Baseball Musings
Baseball Musings
September 05, 2006
Massive Tie

Here's a look at what the best outcomes are today to help to a massive tie in the National League:

  • Washington defeats St. Louis.
  • Florida defeats the Arizona.
  • Milwaukee defeats Los Angeles.
  • Houston defeats Philadelphia.
  • Atlanta defeats New York.
  • Colorado defeats San Diego.
  • Cincinnati defeats San Francisco

This last game, again, is the toughest choice. The Giants winning makes the big division tie more likely, but a Cincinnati win keeps more teams close in the wild card. I'm going with the Reds today to keep as many teams close to the wild card lead as possible.

Also note that since the Marlins finish with three games against the Phillies, the Giants with three games against the Dodgers, and the Astros with three games against the Braves, those teams need to be separated by 1 or three games going into the final weekend to get a tie.


Posted by David Pinto at 12:32 PM | Division Races | TrackBack (0)
Comments

Dave, correct me if i'm wrong, but are you ROOTING for a masive tie ? i had to read this a few times to catch the point. I dont mind a massive tie, as long as my Phils are in it.

i realize like most readers on here, you are a big fan of ALL the teams in general. but who is your favorite and who was your favorite growing up ?

Posted by: the Gov'Nah at September 5, 2006 12:54 PM

Yes, I'm rooting for a massive tie.

Growing up, I was a Yankees fan. Somewhere in the 1980's, when I was living in Boston and poor management was driving the Yankees into the ground, I became less of a Yankees fan and more of a baseball fan. That transition was complete when I joined STATS and started working at ESPN. I knew I got it right because the Yankees fans there thought I was a Red Sox fan and the Red Sox fans thought I was a Yankees fan.

Posted by: David Pinto at September 5, 2006 01:29 PM

what happens if San Diego ties both the Wild Card and the Division lead (it is possible)? Theoretically SD could tie for both but due to a playoff or tiebraker lose both. Or would SD get the wild card by default?

I'm rooting for the marlins for the wild card. how can you not love the youngest, cheapest team in MLB? Although i would like to see a massive tie.

Posted by: tony at September 5, 2006 01:37 PM

If San Diego ties for both the wild card and division lead, the division is settled first. Then, who ever loses the division goes into the wild card playoff.

That's why I'd like to see something like LA, SF and SD tie for the division lead, and Cin, Phil and Fla wit the exact same record tied for the wild card. Then, you have a two day playoff to determine the West champion, then a two day playoff to determine the wild card.

Posted by: David Pinto at September 5, 2006 01:44 PM

I'm rooting for a team with a losing record to win the wild card, then on to win the Series. Even better would be both the NL West division winner and the wild card having a losing record...

Posted by: craig at September 5, 2006 05:32 PM

The NL Central has as good a chance of the West of having a division winner with a sub-.500 record. The Cardinals are only one game better than the Dodgers and EVERYONE else in the Central is below .500.

Posted by: Sean Callahan at September 5, 2006 08:42 PM

http://www.all-baseball.com/ref/tie.html Tie among two teams for Division Championship with one team having the better record of the second place teams in the other two divisions. The League President shall conduct a coin flip to determine the site of a playoff game between the two teams tied for the Division Championship, the game to be played the day after the conclusion of the championship series. The winner of the game shall be declared Division Champion and the team with the better record of the second place teams in the other two divisions shall be declared the Wild Card team.

If there is a tie between the Padres, Dodgers and Reds then the Padres play the Dodgers and the winner is the division winner and the Reds are the WC team because the loser would then have a worse record than the Reds. Unless things have changed.

Posted by: Harry R. at September 6, 2006 09:34 AM

No, things haven't changed, you're making an incorrect assumption. In the three way tie you mention, the loser of the division plays the Reds for the wild card. While the playoff game counts as a regular season game, playoffs are set based on the final 162 game standings.

Posted by: David Pinto at September 6, 2006 10:09 AM

You are correct. Sorry. According to Baseball Prospectus they did change the rules at some point to the way you describe. According to http://www.baseball-analysis.com/article.php?articleid=2293

" It always seemed unfair that only two of the three teams would have to play an elimination game, and one team would qualify for the playoffs without having to play their way in. Luckily, it never came to pass.

In a shocking display of common sense, Major League Baseball decided not to stop after one game, but will force all the teams with the same record to play at least one elimination game. Rather than scheduling tee times, the loser of the Yankees-Red Sox playoff game would now play the Mariners (at a coin-flip determined location) to see who is awarded the Wild Card playoff entry. "

Thanks for the information and for the great updates on this blog!

Posted by: Harry R. at September 6, 2006 11:52 AM
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