Remember the big fight scene midway through Anchorman? You know, the one where Will Ferrell's news crew is poised to brawl with Vince Vaughn's news crew, and then Owen Wilson, Tim Robbins and Ben Stiller show up ready for battle with each of their news crews?
That's basically what the American League wild-card race is like right now.
The race will eventually come down to a battle between two clubs for the right to go to the division-series round, but right now, there are six teams in the mix and they're all quite close to one another. By season's end, there might be a two-way tie. Or a three-way tie. Or even—Gasp!—a four-way tie.
Want to know what happens if it comes to a four-way tie? I'll tell you what happens.
Madness. That's what happens, as a four-way tie means that Major League Baseball's complex tiebreaking rules will have to be put into practice.
We'll get to those in a minute. But first, take a moment to re-familiarize yourself with the current standings in the American League wild-card race, for this is need-to-know stuff:
| Team | Record | GB |
| Rays | 82-67 | +1.0 |
| Rangers | 81-68 | - |
| Indians | 81-69 | 0.5 |
| Orioles | 79-70 | 2.0 |
| Royals | 79-71 | 2.5 |
| Yankees | 79-71 | 2.5 |
MLB.com
