The playoff chase is coming down to the wire and three National League teams could be setting up an epic tiebreaking scenario for the two Wild Card spots. The defending champion New York Mets and regular postseason contending St. Louis Cardinals and San Francisco Giants start the day tied with the same record overall with just 11 games to play.
What happens if they all tie with the same record? The wildest of Wild Card situations in baseball history.
Jayson Stark of ESPN lays out how a three-team tie would be settled to set the final two pieces in the National League playoff field.
Monday, Oct. 3: Mets at Cardinals. The winner would win the first wild-card spot and host the NL wild-card game on Oct. 5.
Tuesday, Oct. 4: Loser of the Mets-Cardinals game plays the Giants in San Francisco. The winner heads for either New York or St. Louis to play in the wild-card game the next day. The loser heads for the fishing hole, the putting green or possibly both.
Wednesday, Oct. 5: The survivors play in the NL wild-card game. The winner goes on to Chicago to play the Cubs in the NLDS. As for the loser, see above.
The Cardinals would get the top seed in this three-team mini-elimination round tournament due to owning a season series edge over the Giants and having a better division record than the Mets, whom they split the regular season series with. The Mets would be the second seed because they also beat the Giants in the season series. But the top Wild Card spot must be decided first, which is why the Cardinals and Mets must face each other in the first game. The winner then gets a day off to prepare for a home game, which could either be a rematch or against the Giants.
The irony is that the loser of the Cardinals-Mets game would have to play to San Francisco despite both teams winning the regular season series against the Giants. How that happens is beyond me. But this is the Giants’ year, right?
The Mets’ traveling secretary should be busy planning for all possible scenarios though, because they could have to go from Philadelphia to St. Louis, to San Francisco and back to St. Louis in a matter of just five days, with the possible destination of Chicago after that to play the Cubs in the NLDS. Hope they have someone more competent than George Costanza doing the booking.
[ESPN]
