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Home > First division (baseball)


 

First division is a term that has had various meanings, at various times, in the sport of baseball: Prior to 1961, the two major baseball leagues - the National League and the American League - contained eight teams each, and a team in first through fourth places collectively was said to stand in the "first division;" when the leagues added two new teams each in the early 1960s (the American League in 1961 and the National League the following year) the term's application was changed to the first five places in the standings. Teams occupying positions lower than these were said to be in the "second division."

Players on teams finishing in the first division received monetary shares from the Players' Pool, which is funded by gate receipts from that year's World Series; specifically, prior to the aforementioned expanison, the team winning the World Series received 42% of this money, the team losing the World Series got 28%, with the second-, third- and fourth-place teams in each league being awarded 7½%, 5% and 2½% respectively. Concomitant with the expansion, 1% was taken from both of the World Series teams and given to each of the teams finishing in fifth place.

The New York Yankees finished in the first division for a record 39 consecutive years, from 1926 through 1964, all inclusive; by contrast, the Chicago Cubs once finished in the second division for 20 years in a row - between 1947 and 1966.

With the realignment of both leagues into two geographically-based divisions in 1969, the terms "first division" and "second division" quickly fell into disuse (largely due to the fact that the word "division" had acquired a completely different meaning), although teams finishing in the top half of the standings - now the first three teams in each of the new divisions - continued to share in the Players' Pool. The distribution of the Players' Pool money was also changed at this time, with the World Series winner henceforth getting 36% of the pool, its loser 27%, the losers of the League Championship Series 12½% each, the second-place teams in the divisions 2 3/8% each, and the third-place teams 5/8% each. In 1991 these shares were revised to 36%, 24%, 12%, 3% and 1% respectively, and when both major leagues realigned again in 19941994 is a common year starting on Saturday, and was designated the International year of the Family''. Events January events January 1 North American Free Trade Agreement (NAFTA) goes into effect January 6 Nancy Kerrigan is clubbed on the right leg by an (each league now consisting of three divisions, the winners thereof plus one wild cardIn playing card terms, a wild card is a card that can be assigned any value its holder desires. A wild card can be a pre-assigned card, such as any 2 (deuce) or the jack of spades, for example, or a special card, usually one of the jokers. See also Wild c team in each league reaching the postseason), the 3% shares went to teams losing in the Division SeriesThe Division Series is the official name for the first round of playoffs conducted in the sport of baseball. In 1994, both the National League and the American League realigned, with the number of divisions in both increasing from two to three (with fewer and the 1% shares went to the teams that finished second in their division but did not earn a wild card (this new arrangement actually commenced in 19951995 was a common year starting on Sunday (see link for calendar). It has a Golden number of 1, and was the first year of the International Decade of the World's Indigenous People (1995- 2005): http://www. org/culture/indigenous . Events January events Ja as no World Series was held in 19941994 is a common year starting on Saturday, and was designated the International year of the Family''. Events January events January 1 North American Free Trade Agreement (NAFTA) goes into effect January 6 Nancy Kerrigan is clubbed on the right leg by an due to a players' strike).

The terms "first division" and "second division" are rarely if ever used in baseball today, except in a historical context - and even their original meanings have become obsolete since the proportion of Major League BaseballMajor League Baseball MLB is the highest level of play in professional baseball in North America. More specifically, Major League Baseball ("MLB") refers to the entity that operates North America's two top leagues, the National League and the American Lea teams sharing in the Players' Pool has fallen significantly below one-half because the number of teams receiving shares has not risen in concert with the increase in the number of teams as the result of expansion: In 1977For the album by Ash, see 1977 (album). Events January 1 First woman Episcopal priest ordained January 6 EMI sacks the Sex Pistols January 18 Scientists identify a previously unknown bacterium as the cause of the mysterious " legionnaire's disease" Januar the American League expanded to 14 teams, but the number of AL teams qualifying for postseason money remained at six - three in each division, even though the divisions now had seven teams in them. The National League followed suit in 19931993 is a common year starting on Friday and marked the Beginning of the International Decade to Combat Racism and Racial Discrimination (1993-2003 Events January January 1 Czechoslovakia divides. Establishment of independent Slovakia and Czech Republic., and the addition of the Arizona Diamondbacks and Tampa Bay Devil Rays in 1998 decreased the percentage of major-league teams being awarded Players' Pool shares to two-fifths (12 out of 30).

Originally, the Players' Pool was funded by a portion of the gate receipts from the first four games of the World Series; as baseball added more rounds of playoffs, the receipts from the first four games of best-of-seven series, and the first three of best-of-five series, were included as well, so that players on teams qualifying for shares of the pool receive several times more money today - even adjusting for inflation - than their counterparts did many decades ago.



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