No longer will there be a “Game 163” to break ties for MLB postseason eligibility.
MLB announced today that they will be moving forward without having a Game 163.
Instead, they will be using the following five methods to determine tiebreakers: head-to-head record, intradivision record, interdivision record, last half of intraleague games, and last half of intraleague games plus one.
More will follow if none of the five methods are able to break the ties, but from now on, Game 163 is a thing of the past and will no longer be used as a method to break regular-season ties.
Other methods will determine how ties are broken.
Per @MLB_PR, there will no longer be a "Game 163" to break ties for postseason eligibility. In 2022, MLB will instead use the following tiebreakers: pic.twitter.com/QKnZeWqPCp
— FOX Sports: MLB (@MLBONFOX) April 14, 2022
No More Game 163
This is somewhat sad for baseball.
Game 163 was a fun way to break ties and determine playoff seeding.
There have been plenty of great tiebreaker games that have taken place over the many years.
One that comes to mind is the 2007 National League Wild Card tie between the San Diego Padres and Colorado Rockies, a back-and-forth game which went into extra innings and was determined on a game-winning sacrifice fly, which can be debated since Matt Holliday may not have touched home.
But if the playoffs are going to be expanded, perhaps it makes sense to do away with the tiebreaker games, given that with the expanded format, there will be more games.
The tiebreaker game was implemented back in 2007.
With that gone, things will be back to the way they were before then, albeit with more teams reaching the postseason.
We’ll see how this affects pennant races down the road.
It is disappointing to see it go away, but perhaps it’s for the best if more teams will be making the postseason.
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