American League Championship Series

The American League Championship Series (often abbreviated ALCS) is a seven-game series played between the winners of the Division Series to determine which team will represent the American League in the World Series. It was introduced in 1969, when the American League was split into an Eastern and a Western division following the expansion of 1969.

Until 1984, the ALCS was a five-game series between the two division winners, then moved to a best-of-seven format in 1985. Starting in 1995 with the introduction of the wild card, it became possible for two teams from the same division to meet in the ALCS. This happened for the first time in 1996, with the meeting between the Baltimore Orioles and New York Yankees, who both played in the AL East Division.

Since 1977, a Most Valuable Player Award has been given out at the end of each series.

History

Year	Winner	Loser	Games	MVP
1969	Baltimore Orioles	Minnesota Twins	3-0	N/A
1970	Baltimore Orioles	Minnesota Twins	3-0	N/A
1971	Baltimore Orioles	Oakland Athletics	3-0	N/A
1972	Oakland Athletics	Detroit Tigers	3-2	N/A
1973	Oakland Athletics	Baltimore Orioles	3-2	N/A
1974	Oakland Athletics	Baltimore Orioles	3-1	N/A
1975	Boston Red Sox	Oakland Athletics	3-0	N/A
1976	New York Yankees	Kansas City Royals	3-2	N/A
1977	New York Yankees	Kansas City Royals	3-2	N/A
1978	New York Yankees	Kansas City Royals	3-1	N/A
1979	Baltimore Orioles	California Angels	3-1	N/A
1980	Kansas City Royals	New York Yankees	3-0	Frank White
1981	New York Yankees	Oakland Athletics	3-0	Graig Nettles
1982	Milwaukee Brewers	California Angels	3-2	Fred Lynn
1983	Baltimore Orioles	Chicago White Sox	3-1	Mike Boddicker
1984	Detroit Tigers	Kansas City Royals	3-0	Kirk Gibson
1985	Kansas City Royals	Toronto Blue Jays	4-3	George Brett
1986	Boston Red Sox	California Angels	4-3	Marty Barrett
1987	Minnesota Twins	Detroit Tigers	4-1	Gary Gaetti
1988	Oakland Athletics	Boston Red Sox	4-0	Dennis Eckersley
1989	Oakland Athletics	Toronto Blue Jays	4-1	Rickey Henderson
1990	Oakland Athletics	Boston Red Sox	4-0	Dave Stewart
1991	Minnesota Twins	Toronto Blue Jays	4-1	Kirby Puckett
1992	Toronto Blue Jays	Oakland Athletics	4-2	Roberto Alomar
1993	Toronto Blue Jays	Chicago White Sox	4-2	Dave Stewart
1995	Cleveland Indians	Seattle Mariners	4-2	Orel Hershiser
1996	New York Yankees	Baltimore Orioles	4-1	Bernie Williams
1997	Cleveland Indians	Baltimore Orioles	4-2	Marquis Grissom
1998	New York Yankees	Cleveland Indians	4-2	David Wells
1999	New York Yankees	Boston Red Sox	4-1	Orlando Hernandez
2000	New York Yankees	Seattle Mariners	4-2	David Justice
2001	New York Yankees	Seattle Mariners	4-2	Andy Pettitte
2002	Anaheim Angels	Minnesota Twins	4-1	Adam Kennedy
2003	New York Yankees	Boston Red Sox	4-3	Mariano Rivera
2004	Boston Red Sox	New York Yankees	4-3	David Ortiz
2005	Chicago White Sox	Los Angeles Angels of Anaheim	4-1	Paul Konerko
2006	Detroit Tigers	Oakland Athletics	4-0	Placido Polanco
2007	Boston Red Sox	Cleveland Indians	4-3	Josh Beckett
2008	Tampa Bay Rays	Boston Red Sox	4-3	Matt Garza
2009	New York Yankees	Los Angeles Angels of Anaheim	4-2	CC Sabathia
2010	Texas Rangers	New York Yankees	4-2	Josh Hamilton
2011	Texas Rangers	Detroit Tigers	4-2	Nelson Cruz
2012	Detroit Tigers	New York Yankees	4-0	Delmon Young
2013	Boston Red Sox	Detroit Tigers	4-2	Koji Uehara
2014	Kansas City Royals	Baltimore Orioles	4-0	Lorenzo Cain
2015	Kansas City Royals	Toronto Blue Jays	4-2	Alcides Escobar
2016	Cleveland Indians	Toronto Blue Jays	4-1	Andrew Miller
2017	Houston Astros	New York Yankees	4-3	Justin Verlander
2018	Boston Red Sox	Houston Astros	4-1	Jackie Bradley
2019	Houston Astros	New York Yankees	4-2	Jose Altuve
2020	Tampa Bay Rays	Houston Astros	4-3	Randy Arozarena
2021	Houston Astros	Boston Red Sox	4-2	Yordan Alvarez
2022	Houston Astros	New York Yankees	4-0	Jeremy Peña
2023	Texas Rangers	Houston Astros	4-3	Adolis García
2024	New York Yankees	Cleveland Guardians	4-1	Giancarlo Stanton

Managers

Manager	Games	Wins	Losses	Win PCT.	Series	Series Wins	Series Losses	Series Win PCT.	Teams
Joe Altobelli	4	3	1	.750	1	1	0	1.000	Baltimore Orioles
Sparky Anderson	8	4	4	.500	2	1	1	.500	Detroit Tigers
Dusty Baker	24	14	10	.583	4	2	2	.500	Houston Astros
Bruce Bochy	7	4	3	.571	1	1	0	1.000	Texas Rangers
Aaron Boone	15	6	9	.400	3	1	2	.333	New York Yankees
Kevin Cash	7	4	3	.529	1	1	0	1.000	Tampa Bay Rays
Alex Cora	11	6	5	.545	2	1	1	.500	Boston Red Sox
Bobby Cox	7	3	4	.429	1	0	1	.000	Toronto Blue Jays
Alvin Dark	7	3	4	.429	2	1	1	.500	Oakland A’s
John Farrell	6	4	2	.667	1	1	0	1.000	Boston Red Sox
Terry Francona	26	15	11	.577	4	3	1	.750	Boston Red Sox & Cleveland Indians
Jim Fregosi	4	1	3	.250	1	0	1	.000	California Angels
Jim Frey	3	3	0	1.000	1	1	0	1.000	Kansas City Royals
Ron Gardenhire	5	1	4	.200	1	0	1	.000	Minnesota Twins
Cito Gaston	22	10	12	.455	4	2	2	.500	Toronto Blue Jays
John Gibbons	11	3	8	.273	2	0	2	.000	Toronto Blue Jays
Joe Girardi	23	9	14	.391	4	1	3	.250	New York Yankees
Ozzie Guillen	5	4	1	.800	1	1	0	1.000	Chicago White Sox
Mike Hargrove	18	10	8	.556	3	2	1	.667	Cleveland Indians
Whitey Herzog	14	5	9	.357	3	0	3	.000	Kansas City Royals
A.J. Hinch	18	9	9	.500	3	2	1	.667	Houston Astros
Dick Howser	13	4	9	.308	3	1	2	.333	New York Yankees & Kansas City Royals
Darrell Johnson	3	3	0	1.000	1	1	0	1.000	Boston Red Sox
Davey Johnson	11	3	8	.273	2	0	2	.000	Baltimore Orioles
Tom Kelly	10	8	2	.800	2	2	0	1.000	Minnesota Twins
Gene Lamont	6	2	4	.333	1	0	1	.000	Chicago White Sox
Tony LaRussa	23	15	8	.652	5	3	2	.600	Chicago White Sox & Oakland A’s
Bob Lemon	8	6	2	.750	2	2	0	1.000	New York Yankees
Jim Leyland	20	12	8	.600	4	2	2	.500	Detroit Tigers
Grady Little	7	3	4	.429	1	0	1	.000	Boston Red Sox
Ken Macha	4	0	4	.000	1	0	1	.000	Oakland A’s
Joe Maddon	7	4	3	.571	1	1	0	1.000	Tampa Bay Rays
Billy Martin	22	9	13	.409	5	2	3	.400	Minnesota Twins, Detroit Tigers, New York Yankees & Oakland A’s
Gene Mauch	12	5	7	.417	2	0	2	.000	California Angels
John McNamara	11	4	7	.364	2	1	1	.500	Boston Red Sox
Joe Morgan	8	0	8	.000	2	0	2	.000	Boston Red Sox
Jim Leyland	4	4	0	1.000	1	1	0	1.000	Detroit Tigers
Lou Piniella	21	9	12	.429	3	0	3	.000	Seattle Mariners
Bill Rigney	3	0	3	.000	1	0	1	.000	Minnesota Twins
Mike Scioscia	16	7	9	.438	3	1	2	.333	Anaheim Angels & Los Angeles Angels of Anaheim
Buck Showalter	4	0	4	.000	1	0	1	.000	Baltimore Orioles
Joe Torre	41	27	14	.659	7	6	1	.857	New York Yankees
Stephen Vogt	5	1	4	.200	1	0	1	.000	Cleveland Guardians
Ron Washington	12	8	4	.667	2	2	0	1.000	Texas Rangers
Earl Weaver	22	15	7	.682	6	4	2	.667	Baltimore Orioles
Eric Wedge	7	3	4	.429	1	0	1	.000	Cleveland Indians
Dick Williams	10	6	4	.600	2	2	0	1.000	Oakland A's
Jimy Williams	5	1	4	.200	1	0	1	.000	Boston Red Sox
Ned Yost	10	8	2	.800	2	2	0	1.000	Kansas City Royals

Statistical Leaders

Batting:

• Games - Derek Jeter - 54
• At Bats - Derek Jeter - 226
• Batting Average - Fred Lynn - .517
• Hits - Derek Jeter - 58
• Home Runs - Manny Ramirez - 10
• RBI - Bernie Williams - 33
• Runs - Derek Jeter - 32
• Steals - Rickey Henderson - 16

Pitching:

• Wins - Dave Stewart - 8
• Losses - Doyle Alexander - 4
• ERA - Blue Moon Odom - 0.40
• Strikeouts - Mike Mussina - 66
• Saves - Mariano Rivera - 13
• Games - Mariano Rivera - 33

See also

• National League Championship Series

Further Reading

• Evan Thompson: A Complete History of the Major League Baseball Playoffs - Volume I: Pre-divisional tiebreakers through 1976, BookBaby, Pennsauken Township, NJ, 2021, ISBN 9781098372804