| 1995 American League Division Series | |||||||||||||
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| Dates | October 3 – 6 | ||||||||||||
| Television | NBC (in Cleveland) ABC (in Boston) | ||||||||||||
| TV announcers | Bob Costas and Bob Uecker (in Cleveland) Steve Zabriskie and Tommy Hutton (in Boston) | ||||||||||||
| Radio | CBS | ||||||||||||
| Radio announcers | John Rooney and Jeff Torborg | ||||||||||||
| Teams | |||||||||||||
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| Dates | October 3 – 8 | ||||||||||||
| Television | NBC (in New York) ABC (in Seattle) | ||||||||||||
| TV announcers | Gary Thorne and Tommy Hutton (in New York) Brent Musburger and Jim Kaat (in Seattle) | ||||||||||||
| Radio | CBS | ||||||||||||
| Radio announcers | Ernie Harwell and Al Downing | ||||||||||||
| Umpires | Tim Welke, John Hirschbeck, Joe Brinkman, Rocky Roe, Dan Morrison (Red Sox–Indians, Games 1–2; Mariners–Yankees, Games 3–5) Don Denkinger (Red Sox–Indians, Games 1–2), Jim Evans (Mariners–Yankees, Games 3–5), Mike Reilly, Dale Scott, Jim McKean, Larry McCoy, Rich Garcia, Jim Joyce (Mariners–Yankees, Games 1–2; Red Sox–Indians, Game 3) | ||||||||||||
The 1995 American League Division Series (ALDS), the opening round of the 1995 American League playoffs, began on Tuesday, October 3, and ended on Sunday, October 8, with the champions of the three AL divisions—along with a "wild card" team—participating in two best-of-five series. As a result of both leagues realigning into three divisions in 1994, it marked the first time in major league history that a team could qualify for postseason play without finishing in first place in its league or division. The teams were:
- Seattle Mariners (Western Division champion, 79–66) vs. New York Yankees (Wild Card, 79–65): Mariners win series, 3–2.
- Boston Red Sox (Eastern Division champion, 86–58) vs. Cleveland Indians (Central Division champion, 100–44): Indians win series, 3–0.[1]
The format of this series and the NLDS was the same as the League Championship Series prior to 1985, a five-game set wherein the first two games were played at one stadium and the last three at the other. This format was later changed in 1998 for the present 2–2–1 format, which has been used in the Division Series since except for 2012, when the 2–3 format was used again due to the addition of the Wild Card Game. Because of realignment, this was the first time that both the Yankees and the Red Sox reached the playoffs in the same year.[2]
The Seattle Mariners and Cleveland Indians went on to meet in the AL Championship Series (ALCS). The Indians became the American League champion and lost to the National League champion Atlanta Braves in the 1995 World Series.
- ^ The higher seed (in parentheses) had the home field advantage, which was not tied to playing record but was predetermined—an arrangement which was discontinued after the 1997 playoffs. Also, the team with home field advantage played the first two games on the road, with potentially the last three at home, in order to reduce travel. The Red Sox played the Indians, rather than the wild card Yankees, because the Red Sox and Yankees are in the same division. Had the 1995 ALDS been played under the 1998-2011 arrangement, then Cleveland (1) would've played against New York (4) and Boston (2) would've faced Seattle (3). Under the format adopted in 2012, which removed the prohibition against teams from the same division playing in the Division Series, the matchups would also have been Cleveland-New York and Boston-Seattle.
- ^ Frommer, Harvey; Frommer, Frederic J. (2004). Red Sox vs. Yankees: The Great Rivalry. Sports Publishing, LLC. ISBN 1-58261-767-8.