American League Championship Series

In Major League Baseball, the **American League Championship Series** (**ALCS**), played in October, is a playoff round that decides the winner of the American League pennant. The winner of the series moves on to play the winner of the National League Championship Series in baseball's championship, the World Series.  It is a "best-of-seven" series, meaning the first team to win four games

## History

In 1969, MLB expanded the leagues to two divisions.  As a result, the League Championship Series was implemented.  Originally, it was a best-of-five series, meaning a team had to win three games to advance to the World Series.  In 1985, the LCS was expanded to a best-of-seven format.

Since 1995, the two winners of the ALDS advance to the ALCS.

## List

Click the link on the far left for detailed information on that series.
|width="4%"|Year|width="15%"|Winner|width="15%"|Loser|width="5%"|Record|width="20%"|Series MVP|
| --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- |
|1969|Baltimore Orioles|Minnesota Twins|3–0|||||||
|1970|Baltimore Orioles|Minnesota Twins|3–0|||||||
|1971|Baltimore Orioles|Oakland Athletics|3–0|||||||
|1972|Oakland Athletics|Detroit Tigers|3–2|||||||
|1973|Oakland Athletics|Baltimore Orioles|3–2|||||||
|1974|Oakland Athletics|Baltimore Orioles|3–1|||||||
|1975|Boston Red Sox|Oakland Athletics|3–0|||||||
|1976|New York Yankees|Kansas City Royals|3–2|||||||
|1977|New York Yankees|Kansas City Royals|3–2|||||||
|1978|New York Yankees|Kansas City Royals|3–1|||||||
|1979|Baltimore Orioles|California Angels|3–1|||||||
|1980|Kansas City Royals|New York Yankees|3–0|Frank White, Kansas City||||||
|1981|New York Yankees|Oakland Athletics|3–0|Graig Nettles, New York||||||
|1982|Milwaukee Brewers|California Angels|3–2|Fred Lynn, California||||||
|1983|Baltimore Orioles|Chicago White Sox|3–1|Mike Boddicker, Baltimore||||||
|1984|Detroit Tigers|Kansas City Royals|3–0|Kirk Gibson, Detroit||||||
|1985|Kansas City Royals|Toronto Blue Jays|4–3|George Brett, Kansas City||||||
|1986|Boston Red Sox|California Angels|4–3|Marty Barrett, Boston||||||
|1987|Minnesota Twins|Detroit Tigers|4–1|Gary Gaetti, Minnesota||||||
|1988|Oakland Athletics|Boston Red Sox|4–0|Dennis Eckersley, Oakland||||||
|1989|Oakland Athletics|Toronto Blue Jays|4–1|Rickey Henderson, Oakland||||||
|1990|Oakland Athletics|Boston Red Sox|align="center"|4–0|Dave Stewart, Oakland|||||
|1991|Minnesota Twins|Toronto Blue Jays|4–1|Kirby Puckett, Minnesota||||||
|1992|Toronto Blue Jays|Oakland Athletics|4–2|Roberto Alomar, Toronto||||||
|1993|Toronto Blue Jays|Chicago White Sox|align="center"|4–2||||||
|1994|colspan="6" align="center"|_Not held due to labor dispute._||||||||
|1995|Cleveland Indians|Seattle Mariners|4–2|Orel Hershiser, Cleveland||||||
|1996|New York Yankees|Baltimore Orioles†|align="center"|4–1|Bernie Williams, New York|||||
|1997|Cleveland Indians|Baltimore Orioles|4–2|Marquis Grissom, Cleveland||||||
|1998|New York Yankees|Cleveland Indians|4–2|David Wells, New York||||||
|1999|New York Yankees|Boston Red Sox†|4–1|Orlando Hernández, New York||||||
|2000|New York Yankees|Seattle Mariners†|4–2|David Justice, New York||||||
|2001|New York Yankees|Seattle Mariners|4–1|Andy Pettitte, New York||||||
|2002|Anaheim Angels†|Minnesota Twins|4–1|Adam Kennedy, Anaheim||||||
|2003|New York Yankees|Boston Red Sox†|4–3|Mariano Rivera, New York||||||
|2004|Boston Red Sox†|New York Yankees|4–3|David Ortiz, Boston||||||
|2005|Chicago White Sox|Los Angeles Angels of Anaheim|4–1|Paul Konerko, Chicago||||||
|2006|Detroit Tigers†|Oakland Athletics|4–0|Plácido Polanco, Detroit||||||
|2007|Boston Red Sox|Cleveland Indians|4–3|Josh Beckett, Boston||||||
|2008|Tampa Bay Rays|Boston Red Sox†|4–3|Matt Garza, Tampa Bay||||||
|2009|New York Yankees|Los Angeles Angels of Anaheim|4–2|CC Sabathia, New York||||||
|2010|Texas Rangers|New York Yankees|4–2|Josh Hamilton, Texas||||||
|2011|Texas Rangers|Detroit Tigers|4–2|Nelson Cruz, Texas||||||
|2012|Detroit Tigers|New York Yankees|4–0|Delmon Young, Detroit||||||
|2013|Boston Red Sox|Detroit Tigers|4–2|Koji Uehara, Boston||||||
|2014|Kansas City Royals†|Baltimore Orioles|4–0|Lorenzo Cain, Kansas City||||||
|2015|Kansas City Royals|Toronto Blue Jays|4–2|Alcides Escobar, Kansas City||||||
|2016|Cleveland Indians|Toronto Blue Jays†|4–2|Andrew Miller, Cleveland||||||
|2017|Houston Astros|New York Yankees†|4–3|Justin Verlander, Houston||||||
|2018|Boston Red Sox|Houston Astros|4–1|Jackie Bradley Jr., Boston||||||
|2019|Houston Astros|New York Yankees|4–2|Jose Altuve, Houston||||||