A history of the the Yankees and Orioles' battle for the AL East

The Yankees and Orioles are the only real teams in the race for the AL East. They have gone back and forth all year, with the Orioles currently trailing the Yankees by 0.5 games.

As the two teams compete for the division, let's look back to all of the seasons in which the O's and Yanks battled for first. Of course, these stats will come from 1969 and after because that is when the AL East was created.

The chart below includes the 10 seasons (plus 2024) in which the Yankees and Orioles finished first and second, in addition to seven accompanying stats: the division winner, the gap between first and second place, their head to head record, the Orioles' game number at which the division was decided, and the playoff outcomes for each team.

Excluding the current 2024 season, the Orioles and Yankees have come in first and second place, in either order, for a total of ten seasons since the AL East was created. Among these ten seasons, the Yankees own six division titles and the Orioles have four.

The largest gap between first and second place was 15 games in 1970, whereas the smallest gap was 2 games in 1974, 1981, 1997, and 2012. The Orioles have won the season series in eight out of ten seasons, the Yankees won a single season series, and they tied in the remaining one.

The earliest that the division was clinched was also in 1970, when the Orioles clinched on September 17th in game #149.

In the shortened 1981 season, the Yankees clinched the division title for the first half of the year on June 9th. The Orioles had played 52 out of 54 first-half games, so it was equivalent to one of the last games of a normal season.

However, among full length seasons the latest that the division was clinched was in 2012, when the Orioles lost 4-1 to the Rays in game #162. This was the infamous game where Longoria hit three homeruns and prevented the Orioles and Yankees from playing a one-game tiebreaker to decide the division.

Finally, one of the teams made it to the World Series in five of the ten seasons. The Yankees made it to four, winning two, and the O's made it to one World Series and won it.

Right now, it appears that the race for the 2024 division title will come down to the wire. The division has only come down to game #162 once before, and the Orioles lost. Could 2024 come down to game 162 as well? Or could they end in their first ever tie?

If the Orioles and Yankees do end with identical records, the division winner will be decided based on their head to head record. And to add to the drama, the two teams have a final 3-game series coming up in late September.

The Orioles currently own the season series 6-4, so if they can win one, two, or all three games in their final series against the Yankees, they will secure the tiebreaker. The only way the Yankees can edge the O's is with a clean 3-game sweep, which would put them ahead 7-6 and give them the division tiebreaker.

Regardless, the division race is going to be a thrilling one and it will be interesting to see where this season falls in with their previous battles for division titles.

Will one team pull away late and clinch the division earlier than we expect? Will it come down to game #162, like in 2012? Will it come down to their head to head record, and will the O's hold on in their final series against the Yankees? September baseball is here, and it is as electric as ever.