High Quality Content by WIKIPEDIA articles! Each season in Major League Baseball (MLB), one American League (AL) team wins the pennant, signifying that they are the league`s champion and have the right to play in the World Series. The pennant was presented to the team with the best win–loss record each year through the 1968 season, after which the American League Championship Series (ALCS) was introduced to decide the pennant winner. The first modern World Series was played in 1903 and, after a hiatus in 1904, has taken place in every season since except 1994, when the players` strike forced the cancellation of the postseason. The current American League pennant holders are the Texas Rangers, who won their second consecutive pennant in 2011.