Question: When did the team that won the AL East in 2017 last play in the event after which the MLB MVP is awarded?

This is the Yankees' 16th appearance in the ALCS, and their second as a Wild Card. Their last ALCS appearance came in the 2012 American League Championship Series where they got swept by the Detroit Tigers. The Yankees upset the heavily - favored Cleveland Indians 3 -- 2 in the ALDS to advance. They had won in eleven of their previous fifteen appearances. This is the sixth straight year in which an AL East team has made it to the ALCS. <SEP> the boston red sox are an american professional baseball team based in boston, massachusetts. the red sox compete in major league baseball (mlb) as a member club of the american league (al) east division. the red sox have won nine world series championships, tied for the third-most of any mlb team, and they have played in 13. their most recent appearance and win was in . in addition, they won the american league pennant, but were not able to defend their 1903 world series championship when the new york giants refused to participate in the 1904 world series. founded in as one of the american league's eight charter franchises, the red sox' home ballpark has been fenway park since . the "red sox" name was chosen by the team owner, john i. taylor, "circa" 1908, following the lead of previous teams that had been known as the "boston red stockings", including the forerunner of the atlanta braves. <SEP> The BBWAA began by polling three writers in each league city in 1938, reducing that number to two per league city in 1961. MVP voting takes place before the postseason, but the results are not announced until after the World Series. The BBWAA does not offer a clear - cut definition of what ``most valuable ''means, instead leaving the judgment to the individual voters. <SEP> the 2003 world series was the championship series of major league baseball's (mlb) 2003 season. the 99th edition of the world series, it was a best - of - seven playoff between the national league (nl) champion florida marlins and the american league (al) champion new york yankees; the marlins defeated the heavily favored yankees, four games to two. the series was played from october 18 -- 25, 2003. this is the most recent series in which the losing team outscored the winning team; the yankees lost, despite outscoring the marlins 21 -- 17 in the series. this was the marlins' second world series championship win, having won their first in 1997. as of 2017, this is the marlins' last appearance not only in the world series, but in the postseason at all. <SEP> During the off - season, the Yankees retooled their roster with several star free agent acquisitions, including CC Sabathia, Mark Teixeira, and A.J. Burnett. The Yankees set a major league record by playing error - free ball for 18 consecutive games from May 14 to June 1, 2009. The Yankees finished first in the AL East. At the beginning of the 2009 season, the Yankees opened the new Yankee Stadium, located just a block north on River Avenue from their former home. In the ALDS they defeated the Twins in a sweep before moving on to the ALCS where the Yankees defeated Angels in six games. They defeated the defending champions, the Philadelphia Phillies, in Game 6 of the World Series 7 -- 3, to take the series 4 -- 2, their 27th World Series title.