Can you tie in ml baseball?

Question

Don't you keep playing untill there's a winner?

Answer 1

only in spring training games

Answer 2

The quick answer is no, there are no ties that count in the standings. However, there have been several games that have been suspended as ties over the years. One that comes to mind is a game between the Montreal Expos & the St. Louis Cardinals in late September back in the mid '80's. The score was 5-5 in the 7th inning, so the game was offical at this point. The rains began to come down at old Busch stadium and after 3 hours the game was declaired a tie for two reasons. This would be the last time the two teams were to play that season and there were no available dates remaining to reschedule and because the Cardinals were hosting the New York Mets the next day and Montreal was to be in Pittsburgh they just simple ran out of time. The stats counted, but at the end of the season it would show the Expos and Cards played one less game then everyone else and since it made no difference in the standings is was left in the books as a 5-5 tie.

Answer 3

A regular season game can end in a tie, but it is very rare. This would only happen if the game could not continue because of weather (or other circumstances), and there is not an opportunity to complete the game before the end of the season. A tie does not count in the standings, but the players do get credit for any statistics accumulated before the game was called.

Exhibition games (like Spring Training) can end in ties because they don't count in the real standings. The All-Star game ended in a tie recently, but Major League Baseball quickly made changes so that this is less likely to happen in the future. Now the league that wins gets home-field advantage in the World Series, so the All-Star game "counts".

Answer 4

Those who say you can tie are correct (for reasons already stated by others). It also happens more often than you think. I believe ties get replayed at the end of the season if the results have an effect on the playoffs. Otherwise they are not played to completion. As according to Wikipedia: "In Major League Baseball, games end with tie scores only because conditions have made it impossible to continue play. A tie game does not count as an official game in the standings unless it is finished later or replayed; however, individual player statistics from tie games are counted."

Answer 5

I guess I can't say I'm shocked by the massive ignorance displayed here.

Yes, a game most certainly can end in a tie. If a game that has become regulation (5 innings) is suspended with the score tied and the two teams do not play each other again in the season, it is a tie game.

For example, if the Red Sox and Yankees are tied 5-5 and the umpires stop the game after six innings because of rain, the teams must resume the game. If they don't meet again, the game is recorded as a 5-5 tie.

Notice that those who say you can't have a tie don't provide any rule references...

Answer 6

OK -- I am not looking at my old rule book so bear with me.

Can you tie -- yes. It has been covered by others in the answer blogs. The only thing about a tie is although the stats count, the game must be replayed in its entirety to clearly decide a winner.

On the first answer (brewer-sox game ) it was an AL guideline, not MLB about the time. I will go into that in depth in the future.

PS -- I think MLB adopted a new rule about tie games to go into effect this yr. Check www.mlb.com for details.

Answer 7

The only time a tie will occur is during Spring Training. During the regular season, each team in a tied game will each get a turn at bat during the extra inning(s), aka no sudden death. Even if the visiting team (who always bats first) takes the lead in an extra inning, the home team still has to bat. They will play on until one of the teams records the win.

Answer 8

in spring training you only play one extra inning so you can tie. in the regular season you can only tie if there's a tie score after 5 innings and the game gets called cause of rain or something. an official game is five innings so that is a tie game.

Answer 9

You can only tie in spring training and they only go up to the tenth inning and thats it. During the regular season, the game will be played until someone wins, unless its called for bad weather. For example, today the Yankees played the Blue Jays @ Legends Field, and they tied the game 4 to 4.

Answer 10

You're right. Play until a winner. Only in Spring Training is where you can tie

Answer 11

Yes, even though the last time a tie ever happened in a game, was in the 2002 All-Star Game.