# Who’s in First Place? **URL:** \ **Category:** The Game Room\ **Created:** [June 5, 2018, 1:09am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/who-s-in-first-place/815446 "2018-06-05T01:09:37Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 6\ **Page:** 2
**Author:** ![Ulf\_the\_Unwashed](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/u/b4bc9f/32.png) [@Ulf\_the\_Unwashed](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Ulf_the_Unwashed)\ **Post date:** [June 7, 2018, 3:06am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/who-s-in-first-place/815446/21 "2018-06-07T03:06:17Z")
> [@Jackknifed\_Juggernaut](#): > > Makes sense, but it would be crazy if a team 1.5 games behind at the end of the season happened to have postponed games in 3 different cities and had to make them all up to make a 1-game playoff. Would players on the opposing team of the 3rd game of this scenario be required to postpone their vacations to be available for a game several days after their season ended? It would be crazy, all right. I would guess that MLB would do its utmost to make up at least one and preferably two of those games before the season actually ended…“You guys both have an off day on September 24th? Great! Yankees, on September 23rd you fly to Oakland after your game in Baltimore, and after that you fly right home and take on Detroit in the Bronx…” But yeah, that’s pretty much what they’d have to do. As for the team that’s out of it, back in '73 the Padres finsihed the season on Saturday (!) with 102 losses, but had to fly to Pittsburgh for a makeup game against the Pirates on Monday. That’s not QUITE your scenario, but not too far removed. I’m sure it kind of sucked, but if you want the appearance of fairness about who makes the playoffs, it kind of has to happen that way! ---
**Author:** ![OldGuy](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/o/3bc359/32.png) [@OldGuy](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/OldGuy)\ **Post date:** [June 7, 2018, 3:53am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/who-s-in-first-place/815446/22 "2018-06-07T03:53:58Z")
> [@Ulf\_the\_Unwashed](#): > > Anyway, this is standard procedure. The only times I know of when it hasn’t been followed were 1972 and 1981, strike years when the “official schedule” called for different numbers of games for some of the teams. It might have been different back in the early days of the sport, too, but I don’t know for sure. Certainly it’s what they would do now. It was not that way back in the day. 1908 final standings in the American League Detroit 90-63 Cleveland 90-64 rest is irrelevant except that New York came in last which is always nice. ---
**Author:** ![OldGuy](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/o/3bc359/32.png) [@OldGuy](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/OldGuy)\ **Post date:** [June 7, 2018, 4:01am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/who-s-in-first-place/815446/23 "2018-06-07T04:01:34Z")
> [@OldGuy](#): > > It was not that way back in the day. > > 1908 final standings in the American League > > Detroit 90-63 > Cleveland 90-64 > > rest is irrelevant except that New York came in last which is always nice. I just recalled that this is doubly interesting because 1908 is the year of the Merkle boner and the Cubs and Giants were required to play that make-up game after the season was over which let the Cubs win the pennant by 1 game. The leagues must have had different rules at the time. ---
**Author:** ![Jackknifed\_Juggernaut](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/j/9de053/32.png) [@Jackknifed\_Juggernaut](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Jackknifed_Juggernaut)\ **Post date:** [June 8, 2018, 3:59am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/who-s-in-first-place/815446/24 "2018-06-08T03:59:35Z")
Well the standings are again as they were when this thread began. And again [espn.com](http://espn.com) has the Sox in 1st place on the main baseball page, but in 2nd place on the team pages. While I agree that MLB would try to complete the schedule in a potential tie-breaking situation, there must be some rule on which version of the standings takes precedence. After all, it could simply be impossible to complete the schedule for a variety of reasons, most of them tragic in nature. ---
**Author:** ![ElvisL1ves](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/e/5daacb/32.png) [@ElvisL1ves](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/ElvisL1ves)\ **Post date:** [June 8, 2018, 12:20pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/who-s-in-first-place/815446/25 "2018-06-08T12:20:43Z")
As of this morning, New York is in first place, 1/2 game behind Boston, having played 5 fewer games, not all of which are certain to be made up given that there are no triple-headers. ---
**Author:** ![BlankSlate](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/blankslate/32/80_2.png) [@BlankSlate](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/BlankSlate)\ **Post date:** [June 8, 2018, 2:52pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/who-s-in-first-place/815446/26 "2018-06-08T14:52:19Z")
I know four of the make-up games: the 2 games with the Nationals on June 18 and doubleheaders with Baltimore on July 9th and August 25th. I think that might be it? I can’t remember any other rainouts. [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/who-s-in-first-place/815446.md?page=1)