SCHEDULE: ROUND 1 - REGION 3:
4) 1942 St. Louis Cardinals vs. 13) 1954 New York Giants
1942 St. Louis Cardinals:
4 Seed – Region 3
Record: 106-48
Result: Won World Series 4-1 over New York Yankees
Entry to Tournament: Automatic bid (Best Cardinals team ever)
Elo Rank: 8
Key Players:
Stan Musial (SP) .315, 10 hr, 72 rbi, 87 r, 151 OPS+
Enos Slaughter (OF) .318, 13 hr, 98 rbi, 100 r, 17 triples, 156 OPS+
Mort Cooper (SP) 22-7, 1.78 era, 0.98 whip, 22 cg, 192 ERA+, 8.3 WAR
Notes:
The Cardinals dominated the NL for much of the 40’s, appearing in 4 World Series in 5 years, and winning 3 of them. This team and the 1944 squad could be splitting hairs, but the ’42 squad will ultimately get to carry the flag. A well balanced team, finishing top 2 in almost every major statistical category (batting and pitching), though, as good as this team was they spent a total of only 12 days in first place, narrowly edging out Brooklyn by 2 games.
Rookie Stan Musial (after a cameo in 1941) was just on the cusp of greatness as he would go on to win 3 MVPs, and finish 2nd in 3 other seasons, over the next 6 he played (missed 1945 to Military service).
Mort Cooper’s year was outstanding and will give this team a chance to be staked a lead against any opponent.
Further reading:
https://theathleteshub.org/dynasty-s...uis-cardinals/
http://www.thisgreatgame.com/1942-baseball-history.html
1954 New York Giants:
13 Seed – Region 3
Record: 97-57
Result: Won World Series 4-0 over Cleveland Indians
Entry to Tournament: At large bid (Wildcard – Key Player Willie Mays)
Elo Rank: 146
Key Players:
Willie Mays (OF) .345, 45 hr, 110 rbi, 119 r, 175 OPS+, 10.5 WAR
Johnny Antonelli (SP) 21-7, 2.30 era, 1.17 whip, 18 cg, 178 ERA+
Notes:
This team gets their entry to the tournament on the back of 23-year-old breakout Willie Mays. No baseball tournament would be complete without an appearance from the say hey kid. Mays had already won rookie of the year in 1951, but missed the better part of the next two seasons to Military service, so the 1954 10.5 WAR season may have still taken the league by surprise. It would be the last time.
Somewhat average offensively as a team, but Mays sure is gonna be a tough out. Otherwise, the staff is going to have to do much of the work if Mays is going to get to see a Round 2.
Further reading:
https://bleacherreport.com/articles/...not-surprising
https://sabr.org/gamesproj/game/sept...li-wins-game-2