3 way tie in the AL - what happens?

[sniffa]

we've been trying to figure this out.

if boston and ny tie for the east Lead, which aLso happens to be the same record for the indians, is there two 1-game pLayoffs?
Loser of sox-yanks 1-game pLayoff (at yankee stadium) then pLay a 1-game against cLeveLand?

[Jersey Devil]

1. Red Sox would play at Yankee Stadium for AL East

and the loser of that game would play in Cleveland the next day for the wild card.

It is also possible there would be no playoff games at all if the Red Sox take 2/3 from the Yanks over the weekend and Cleveland loses at least 2 of 3 vs the White Sox because then both the Yanks and Red Sox would wind up the regular season with 95-67 records while Cleveland would be at 94-68. In that case the Yankees would win the AL East based on a better record head to head with Boston over the season and the Red Sox would get the wild card with Cleveland eliminated.

[Bill McBlueState]

3. sounds reasonable

That tiebreaker sounds reasonable. Do you have a link or anything for that? See my post below.

[WilliamPitt]

7. That's it

[Jersey Devil]

8. One small correction to my post on edit

It was too late to edit the original post.

If there is a playoff for the wc it would be in Cleveland if the Yankees are involved and it would be in Fenway if the Red Sox are involved, all based on coin flips.

[rinsd]

2. Scenario breakdowns

Red Sox swept by Yankees
Indians win 0: Red Sox-Indians playoff
Indians win 1: Indians win wild card
Indians win 2: Indians win wild card
Indians win 3: Indians win wild card

Red Sox win 1
Indians win 0: Sox win wild card
Indians win 1: Sox-Indians playoff
Indians win 2: Indians win wild card
Indians win 3: Indians win wild card


Red Sox win 2
Indians win 0: Red Sox win wild card
Indians win 1: Red Sox win wild card
Indians win 2: Red Sox-Yankees-Indians playoff
Indians win 3: Indians win wild card, Red Sox-Yankees playoff


Red Sox sweep Yankees
Indians win 0: Red Sox win East, Yankees win wild card
Indians win 1: Red Sox win East, Indians-Yankees playoff
Indians win 2: Red Sox win East, Indians win wild card
Indians win 3: Red Sox win East, Indians win wild card

[Bill McBlueState]

4. i was just wondering the same thing

The only way this can happen is if Boston and Cleveland both win two of three, putting all three teams at 95 wins.

The fair solution seems to be to have Boston and NY play a single game to decide the division, then have the loser of that game play Cleveland for the wildcard. But that involves a bit of travel and holds up the playoffs an extra day, something MLB might not like.

What I *could* see happening is Boston and New York play a single game to decide the division. The loser of that game would be 95-68, half a game behind the Indians, so the Indians would take the wildcard. It's not fair, but MLB isn't always fair.

[sniffa]

5. the originaL is correct

via: about 5 stories in the sports section of today's gLobe.

the 1-game pLayoffs don't count towards the officiaL standings, so the unfair version is not possibLe.

[Bill McBlueState]

6. yep

I found this article from 2000, which complains about the "unfair" method: http://espn.go.com/mlb/columns/stark/grumblings/767892....

But you're right; there are a bunch of articles out today and yesterday that mention multiple tiebreaker games. Looks like baseball actually did something about a dumb rule for once.

[Jersey Devil]

9. 1 more scenario in case your head doesn't hurt yet

Yanks could actually clinch the division on saturday with a split with the Red Sox. Got this from the Yankee board.

If the Cleveland Indians lose tonight and tomorrow and the Yankees/Red Sox split, that means that the records for each team heading into Sunday are as follows:

Yankees 95-66
Red Sox 94-67
Indians 93-68

If that is the case, then only way there is any sort of tie that needs to be broken with a one-game playoff after the season ends, would be if the Red Sox lose on Sunday and the Indians win - they would finish with identical 94-68 records and would play for the Wild Card. If the Red Sox win on Sunday, then they finish with the same record as the Yankees - 95-67 - and the Indians can only be as good as 94-68 (if they win on Sunday). By virtue of the Red Sox winning, that means that Red Sox and the Yankees would be in the playoffs and since they don't play a one-game playoff to decide seedings (division winner and wild card winner), the Yankees would win the A.L. East because they would own the tie-breaker (if Boston wins 2 out 3 in this scenario, the Yankees still win the season series - 10-9).

Obviously, the Indians have to lose two-straight and by winning either today or tomorrow, it puts this scenario to rest. But at least it bares watching.

[MaineDem]

10. This feels like a championship series already!

I just have to get this Bucky Dent echo out of my head. Bad Bucky Dent! Bad!

[sniffa]

11. eeek!!!

40(ish) minutes till game time.

[MaineDem]

12. First pitch...

and it's a strike. Maybe this is an omen?

[sniffa]

13. man!! tough top of the 1st

but sox come right back to tie it up.

PAPPI!!!

EEK!! as soon as i posted this, tek hits a dingah!!