Well, at Least It Helps Marge Cut Down Cost of Champagne

For the first time in history, a major league baseball team won a division title without even knowing it.

The Cincinnati Reds found out Friday night that they had clinched the NL Central championship by virtue of baseball’s new tiebreaker system.

The clinching came around 10 p.m. PDT Thursday night when the Dodgers lost to the San Diego Padres, 5-1. But it wasn’t until the Elias Sports Bureau, which keeps the major league statistics, figured out the formula that anyone else knew the Reds were champions.

Cincinnati knew it had clinched a tie for the Central title, and thought it was going into Friday night’s game in Philadelphia with a magic number of one to close out second-place Houston.

Red Manager Davey Johnson said before the game that he hoped his team would win and wrap up the division.

“I just think it’s easier to prepare for the next step,” Johnson said. “Nobody likes thinking about something else when you haven’t finished something.”