Playoff seeding discussion; Latest: What if the Brewers and D-Backs tie?

[UWMike]

Since the Braves, Brewers, and Dbacks are bunched in the standings..........

 

If Atlanta wins the wild card and has the 2nd best record in the NL, will they have home field advantage in their division series?

 

Brewers really need to win some games and secure that #2 seed.

[1992casey]

The division winners have home field advantage over the wildcard team throughout the postseason. Won-loss record matters when division winners are matched against each other.

 

The Brewers need to worry about the Diamondbacks, but not the Braves.

 

http://en.wikipedia.org/w...ague_Baseball_postseason

[jeffy]

I am pretty sure that the wild card never gets home field. They have to play the division winner with the best record, unless that team is in the same division in which case they play the second best. The top two division winners will get home field advantage.

 

The Brewers are about to be passed by AZ. If it ends that way the the Brewers will play Philadelphia in the first round (unless St. Louis would manage to pass Atlanta).

[1992casey]

I am pretty sure that the wild card never gets home field.

 

The Wikipedia article makes this clear in a very unclear way. http://forum.brewerfan.net/images/smilies/smile.gif Also, Trenni was discussing this last night. The Braves aren't a home field factor as far as the Brewers are concerned.

[burnzy24]

If the Diamondbacks pass the Crew, why does the Brewers as a division winner (not yet obviously) have the play the number 1 seed rather than the Wild Card? It makes no sense so if someone could explain it I would appreciate it.

[RightFieldCoder]

The wild card winner's first round is against the best record of a division winner not in their division. If the Braves are the WC, they play at the best record between the Central and West. If the Brewers or Cards win the WC, they will play the best record between the West and East.

[burnzy24]

Thanks for explaining. That still doesn't make sense to me but whatever. The wild card should have to play the number one seed, regardless of if they were in the same division.

[Mass Haas]

As per Baseball Reference, if the Brewers and D-Backs finish tied and the Braves hang on for the wild card --

There is a two-way tie for highest winning percentage among Division winners and a tiebreaker is required to determine home field advantage in the Division Series.

If neither Division winner tied for the highest winning percentage is from the same Division as the Wild Card, a tiebreaker system will be used to determine which Division winner with the best record plays the Wild Card.

The first tiebreaker will be head-to-head competition between the two Clubs during the championship season.

As I've since been reminded (thanks, guys), the D-Backs own the season series, 4-3. So there's not a lot of analysis needed here. Brewers must finish one game up on Arizona.

[nate82]

It maybe a moot point if the Cardinals catch the Braves. The Braves are looking like the '08 Mets right now. If the Cardinals win the wild card the Brewers either play at Arizona which I wouldn't mind I would get to see two games then or host the Diamondbacks I would at least get to go to one game then. I don't think the home vs away is that important if the Brewers are playing the Diamondbacks compared to if there were to play the Braves or the Phillies. Though I do prefer playing the Phillies over the Braves.

[dadofandrew]

One thing to remember is they never play a one game playoff unless it's to decide who gets in, never for division/wildcard, or home field. Once you keep that in mind, you know what's a playoff and what's a tiebreaker.