Arcane Tiebreaker Rules Cloud Best Record

A FenwayNation reader—Steve from Connecticut—suggested that we augment our story on the A's charge toward the best AL record with tiebreaker rules. Bud Selig has layered the tiebreaker with an arcane, convoluted set of steps to find out who has home-field advantage. Here are the rules—in sequence:

1. The team with the best record in head-to-head play.
2. The team with the best overall record in intradivision games.
3. The team with the best record in the final 81 games of the season, ignoring interleague play.
4. The team with the best record in the final 82 games of the season (providing the game added is not between the tied teams), extending backward until the tie is broken (Interleague games are skipped and ignored in this process.)

Any questions? Hey, Red Sox, just win the last five games, OK?