What happens in this situation

[OldFatGuy]

I just did 10 searches at MLB.COM and everytime I put in "tiebreaker" I get results for all of the previous tiebreak games played, and then when I put in "Tiebreaker Rules" I get thousands of hits with the word Rules in it. I can't figure out searches at all, so then I actually typed the quotation marks and "Tiebreaker Rules" and I get zero hits. I actually sent MLB a "Fan Feedback" email on this, hoping for an answer, but I won't hold breath since I don't have an account at MLB.COM. But I did browse the official rulebook, and for the most part, that deals with individual games not division standings. I'm gonna go look at that in more depth though. This is interesting because I always thought that playoff game was considered a regular season game but that post on Fox sports (or was CBS sports?) seems to contradict that.

[jcbarr]

Google is your best friend OFG.

Accoriding to Baseball Reference, here is the official rule.

Scenario #5: If three Clubs in a League are tied with identical winning percentages at the end of the championship season and two of those tied Clubs are from the same Division and are also tied for first place in that Division and the third tied Club has the highest winning percentage among the second-place Clubs in the remaining two Divisions, the Division Champion shall first be determined by a one-game playoff on Monday, September 29. Any playoff games played to determine a Division champion shall not count in determining which Clubs are deemed tied for a Wild Card designation. Clubs that were originally tied with a Club or Clubs for a Wild Card designation shall still be considered tied.

Example of Scenario #5: The Houston Astros, St. Louis Cardinals and Florida Marlins all have identical winning percentages at the end of the championship season. The Astros and Cardinals are tied for first place in the NL Central and the Marlins have the highest winning percentage among the second-place Clubs from the NL East and NL West. The Astros and Cardinals would play a one-game playoff on Monday, September 29. The winner shall be declared the Division Champion. Despite the loss, the losing Club would still be considered tied with the Marlins for the lead in the NL Wild Card. Those two Clubs would play a one-game playoff on Tuesday, September 30. The winner of that game shall be declared the Wild Card.

[jshaw]

not saying my team would have beat the Yanks since I threw my only decent P in Verlander against the Royals

but that was 163 play by play manager games down the drain to get screwed by the game not being set up right

kind of frustrating

[Swampdog]

Well, that sucks, jshaw. Unfortunately, it's how BM breaks ties like that. You would think that BM would mirror MLB in this regard, since the real life scenario seems to be quite fair. First, settle the division, then, the 2 WC teams play a playoff. Hmmm.

[boomboom]

Dude that sucks with 163 play-by-play....

[OldFatGuy]

Google is your best friend OFG.

Accoriding to Baseball Reference, here is the official rule.

Thanks JCB, but it doesn't seem to matter what tool I use to search (I've used Google, Forum Searches Site Searches), I just ALWAYS either get 0 hits or thousands. I just don't know how to computer searches, I'm waiting for the book "Computer Searches For Dummies."

Speaking of waiting, I just got done two hours of mowing the lawn (whew, talk about a sight, my old fat a$$ pushing that mower, sweating, gasping, wheezing, jouncing and jiggling, boy I hope my neighbors aren't big contributors to YouTube ), I didn't here from MLB.COM. So, thanks for clearing that up, another example of me being wrong all these years.

[ohms_law]

1995 Wildcard and AL west. This is a true story BTW.
So unless the rules have changed, since 1995... What BM does it correctly.

Mariners, Angels and Yankees were tied on the last day of the season.
Mariners under the Big Unit and Luis Sojo inside the park Grand Slam beat former Mariner Mark Langston and the angels 9-1 (Mariners go the playoffs, after being down 13 games in august).

Angels are knocked out of the playoffs (they are 1 game back of the Mariners and 1/2 game back of the yankees) ... Mariners Win the AL west, and Yankees win the Wildcard.

The Mariners end up beating the Yankees in the divisional series 3games to 2 on the bat of Edgar Martinez famous Double with Junior Sliding home for the winning run.

Ah the good ol' days...

You just haaaaad to bring that up, didn't ya?

[boomboom]

You just haaaaad to bring that up, didn't ya?

I did, I have nothing to look forward to this season...the Mariners still have Sexson playing first base....

I would rather get out my MY-OH-MY video....blow the dust off of my VHS Player...

[bwburke94]

A real life example came in the 2005 season. With two games left in the season for each team, the Red Sox and Yankees, who played each other that final weekend, both had 96-64 records and the Indians were at 95-65, in second place behind the eventual champion White Sox.

If the Indians won their final two games and the Sox and Yanks split, all three teams would be at 97-65, forcing a playoff between Boston and NY at Fenway and a second one (for the WC) at the home field of the loser. As it happened, Cleveland lost its first game, and the Yankees won the division.

A similar scenario occured in 2007. Entering the Mets' final game of the season, they were tied for first in the NL East with the Phillies at 88-73. The Rockies and Padres tied for second in the NL West behind the D'backs after that night's games at 89-73, and the Phillies won to reach the same record. If the Mets had won their game against the pathetic Marlins:

The Phillies and Mets would play in Philly for the NL East championship. The loser would be 89-74.
The Rockies and Padres would also play at Coors Field to break their tie. The winner, Colorado, would be, and was, 90-73.
Despite that, the loser of the NL East race would play the Rockies for the Wild Card. In Mogul, the Rockies would be considered the Wild Card.