When the second incarnation of the Washington Senators announced their intention to move to the Dallas–Fort Worth area for the 1972 season and become the Texas Rangers, American League owners voted to switch the Rangers with the Milwaukee Brewers, who began as the Seattle Pilots in 1969.
The Athletics won the first half and defeated the second-half winner, the Kansas City Royals, to win the division.
§ – Due to the 1994–95 Major League Baseball strike, starting on August 12, no official winner was declared.
By virtue of the eight-team postseason format used for that season, division runner-up Houston also qualified for the playoffs.
Those teams faced each other in the Wild Card Game to determine the final participant in the American League Division Series.