What happens if 3 teams are tied for 1st place at the end of the season?
Posted on August 1st, 2011 by admin
In MLB baseball, what would happen if 3 teams were tied for first place at the end of the season?
I know if 2 teams are tied, they play a one game playoff against each other to determine the division winner. But it seems that there would be no way for 3 teams to play that would be equally fair for each team. Did this 3 way tie ever actually happen? What is the procedure if it does happen?
It has never yet happened, but MLB does have a plan for resolving such a situation.
(Scene: Commissioner Selig unlocks the sub-basement of MLB Global Headquarters, enters, carrying a torch. Pulls open the bottom drawer of a cobwebbed file cabinet, rusty bearings squealing their objections. Selig thumbs through, finally finding his goal near the back. Pulls out a yellowed folder, marked "Top Secret: Eyes Only". He theatrically blows the dust off, because one MUST blow the dust off old files. He breaks the seal, and pulls out the document, the title page, all official-looking, labeled "Three Way Tie Breaking: To Be Used Only In A Catastrophic Crisis". The commish tucks the document under his arm, hoists the torch, and departs, the door slamming shut with grim finality.)
MLB has ways of designating the teams as A, B, and C. The teams then play a two-game tournament, B at A, followed by C at the winner of the first game. The team winning the second game is awarded the postseason berth at stake.
———-
The actual tiebreaking procedures are spelled out in MLB Operations Rule 33, which is part of a document that MLB doesn’t make any effort to publicize or disseminate, but you can find it if you look for it. Summary forms, which may be a bit out of date but will give you the general concept well enough, can be found at either of the links below.
Rule 33 summary: http://wiki.soxprospects.com/Rule+33
Wiki: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Major_League_Baseball_tie-breaking_procedures