Could you define what the baseball pennant race actually is?

Question

Is it each team in each division being the winner based on thier record? Is there one for the AL East, West and Central and One for NL East, West and Central? Or is it the team from each (AL and NL) that make it to the world series?

Answer 1

4 teams come out of each league. which makes 8 in total. the winner of the AL east, west and central, and then a wildcard team. and the winner of NL east, west and central, and then the wild card winner. then for the world series, the winner of the AL will face the winner of the NL. and the winner for that 7 game series determines the world series champ.

Answer 2

Not quite, although you have the right idea.  Some of the above answers are good, but they never answered your initial question.

A pennant RACE is the competition between two or more teams to win as many games as possible during the last few weeks of the season to secure a playoff spot when the season is over.

In Major League Baseball, there are two leagues - American & National - each divided into 3 divisions.  At season's end, only 4 teams from each league will make the playoffs.  The team with the best record in each division earn the first 3 positions, and the 4th goes to the team with the best overall record from all the remaining teams in the league, from any division.  (This 4th team is called the "Wild Card" team).

Now, the 4 teams in each league break into 2 groups of two, who play each other in the first round of the playoffs.  They play each other until one team has 3 wins against the other.  The winners then play the other winner from their league.  This is the second round.  They play until one team beats the other team 4 times (also known as "best out of seven").  The winner of the second round is the American (or National) League Champion.  These two teams play in the World Series, which is also best out of seven.

That's how it works.  The term "pennant race" is the term used to describe the struggle of all the teams trying to earn a playoff spot, who will not all make it.  It's similar to the Olympics.  Eight runners may enter a race, all are trying to win, but only the top 3 earn a medal.  In the same way, the teams are all trying to "win" a playoff spot.

And here's another fact that will clarify things for you - why is it called a "pennant" race if teams are competing for a "playoff" spot?

From 1903-68, there were no divisions within the leagues.  There were roughly 10 teams each in the American League & National League, and they competed against every team in their league for the championship.  There were no playoffs.  Only ONE team - with the best record - won the championship, or "pennant", in both leagues, and these two teams went right to the World Series.  The phrase "pennant race" was born to describe more than one team competing, but only one "winning" a trip to the World Series.

This term is still used, even though it isn't as accurate.  The team that wins the pennant is the LEAGUE champion, but "pennant race" is still used to describe what is now more accurately a "playoff race".

I hope this helps you & anyone else interested in learning more about the great sport of baseball!

Answer 3

In the past when there were no divisions, the NL and the AL both had pennant races.  All teams were under their respective leagues, NL and AL. Those were original pennant races because the pennant was won when you won the league championship. The playoffs back then was just the World Series.  With expansion came the changes and those brought on the divisions. So then the pennant races were AL East and West and NL East and West. Now with the addition of the Central in each league that is known as the pennant race. So in total you have 6 pennant races going on, 2 more if you add the Wild Card = 8 pennant races.

Answer 4

EDIT:  I did answer the "race" aspect in my first sentence here.  To be clear, the "race" is how all of these teams try to achieve these goals.  

Since each team is given a pennant that achieves any of the goals, it all is defined as a pennant race.  These pennants are the ones that hang in the ballpark.  They represent the highest level that team reached in that season.  

For example, if the Phillies win the Wild Card, and the National League, they will hang a pennant that says "2008 National League Champions".  However, if they win only the Wild Card, it says "2008 National League Wild Card Champions".  Same goes for "2008 National League Eastern Division Champions" and so on.  

Last year it was:

Boston - "2007 World Champions"

NYY - "2007 Wild Card Champions"

LAA - "2007 American League Western Division Champions"

Cleveland - "2007 American League Central Division Champions"

Philadelphia - "2007 National League Eastern Division Champions"

CHC - "2007 National League Central Division Champions"

Arizona - "2007 National League Western Division Champions"

Colorado - "2007 National League Champions"

Hope that helps.

Answer 5

Ok, im going to spell this out as simply and elaborately as I can.

The MLB is like a tournament. 30 Teams compete. There are a total of 162 games in the regular season. 81 are played at the team's home field, and 81 are played among other team's fields. Teams play each other until September when every team has played 162 games. There are 2 leagues that divide the MLB.

The American League(AL) and the National League (NL)

AL Teams: Los Angeles Angels of Anaheim, Boston Red Sox, Baltimore Orioles, Chicago White Sox, Tampa Bay Rays, New York Yankees, Toronto Blue Jays, Minnesota Twins, Kansas City Royals, Detroit Tigers, Cleveland Indians, Texas Rangers, Seattle Mariners and the Oakland Athletics.

The AL is divided into 3 divisions.

The AL East which consists of the New York Yankees, Toronto Blue Jays, Boston Red Sox, Baltimore Orioles and Tampa Bay Rays.

AL Central: Chicago White Sox, Minnesota Twins, Detroit Tigers, Cleveland Indians, and Kansas City Royals.

AL West: LA Angels of Anaheim, Seattle Mariners, Texas Rangers, and the Oakland A's.

NL Teams: Atlanta Braves, Florida Marlins, New York Mets, Philadelphia Phillies, Washington Nationals, Chicago Cubs, Cincinnati Reds, Houston Astros, Milwaukee Brewers, Pittsburgh Pirates, St. Louis Cardinals, Arizona Diamondbacks, Colorado Rockies, Los Angeles Dodgers, San Diego Padres, San Francisco Giants

NL East

Atlanta Braves

Florida Marlins

New York Mets

Philadelphia Phillies

Washington Nationals



NL Central

Chicago Cubs

Cincinnati Reds

Houston Astros

Milwaukee Brewers

Pittsburgh Pirates

St. Louis Cardinals

NL West

Arizona Diamondbacks

Colorado Rockies

Los Angeles Dodgers

San Diego Padres

San Francisco Giants

Each division is won by the team with the best record in the division. The teams that win the division gets a playoff berth. The 2nd place team with the best record out of all the 2nd place teams in the league gets the Wild Card (WC).

When the winners are picked each league sends 4 teams to the Post-season. There the teams play each other in a best-of-5 series which means that the first team to win 3 games advances to the next tournament called the AL(or NL) CS [National League Championship Series]. There, a best of 7 is played. The two teams that advance from each league play each other (Respectively) Winner from each league wins the AL or NL Pennant which qualifies them for the World Series (WS) [Championship series of the whole Tournament] There they play a best of 7 series. Home field advantaged goes to the league that won the All Star Game in mid-July.

Hope I helped your comprehension of the MLB in any way.

Answer 6

I'm pretty sure its each team in AL and NL because you get a pennant for going to the world series. The division is just a division race.