American League East

Writers have long posited that the American League East is the toughest division in MLB;[1][2] throughout its 46-year existence, an East branch team has gone to play at the World Series 25 occasions, and 14 of these teams have been crowned World Series winners. Since the 1995 year once the wild-card playoff berth was introduced, the AL East has generated the wild-card team for the American League in 13 out of the 17 years (the West branch three, along with the Central branch one).
When the Major Leagues split into divisions for the 1969 season, the American League, unlike the National League, divide its 12 teams strictly on geography. The six groups located in the Eastern Time Zone were placed in the East division, and the other six were placed in the West division.
In September 1971, American League owners approved the movement of the second Washington Senators franchise to Arlington, Texas to become the Texas Rangers. The owners subsequently debated whether the Chicago White Sox or Milwaukee Brewers should move to the East division for 1972, together with the Rangers moving to the West. The White Sox requested they be moved to the East, saying they were an original American League franchise and wanted to play more games from other old-line A.L. teams, five of which were in the East.
The Oakland Athletics objected to moving the White Sox to the East; owner Charlie Finley was a Chicago native who wanted to continue to create three trips per year with his team into the Windy City. The Minnesota Twins went a step further and objected to switching either the White Sox or Brewers. The Twins wished to maintain nearby Chicago and Milwaukee as division competitions, citing the National League’s lack of geographic accuracy in forming its branches as a reason why the Rangers should not have been shifted from the East. The Twins also noted that the National Football League’s Dallas Cowboys played in the NFC East.
The White Sox’ pleas fell on deaf ears, along with the Brewers, who started as the Seattle Pilots in 1969, were moved into the East.

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