Why is Texas in the AL West, not the AL Central?

[Mattingly]

I see that in 1972 (http://www.baseball-reference.com/leagues/AL_1972.shtml), they were in the AL West when there were two AL divisions: East and West. Then again, so were White Sox, Twins and Royals, all of whom currently reside in the AL Central.

Was there was decision, such as a shortage of teams, that Texas is in the West? They're clearly in the southern center portion of the USA.

Thx. :)

[South Side Hitmen]

Likely, it was because Chicago, Minnesota, and Kansas City are all in close proximity to each other. The Rangers are out of the way in the Central.

However, they also are out of the way in the West. The nearest AL city to them is probably Kansas City...

For some reason, though, Houston is in the NL Central. It's farther South but a little farther East. In retrospect, it probably would have been better if Texas was in the NL West, because they could use Arizona and Colorado as "stepping stones" to San Francisco and San Diego.

[Solair Wright]

Don't forget, three teams in the AL West wouldn't make sense, would it? So they placed Texas in the AL West to give a fair balance. Then again, they could have moved KC to the AL West instead of Milwaukee being moved to the NL Central to accomodate a balance of 5 teams in each division.

Texas is in the AL West because if there were three teams playing in the AL West, it would cause quite an unfair balance in the teams' schedule.

[KCGHOST]

Unless you pick the divisions purely on geography than traditional league affiliation some team is going to end up playing a lot of games a long way from home.

[Mattingly]

Thanks a lot for the great replies, folks. Appreciated! :)

[west coast orange and black]

despite texas in the west, i believe that it's the a's who have flown the most miles in recent seasons.

[CAV]

I hate the Rangers being in the AL West. The West Coast is two hours behind the DFW area which is in the Central Time Zone. When the Rangers play divisional games on the left coast the game starts around 9:30pm in Dallas/Ft.Worth. So the game is usually over around 12:30am-1am Central. Lets say that's way past my bedtime.

Also, the Dallas Cowboys are in the NFC East! They play in a division with the big league northeast cities. The Stars are like the Rangers they are in the Pacific Division. The Mavericks are at least in the Southwest Division with two other Texas team and now a they have a team in Oklahoma for no telling how long. Good thing professional sports teams don't teach geography. No wonder American kids have a hard time finding major U.S. cities on a map!

[tiger50]

I hate the Rangers being in the AL West. The West Coast is two hours behind the DFW area which is in the Central Time Zone. When the Rangers play divisional games on the left coast the game starts around 9:30pm in Dallas/Ft.Worth. So the game is usually over around 12:30am-1am Central. Lets say that's way past my bedtime.

Also, the Dallas Cowboys are in the NFC East! They play in a division with the big league northeast cities. The Stars are like the Rangers they are in the Pacific Division. The Mavericks are at least in the Southwest Division with two other Texas team and now a they have a team in Oklahoma for no telling how long. Good thing professional sports teams don't teach geography. No wonder American kids have a hard time finding major U.S. cities on a map!


I kind of enjoy the Rangers away games on the West coast. One of my best memories is staying up until 1 or 1:30 last year watching the rangers win one in the 14th. I fell asleep in school the next morning, but it was worth it.

I totally agree with you about the Cowboys. The Rams are in the NFC west, and the more easternerster(?) than Dallas. The NFL is notorius for bad geography grouping.