Sport Baseball Month played October Established 1969 Format Best-of-seven series Most championships New York Yankees (12 titles)
The American League Championship Series (ALCS ) is an important part of Major League Baseball . It is a best-of-seven playoff and one of the two League Championship Series that come right before the World Series . The team that wins the ALCS gets the AL pennant and goes on to play in the World Series against the winner of the National League ’s Championship Series.
The ALCS started in 1969 as a smaller best-of-five playoff and stayed that way until 1985. In 1985, it changed to the best-of-seven format that we still use today. This series is very exciting because it decides which team from the American League will get to compete for the biggest prize in baseball, the World Series title.
History
Before 1969, the American League champion was the team with the best win-loss record at the end of the regular season. The ALCS started in 1969 when the league split into two divisions, East and West . The winners of these divisions played a best-of-five series to decide who would go to the World Series. In 1985, this changed to a best-of-seven series.
In 1981, a special division series happened because of a players' strike . In 1994, the league changed to three divisions, and added a new round called the American League Division Series before the ALCS. However, a player's strike stopped the season, so this new format started in 1995. The playoffs grew in 2012 and again in 2022 to include more teams. The ALCS is always played in a 2–3–2 format, meaning the team with home field advantage hosts Games 1, 2, 6, and 7, while the other team hosts Games 3, 4, and 5. Home field advantage goes to the team with the better regular season record, unless a division champion is playing a Wild Card team.
Championship Trophy
The William Harridge Trophy is awarded to the winner of the ALCS. Will Harridge was the president of the American League from 1931 to 1959.
Most Valuable Player Award
Main article: League Championship Series Most Valuable Player Award#American League winners
The Lee MacPhail Most Valuable Player (MVP) award is given to the best player in the American League Championship Series (ALCS). This award started in 1980. You can see the winners in the ALCS results table, in a special article about League Championship Series MVPs, and on the MLB website.
No MVP award is given for the Division Series games.
Results
Further information: List of American League pennant winners § 1901–1968
Appearances by team
Years of appearance
In the table below, teams are listed by how many times they have won, then how many times they have appeared, and finally by the year they first appeared. The bold years show when a team won.
Recurring matchups
Key † Wild card *
MVP did not play for winning team
Year Winning team Manager Games Losing team Manager Series MVP 1969 Baltimore Orioles Earl Weaver 3–0 Minnesota Twins Billy Martin 1970 Baltimore Orioles Earl Weaver 3–0 Minnesota Twins Bill Rigney 1971 Baltimore Orioles Earl Weaver 3–0 Oakland Athletics Dick Williams 1972 Oakland Athletics Dick Williams 3–2 Detroit Tigers Billy Martin 1973 Oakland Athletics Dick Williams 3–2 Baltimore Orioles Earl Weaver 1974 Oakland Athletics Alvin Dark 3–1 Baltimore Orioles Earl Weaver 1975 Boston Red Sox Darrell Johnson 3–0 Oakland Athletics Alvin Dark 1976 New York Yankees Billy Martin 3–2 Kansas City Royals Whitey Herzog 1977 New York Yankees Billy Martin 3–2 Kansas City Royals Whitey Herzog 1978 New York Yankees Bob Lemon 3–1 Kansas City Royals Whitey Herzog 1979 Baltimore Orioles Earl Weaver 3–1 California Angels Jim Fregosi 1980 Kansas City Royals Jim Frey 3–0 New York Yankees Dick Howser Frank White , Kansas City1981 New York Yankees Bob Lemon 3–0 Oakland Athletics Billy Martin Graig Nettles , New York1982 Milwaukee Brewers Harvey Kuenn 3–2 California Angels Gene Mauch Fred Lynn , California*1983 Baltimore Orioles Joe Altobelli 3–1 Chicago White Sox Tony La Russa Mike Boddicker , Baltimore1984 Detroit Tigers Sparky Anderson 3–0 Kansas City Royals Dick Howser Kirk Gibson , Detroit1985 Kansas City Royals Dick Howser 4–3 Toronto Blue Jays Bobby Cox George Brett , Kansas City1986 Boston Red Sox John McNamara 4–3 California Angels Gene Mauch Marty Barrett , Boston1987 Minnesota Twins Tom Kelly 4–1 Detroit Tigers Sparky Anderson Gary Gaetti , Minnesota1988 Oakland Athletics Tony La Russa 4–0 Boston Red Sox Joe Morgan Dennis Eckersley , Oakland1989 Oakland Athletics Tony La Russa 4–1 Toronto Blue Jays Cito Gaston Rickey Henderson , Oakland1990 Oakland Athletics Tony La Russa 4–0 Boston Red Sox Joe Morgan Dave Stewart , Oakland1991 Minnesota Twins Tom Kelly 4–1 Toronto Blue Jays Cito Gaston Kirby Puckett , Minnesota1992 Toronto Blue Jays Cito Gaston 4–2 Oakland Athletics Tony La Russa Roberto Alomar , Toronto1993 Toronto Blue Jays Cito Gaston 4–2 Chicago White Sox Gene Lamont Dave Stewart , Toronto1994 No Series due to a players' strike . 1995 Cleveland Indians Mike Hargrove 4–2 Seattle Mariners Lou Piniella Orel Hershiser , Cleveland1996 New York Yankees Joe Torre 4–1 Baltimore Orioles † Davey Johnson Bernie Williams , New York1997 Cleveland Indians Mike Hargrove 4–2 Baltimore Orioles Davey Johnson Marquis Grissom , Cleveland1998 New York Yankees Joe Torre 4–2 Cleveland Indians Mike Hargrove David Wells , New York1999 New York Yankees Joe Torre 4–1 Boston Red Sox † Jimy Williams Orlando Hernández , New York2000 New York Yankees Joe Torre 4–2 Seattle Mariners † Lou Piniella David Justice , New York2001 New York Yankees Joe Torre 4–1 Seattle Mariners Lou Piniella Andy Pettitte , New York2002 Anaheim Angels † Mike Scioscia 4–1 Minnesota Twins Ron Gardenhire Adam Kennedy , Anaheim2003 New York Yankees Joe Torre 4–3 Boston Red Sox † Grady Little Mariano Rivera , New York2004 Boston Red Sox † Terry Francona 4–3 New York Yankees Joe Torre David Ortiz , Boston2005 Chicago White Sox Ozzie Guillén 4–1 Los Angeles Angels of Anaheim Mike Scioscia Paul Konerko , Chicago2006 Detroit Tigers † Jim Leyland 4–0 Oakland Athletics Ken Macha Plácido Polanco , Detroit2007 Boston Red Sox Terry Francona 4–3 Cleveland Indians Eric Wedge Josh Beckett , Boston2008 Tampa Bay Rays Joe Maddon 4–3 Boston Red Sox † Terry Francona Matt Garza , Tampa Bay2009 New York Yankees Joe Girardi 4–2 Los Angeles Angels of Anaheim Mike Scioscia CC Sabathia , New York2010 Texas Rangers Ron Washington 4–2 New York Yankees † Joe Girardi Josh Hamilton , Texas2011 Texas Rangers Ron Washington 4–2 Detroit Tigers Jim Leyland Nelson Cruz , Texas2012 Detroit Tigers Jim Leyland 4–0 New York Yankees Joe Girardi Delmon Young , Detroit2013 Boston Red Sox John Farrell 4–2 Detroit Tigers Jim Leyland Koji Uehara , Boston2014 Kansas City Royals † Ned Yost 4–0 Baltimore Orioles Buck Showalter Lorenzo Cain , Kansas City2015 Kansas City Royals Ned Yost 4–2 Toronto Blue Jays John Gibbons Alcides Escobar , Kansas City2016 Cleveland Indians Terry Francona 4–1 Toronto Blue Jays † John Gibbons Andrew Miller , Cleveland2017 Houston Astros A. J. Hinch 4–3 New York Yankees † Joe Girardi Justin Verlander , Houston2018 Boston Red Sox Alex Cora 4–1 Houston Astros A. J. Hinch Jackie Bradley Jr. , Boston2019 Houston Astros A. J. Hinch 4–2 New York Yankees Aaron Boone Jose Altuve , Houston2020 Tampa Bay Rays Kevin Cash 4–3 Houston Astros † Dusty Baker Randy Arozarena , Tampa Bay2021 Houston Astros Dusty Baker 4–2 Boston Red Sox † Alex Cora Yordan Alvarez , Houston2022 Houston Astros Dusty Baker 4–0 New York Yankees Aaron Boone Jeremy Peña , Houston2023 Texas Rangers † Bruce Bochy 4–3 Houston Astros Dusty Baker Adolis García , Texas2024 New York Yankees Aaron Boone 4–1 Cleveland Guardians Stephen Vogt Giancarlo Stanton , New York2025 Toronto Blue Jays John Schneider 4–3 Seattle Mariners Dan Wilson Vladimir Guerrero Jr. , Toronto
Apps Team Wins Losses Win % Season(s) 19 New York Yankees 12 7 .632 1976 1977 1978 1980 , 1981 1996 1998 1999 2000 2001 2003 2004 , 2009 2010 , 2012 , 2017 , 2019 , 2022 , 2024 12 Boston Red Sox 6 6 .500 1975 1986 1988 , 1990 , 1999 , 2003 , 2004 2007 2008 , 2013 2018 2021 11 Athletics 6 5 .545 1971 , 1972 1973 1974 1975 , 1981 , 1988 1989 1990 1992 , 2006 10 Baltimore Orioles 5 5 .500 1969 1970 1971 1973 , 1974 , 1979 1983 1996 , 1997 , 2014 8 Kansas City Royals 4 4 .500 1976 , 1977 , 1978 , 1980 1984 , 1985 2014 2015 7 Houston Astros 4 3 .571 2017 2018 , 2019 2020 , 2021 2022 2023 8 Toronto Blue Jays 3 5 .375 1985 , 1989 , 1991 , 1992 1993 2015 , 2016 , 2025 7 Detroit Tigers 3 4 .429 1972 , 1984 1987 , 2006 2011 , 2012 2013 6 Cleveland Indians 3 3 .500 1995 1997 1998 , 2007 , 2016 2024 3 Texas Rangers 3 0 1.000 2010 2011 2023 5 Minnesota Twins 2 3 .400 1969 , 1970 , 1987 1991 2002 2 Tampa Bay Rays 2 0 1.000 2008 2020 6 Los Angeles Angels 1 5 .167 1979 , 1982 , 1986 , 2002 2005 , 2009 3 Chicago White Sox 1 2 .333 1983 , 1993 , 2005 1 Milwaukee Brewers 1 0 1.000 1982 4 Seattle Mariners 0 4 .000 1995 , 2000 , 2001 , 2025
Count Matchup Record Years 4 Kansas City Royals vs. New York Yankees Yankees, 3–1 1976 , 1977 , 1978 , 1980 3 Baltimore Orioles vs. Athletics Athletics, 2–1 1971 , 1973 , 1974 3 Boston Red Sox vs. Athletics Athletics, 2–1 1975 , 1988 , 1990 3 Boston Red Sox vs. New York Yankees Yankees, 2–1 1999 , 2003 , 2004 3 Houston Astros vs. New York Yankees Astros, 3–0 2017 , 2019 , 2022 2 Baltimore Orioles vs. Minnesota Twins Orioles, 2–0 1969 , 1970 2 Athletics vs. Toronto Blue Jays Tied, 1–1 1989 , 1992 2 New York Yankees vs. Seattle Mariners Yankees, 2–0 2000 , 2001 2 Detroit Tigers vs. Athletics Tied, 1–1 1972 , 2006 2 Kansas City Royals vs. Toronto Blue Jays Royals, 2–0 1985 , 2015 2 Boston Red Sox vs. Houston Astros Tied, 1–1 2018 , 2021 2 Cleveland Guardians vs. New York Yankees Yankees, 2–0 1998 , 2024
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