 1998, the newly franchised Tampa Bay Devil Rays joined the league, and the Arizona Diamondbacks joined the National League: i.e., each league each added a fifteenth team. An odd number of teams per league meant that at least one team in each league would have to be idle on any given day, or alternatively that odd team out would have had to play an interleague game against its counterpart in the other league. The initial plan was to have 3 five-team divisions per league with interleague play year-round-- possibly as many as 30 interleague games per team each year. For various reasons, it soon seemed more practical to have an even number of teams in both leagues. So, the Milwaukee Brewers agreed to change leagues, moving from the AL Central to the NL Central. (This was the first time since the 1890s that a team had moved from one major league to another.) At the same time, the Detroit Tigers shifted over to the AL Central,making room for the Devil Rays in the East.[1])

For the first 96 years, American League teams faced their National League counterparts only in exhibition games or in the World Series. Beginning in 1997, interleague games have been played during the regular season and count in the standings. As part of the agreement instituting interleague play, the designated-hitter rule is used only in games where the American League team is the home team. Through the 2009 season, the Yankees have won the most American League pennants (40), followed by the Athletics (15), Red Sox (12), and Tigers (10). Likewise, the Yankees have also won the most World Series (27), with the Athletics second with nine, the Red Sox third with seven and the Tigers fourth with four.

Teams

Charter franchises

There were eight charter teams in 1901, the league's first year as a major league, and these franchises comprised the league for 59 seasons, until the expansion Washington Senators began play in 1961. All eight original franchises remain in the American League, although only four remain in the original cities (Detroit, Chicago, Boston & Cleveland.) The eight original teams and their modern-day counterparts are:

Expansion, renaming, and relocation summary

Current teams

American League East

American League Central

American League West

(*)See commentary on Western League page. The Indianapolis and Minneapolis teams were replaced by teams in Baltimore and Philadelphia in 1901, but it is unclear and disputed as to which team went where.

American League presidents, 1901–1999

Office eliminated in 1999. Jackie Autry, widow of Los Angeles Angels founder Gene Autry, currently holds the title of Honorary American League President.

Other leagues

Several other sports have had leagues called "American League," usually with the sport name as a qualifier, such as the "American Football League" (which eventually merged with the National Football League, adopting the latter's name for the combination). The American Hockey League is the top minor league in North American professional ice hockey.

See also

Sources

Footnotes

  1. ↑ For more details, see Milwaukee Brewers#1994–98: Realignment / "We're taking this thing National".
AL East Central West
Baltimore Orioles Chicago White Sox Los Angeles Angels of Anaheim
Boston Red Sox Cleveland Indians Oakland Athletics
New York Yankees Detroit Tigers Seattle Mariners
Tampa Bay Rays Kansas City Royals Texas Rangers
Toronto Blue Jays Minnesota Twins
NL East Central West
Atlanta Braves Chicago Cubs Arizona Diamondbacks
Florida Marlins Cincinnati Reds Colorado Rockies
New York Mets Houston Astros Los Angeles Dodgers
Philadelphia Phillies Milwaukee Brewers San Diego Padres
Washington Nationals Pittsburgh Pirates San Francisco Giants
St. Louis Cardinals
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