Question: When was the last time the team that won the American League East in 2017 and the Dodgers met in the championship event that precedes the MLB MVP award?

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 astros clinched their first division title as a member of the american league west division, and first division title overall since 2001. they also became the first team in major league history to win three different divisions, the national league west in 1980 and 1986, the national league central from 1997 -- 1999 and 2001, and now the american league west in 2017. on september 29, the astros won their 100th game of the season, the second time the astros finished a season with over 100 wins (the other time was in 1998). they finished 101 -- 61 (with a 21 - game lead in the division), and faced the red sox in the second round of the al playoffs. the astros defeated the red sox three games to one, and advanced to the american league championship series against the new york yankees. the astros won the alcs four games to three, and advanced to the world series to play against the los angeles dodgers. the astros defeated the dodgers in the deciding seventh game of the world series, winning the first championship in franchise history. <SEP> The Dodgers -- Yankees rivalry is a Major League Baseball (MLB) rivalry between the Los Angeles Dodgers and the New York Yankees. The Dodgers are a member club of the National League (NL) West division, and the Yankees are a member club of the American League (AL) East division. The rivalry between the Dodgers and Yankees is one of the most well - known rivalries in Major League Baseball. The two teams have met 11 times in the World Series, more times than any other pair of teams from the American and National Leagues. The initial significance was embodied in the two teams' proximity in New York City, when the Dodgers initially played in Brooklyn. After the Dodgers moved to Los Angeles in 1958, the rivalry retained its significance as the two teams represented the dominant cities on each coast of the United States, and since the 1980s, the two largest cities in the United States. The Dodgers currently lead the regular season series 7 - 6. They would not play each other in a non-exhibition game until 2004, when they played a 3 - game interleague series. Nevertheless, games between the two teams have become quite popular and draw sellout crowds. Although the rivalry's significance arose from the two teams' numerous World Series meetings, the Yankees and Dodgers have not met in the World Series since 1981. <SEP> This is the Yankees' 16th appearance in the ALCS, and their second as a Wild Card. The Yankees upset the heavily - favored Cleveland Indians 3 -- 2 in the ALDS to advance. Their last ALCS appearance came in the 2012 American League Championship Series where they got swept by the Detroit Tigers. 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 1955 world series matched the brooklyn dodgers against the new york yankees, with the dodgers winning the series in seven games to capture their first championship in franchise history. it would be the only series the dodgers won in brooklyn, as the team relocated to los angeles after the 1957 season. this was the fifth time in nine years that the yankees and the dodgers met in the world series, with the yankees having won in 1947, 1949, 1952, and 1953; the yankees would also win in the 1956 rematch.