The American League Central is one of three divisions in Major League Baseball's American League. The division was formed in the 1994 realignment. Its teams are all located in the Midwestern United States. It is currently the only division in the MLB where all of its members have won the World Series at least once (though only one team has won the World Series as a member of the AL Central).

Contents 1 Division membership 1.1 Current members 1.2 Division lineups 2 AL Central champions by year 3 Wild-card winners produced 4 AL Central titles won by team 5 See also 6 References

[edit] Division membership

[edit] Current members

• Chicago White Sox – Founding member; formerly of the AL West
• Cleveland Indians – Founding member; formerly of the AL East
• Detroit Tigers – Joined in 1998; formerly of the AL East
• Kansas City Royals – Founding member; formerly of the AL West
• Minnesota Twins – Founding member; formerly of the AL West

[edit] Division lineups

Time period	Lineup	Changes from previous setup
1994–1997	Chicago White Sox, Cleveland Indians, Kansas City Royals, Milwaukee Brewers, Minnesota Twins	Creation of division due to 1994 realignment (Chicago, Kansas City and Minnesota from AL West, Cleveland and Milwaukee from AL East)
1998–present	Chicago White Sox, Cleveland Indians, Detroit Tigers, Kansas City Royals, Minnesota Twins	Due to 1998 expansion, Detroit moved in from AL East and Milwaukee switched leagues, moving into NL Central

[edit] AL Central champions by year

Since its inception, the Chicago White Sox are the only team from the AL Central division to have won the World Series.

Year	Winner	Record	%	Playoff finish
1994 (through August 11)	Chicago White Sox§	67–46	.593	No Playoffs
1995 (starting April 25, 144 G)	Cleveland Indians	100–44	.694	Lost World Series to Atlanta, 4–2
1996	Cleveland Indians	99–62	.615	Lost ALDS to Baltimore, 3–1
1997	Cleveland Indians	86–75	.534	Lost World Series to Florida, 4–3
1998	Cleveland Indians	89–73	.549	Lost ALCS to New York, 4–2
1999	Cleveland Indians	97–65	.599	Lost ALDS to Boston, 3–2
2000	Chicago White Sox	95–67	.586	Lost ALDS to Seattle, 3–0
2001	Cleveland Indians	91–71	.562	Lost ALDS to Seattle, 3–2
2002	Minnesota Twins	94–67	.584	Lost ALCS to Anaheim, 4–1
2003	Minnesota Twins	90–72	.556	Lost ALDS to New York, 3–1
2004	Minnesota Twins	92–70	.568	Lost ALDS to New York, 3–1
2005	Chicago White Sox	99–63	.611	Won World Series over Houston, 4–0
2006	Minnesota Twins	96–66	.593	Lost ALDS to Oakland, 3–0
2007	Cleveland Indians	96–66	.593	Lost ALCS to Boston 4–3
2008	Chicago White Sox**	89–74	.546	Lost ALDS to Tampa Bay 3–1
2009	Minnesota Twins#	87–76	.534	Lost ALDS to New York, 3–0

§ Due to the players' strike starting August 12, no official winner was awarded. Chicago was leading at the strike.
** In 2008, the Minnesota Twins and the Chicago White Sox finished the season with identical records of 88–74. Chicago won a one-game playoff at U.S. Cellular Field against Minnesota 1–0 to clinch the division title.
# In 2009, the Minnesota Twins and the Detroit Tigers finished the season with identical records of 86-76. The Twins won a one-game playoff at the Metrodome 6-5 in 12 innings to clinch the division title.

[edit] Wild-card winners produced

The Central division was the last division in baseball to produce a wild-card team that actually competed in the playoffs — in 2006 — 12 years after its creation. (In 1994, the AL's first wild-card team — the Indians — did not play, because there were no postseason playoffs that year.) On September 24, 2006, a victory by the Twins guaranteed the wild card would come from the division, eliminating the Red Sox of the American League East from wild-card contention and ending a three-year streak of wild-card appearances by the Red Sox. The Twins eliminated the White Sox from playoff contention on September 25 and then passed the Tigers on the last day of the regular season to give the Tigers the wild-card slot. Detroit went on to win the American League Championship.

Year	Winner	Record	%	GB	Playoffs
1994	Cleveland Indians§	66–47	.584	1	No Playoffs
2006	Detroit Tigers	95–67	.586	1	Lost World Series to St. Louis, 4-1

§ Due to the players' strike, no official wild card winner was awarded. Cleveland was leading the wild card at the strike.

[edit] AL Central titles won by team

Team	Championships	Last Year Won
Cleveland Indians	7	2007
Minnesota Twins	5	2009
Chicago White Sox	3	2008
Detroit Tigers	0
Kansas City Royals	0

[edit] See also

• American League East
• American League West
• National League East
• National League Central
• National League West

[edit] References

• MLB Final Standings By Year

v • d • e Major League Baseball (2010)
AL	East	Central	West
	Baltimore Orioles	Chicago White Sox	Los Angeles Angels of Anaheim
	Boston Red Sox	Cleveland Indians	Oakland Athletics
	New York Yankees	Detroit Tigers	Seattle Mariners
	Tampa Bay Rays	Kansas City Royals	Texas Rangers
	Toronto Blue Jays	Minnesota Twins
NL	East	Central	West
	Atlanta Braves	Chicago Cubs	Arizona Diamondbacks
	Florida Marlins	Cincinnati Reds	Colorado Rockies
	New York Mets	Houston Astros	Los Angeles Dodgers
	Philadelphia Phillies	Milwaukee Brewers	San Diego Padres
	Washington Nationals	Pittsburgh Pirates	San Francisco Giants
		St. Louis Cardinals
Postseason: World Series · ALCS · NLCS · ALDS · NLDS
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