Road to the Playoffs: Final 2009 Regular Season Standings
The 2009 regular season has come to a close and teams that have made the playoffs for the division championships have surfaced. Playoff tickets are now available for all of the teams below. You can purchase playoff tickets for your favorite team now. Click any of the teams below to find playoff game tickets.
| American League Leaders | |||||
| Division | Leader | W/L Pct | Games left | ||
| East | New York Yankees | .636 | 0 | y - Division Champ | |
| Central | Minnesota Twins | .534 | 0 | y - Division Champ | |
| West | Los Angeles Angels | .599 | 0 | y - Division Champ | |
| Wild Card | Boston Red Sox | .586 | 0 | w - Clinched Wild Card | |
| National League Leaders | |||||
| Division | Leader | W/L Pct | Games left | ||
| East | Philadelphia Phillies | .574 | 0 | y - Division Champ | |
| Central | St. Louis Cardinals | .562 | 0 | y - Division Champ | |
| West | Los Angeles Dodgers | .586 | 0 | y - Division Champ | |
| Wild Card | Colorado Rockies | .568 | 0 | w - Clinched Wild Card | |
2009 MLB Playoff Schedule, Tickets & Rule Changes
The 2009 MLB regular season will end October 4th. Postseason playoffs will begin approximately three days later with the NLDS and ALDS division series. The 2009 World Series is scheduled to begin October 28th, and will end no later than November 5th (unless there are any weather related postponements). This marks the second time the baseball season will be completed in November. The 2001 World Series was the last time and was due to the 9/11 attacks. This is the first time the season has actually been scheduled this late.
Tickets for the Division Championships will be available once teams clinch a playoff spot late in the regular season. Tickets for the ALCS, NLCS Championships and the World Series will be available once teams advance. Dates and times will typically be tentative till all match-ups are determined and TV time is scheduled. The American League won the All-Star game this year and thus will have home field advantage for the 2009 MLB World Series.
Two new rule changes governing the postseason go into effect this year. First, a coin tosses will no longer be used to determine home-field advantage for one-game tiebreakers held to determine division champions or wild card teams. Instead, "performance-based criteria" – including head-to-head record between the tied clubs – will be used to determine home-field advantage. Second, All "postseason games and games added to the regular season to determine qualifiers for the postseason" become suspended games if they are called before nine innings are played, regardless of whether the game would otherwise qualify as an official game, or the score at the time the game is called. The game is resumed when conditions permit at the same location from the point of suspension. This rule change codifies the controversial interpretation of the official rules made during Game 5 of the 2008 World Series.
