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History

Life was much simpler for a baseball fan before 1969. Beginning with the founding of the National League in 1876, the team with the highest winning percentage won the pennant.

Interestingly, in 161 seasons (93 for the National League and 68 for the American League), a post-season playoff was required only four times.

But both major leagues expanded from 10 to 12 teams and split into two divisions in 1969, requiring a post-season pennant playoff series between the division champions.

The American League added two more teams in 1977. When the National League followed suit in 1993, the playoff situation was complicated considerably.

Since then, each league has been divided into three divisions, and a wild-card team joins the three division champions in the playoffs.

This page lists only the pennant winners. For results of the division championship and league championship series, go here.

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National League 1876-1900

Year	Team	Manager	W-L
1876	Chicago	Al Spalding	52-14
1877	Boston	Harry Wright	42-18
1878	Boston	Harry Wright	41-19
1879	Providence	George Wright	59-25
1880	Chicago	Cap Anson	67-17
1881	Chicago	Cap Anson	56-28
1882	Chicago	Cap Anson	55-29
1883	Boston	John Morrill	63-35
1884	Providence	Frank Bancroft	84-28
1885	Chicago	Cap Anson	87-25
1886	Chicago	Cap Anson	90-32
1887	Detroit	Bill Watkins	79-45
1888	New York	Jim Mutrie	84-47
1889	New York	Jim Mutrie	83-43
1890	Brooklyn	Bill McGunnigle	86-43
1891	Boston	Frank Selee	87-51
1892	Boston	Frank Selee	102-48
1893	Boston	Frank Selee	86-43
1894	Baltimore	Ned Hanlon	89-39
1895	Baltimore	Ned Hanlon	87-43
1896	Baltimore	Ned Hanlon	89-39
1897	Boston	Frank Selee	93-39
1898	Boston	Frank Selee	102-47
1899	Brooklyn	Ned Hanlon	101-47
1900	Brooklyn	Ned Hanlon	82-54
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National League 1901-1968

Year	Team	Manager	W	L	Pct	GA
1901	Pittsburgh	Fred Clarke	90	49	.647	7 ½
1902	Pittsburgh	Fred Clarke	103	36	.741	27 ½
1903	Pittsburgh	Fred Clarke	91	49	.650	6 ½
1904	New York	John McGraw	106	47	.693	13
1905	New York	John McGraw	105	48	.686	9
1906	Chicago	Frank Chance	116	36	.763	20
1907	Chicago	Frank Chance	107	45	.704	17
1908	Chicago	Frank Chance	99	55	.643	1
1909	Pittsburgh	Fred Clarke	110	42	.724	6 ½
1910	Chicago	Frank Chance	104	50	.675	13
1911	New York	John McGraw	99	54	.647	7 ½
1912	New York	John McGraw	103	48	.682	10
1913	New York	John McGraw	101	51	.664	12 ½
1914	Boston	George Stallings	94	59	.614	10 ½
1915	Philadelphia	Pat Moran	90	62	.592	7
1916	Brooklyn	Wilbert Robinson	94	60	.610	2 ½
1917	New York	John McGraw	98	56	.636	10
1918	Chicago	Fred Mitchell	84	45	.651	10 ½
1919	Cincinnati	Pat Moran	96	44	.686	9
1920	Brooklyn	Wilbert Robinson	93	61	.604	7
1921	New York	John McGraw	94	59	.614	4
1922	New York	John McGraw	93	61	.604	7
1923	New York	John McGraw	95	58	.621	4 ½
1924	New York	John McGraw	93	60	.608	1 ½
1925	Pittsburgh	Bill McKechnie	95	58	.621	8 ½
1926	St. Louis	Rogers Hornsby	89	65	.578	2
1927	Pittsburgh	Donie Bush	94	60	.610	1 ½
1928	St. Louis	Bill McKechnie	95	59	.617	2
1929	Chicago	Joe McCarthy	98	54	.645	10 ½
1930	St. Louis	Gabby Street	92	62	.597	2
1931	St. Louis	Gabby Street	101	53	.656	13
1932	Chicago	Charlie Grimm	90	64	.584	4
1933	New York	Bill Terry	91	61	.599	5
1934	St. Louis	Frankie Frisch	95	58	.621	2
1935	Chicago	Charlie Grimm	100	54	.649	4
1936	New York	Bill Terry	92	62	.597	5
1937	New York	Bill Terry	95	57	.625	3
1938	Chicago	Gabby Hartnett	89	63	.586	2
1939	Cincinnati	Bill McKechnie	97	57	.630	4 ½
1940	Cincinnati	Bill McKechnie	100	53	.654	12
1941	Brooklyn	Leo Durocher	100	54	.649	2 ½
1942	St. Louis	Billy Southworth	106	48	.688	2
1943	St. Louis	Billy Southworth	105	49	.682	18
1944	St. Louis	Billy Southworth	105	49	.682	14 ½
1945	Chicago	Charlie Grimm	98	56	.636	3
1946	St. Louis	Eddie Dyer	98	58	.628	2
Note: St. Louis beat Brooklyn, 2 games to 0, in playoff
1947	Brooklyn	Burt Shotton	94	60	.610	5
1948	Boston	Billy Southworth	91	62	.595	6 ½
1949	Brooklyn	Burt Shotton	97	57	.630	1
1950	Philadelphia	Eddie Sawyer	91	63	.591	2
1951	New York	Leo Durocher	98	59	.624	1
Note: New York beat Brooklyn, 2 games to 1, in playoff
1952	Brooklyn	Chuck Dressen	96	57	.627	4 ½
1953	Brooklyn	Chuck Dressen	105	49	.682	13
1954	New York	Leo Durocher	97	57	.630	5
1955	Brooklyn	Walter Alston	98	55	.641	13 ½
1956	Brooklyn	Walter Alston	93	61	.604	1
1957	Milwaukee	Fred Haney	95	59	.617	8
1958	Milwaukee	Fred Haney	92	62	.597	8
1959	Los Angeles	Walter Alston	88	68	.564	2
Note: Los Angeles beat Milwaukee, 2 games to 0, in playoff
1960	Pittsburgh	Danny Murtaugh	95	59	.617	7
1961	Cincinnati	Fred Hutchinson	93	61	.604	4
1962	San Francisco	Al Dark	103	62	.624	1
Note: San Francisco beat Los Angeles, 2 games to 1, in playoff
1963	Los Angeles	Walter Alston	99	63	.611	6
1964	St. Louis	Johnny Keane	93	69	.574	1
1965	Los Angeles	Walter Alston	97	65	.599	2
1966	Los Angeles	Walter Alston	95	67	.586	1 ½
1967	St. Louis	Red Schoendienst	101	60	.627	10 ½
1968	St. Louis	Red Schoendienst	97	65	.599	9
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National League 1969-

Year	Team	Manager	W	L	Pct	GA
1969	New York	Gil Hodges	100	62	.617	8
1970	Cincinnati	Sparky Anderson	102	60	.630	14 ½
1971	Pittsburgh	Danny Murtaugh	97	65	.599	7
1972	Cincinnati	Sparky Anderson	95	59	.617	10 ½
1973	New York	Yogi Berra	82	79	.509	1 ½
1974	Los Angeles	Walter Alston	102	60	.630	4
1975	Cincinnati	Sparky Anderson	108	54	.667	20
1976	Cincinnati	Sparky Anderson	102	60	.630	10
1977	Los Angeles	Tommy Lasorda	98	64	.605	10
1978	Los Angeles	Tommy Lasorda	95	67	.586	2 ½
1979	Pittsburgh	Chuck Tanner	98	64	.605	2
1980	Philadelphia	Dallas Green	91	71	.562	1
1981	Los Angeles	Tommy Lasorda	63	47	.573	---
Note: Season was split by strike; Los Angeles won the first half and defeated Houston, the second-half winner, 2 games to 1, in playoff.
1982	St. Louis	Whitey Herzog	92	70	.568	3
1983	Philadelphia	Paul Owens	90	72	.556	6
1984	San Diego	Dick Williams	92	70	.568	12
1985	St. Louis	Whitey Herzog	101	61	.623	3
1986	New York	Dave Johnson	108	54	.667	21 ½
1987	St. Louis	Whitey Herzog	95	67	.586	3
1988	Los Angeles	Tommy Lasorda	94	67	.584	7
1989	San Francisco	Roger Craig	92	70	.568	3
1990	Cincinnati	Lou Piniella	91	71	.562	5
1991	Atlanta	Bobby Cox	94	68	.580	1
1992	Atlanta	Bobby Cox	98	64	.605	8
1993	Philadelphia	Jim Fregosi	97	65	.599	3
1994	Season ended Aug. 11 because of player strike.
1995	Atlanta	Bobby Cox	90	54	.625	21
1996	Atlanta	Bobby Cox	96	66	.593	8
1997	Florida	Jim Leyland	92	70	.568	-
Note: Florida was the wild-card team.
1998	San Diego	Bruce Bochy	98	64	.605	9 ½
1999	Atlanta	Bobby Cox	103	59	.636	6 ½
2000	New York	Bobby Valentine	94	68	.580	-
Note: New York was the wild-card team.
2001	Arizona	Bob Brenly	92	70	.568	2
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2002	San Francisco	Dusty Baker	95	56	.590	--
Note: San Francisco was the wild-card team.
2003	Florida Marlins	Jack McKeon	91	71	.562	--
Note: Florida was the wild-card team.
2004	St. Louis Cardinals	Tony LaRussa	105	57	.648	13
2005	Houston Astros	Phil Garner	89	73	.549	--
Note: Houston was the wild-card team.
2006	St. Louis Cardinals	Tony LaRussa	83	78	.516	--

American League 1901-1968

Year	Team	Manager	W	L	Pct	GA
1901	Chicago	Clark Griffith	83	53	.610	4
1902	Philadelphia	Connie Mack	83	53	.610	5
1903	Boston	Jimmy Collins	91	47	.659	14 ½
1904	Boston	Jimmy Collins	95	59	.617	1 ½
1905	Philadelphia	Connie Mack	92	56	.622	2
1906	Chicago	Fielder Jones	93	58	.616	3
1907	Detroit	Hughie Jennings	92	58	.613	1 ½
1908	Detroit	Hughie Jennings	90	63	.588	½
1909	Detroit	Hughie Jennings	98	54	.645	3 ½
1910	Philadelphia	Connie Mack	102	48	.680	14 ½
1911	Philadelphia	Connie Mack	101	50	.669	13 ½
1912	Boston	Jake Stahl	105	47	.691	14
1913	Philadelphia	Connie Mack	96	57	.627	6 ½
1914	Philadelphia	Connie Mack	99	53	.651	8 ½
1915	Boston	Bill Carrigan	101	50	.669	2 ½
1916	Boston	Bill Carrigan	91	63	.591	2
1917	Chicago	Pants Rowland	100	54	.649	9
1918	Boston	Ed Barrow	75	51	.595	2 ½
1919	Chicago	Kid Gleason	88	52	.629	3 ½
1920	Cleveland	Tris Speaker	98	56	.636	2
1921	New York	Miller Huggins	98	55	.641	4 ½
1922	New York	Miller Huggins	94	60	.610	1
1923	New York	Miller Huggins	98	54	.645	16
1924	Washington	Bucky Harris	92	62	.597	2
1925	Washington	Bucky Harris	96	55	.636	8 ½
1926	New York	Miller Huggins	91	63	.591	3
1927	New York	Miller Huggins	110	44	.714	19
1928	New York	Miller Huggins	101	53	.656	2 ½
1929	Philadelphia	Connie Mack	104	46	.693	18
1930	Philadelphia	Connie Mack	102	52	.662	8
1931	Philadelphia	Connie Mack	107	45	.704	13 ½
1932	New York	Joe McCarthy	107	47	.695	13
1933	Washington	Joe Cronin	99	53	.651	7
1934	Detroit	Mickey Cochrane	101	53	.656	7
1935	Detroit	Mickey Cochrane	93	58	.616	3
1936	New York	Joe McCarthy	102	51	.667	19 ½
1937	New York	Joe McCarthy	102	52	.662	13
1938	New York	Joe McCarthy	99	53	.651	9 ½
1939	New York	Joe McCarthy	106	45	.702	17
1940	Detroit	Del Baker	90	64	.584	1
1941	New York	Joe McCarthy	101	53	.656	17
1942	New York	Joe McCarthy	103	51	.669	9
1943	New York	Joe McCarthy	98	56	.636	13 ½
1944	St. Louis	Luke Sewell	89	65	.578	1
1945	Detroit	Steve O'Neill	88	65	.575	1 ½
1946	Boston	Joe Cronin	104	50	.675	12
1947	New York	Bucky Harris	97	57	.630	12
1948	Cleveland	Lou Boudreau	97	58	.626	1
Note: Cleveland beat Boston in a one-game playoff
1949	New York	Casey Stengel	97	57	.630	1
1950	New York	Casey Stengel	98	56	.636	3
1951	New York	Casey Stengel	98	56	.636	5
1952	New York	Casey Stengel	95	59	.617	2
1953	New York	Casey Stengel	99	52	.656	8 ½
1954	Cleveland	Al Lopez	111	43	.721	8
1955	New York	Casey Stengel	96	58	.623	3
1956	New York	Casey Stengel	97	57	.630	9
1957	New York	Casey Stengel	98	56	.636	8
1958	New York	Casey Stengel	92	62	.597	10
1959	Chicago	Al Lopez	94	60	.610	5
1960	New York	Casey Stengel	97	57	.630	8
1961	New York	Ralph Houk	109	53	.673	8
1962	New York	Ralph Houk	96	66	.593	5
1963	New York	Ralph Houk	104	57	.646	10 ½
1964	New York	Yogi Berra	99	63	.611	1
1965	Minnesota	Sam Mele	102	60	.630	7
1966	Baltimore	Hank Bauer	97	63	.606	9
1967	Boston	Dick Williams	92	70	.568	1
1968	Detroit	Mayo Smith	103	59	.636	12
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American League 1969-

Year	Team	Manager	W	L	Pct	GA
1969	Baltimore	Earl Weaver	109	53	.673	19
1970	Baltimore	Earl Weaver	108	54	.667	15
1971	Baltimore	Earl Weaver	101	57	.639	12
1972	Oakland	Dick Williams	93	62	.600	5 ½
1973	Oakland	Dick Williams	94	68	.580	6
1974	Oakland	Al Dark	90	72	.556	5
1975	Boston	Darrell Johnson	95	65	.594	4 ½
1976	New York	Billy Martin	97	62	.610	10 ½
1977	New York	Billy Martin	100	62	.617	2 ½
1978	New York	Bob Lemon	100	63	.613	1
1979	Baltimore	Earl Weaver	102	57	.642	8
1980	Kansas City	Jim Frey	97	65	.599	14
1981	New York	Bob Lemon	59	48	.551	---
Note: Season was split by strike; New York won the first half and defeated Milwaukee, the second-half winner, in a one-game playoff.
1982	Milwaukee	Harvey Kuenn	95	67	.586	1
1983	Baltimore	Joe Altobelli	98	64	.605	6
1984	Detroit	Sparky Anderson	104	58	.642	15
1985	Kansas City	Dick Howser	91	71	.562	1
1986	Boston	John McNamara	95	66	.590	5 ½
1987	Minnesota	Tom Kelly	85	77	.525	2
1988	Oakland	Tony LaRussa	104	58	.642	13
1989	Oakland	Tony LaRussa	99	63	.611	7
1990	Oakland	Tony LaRussa	103	59	.636	9
1991	Minnesota	Tom Kelly	95	67	.586	8
1992	Toronto	Cito Gaston	96	66	.593	4
1993	Toronto	Cito Gaston	95	67	.586	7
1994	Season ended Aug. 11 due to players' strike
1995	Cleveland	Mike Hargrove	100	44	.694	30
1996	New York	Joe Torre	92	70	.568	4
1997	Cleveland	Mike Hargrove	86	75	.534	6
1998	New York	Joe Torre	114	48	.704	22
1999	New York	Joe Torre	98	64	.605	4
2000	New York	Joe Torre	87	74	.540	2 ½
2001	New York	Joe Torre	95	65	.594	13 ½
2002	Anaheim	Mike Scioscia	99	63	.611	4
Note: Anaheim was the wild-card team.
2003	New York	Joe Torre	101	61	.623	6
2004	Boston	Terry Francona	98	64	.605	3
Note: Boston was the wild-card team.
2005	Chicago	Ozzie Guillen	99	63	.611	6
2006	Detroit	Jim Leyland	95	67	.586	1
Note: Detroit was the wild-card team.

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This page last updated Saturday, 19-Apr-2008 10:21:49 PDT

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