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The big one for me was 2000.
That year the A's finished division 91-70. The Mariners were 91-71.
The A's didn't have to play the makeup to determine who won the division because regardless of outcomes both the A's and Mariners would go tot he playoffs. That is when I learned that if the division ended with a tie, but both teams would make the playoffs regardless, instead of playing a one game playoff they go to head-to-head record as a tie breaker.
So, since if Oakland won the makeup game they'd win outright, and if they they lost they'd still win because of head-to-head, they just didn't play the makeup.
I thought that was bogus (Oakland should ahve had to play the make-up and then if they lost a one-game playoff against the Mariners to set the playoffs pairings, even though this would have further exhausted the team).
(And it could have all been really screwy except the Indians lost their last game to finish 90-72. Winning that game would have given them a tie for the Wild Card as well.)
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