first division

first division (plural first divisions)

1. (US, chiefly baseball, dated) The half of the standings containing the teams with the best records.
   • 1991, Robert W. Creamer, Baseball and Other Matters in 1941, page 37:

     Let me pause to explain “second division” to those for whom the term has little or no significance. For the first half of the twentieth century the classic, constant number of baseball teams in a league was eight. Not six, not ten, not twelve, not fourteen. Eight. […] Even if a club failed to win the pennant, it was important to finish second, third or fourth—that is, in the upper half or first division of the league. […] “First division” came to mean something admirable, “second division” was denigrating.

• Used chiefly from the early 20th century until 1969, when it quickly fell out of use after the American League and National League each split into geographical divisions, giving division a new meaning.

• second division