[chano]

Can someone explain how things will get decided if Yanks /Bosox Tie? Mets /Philly tie? etc........

[Stumpage]

Can someone explain how things will get decided if Yanks /Bosox Tie? Mets /Philly tie? etc........

Don't take this at 100% chano, but I'm almost certain that the deciding factor is head to head play. Used to be a 1 game playoff of course (Bucky ****ing Dent), but with the rise of the WildCard, I think those days are over.

Anyway, this year if the 'Sox and Yankees tie, the Yankees win the East based on their 10-8 advantage over Boston this year.

[Stumpage]

Actually, now I'm not so sure lol.....Just looked at mlb.com, and it looks like an absolute nightmare in terms of scenarios.....

Anyway, what I noted above is correct in terms of the RedSox-Yankees, but as far as other scenarios, read on.....

http://mlb.mlb.com/news/article.jsp?...=.jsp&c_id=mlb

[pico]

this scenario will be more interesting in the NL:

4 way tie between philly, mets, padres and arizona

2 way tie between cubs and mil

then we have a pre-post season play off:

(not sure how many games)
philly vs mets
padres vs arizona
cubs vs mil

loser of the philly-mets series plays the loser of the padres-arizona series for the wild card spot. (or they could just give the wild card to the team that win more games in the series)

[pico]

Actually, now I'm not so sure lol.....Just looked at mlb.com, and it looks like an absolute nightmare in terms of scenarios.....

Anyway, what I noted above is correct in terms of the RedSox-Yankees, but as far as other scenarios, read on.....

http://mlb.mlb.com/news/article.jsp?...=.jsp&c_id=mlb

good articvle, now i am cristal clear on teh possibility of a 4 way tie.

[Willie Bee]

Actually, now I'm not so sure lol.....

It is rather dizzying, isn't it?

Last night's Rocks win means there won't be any 5-team scenarios. If that had happened, it would be at least next Thursday before any NL playoffs could be started. And Colorado owns most of the advantages in 3- and 4-team tiebreaker scenarios.

If the Cubs and Brewers wind up tied, they will just have a 1-game playoff to decide the NL Central and that would be the extent of their 'pre-postseason' play.

If the Phillies and Mets tie, they have to play one game to first decide the NL East.

Also, MLB counts any of these games as regular season contests. But in case you have any Win Totals Futures Bets out there, don't fret about any wins from those games helping you get Over a total or causing an Under bet to get tossed. Most books include a 'minimum 160 games, maximum 162' in the fine print for those wagers.

But I'm telling you guys one thing: I've been following baseball pretty closely now for darn near five decades, and this is the nuts as far as playoff races. I can recall the zaniness of the 1962 race with the Dodgers and Giants, the way the 1964 season unfolded, the first year of division play in 1969, the Sox & Yanks in 1978, Astros and Dodgers in 1980, Angels-Mariners in 1995, and more that are escaping my pre-alzheimer's mind right now. But this is just plain crazy right now in the NL.

[pico]

i like how AL does it, they just give the nod to the team with better regular season wins against the other team.

[RickySteve]

i like how AL does it, they just give the nod to the team with better regular season wins against the other team.

Um, no.

[Art Vandeleigh]

Um, no.

In 2005 Yankees and Red Sox tied for the division (95-67), there was no playoff game. Yankees won the division, Red Sox were wild card.

Unless you meant you don't prefer this method of determining who goes to the playoffs by head to head records. In that case, agreed.

[Willie Bee]

The tie between the Red Sox and Yankees in 2005 is different than some of the other tiebreaker scenarios we're mentioning here. It's the same as the 2001 tie between the Astros and Cardinals. Both teams were in the playoffs, and the head-to-head records were used to determine 'seeding' only (the Cards took the WC seed in the NL in 2001, the Sox the WC seed in the AL in 2005).

[Art Vandeleigh]

The tie between the Red Sox and Yankees in 2005 is different than some of the other tiebreaker scenarios we're mentioning here. It's the same as the 2001 tie between the Astros and Cardinals. Both teams were in the playoffs, and the head-to-head records were used to determine 'seeding' only (the Cards took the WC seed in the NL in 2001, the Sox the WC seed in the AL in 2005).

So let's take an extreme scenario where both Phillies and Mets sweep their final series, and Rockies and Padres get swept.

In this case then, Phillies would be NL East champs, and Mets would be wild card based on head to head season record, and no playoff game, correct? (Phillies beat up on Mets badly this year, don't have exact W/L record). That would be good because I just got some Mets to be the NL wild card team at 11-1.