There is only one American League club that wins the pennant each year in Major League Baseball (MLB), and that team goes on to face the National League champion in a one-game World Series championship game (NL).
To determine who would get each year’s American League pennant, a series of games known as the American League Championship Series (ALCS) was instituted after the 1968 season.
The first modern World Series was held in 1903, and since then, the playoffs has been held every year save 1994, when a players’ strike forced the postseason to be canceled. The Houston Astros currently possess the American League pennant after winning it on October 22, 2021.
When the American League split into two divisions for the first time in 1969, the teams with the best records in each division faced off in a five-game ALCS to determine the pennant champion.
It was adorned with the American League banner and the league’s golden eagle insignia, both of which sat above a silver baseball. The trophy has had a pennant on top since 2017. Will Harridge served as the league’s president from 1931 to 1958, and the trophy is named for him.
An ALCS format modification was made in 1985 when the postseason was shortened from five games to seven games.
When MLB divided each league into three divisions in 1995, an additional postseason series was added. From 2010 on, the champions of the American League’s three divisions, as well as the Wild Card team, compete in the American League Division Series, a best-of-five playoff to determine the teams that will meet in the American League Championship Series (ALCS).
A total of 66 World Series titles have been won by teams that won the AL pennant, the most recent being the 2018 New York Yankees.
Throughout their history, the Yankees have won a total of 40 American League championships. Since the establishment of the ALCS in 1969, the Yankees have won 11 championships, followed by the Oakland Athletics, Boston Red Sox, and Baltimore Orioles.
For the most victories by a pennant-winning team, the Yankees hold the record of 114 out of 162 games, 22 more than the Boston Red Sox in 1998.
Hers is a List of AL Pennant titles won by the New York Yankees
1921
1922
1923
1926
1927
1928
1932
1936
1937
1938
1939
1941
1942
1943
1947
1949
1950
1951
1952
1953
1955
1956
1957
1958
1960
1961
1962
1963
1964
1976
1977
1978
1981
1996
1998
1999
2000
2001
2003
2009
