What Are AL Pennants?

For more than 100 years Major League Baseball has held the World Series, which pits the pennant winners -- or champions -- of the American League against those from the National League. The way to win an AL pennant has changed as the league expanded. From 1903 to 1968 the AL pennant was simply awarded to the team with the best record throughout the season. Since 1969, a postseason system has decided the champion of the league and winner of the pennant.

  1. Early History

    • The American League formed in 1901 with eight original teams. Scorned at the time by the more established National League, by 1903 the AL signed an agreement that matched the pennant winners of each league in the World Series.

    1903 to 1968

    • The Boston Americans, later the Boston Red Sox, won the first AL pennant in 1903 and went on to beat the Pittsburgh Pirates in the World Series. For the next 65 years, the AL was a one-division league and the team with the best record won the pennant outright. During this stretch the New York Yankees dominated the AL, capturing 29 of their record 40 AL pennants. But as airplane travel became more realistic, teams began to move West to capitalize on new fan bases. By 1969, the AL expanded to 12 teams and split into the AL East and West divisions.

    1968 to 1994

    • Two divisions meant a new twist to winning an AL pennant -- a playoff series between the champion of the AL East and AL West, with the winner of this American League Championship Series heading to the World Series each year. This was a best-of-five series until 1984, meaning the first team to win three games won the pennant. It became a best-of-seven series in 1985. The two-division system lasted until 1995, one year after a player's strike wiped out postseason play.

    1995 to Present

    • By 1995, the AL had expanded to 14 teams and three divisions -- the East, Central and West. In the new setup, three AL division winners, along with a wildcard team with the best record outside of the division winners, are awarded spots in the AL playoffs. The team with the best record and the wildcard team play in one of the American League Division Series -- unless they are from the same division -- while the other two teams meet in the other ALDS. The winner of the two series meet in the ALCS and the victor wins the pennant and goes to the World Series.