New York Yankees' Latest AL East Title Stands Apart as Historic Outlier

The New York Yankees played .500 baseball against the Boston Red Sox, Baltimore Orioles, Toronto Blue Jays and Tampa Bay Rays in 2024, but they won the AL East anyways.

Sep 26, 2024; Bronx, New York, USA; New York Yankees center fielder Aaron Judge, left, and designated hitter Giancarlo Stanton walk off the field after defeating the Baltimore Orioles to clinch the American League East title at Yankee Stadium. / Vincent Carchietta-Imagn Images

The New York Yankees won their 21st AL East title on Thursday, but this one stood out from the rest in one bizarre way.

New York's 10-1 victory over the Baltimore Orioles clinched them the division crown, their third in the last six years. Considering the Yankees went without one across the previous six seasons, it's certainly a step in the right direction for a franchise attempting to snap a 14-year World Series drought.

However, the Yankees went just 5-8 against the Orioles this season, losing their head-to-head series with a team that's bound for the playoffs.

New York was slightly better against the third-place Boston Red Sox, going 7-6 versus their most fierce rival, on top of posting identical marks against the Tampa Bay Rays and Toronto Blue Jays. While they technically had a winning record against three of the four teams in their division, the Yankees didn't dominate any of them, finishing the year 26-26 against other AL East squads.

As noted by Sports Reference's Katie Sharp, the Yankees are just the second team ever to win the AL East with a .500 or worse winning percentage against divisional opponents, excluding shortened seasons. The only other team to achieve the feat prior to 2024 was the 1972 Detroit Tigers.

The other 50 full-season AL East champions throughout history all had a winning record in-division.

Yankees finish 26-26 (.500) vs AL East this season.

They are just the 2nd AL East team to win the division with a .500 or worse division record (excluding shortened seasons). The other was 1972 Tigers.

— Katie Sharp (@SharpStats17) September 27, 2024

As it stands, the Yankees could wind up playing the Orioles in the ALDS. New York has clinched a bye, though, so perhaps they can cross their fingers and hope either the Detroit Tigers or Kansas City Royals dispatch of the Orioles in the AL Wild Card Series instead.

The Yankees will secure the top seed in the American League with one win – or a Cleveland Guardians loss – this weekend. They are set to open a series with the Pittsburgh Pirates at 7:05 p.m. ET on Friday.

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