# Theoretical Baseball Playoff Scenario **URL:** \ **Category:** The Game Room\ **Created:** [September 27, 2010, 5:56pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/theoretical-baseball-playoff-scenario/555250 "2010-09-27T17:56:56Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 11\ **Page:** 1
**Author:** ![Yorikke](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/yorikke/32/4335_2.png) [@Yorikke](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Yorikke)\ **Post date:** [September 27, 2010, 5:56pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/theoretical-baseball-playoff-scenario/555250/1 "2010-09-27T17:56:56Z")
What happens if the Giants, Padres, Rockies (not bloody likely), and Braves all finish with the same record? My theory: 1. A 3-team, double elimination tournament to determine the NL West. 2. A 3-team, double elimination tournament, with the Braves and the 2 losers of the previous tournament, to determine the Wild Card. 3. Regular playoffs. But this is a ridiculous scenario! Am I stupid (I’m a little buzzed), or is there a simpler way, or is there an official protocol? Joe ---
**Author:** ![ReticulatingSplines](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/r/e274bd/32.png) [@ReticulatingSplines](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/ReticulatingSplines)\ **Post date:** [September 27, 2010, 6:03pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/theoretical-baseball-playoff-scenario/555250/2 "2010-09-27T18:03:05Z")
Did you try Google? > **[Resolution of ties in division races | Baseball-Reference.com](https://www.baseball-reference.com/about/division_ties.shtml)** > > Division tiebreaker information ---
**Author:** ![RealityChuck](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/realitychuck/32/195_2.png) [@RealityChuck](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/RealityChuck)\ **Post date:** [September 27, 2010, 6:03pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/theoretical-baseball-playoff-scenario/555250/3 "2010-09-27T18:03:55Z")
In the past, there have been procedures for a three-way tie. IIRC, there is some sort of draw, and it’s all single elimination. The winner chooses between playing two games at home or one on the road. If they choose the one on the road, the other two teams flip a coin for home advantage. The winner of that game plays the team that sat out. If the winner decides to play two games at home, the other two flip to see who plays them first. For a four-way tie, they’d draw up two games the first day, leading to the championship the next day as the winning teams play. ---
**Author:** ![zoog](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/z/7ea924/32.png) [@zoog](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/zoog)\ **Post date:** [September 27, 2010, 6:07pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/theoretical-baseball-playoff-scenario/555250/4 "2010-09-27T18:07:30Z")
My guess is that the NL West teams would have two additional games - one between teams A&B, then one between the winner of that game and team C. Team C would be the one that won a series of coin flips earlier. The winner of the second game would be the division winner. Then, because those games go on the books as regular season games, the Braves would be the wild card winner, because both of the losing teams would wind up with worse records than the Braves. ---
**Author:** ![markdash](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/ba8739/32.png) [@markdash](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/markdash)\ **Post date:** [September 27, 2010, 6:38pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/theoretical-baseball-playoff-scenario/555250/5 "2010-09-27T18:38:55Z")
> [@zoog](#): > > My guess is that the NL West teams would have two additional games - one between teams A&B, then one between the winner of that game and team C. Team C would be the one that won a series of coin flips earlier. The winner of the second game would be the division winner. > > **Then, because those games go on the books as regular season games, the Braves would be the wild card winner, because both of the losing teams would wind up with worse records than the Braves.** This is not true. Those games do not count for regular season records. If there is a 3-way tie between the Giants, Braves, and Padres, the tiebreakers would go like this: -Padres and Giants play a 1-game playoff to decide the NL West -The loser of the game then plays a 1-game playoff against the Braves to decide the wild card ---
**Author:** ![Munch](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/munch/32/5281_2.png) [@Munch](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Munch)\ **Post date:** [September 27, 2010, 7:17pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/theoretical-baseball-playoff-scenario/555250/6 "2010-09-27T19:17:09Z")
> [@markdash](#): > > This is not true. Those games do not count for regular season records. Cite? One-game “playoff” games have always counted as regular season games in the past. ---
**Author:** ![Hawkeyeop](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/h/958977/32.png) [@Hawkeyeop](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Hawkeyeop)\ **Post date:** [September 27, 2010, 7:32pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/theoretical-baseball-playoff-scenario/555250/7 "2010-09-27T19:32:01Z")
> [@Munch](#): > > > [@markdash](#): > > > > This is not true. Those games do not count for regular season records. > > Cite? One-game “playoff” games have always counted as regular season games in the past. They do count as regular season games, but the procedure is correct. This was changed after a 3 way tie either gave or almost gave (Don’t quite remember the teams Mets, Astros, Reds maybe?) the wild card automatically to the team not part of the division race. ---
**Author:** ![markdash](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/ba8739/32.png) [@markdash](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/markdash)\ **Post date:** [September 27, 2010, 7:32pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/theoretical-baseball-playoff-scenario/555250/8 "2010-09-27T19:32:24Z")
> [@Munch](#): > > > [@markdash](#): > > > > This is not true. Those games do not count for regular season records. > > Cite? One-game “playoff” games have always counted as regular season games in the past. [http://www.mlb.com/news/press\_releases/press\_release.jsp?ymd=20030908&content\_id=517243&vkey=pr\_mlb&fext=.jsp&c\_id=mlb](http://www.mlb.com/news/press_releases/press_release.jsp?ymd=20030908&content_id=517243&vkey=pr_mlb&fext=.jsp&c_id=mlb) > [@](#): > > 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. ---
**Author:** ![Tom\_Scud](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/f08c70/32.png) [@Tom\_Scud](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Tom_Scud)\ **Post date:** [September 27, 2010, 7:38pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/theoretical-baseball-playoff-scenario/555250/9 "2010-09-27T19:38:20Z")
> [@Hawkeyeop](#): > > > [@Munch](#): > > > > Cite? One-game “playoff” games have always counted as regular season games in the past. > > They do count as regular season games, but the procedure is correct. This was changed after a 3 way tie either gave or almost gave (Don’t quite remember the teams Mets, Astros, Reds maybe?) the wild card automatically to the team not part of the division race. Right 3 teams; it was 1999. It didn’t quite happen that way, as the Astros finished a game ahead of the Reds, who went on to lose the one-game playoff to the Mets. ---
**Author:** ![Yorikke](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/yorikke/32/4335_2.png) [@Yorikke](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Yorikke)\ **Post date:** [September 28, 2010, 1:28am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/theoretical-baseball-playoff-scenario/555250/10 "2010-09-28T01:28:26Z")
[quote=“markdash, post:5, topic:555250”] > [@zoog](#): > > This is not true. Those games do not count for regular season records. If there is a 3-way tie between the Giants, Braves, and Padres, the tiebreakers would go like this: > > -Padres and Giants play a 1-game playoff to decide the NL West > -The loser of the game then plays a 1-game playoff against the Braves to decide the wild card And if the Padres, Giants, and Rockies are tied for the division, AND have the same record as the Braves for the Wild Card? Joe ---
**Author:** ![markdash](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/ba8739/32.png) [@markdash](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/markdash)\ **Post date:** [September 28, 2010, 6:18am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/theoretical-baseball-playoff-scenario/555250/11 "2010-09-28T06:18:10Z")
[quote=“wheresgeorge04, post:10, topic:555250”] > [@markdash](#): > > And if the Padres, Giants, and Rockies are tied for the division, AND have the same record as the Braves for the Wild Card? > > Joe I would have to research that particular situation, but it’s moot now because it’s impossible for the Giants, Padres, and Rockies to finish with the same record (the Rockies are 5 games back with 6 to play, and the Giants/Padres are guaranteed to win at least 3 games between them).