A History of MLB Playoff Tiebreakers

The Minnesota Twins celebrate after scoring the winning run in the 2009 single game playoff

Unlike other sports leagues, Major League Baseball schedules an extra tie-break game should two teams from the same division end with identical records with just one playoff spot available. Rather than defer to each team’s record versus the other, they actually have to play a sudden-death, one-game playoff to determine who gets the spot. Last night, this happened for only the 8th time in Major League history as the Minnesota Twins defeated the Detroit Tigers in a game that had to go to extra innings. Part of the reason this has happened so few times is that Major League Baseball switched to the single-game playoff in 1969, when they split each league into divisions and created divisional playoffs. Prior to 1969, teams with identical records played in a best-of-three series. I’m just going to focus on the single-game tiebreakers. If you want know more about the playoff games prior to that, check out the official playoff tiebreakers history page on MLB.com.

The First Single-Game Tiebreaker

Bucky Dent's only hit of the game; a 3-run home run

On October 2, 1978, the American League East Division came down to one of the most epic rivalries in all of sports: the Boston Red Sox and the New York Yankees, who had identical records of 99-63. With the game at Fenway Park, the Red Sox jumped out to an early lead, scoring 1 run in the 2nd inning, and another in the 6th, for a 2-0 lead heading into the 7th inning. With two men on base and two outs, Bucky Dent strode to the plate. Up to that point, Dent was in a slump, batting only .140 over his previous 20 games. He would be the hero in this game, though, as Dent hit a 3-run homer to put the Yankees up 3-2. The Yankees would add another 2 runs, and stave off an 8th inning Red Sox comeback attempt to win 5-4. It was Dent’s only hit of the game, but quite possibly one of the most important of his career, as the Yankees would go on to defeat the Dodgers in the World Series for their 21st championship.

The Astros Have Nolan Ryan but Don’t Use Him

The Hero: Joe Niekro (wow, look at those uniforms!)

On October 6, 1980, the National League West Division came down to the Houston Astros and Los Angeles Dodgers. The Astros were looking for their first division title in their history, and things looked up on October 1st, as the Astros had a 2-game lead on the Dodgers with 4 left to play. However, the Dodgers would come on strong, and force the Astros to play an extra game to earn their stripes. The Astros had future hall-of-famer Nolan Ryan on their team, but elected to go with their ace, Joe Niekro. Niekro would put on a clinic, allowing only 1 run on 6 hits in a complete game, as the Astros went on to win 7-1. Unfortunately, the ending wasn’t as happy as the Yankees 2 years earlier, as the Astros were eliminated in the National League Championship Series by the Philadelphia Phillies. To this day, the Astros have yet to win a World Series.

Game Number 145

Dogpile on Ken Griffey Jr. and Alex Rodriguez!

The American League extended the regular season in 1961 from 154 games to 162 games (the National League followed suit in 1962). However, in 1995, due to the strike-shortened season, the regular season was only scheduled to 144 games. That didn’t stop the California Angels and Seattle Mariners from extending their season, though, as the two teams had an identical record of 78-66 on October 2nd. The Mariners would go on to obliterate the Angels 9-1, on the back of ace pitcher Randy Johnson who would finish the season with an 18-2 record! It’s no wonder the Mariners won, though, as the team was full of hall-of-fame caliber talent. Ken Griffey, Jr., Edgar Martinez, and Tino Martinez were regulars in the lineup, and Alex Rodriguez was a benchwarmer.

What Home Run Record?

Cubs Slugger Sammy Sosa hitting his 61st home run

In 1998, baseball fans were still trying to wrap their heads around the fact that after 37 years, 2 players had shattered Roger Maris’ home run record. In addition, by the end of the season, 3 teams had managed to win over 100 games, with the Yankees being only 2 shy of the record of 116 set by the 1906 Chicago Cubs. As you can tell, it was an epic season, so why not throw in an extra game for good measure? On September 28th, the San Francisco Giants and Chicago Cubs were all tied up in the National League Wild Card race. The wild card was created in 1994 when the League expanded from 2 divisions per league to 3, so this was the 1st time a playoff game determined a wild card berth. This game did not disappoint, as the Cubs and Giants threw everything at each other; each team used 6 pitchers and a total of 36 men played. The Cubs would outlast the Giants 5-3, though, earning their place in the postseason, and helping Sammy Sosa to earn his only Most Valuable Player Award.

This is How You End the 20th Century

The Mets celebrate after the victory that would send them to the elimination game against the Reds

In the final week of the 1999 season, the Cincinnati Reds, Houston Astros, and New York Mets (my favorite team, BTW) were all vying for a piece of the postseason pie. The only hope for the Mets was to win the wild card, as the Atlanta Braves had already clinched the National League East with another 100-win season. The Astros and Reds, on the other hand, were tied atop the National League Central AND had a shot at the wild card. With 6 games left in the season the Mets were looking like they were out of it, as they were 2 games behind both the Reds and the Astros. However, the Reds would stumble down the stretch, while the Mets and Astros both won. This allowed the Astros to clinch the division, and the Mets to move into a tie in the wild card race. On October 4th, the Mets and Reds met in Cincinnati. The Mets, led by pitcher Al Leiter, who pitched a 2-hit, complete game, shutout, would win 5-0.

That’s the Sound of Inevitability…or not

The Rockies celebrate as a dejected Trevor Hoffman leaves the field

Major League Baseball wouldn’t need another single-game playoff until the 2007 season. In a season remembered for the Mets’ epic collapse in which they had a 7-game lead on September 12th, yet didn’t make the playoffs, the exclamation point is actually on 1 single player. With 2 games left in the season, the San Diego Padres led the Colorado Rockies by 2 games in the wild card race. If the Padres could have just won 1 of those games, they would have been guaranteed a trip to the playoffs, but they couldn’t. On top of that, the Rockies won both of their games, forcing the single-game playoff on October 1st. In the game, the Rockies started out strong, scoring 4 runs in the 1st 3 innings. The Padres, though, scored 5 runs in the 3rd to take the lead. The teams went back and forth and the score was tied 6-6 at the end of the 9th inning. Why wouldn’t 2 teams that were tied after 162 games have to go to extra innings? In the top of the 13th inning, the Padres scored 2 runs, and things were looking good as they hadn’t brought out their closer, Trevor Hoffman, yet. Hoffman was, and still is, the Major League Baseball career all-time saves leader, having accumulated 524 saves up to that point. However, Hoffman looked like a shell of himself in the bottom of the 13th inning, allowing 3 runs while only managing to get 1 out. The Rockies would go on to ride that momentum all the way to the World Series, where, unfortunately for them, they were swept by the Boston Red Sox.

The Pitcher’s Duel

Jim Thome celebrates as he runs the bases after hitting a solo home run, the only run of the game

For the Minnesota Twins and Chicago White Sox, the 2008 American League Central Division Title came down to one hard-fought game on September 30th. Heading into the last week of the season, the teams played each other 3 times, with the Twins winning all 3, forcing the playoff. In the game, the pitching was masterful, as the Twins’ pitchers threw a combined 5-hitter, while the White Sox only allowed 2 hits. The only run scored in the game was a home run in the 7th inning by Jim Thome, which would be all the White Sox would need as they went on to win 1-0. Unfortunately, they would lose the division series to the Tampa Bay Rays, who would represent the American League in the World Series.

As you can see, the single-game playoff is an exciting culmination to an exceptional season. It epitomizes the thrill of victory and the agony of defeat. No wonder baseball fans love the 163rd game of the season!

Many thanks to the excellent site Baseball-Reference.com for all of the stats and records!

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