# Baseball question.

**URL:** <https://boards.straightdope.com/t/baseball-question/34764>\
**Category:** Factual Questions\
**Created:** [September 27, 2000, 4:30pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/baseball-question/34764 "2000-09-27T16:30:54Z")\
**Posts on this page:** 5\
**Page:** 1

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**Author:** ![Greg\_Charles](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/g/839c29/32.png) [@Greg\_Charles](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Greg_Charles)\
**Post date:** [September 27, 2000, 4:30pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/baseball-question/34764/1 "2000-09-27T16:30:54Z")

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According to the Major League Baseball site, the Braves clinched the National League West division last night. However, if the Braves lost the rest for their games and the Mets won the rest of theirs, they would be tied at 94-68, so why is that a clinch?

On the other hand the Yankees haven’t clinched the AL East even though the Red Sox and Blue Jays could at most tie their record. For that matter, the Mets haven’t clinched the NL Wild Card because the Dodgers could tie their record. Is there some other factor that I don’t know about?

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**Author:** ![mazzer](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/eada6e/32.png) [@mazzer](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/mazzer)\
**Post date:** [September 27, 2000, 4:36pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/baseball-question/34764/2 "2000-09-27T16:36:57Z")

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It was explained in the [MLB.com](http://MLB.com) article:

According to baseball’s new math in the Wild Card era, here’s why the Braves clinched: At 94-63 with five games left, the Braves are guaranteed of at least a tie with the Mets (89-68).

If they finish even and both are in the playoffs, the division winner is determined by head-to-head record. Atlanta is 7-4 against New York with only two games left.

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**Author:** ![mazzer](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/eada6e/32.png) [@mazzer](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/mazzer)\
**Post date:** [September 27, 2000, 4:38pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/baseball-question/34764/3 "2000-09-27T16:38:05Z")

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PS: NL East

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**Author:** ![Keeve](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/k/f07891/32.png) [@Keeve](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Keeve)\
**Post date:** [September 27, 2000, 4:52pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/baseball-question/34764/4 "2000-09-27T16:52:20Z")

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> [@](#):
>
> \*Originally posted by chriszarate \*  
> **If they finish even and both are in the playoffs, the division winner is determined by head-to-head record.**

Actually that makes a lot of sense to me. Like how last night on the olympics, they said that if two weightlifters end up in a tie, the athlete who personally weighs less is the winner.

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**Author:** ![BobT](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/8e8cbc/32.png) [@BobT](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/BobT)\
**Post date:** [September 27, 2000, 5:01pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/baseball-question/34764/5 "2000-09-27T17:01:35Z")

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If the Yankees finished in a tie for the AL East, they would most likely not be guaranteed a wild card position and be forced to play a one game playoff against either Toronto or Boston.

That is quite unlikely, but that’s the way it works out.

The head-to-head tiebreaker only comes into play if you are tied for a division title and both teams will make the playoffs regardless of position.