The Greatest Team of All-Time!

Highlander · 06-22-2023, 08:54 PM

According to OOTP, anyway!

That is the goal.....to find out which team in the history of baseball is, according to OOTP, the best ever. Well, almost. I'm starting with teams from 1903 (the first World Series year) and going to 2022.....but leaving out 2020. I think most would agree that the best team of all time likely comes from one of those years, though.

So, how do we get there? How do we narrow down teams from 119 years' worth of teams? I've thought a lot about it came up with a system comprised of 4 rounds. I've already completed round 1, so the good news is that we are down to 119 teams. Still a lot, but a little easier to deal with than what I started with!

Before I get to how I narrowed down to those teams, I need to share what criteria I am using for a team to be called "the best" in this project. To me, the World Series champion is not always the best team from that season. They were clearly a very good team, but to me, a team that wins 110 out of 162 games is a "better team" than one that wins 87 games but gets hot in a couple of short series.....or has a pitcher that can dominate in a short series. Some may disagree, and that is fine, but I want the team I name as the best of all time to prove it over multiple seasons in multiple eras....and that is what they will have to do.

A couple of other notes.....based on the above, playoffs will not be used. The team with the best record moves on....period. If there is a tie, run differential will be used. Injuries will be turned off....I want all teams at full strength all season (although suspensions will be allowed). Player development will be turned off. In a few early tests, there were too many prospects who developed quickly enough to become a much bigger factor than they were in real life. The same was true with older players who really fell apart much more than in real life. Other things like morale, personalities, finances, spring training, the All-Star game, etc. will also be turned off. In round one, the DH will be used for years that had it.....but then, once eras start to mix, it will be used all the time. I think that covers most of the "under the hood" stuff. If someone has other questions, let me know. I've been pretty happy with most of the results I've gotten stat-wise, so it's working OK. There will always be a few guys that come out of nowhere to be bigger factors than in real life, but I've tried to limit them as much as possible.

On to Round 1! For the first round, I played 119 seasons...one for each year 1903-2022 (minus 2020....too many skewed stats with all of the low AB and IP totals). Each season was only comprised of the "best" teams from that year. The criteria I used were teams that either made the playoffs or won 90+ games were included. The only exceptions to this were when that total came out with an odd number of teams. I would then take the remaining team with the next best record to even it up. In early seasons, there were often only 4 teams included in a given season.....in later years, there were usually 10 or more. A full 162 game season was done for each year and the team with the best record moved on to round 2.....run differential was used to settle any ties (there were a few). Some teams that advanced were exactly the one you would expect.....other teams were not, but it does give a different perspective for which team might have actually been "the best" that year.

119 teams doesn't really work, though, as you need even numbers to make these types of projects work. I decided that the team that was able to compile the best record in their season would get a bye into round 3. That team, with a 112-50 record, was the 1907 Cubs. A 107 game winner in their "real life" season, the Cubs were not a surprise contender for the bye. They will be the first official round 3 team. For the rest of the teams to make it to the 3rd round, they will have bit tougher road.

Round 2 will see the remaining 118 teams randomly paired up. Each pair will play 2 full seasons against each other....one in each of their years. So the teams from 1921 and 2015 would play a season set in 1921 and one set in 2015. The team with the best combined record will move on to round 3.

That will leave 60 teams in round 3. Those 60 teams will randomly be placed in 6 groups of 10. You guessed it.....each group will play 10 seasons, with one set in each year represented in that group. The teams with the best combined records move on to round 4.

Finally, in the final round, there will be 6 teams standing. They will go through that round 3 process one more time. Six teams.....six seasons.....six different years. The best combined record for those 6 seasons will be.....The Greatest Team of All-Time.

I'm sure there are a million different ways to do a project like this, but this is what I settled on. Hopefully there are some great moments....and a few surprises. I'll do my best to keep this going and report my results as I go along. Round one was a lot of fun and it should only get better!

My next post will share the results of the first Round 2 matchup I did. Remember that the 1907 Cubs got the bye, and they will be joined by either the 1971 Baltimore Orioles or the 2010 Philadelphia Phillies!

Highlander · 06-22-2023, 09:33 PM

1971 Baltimore Orioles vs. 2010 Philadelphia Phillies

The real 1971 Orioles won 101 games and lost to the Pirates in the World Series, so they were not a huge surprise to get to this round. Their season for me was a close one as they advanced to round 2 with just an 83-79 record.

The real 2010 Phillies led baseball with 97 wins, but lost to the eventual World Champion Giants in the LCS. Again, not a surprise, but an example of a team that may have been the best in their season....but just didn't do well in 1 short series. Their season for me was also kind of close, as they advanced with a record of 90-72.

The Orioles got off to a great start in their home year as they went 97-64. The 2010 matchup went a little better for the Phillies, but Baltimore still came out on top in that year as well, at 88-74. With a 185-138 advantage, the 1971 Orioles become the 2nd team to move on to round 3.

Highlander · 06-23-2023, 11:03 PM

Two more teams have moved into round 3. Here's the results of the most recent matchups I completed-

1980 Montreal Expos vs 2015 St. Louis Cardinals

The real Expos went 90-72 and came in 2nd place in the NL East to the eventual World Champion Phillies. They were only 1 game behind the Phillies, though. In the 1st round for me, they finished at 94-68, which is even better than real life.

The real 2015 Cards lost in the Division Series to the Cubs, but they led all of baseball that year with a 100-62 record. They finished 98-64 in the first round for me, so they were a pretty clear winner.

The upstart 1980 Expos came right out in their home year with 94 wins to give the Cards a pretty big challenge. In the 2015 season, the Expos again surprised by winning 90 more games to take the series 184-140 and move on to the 3rd round.

1927 New York Yankees vs. 1974 Oakland A's

Here we go....one of the big boys! As a Yankees fan myself, I was a bit nervous about this matchup because the A's of this era are no joke.

The real Yankees team in this matchup is one of the most famous teams of all time. They went 110-44, had 16 more wins than any other team in baseball and 19 more than the 2nd place AL team. They went on to sweep the Pirates in the World Series. In my first round season, they went a very solid 96-66. Not a 100 game winner, but still a convincing win.

The real 1974 A's went 90-72 in real life, then went on to beat the Dodgers in the World Series. They were part of the great Oakland dynasty of the early-mid 70's. In the 1st round, they went 94-68 to move to this point.

The first season between these two teams was 1927, and the Yankees didn't let their home year down. They finished the season with 94 wins. The big question was how a team from the 20's would fare in the 1970's......and the answer was, pretty well! The 27 Yankees came right back in the 1974 season to win 91 more games. Fear not Yankees fans.....the 1927 Yankees have moved on to Round 3 with a 185-139 win.

As a bit of a teaser, the next matchup I will complete will be between teams that are separated by over 100 years.....1914 and 2018! Any guesses who those teams will be? Both of them may be surprising.

Highlander · 06-24-2023, 01:34 PM

1914 Boston Red Sox vs. 2018 Cleveland Indians

The real life 1914 Red Sox finished at 91-62, 8.5 games behind the Philadelphia A's. However, in the 1st round for me, they made it through with an 88-74 record.

The real life Indians of 2018 were 91-71 and did finish in 1st place in the AL Central. However, they lost to Houston 3-0 in the Division Series and with teams like the Red Sox with 108 wins, the Yankees with 100 wins and the Astros with 103 wins.....it was a surprise to see Cleveland representing 2018. It was a pretty convincing win for them, though, at 99-63.

The 1914 season was as close as it could be between these two teams as they finished in a tie at 81-81. It's pretty amazing that two teams could play 162 games against each other and still not be able to determine who is better. That's why we do more than one season, though!

The 2018 season was a whole other story. The Indians were at a clear advantage in modern times and dominated the 1914 Red Sox 113-49 to easily move on to the 3rd round. Pitching was the big issue....or depth of pitching. The Sox only had 3 relievers and obviously relief pitching in 2018 is a pretty big deal. Those 3 guys got totally overworked and were all really bad. I can see this being an issue with many of the early teams....those top 4 starters or so just pitched SO much back then that they won't have the depth to compete in today's game. We'll see if any teams can overcome that and break through.

One odd thing that happened was how much the Indians used their bullpen. The majority of relievers on the team had double digit win totals and the starters, therefore, did not win much more than 8-10 games each. Not sure why it was so extreme, but the Indian bullpen was very good.

1924 Washington Senators vs. 1979 Montreal Expos

The 1924 Senators were 92-62 in real life and won the World Series over the Giants. This was one of the few successful seasons for the Senators in real life. In the 1st round, they moved on with a record of 89-73, so it wasn't easy, but they did it.

If you are surprised to see both the 1979 and 1980 Expos represent their given years in this round.....you are not alone! Even though I am a Yankees fan myself, one of my all-time favorite teams is the 1979 Pirates. I was pretty disappointed to see them knocked out so early. In real life, this Expos team finished 95-65 and were just 2 games behind the Pirates, so they were clearly very good. In my 1st round, they stepped up and finished with an 89-73 record....same as the Senators above!

Up first was the 1924 season and the upstart Expos kept rolling with an 88-74 advantage. Based on other matchups, it wasn't a good sign for the team from an earlier era to lose their own home year. The 1979 season was no exception, as the Expos came out on top again at 90-72 to advance to the 3rd round by a 178-146 margin.

I haven't mentioned individual players yet.....that will happen more in rounds 3 and 4.....but Goose Goslin put up one of the best seasons I've seen so far when he played in 1979. Goose hit .346/.429/.625 with 26 D, 4 T, 43 HR, 114 R and 131 RBI with 9.1 WAR. It wasn't enough to propel his team to a winning record, but impressive nonetheless. Larry Parrish's overall numbers for Montreal weren't as good as Goose's, but he did hit 41 HR with 124 RBI and that helped offset Goslin's line pretty well.

1982 Milwaukee Brewers vs. 1988 New York Mets

The real life Brewers, aka Harvey's Wallbangers, were a power laden team that led the majors with a 95-67 record. They went on to lose the World Series to the Cardinals in 7 games. They advanced to this round by going 92-70 in the 1st round.

The 88 Mets led the NL in wins, going 100-62, but lost in the LCS to the Dodgers. Pitching is their strength and with both teams coming from a very similar time period, it is a true power vs. pitching matchup. The Mets made it into this round by going 95-67.

The 1982 season was up first and the power of the Brewers was neutralized, as the Mets went 99-63. 1988 didn't go much better for the Brew Crew, as the Mets again won the season 99-63. This was a pretty dominant win for the Mets as they move into the 3rd round with the best record so far at 198-126. The pitching for this Mets team is pretty great, so it will take a team that has strong hitting and pitching to take them down in the next round.

Highlander · 06-24-2023, 05:52 PM

1949 St. Louis Cardinals vs 2014 Los Angeles Dodgers

The real life Cardinals finished at 96-58, 1 game behind the Dodgers. This was a really tight real life season.....the Yankees and Dodgers led their leagues at 97-57, while the Cards and Red Sox were both at 96-58. In my first round, the Cardinals were tied with the Yankees at 83-79, but won the run differential tie breaker +33 to -21.

The 2014 Dodgers were 94-68 in real life, losing to the Cardinals in the Division Series. They were pretty dominant, however, in round one with a record of 104-58. Clayton Kershaw is a beast for this version of the Dodgers.

In the opening 1949 season, the Dodgers won handily at 90-72. The prediction was that, based on their success in 1949, that the Dodgers would also be successful in their home year. That turned out to be the case, as LA put up an even better 94-68 record to move on to the 3rd round with a 184-140 total record.

1919 Cincinnati Reds vs. 1940 Detroit Tigers

The real life Reds led baseball in 1919 with a 96-44 record and then won one of the most famous World Series of all time over the White Sox. They had a close call in the 1st round at 84-78.

The 1940 Tigers were 90-64 in real life, but then lost the World Series to the Reds in 7 games. In the first round, they also had a close season with an 85-77 record.

The 1919 season looked close a the beginning, but as the season went on, the Tigers pulled ahead to finish at 94-68. The Reds fared no better in the 1940 season as the Tigers again finished at 94-68 to move on to round 3 at 188-136.

It's been a bit amazing to see teams from somewhat close eras play to exactly the same record in both seasons. It also seems to be hard for teams to play better outside of their own year than they did in their own year......so far! (hint, hint)

1955 New York Yankees vs. 1985 St. Louis Cardinals

The 55 Yankees finished their real life season at 96-58, but lost the World Series to the Dodgers in 7 games. They didn't have much trouble in the 1st round, again winning 96 games to advance.

The 1985 Cardinals were 101-61 in real life but, like the 55 Yankees, lost the World Series in 7 games....only they lost to the Royals. In the first round, they advanced by going 94-68.

In the 1955 season, things were very close. Both teams went back and forth, but the Cardinals prevailed with a record of 83-79. That didn't bode well for the Yankees as the matchup headed to the 1985 season. However, Yankees bucked the the trend of teams doing worse when playing out of their year. They finished the 1985 season at 91-71 to advance to round 3 at 170-154.

Mickey Mantle was a major factor for the Yankees in that 1985 turn-around. He really thrived in that 85 season, going .353/.445/.679 with 29 D, 5 T, 47 HR, 120 R, 125 RBI and 11.6 WAR. The 85 Cardinals were really a team different from their era. They were built around a lot of speed, defense and pitching. I guess it's not a surprise they did better in an earlier year than their own. The Yankees joined the Expos as the only two franchises to have two teams in the final 60 so far. I am sure a few others will join them!

Up next, we'll see a matchup of 1960 and 1997, among others!

Highlander · 06-25-2023, 07:34 PM

1997 Florida Marlins vs. 1960 Pittsburgh Pirates

The 97 Marlins came in 2nd place in the NL East at 92-70, but then went on to win the World Series over the Indians in 5 games. They finished 95-67 in the first round to advance.

The 1960 Pirates were 95-59 in real life and famously beat the Yankees in the World Series despite being out scored 55-27. In the 1st round, they scraped their way by with an 83-79 record.

With the way the Pirates fought against long odds in their real season and the speed with which the Marlins won a World Series so soon after being an expansion team......it seemed like we were in for a close battle with these two teams. They did not disappoint. The Pirates jumped out to a 92-70 lead in the 1960 season. Then, in the 97 season, the Marlins squeaked out an over all lead by going 94-68. Just 4 games separated the two teams, but the Marlins move on 164-160.

2009 Boston Red Sox vs. 2017 Washington Nationals

The real life Red Sox finished 8 games behind the Yankees at 95-67 and then lost to the Angels in the Division Series. However, they finished at 93-69 in the 1st round to advance against a number of other teams that seemed to be better.

The 2017 Nationals were 97-65 and won their division by 20 games, but then lost in the division series to the Cubs. It definitely seemed like they should have done better and in the 1st round here, they did. They finished at a convincing 103-59 to move to this 2nd round.

This is the first matchup of two teams from the 2000s, so there wasn't a big difference for either team in years. The Nationals jumped right out to a 92-70 lead in the 2009 season.....then followed it up by going 90-72 in their own season to take a pretty easy 182-142 win and advance to the next round. Just looking at this team, they are going to be a tough out next round. Bryce Harper is a beast and they have some great pitching with Scherzer and Strasburg.

1929 Chicago Cubs vs. 1972 Cincinnati Reds

The real life Cubs were 98-54, but lost the World Series to a 104 win A's team. They have always been an intriguing team for me with some incredible offensive performances from Rogers Hornsby, Hack Wilson, Kiki Cuyler and others. They didn't have a real convincing 1st round, at 85-77, but just beating that A's team was a big accomplishment.

The 72 Reds were an early version of the Big Red Machine (hint- we will see more of "The Machine" in future matchups!). They finished at 95-59 to win their division, but weren't ready to take over the great A's teams of the early 70's quite yet and lost to them in the World Series. In the 1st round, however, they did beat out the A's and finished with an 86-76 record.

This was an interesting pair of teams and I wasn't sure what to expect. When the Reds went 83-79 in the 1929 season, I still thought the offense of the Cubs might still give them a chance in 72. However, that wasn't the case....the Reds took their own year 88-74 to advance to the 3rd round by a 171-153 margin. Seeing this "lesser" version of the Big Red Machine advance against a pretty tough opponent makes me really wonder what the prime teams might do.

2007 New York Yankees vs. 1950 Boston Red Sox

The real life Yankees were 94-68 and finished 2 games behind the eventual World Champion Red Sox. They were even better in round one against the best of that season, finishing at 96-66.

The real 1950 Red Sox are the 1st 3rd place team we've seen make it this far, as that's where they finished in the AL that year. However, their 94-60 record got them into the 1st round. They didn't disappoint and came through with a "just good enough" 87-75 record to get to this round.

So, not only do we have our first Yankees/Red Sox matchup, but it is between two teams that spoiled their Yankees/Red Sox counterpart's appearance here. It seems like it should be the 2007 Sox and 1950 Yankees facing off. We'll see what their opposites do! In the 1950 season, it was a typical NY/Boston matchup as they finished in a dead tie....81-81. 2007, however, was not as kind to the Red Sox and the Yankees came through at 88-74 to advance to round 3 by a 169-155 margin.

14 teams down.....46 to go! Next up is a battle of the 60's, with 1963 taking on 1966.

Highlander · 06-25-2023, 09:16 PM

1963 Minnesota Twins vs. 1966 Baltimore Orioles

The real Twins barely made it into the 1st round, as they were a 3rd place team in the AL with a 91-70 record. However, somehow they came through with a 90-72 record to advance here. It must be noted that they do have some players who played lesser roles on the real team that give them pretty good ratings in OOTP, so some of the success of this team is because of that. Other teams have that as well, but I noticed more players on this team than most others.

The real Orioles were 97-63 and swept the Dodgers in the World Series. They finished at 95-67 in the 1st round.

It seemed like the Orioles had the advantage in this matchup and without a major difference in years, challenges with playing outside their era wouldn't really come into play. However, the Twins jumped out in the 1963 season with an 87-75 lead. Orioles fans may hope that was just a fluke, but the Twins came right back with an 83-79 record in the 1966 season to advance with a record of 170-154.

2019 Los Angeles Dodgers vs. 1922 New York Giants

The 2019 Dodgers were 106-56 but were upset by the eventual upstart World Champion Nationals in the Division Series. They went 98-64 in the 1st round to leave no doubt about who should advance.

The 1922 Giants 93-61 and then swept the Yankees in the World Series, so they are a formidable opponent. Their 1st round victory was with an 88-74 record.

A good old Giants/Dodgers matchup....with almost 100 years between the teams! It seemed like the Dodgers would be at a big advantage in this one, but the Giants defended their home year with an 83-79 record to put a scare Dodger fans. 2019 quickly showed there was nothing to worry about, however, as the Dodgers flexed their muscle and finished at 103-59. The pitching depth of early year teams was an issue, but the bigger issue was that Giants pitchers just gave up a TON of HR. 4 players on the Dodgers hit over 40 with Joc Pederson hitting 62....the most I've seen so far. This Dodgers team will be tough.

1954 Cleveland Indians vs. 2012 Atlanta Braves

The real Indians were a very impressive 111-43, but then got swept by the Giants in the World Series. They were 93-69 in the 1st round, so they weren't quite as dominant as in real life.

The 2012 Braves were a 94-68 2nd place team that lost in the Wildcard to the Cardinals. They outperformed their real life selves in the 1st round and advanced with a 95-67 record.

This was a pretty interesting matchup with a team that had one of the best records ever, but kind of choked in the World Series against a team that barely scraped into this tournament at all. The Braves shocked me a bit by jumping out to an 85-77 lead in the 1954 season. I thought maybe the Indians would bounce back, but 2012 brought another 85-77 Braves win. Atlanta, much like the Giants in 1954, swept the Indians and advanced 170-154. The Braves have a couple of pitchers in Beachy and Medlen who did not pitch full seasons but were really good....they are coming up big so far. We'll see how long they can push this team farther.

2003 Boston Red Sox vs. 1978 Baltimore Orioles

The real Red Sox finished 95-67, in 2nd behind the Yankees. They lost to the Yankees in the LCS thanks to Aaron Boone's HR. They get some measure of revenge by representing 2003 here...I guess? In the 1st round they had a very convincing 101-61 record.

The 1978 Orioles are probably the most surprising team to make it this far that we've seen. They were in 4th place in the AL East with a 90-72 record....the bare minimum for making it to even the 1st round. However, their 86-76 record brought them here.

While the real Sox were not a hugely dominant team by any means, this OOTP version is looking really good. They won 101 games in the 1st round and came right out in the 1978 season here with a 104-58 record. The Orioles really had no chance after that, but the Red Sox won another 100 games in their own season to put up the most dominant win of any team so far....204-120. Is it because the Orioles were just lucky to get this far and weren't really that good, or could this Red Sox team be a real contender?

1948 New York Yankees vs. 1961 New York Yankees

We end the night with an all-Yankees matchup, including the famous 1961 team.

First, the real life 48 Yankees were only a 3rd place team in the AL that year with a 94-60 record. Not as big of a surprise as the 78 Orioles, but still not the team I expected to be here. They went 90-72 in the 1st round, though.

The 1961 Yankees are always in the discussion for best teams, but I never see them on the level of some of the real greats, despite having Mantle/Maris and some really good pitching. Johnny Blanchard will help them a lot, as well, as the DH will be used and he had a terrific partial season. The real 61 team did go 109-53 and then beat the Reds in the World Series. They went a much less impressive 92-70 in the first round.

The 48 Yankees jumped right out in their season with a record of 83-79 to send a signal that they weren't afraid of the M&M boys. However, the 61 Yankees were just a little better in their home season at 86-76 to advance with a 165-159 record. Even as a Yankees fan, I am not convinced this 61 team will be in serious contention for the title, but we shall see!

The next set of matchups will start with one that will pit teams from a couple of years you don't hear a whole lot about.....1945 and 1923.

bsmuke22 · 06-26-2023, 06:23 PM

I love this idea and how you set it up! Looking forward to following your progress.

Highlander · 06-27-2023, 05:17 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by bsmuke22

I love this idea and how you set it up! Looking forward to following your progress.

Thanks! It's been a lot to set up, but also really interesting. Glad some others are following along!!

Highlander · 06-27-2023, 07:01 PM

Spent some more time running seasons, so I have a lot to update!

1945 St. Louis Cardinals vs. 1923 New York Giants

The real life Cards were 95-59 and finished in 2nd place behind the Cubs. They were one of the few 100 game winners in the 1st round, however, as they finished at 101-61.

The Giants are going to be a familiar bunch, as the 1922 team has already made an appearance.....remember they got beat by the 2019 Dodgers, so maybe an earlier opponent will help them. The real life Giants were 95-58 and then lost to the Yankees in the World Series. They were quite a bit better in the 1st round than their 1922 counterparts, as they finished at an impressive 98-64.

The Giants jumped right out to a big lead in their home season, as they beat the Cardinals 96-66. The 22 team struggled in the season outside of their era, but this one was much closer, and even though the Cards won the 1945 season 88-74, it wasn't enough. The Giants move on 170-154.

1903 Pittsburgh Pirates vs. 2001 Cleveland Indians

The Pirates are from the earliest year represented in this tournament. In real life, they finished at 91-49 and then lost the very first World Series 5 games to 3 against the Boston Pilgrims. They were 92-70 in the 1st round.

The 2001 Indians were 91-71, winning their division. They lost in the division series to the 116 game winning Mariners. There were a lot of teams from 2001 that I would have picked to be here over the Indians, but they finished at 93-69 to make it clear they were the ones to represent 2001.

This was one of the most interesting and surprising matchups so far. The 1903 season played out first and the Indians jumped right out to an 84-79 lead. Based on past teams, I expected the Pirates to really struggle in the season played close to 100 years after they were around. This time that wasn't the case! The Pirates showed they are going to be a contender by going 106-56 in 2001 to blow out the Indians 184-140. They had a bigger number of pitchers who could fill in those relief roles, so that really helped. Plus, they were able to have 4 guys hit 30+ HR....so they are going to be able to compete in all eras it seems.

1938 New York Yankees vs. 1998 New York Yankees

Not surprisingly, the Yankees are very well-represented in this competition....some expected teams and some not. Although, both of these teams were highly favored to represent their years. The 1938 Yankees were 99-53 and swept the Cubs in the World Series. They left no doubt in the 1st round, going 98-64.

The 1998 Yankees are one of the winningest teams ever, as they went 114-48 and then swept the Padres in the World Series. Their 95-67 1st round win shows they may not be as dominant as some might think, however.

This matchup started out, as all of them do, in the earliest year. The 98 Yankees seemed right at home back in 1938 and they took an early 92-70 lead. Recently, early teams have been having more success in later years.....but that was not to be the case here, as the 98 Yankees also took their home year 94-68 to cruise to a 186-138 win and advance to round 3. There's not a lot of standout guys on that 98 team.....just a solid team from top to bottom. One factor that really helps, though, is the season by Shane Spencer. He came out of nowhere that year to put up a .373 average and 10 HR in just 73 plate appearances. He ends up doing big things in a full season. We'll see if it will be enough to go all the way....other teams have similar players both as hitters and pitchers.

1993 San Francisco Giants vs. 1994 Houston Astros

This is as close as you can get to having teams from similar times. The 1993 Giants were a second place team that didn't make the playoffs back then....although they went 103-59! In the 1st round, they were 94-68 to get to this point.

The 94 Astros were also a 2nd place team in the strike shortened season, going 66-49....just a half game out of 1st. In the first round, they went 93-69.

It was a matchup of the "B's"! Bonds vs. Bagwell and Biggio. In the 1993 season, the Giants showed that their 103 real life wins were no joke as they went 94-68 to take a big lead. The Astros could only manage a 1 game improvement in their home season as the Giants went 93-69 to advance by an overall score of 187-137. In the 93 season, Bagwell out-homered Bonds 35-34....but Matt Williams outdid them both with 38. Another "B", Rod Beck, was a huge factor for the Giants that season. He had 47 saves and a .83 ERA! In the 94 season, Bonds won the HR battle with Bagwell, 40-38.

1931 New York Yankees vs. 1983 New York Yankees

Another day, another all-Yankees matchup! The real 1931 Yankees a surprise to make it this far. They were a solid team at 94-59, but came in 2nd by 13.5 games to the 107-45 A's. Add in the 101-game winning Cardinals who beat the A's in the World Series, and this was a pretty big upset. The 31 Yankees were a solid 92-70 in the 1st round to advance. I guess the Babe wanted one more shot!

The 1983 Yankees were another surprise team. They barely scraped into the competition as a 3rd place team that went 91-71. They barely scraped by in the 1st round as well, as they finished at 86-76, tied with the Chicago White Sox. Their +76 to +47 run differential got them here.

So we have two teams that were pretty lucky to be here and they lived up to that fact in their matchup for sure. The 1931 season was barely won by the 31 Yankees with an 83-79 record. In many cases, when the early season is that close, the later team pulls it out by a larger margin in their season. This time, the 83 Yankees did win their own season....but also by an 83-79 margin! Our first tie!! As with the last round, I went to combined run differential to settle the tie. The 31 Yankees outscored the 83 Yankees in the 1931 season by 58 runs.....the 83 Yankees only had a +17 in 1983, so the 1931 Yankees will move on by a +41 run differential. Not sure we will have another matchup this close!

1991 Pittsburgh Pirates vs. 1918 Chicago Cubs

The 91 Pirates had the best record in baseball that year at 98-64, but lost the LCS to the Braves in 7 games. They were 91-71 in the 1st round to ger here.

The 1918 Cubs were 84-45 in real life and lost the World Series to the Red Sox in 6 games. They barely slipped into this round with an 84-78 record.

Based on their own season success in the 1st round, it appeared the Cubs were the underdogs. However, they came out in their season and squeaked by the Pirates at 82-80. The Pirates, though, followed the trend I mentioned earlier and won their home season by a 94-68 margin to advance 174-150.

1941 Brooklyn Dodgers vs. 2011 Texas Rangers

When I started this, I thought we'd see a few more Brooklyn Dodger teams make it to this round, but in many cases, it was like in real life where the Yankees beat them out by small margins....or a surprise team popped up. This Dodger team was one that broke that trend. They went 100-54 in real life, but lost to the Yankees in the World Series. In the 1st round, though, they came through with an 89-73 record to slip by the Yankees into this round.

The 2011 Rangers were 96-66 in real life and then lost to the Phillies in the World Series. In the first round, however, they showed that they might be a contender to go far in this competition, as they ended up with the second best record I saw after the 1907 Cubs. The Rangers went 107-55 to get here....it will be interesting to see how far they can go.

The Dodgers fought hard against this surprisingly good Rangers team in the 1941 season and the teams ended up tied 81-81. It was all up to the 2011 season to determine who would move one.....and the Rangers dominated their season once again, finishing with a record of 98-64 to advance by a margin of 179-145.

2013 Oakland A's vs. 1935 Detroit Tigers

The 2013 A's were 96-66 to win their division, but then lost in the LCS to the Tigers. Their 1st round record was 93-69.

The real 35 Tigers were 93-58 and won the World Series over the Cubs. In the 1st round, they finished at 92-70, tied with those same Cubs....but the run differential for the Tigers was an impressive +136, compared to a still strong +51 for the Cubs.

Despite coming from very different years, this proved to be a good matchup. The A's jumped out to a big lead in the 1935 season, at 94-68. Surprisingly, the Tigers regrouped and won the 2013 season with a record of 83-79. It wasn't enough, though, as the A's had too big of a lead and advanced 173-151.

1906 Chicago Cubs vs. 1975 Cincinnati Reds

The 1906 Cubs are part of those great early 1900's Cubs teams with guys like Three-Finger Brown and the famous Tinker to Evers to Chance. This version was the big one, going 116-36. Surprisingly, they lost to the White Sox in the World Series that year.

The real 1975 Reds are a team right in the heart of The Big Red Machine....Rose, Perez, Bench and the rest. The 75 team went 108-54 on the season and then beat the Red Sox in the World Series in 7 games.

This matchup features two very famous and successful teams from totally different eras. The Cubs jumped out to a lead in their home season, going 87-75. However, once the game moved to a more modern time, the Cubs just couldn't come through and the Reds won the 75 season 91-71 to advance by a 166-158 margin. An important thing to note about the Cubs is that they were able to win those 71 games over that 1975 season with only 6 pitchers on their roster. They had a 5-man rotation most of the way and had to used their starters to relieve a few times, but the one true reliever they had was Carl Lundgren. He ended up going 7-19 with 15 saves, appearing in 91 games for 211.1 IP. That included zero starts. His ERA was 7.58. His real life ERA was 2.21 in 1906. I really think that if the Cubs had even 2-3 more guys in their bullpen, they could have won it. Lack of pitchers really hurts those super early teams in later years.

The next update will start off with the teams from 1930 and 1933 going at it. We will also see a pretty decent run of Cleveland teams being in the mix over the next few games.

Highlander · 06-30-2023, 06:37 PM

1933 Pittsburgh Pirates vs. 1930 Washington Senators

The real 33 Pirates are (I think) the first team with less than 90 wins to make it this far. They were the 2nd place team in the NL that year, but the AL had two 90 game winners so they were included to even things up at just 87-67. Somehow, they came out on top....with a 94-68 record! 7 more wins than they got in real life.

The 1930 Senators were also a 2nd place team in real life, finishing at 94-60. They were 8 games behind the A's.....those A's teams of the 20's and 30's have not fared well so far! In the 1st round, the Senators went 85-77 to make it to this point.

There haven't been many matchups with the the years this close and the two I can think of were both kind of blowouts. The Pirates took a pretty big lead in the 1930 season by going 89-73. Then, for the 3rd OOTP season in a row, they got more wins than in real life by going 92-70 in the 1933 season. The Pirates....who barely made it into the whole competition....advance to the 3rd round 181-143.

1920 Cleveland Indians vs. 1910 New York Giants

The Indians had the most wins in baseball back in 1920 at 98-56, then went on to win the World Series over the Brooklyn Robins. In the 1st round, however, they only went 89-73....but it was enough to get them here!

Back in 1910, the Giants were just 91-63, 13 games behind the Cubs. However, they went 98-64 in the 1st round to show that they were deserving of advancing to this round.

An early era matchup for sure, the underdog Giants (at least based on real life success) jumped out to a big lead in their home season, going 94-68. The Indians hoped to regroup as the matchup moved to 1920....and they did a bit....but it was still an 82-80 win for the Giants. Overall, the NYG went 176-148 to advance in a bit of a surprise.

2006 New York Yankees vs. 1946 Detroit Tigers

The 2006 Yankees were not one of the many Yankees teams I might have predicted to be representing their year. Looking back, though, they tied the Mets at 97-65 for the best record in baseball. Like the Mets, they disappointed in the playoffs and lost to the Tigers in the Division Series. In the 1st round, they were one of the better teams I saw at 104-58.

The 1946 Tigers finished in 2nd place at 92-62, 13 games behind the Red Sox. They were certainly not the first choice to make it through the opening round, but their 86-76 record was just enough!

Based on round 1 results, it seemed like the Yankees were a big favorite coming into this matchup. However, it was the Tigers that jumped out to the early lead in their home season at 86-76. It wasn't a big lead, but a little surprising nonetheless. The 2006 season saw the Yankees wanting to live up to their dominant showing against their same-year opponents in Round 1.....and they sure did. A 101-61 record totally erased the Tigers' lead and gave the Yankees a huge 177-146 margin to go on to round 3. Their weakness in earlier years, however, may come back to bite them in round 3. We shall see!

1996 Cleveland Indians vs. 1921 Cleveland Indians

The 96 Indians were one of a number of great Indians teams in the 90's. This one went 99-62 in real life to lead baseball in wins, but stumbled in the playoffs, losing to Baltimore in the Division Series. They went 94-68 in the 1st round to get here.

The 1921 Indians are also from a strong era of Cleveland baseball, as we just saw the 1920 team make an appearance. The 21 version finished 2nd to the Yankees at 94-60. In the 1st round, the went 92-70 to get to this matchup.

This is the first "same-franchise" matchup we've seen other than with the Yankees......and many of those ended up very close. The 1921 team wanted to make sure that didn't happen in their home year and jumped out to a 91-71 lead. The 96 team, however, came right back with a 91-71 season of their own to tie it up. Run differential was checked next and the 96 team came out on top by 45 runs overall.

1964 Philadelphia Phillies vs. 1934 New York Yankees

The real 64 Phillies were tied for 2nd in real life at 92-70 with the Reds....one game behind St. Louis. In the 1st round they went 89-73 and were tied with the Giants....but a +48 run differential (compared to just +8 for the Giants) got them here.

The real 1934 Yankees were also a 2nd place team, finishing at 94-70. They were 7 games behind Detroit. In the 1st round, they went 93-69 to advance.

Not much to say about this matchup, other than it was a blowout. The Yankees came right out with a 92-70 record in the 1934 season and then really piled on in the 1964 season, going 104-58. The matchup ended with a 196-128 margin. We've had a few other blowouts like this and it is still hard to tell if the winner is that good or the loser was lucky in round one and not really that good. The Phillies have fared pretty poorly overall in this contest....unless I missed one, they have 2 more chances to redeem themselves.

1912 Boston Red Sox vs. 1917 Cleveland Indians

The 1912 Sox were 105-47, then won the World Series against the Giants. They barely scraped by in round one, however, at 84-78....which was kind of surprising.

The 1917 Indians are the latest in the run of Cleveland teams we've seen recently. This team is fortunate to be in round 2.....because they barely made it into round one. They are our 2nd team with a win total in the 80's, at 88-66. Their 83-79 record in round 1 shows that they continue to just scrape by.

Nothing like a matchup of teams in the teens to get the ball flying out of the park! OK.....clearly that wasn't the case. There were a few "twins" playing in this matchup against themselves, though, including Tris Speaker and "Smokey Joe" Wood. That made it fun to see which version would come out on top. The Red Sox got out to a slim 84-78 lead in the 1912 season. They followed that up with an 87-75 record in the 1917 season to complete the sweep and advance at 171-153.

2005 Los Angeles Angels of Anaheim vs. 1995 Cleveland Indians

The 2005 Angels were 95-67, then lost in the LCS to the White Sox. Not the top choice for the team from 2005 to get here, but a definite contender. They went 91-71 in round 1 to seal the deal.

The 95 Indians are the second time we see the Albert (Don't Call Me Joey) and Manny show, as the 96 team squeaked out a close one earlier. This Indians team went 100-44 and then lost to the Braves in the World Series. Not a surprise they made it here, though, and their 98-64 record in the 1st round shows they deserved it.

On paper, this seemed like another blowout with the Indians looking like the far superior team......and it was! Cleveland went 90-72 in the 1995 season and then went one better in 2005 going 91-71 to advance at 181-141. Wonder if Albert and Manny will face themselves in the next round? That might be just too much Manny!!

1986 California Angels vs. 1973 Cincinnati Reds

I always like this Angels team when I was a kid. They had a bunch of "old guys" who used to be really good. Reggie Jackson, Bobby Grich, Don Sutton, Brian Downing, etc. But then they mixed it together with Wally World. In real life they were 92-70, then lost to the Red Sox in the LCS.....which led to one of the more famous World Series ever. It's hard to believe the Red Sox and Mets both got beat by this old bunch. In fact, the Angels tied the Mets with 89-73 records, but the +81 to +45 run differential went the Angels' way and they advanced here.

We've seen other versions of this Reds team already. The Big Red Machine.....1972, 1973, 1975.....and one more later on. They were one of the best dynasties ever and one of them could go all the way. This 73 team went 99-63, then lost to the Mets in the LCS. They went 95-67 in the 1st round. That shows this may not be the best version of these Reds, but they are still formidable.

This matchup ends up an old team from the 80's versus a young team heading towards becoming a dynasty. The Angels seemed like underdogs in this one....but they took it to the Reds in the 73 season with a record of 86-76. Kind of a shocker! Then, in the 86 season, the Reds did bounce back some, but only to a record of 82-80. Not enough to overcome the lead the Angels built in the first season. The old men of California move on 166-158! I guess even though the team is from the 80's, many of the players were stars of the 70's so that 73 season was perfect for them!

That's all for this group of matchups. 24 to go before we hit round 3. The next group of matchups will start with the teams from 1970 and 1976 (bet you can at least guess the 76 team!). The Pirates and Dodgers will get a little love in the next group....and there will also be a couple of appearances by some team called the Yankees! It's about time!

Highlander · 07-03-2023, 11:25 AM

Had some real blowouts in these 4 matchups....some surprising and some not so much!

1970 Pittsburgh Pirates vs. 1976 Cincinnati Reds

The 1970 Pirates won their division, but only had a record of 89-73. They lost to the Reds in the LCS. In the 1st round, they advanced with an identical 89-73 record to what they did in real life.

The 1976 Reds led baseball with a 102-60 record, then swept through the 101 game winning Phillies and the 97 win Yankees in the playoffs to win the World Series. They were the last of the Big Red Machine teams to make it to a World Series. In the 1st round, they blew through the competition at 101-61.

The Pirates seemed to be in a big underdog role against these mighty Reds and it sure ended up that way in the 1970 season, as the Reds came through with a 94-68 record. The 76 season didn't go any better as the Reds again got the blowout win at 97-65 to advance 191-133. The Reds don't seem to be THAT dominant when you look at their ratings. Other than Joe Morgan, no one stands out that much more than other teams, but they sure do win games! I have to believe at least one of the 70's Reds teams will make it to the final round....it will be very interesting to see which one(s).

1925 Pittsburgh Pirates vs. 1928 Pittsburgh Pirates

The Pirates join the select few franchises who had two teams square off in this round. The 1925 version went 95-58 and then beat the Senators in the World Series. They were 95-67 in the 1st round to advance here.

The 1928 Pirates were a much bigger surprise to get this far. I think they are the lowest finishing real life team we've seen in this round, as they finished in 4th place in the NL. There were enough 90-win teams that year that I had to use them to even up the season.....and somehow, they came through with a 90-72 record to represent their year over many seemingly better teams.

Based on real life success, it seemed like the 25 Pirates were at an advantage....however, having two teams from the same franchise in years so close together, that suggests it might be closer than we'd think. The 1925 season made clear these teams were in a battle. The 25 Pirates squeaked out an 82-80 win. The 28 season seemed like it might go the same way, but a late season surge gave the 28 team an 85-77 advantage. That slim margin was enough and the 1928 Pirates continue their unlikely run with a 165-159 victory.

1977 Baltimore Orioles vs. 1909 Pittsburgh Pirates

The 1977 Orioles finished tied for 2nd with the Red Sox at 97-64 behind the 100 game winning Yankees. They finished at 87-65 to advance here.

The 1909 Pirates were an incredible 110-42 in real life, beating out the 104-49 Cubs to get to the World Series. Then they beat the Tigers there in 7 games. In the 1st round, they left little doubt who would represent 1909 with a 101-61 record.

We already saw the 78 Orioles get to this point in a surprising win and then fall apart. The 77 team had a huge challenge against one of the great early era teams. Based on the 1909 season, it looked like the Orioles were not up for that challenge, as the Pirates took a huge 99-63 lead. Many of the early era teams have done very poorly in later years, so the Orioles still had a chance. However, this Pirates team showed they are real contenders for the top spot as they blew out the Orioles in the 77 season, 110-52 to advance by a 209-115 margin.

1947 New York Yankees vs. 1968 St. Louis Cardinals

The real 1947 Yankees were one of those great 40's/50's Yankees team that won the AL (this time with a 97-57 record) and then beat the Dodgers in the World Series. They finished at 89-73 in the 1st round, so it was not an easy competition for them.

The 1968 Cardinals are one of the more famous St. Louis teams, mostly thanks to the incredible season by Bob Gibson and his 1.12 ERA that year. They finished at 97-65, but lost to the Tigers in the World Series. In the 1st round they had a similar tough time as the 47 Yankees, also finishing with an 89-73 record.

This one looked like a tough call on paper as it was hard to tell how Gibson and company would do outside of the pitching friendly era they played in. The 1947 season showed that they might not do very well, as the Yankees won handily, 98-64. Things had to get better in the 68 season, though....right? Surprisingly, the answer to that question is a big NO! The Yankees came into the 68 season and again beat the Cardinals pretty soundly, at 93-69 to advance to the next round 191-133.

That's all for this update. The next one will include a matchup between 1911 and 1932 as well as an interesting contest between two all-time great Dodger teams.

Highlander · 07-03-2023, 05:35 PM

I've got 5 more matchups to report.....a pretty good mix here!

1911 Philadelphia A's vs. 1932 New York Yankees

The A's of 1911 were a real pitching-centered team. They went 101-50 in real life, then beat the Giants in the World Series. In the 1st round they went 97-65 to advance pretty easily.

I've lost track of how many Babe Ruth teams are in the competition so far, but this has to be at least #4 or so. This Yankees team was one of the best ones, going 107-47 and then sweeping the Cubs in the World Series. They went 97-65, just like The A's above, to advance here.

Two very successful teams from their years and in the first round squared off here. With different matchups, they both may have advanced, but sometimes "contenders" get eliminated before "pretenders"! In the 1911 season, the two teams played to an exact tie....81-81. That left it as close as it could be heading to the 1932 season. It looked like another tie could be in the works as the games played out early on, but eventually the Yankees pulled away and came out with a record of 89-73. The Babe gets another team in the 3rd round by a margin of 170-154.

1965 Los Angeles Dodgers vs. 1953 Brooklyn Dodgers

The 65 Dodgers are well known for the incredible season of Sandy Koufax who struck out an incredible 382 batters. In real life they went 97-65 and then beat the Twins in the World Series. They had a very close call in the 1st round, ending up tied at 83-79 with the White Sox. A +25 run differential got them through, as the Sox were a "break even" team for their run differential...exactly the same number of runs scored and given up.

The 53 Dodgers were one of the teams going into this that I thought had a great shot at winning the whole thing. Yes, they lost in the World Series to the Yankees that year, but their 105-49 record shows they were a fantastic team. They went 100-62 in the first round to solidify that idea.

I wasn't sure what to expect in this one. The closest matchup we've seen recently might be the one involving the 68 Cardinals with Bob Gibson being similar to Koufax. The Cards didn't fare well in their series, so that could spell trouble for the 65 Dodgers. The 1953 season was up first and the 53 team jumped right out to a big 100-62 lead. Any thoughts that the pitching of the 65 team in a pitching heavy year would help them fell to the side pretty quickly, as the 53 team was even more dominant at 104-58. The 1953 Dodgers advance by a 204-120 margin.....still among the favorites.

1956 Cincinnati Redlegs vs. 1969 Baltimore Orioles

The 56 Redlegs were a team I knew very little about. They had Frank Robinson in his rookie year and Ted Kluszewski....but that was about all I knew. They had a really close race in the NL that year and the Reds actually finished in 3rd at 91-63, but only 2 games out of first. In the 1st round, they went just 87-75, so it was a very close race there too.

The real 1969 Orioles are most famous for who they played in the World Series....losing to the Miracle Mets. However, what is sometimes forgotten is how good they really were. They finished 19 games ahead of 2nd place Detroit with a 109-53 record. The first round had no miracles as the Orioles finished at 97-65 to advance.

This matchup is another of the recent ones we've had that really looked like a mismatch on paper. The most interesting thing to me was that both teams.....despite being from different decades and franchises.....both had Frank Robinson as a player. The 56 season saw the Orioles come through with a blowout 99-63 win. The 69 season wasn't much better for rookie Frank Robinson as the elder Frank's Orioles again won easily, 97-65. The 1969 Orioles move on at 196-128 and may have an outside shot at the final round.

1959 Los Angeles Dodgers vs. 1915 Boston Red Sox

The 59 Dodgers were a real transition team between the Brooklyn teams of the 50's and the LA teams of the 60's. They won the NL in a very close race at just 88-68, but then won the World Series over the White Sox.

The 1915 Red Sox are actually another team featuring Babe Ruth, but this time as a pitcher. They finished 101-50 in real life and then won the World Series over the Phillies. In the 1st round they were 91-71 to advance.

The 1915 season saw the Babe do his best Ohtani impression by being one of the best pitchers on the Red Sox and also DHing. His double duty led them to an 89-73 win over the Dodgers. In the 59 season, however, the Sox didn't use Babe as a DH. I have no idea why! In any case, it may not have mattered as the rest of the team just didn't adjust to the new era and the Dodgers blew them out 100-62. Despite losing the earlier year, the Dodgers huge home year won let them advance 173-151.

2000 Atlanta Braves vs. 1987 New York Mets

The 2000 Braves are one of those great Maddux/Glavine/Chipper teams of that era. This one was 95-67, but lost to the Cardinals in the Division Series, so it was a small surprise to see them advance here. Their first round record was 99-63, so they left little doubt.

The 87 Mets were a bit of a surprise being here as well, especially considering the much more famous and successful 86 Mets didn't make it. This team was a 2nd place team to the Cardinals and finished 92-70. They were pretty dominant in the first round, though, going 102-60!

I wasn't sure what to expect in this one.....some great players on both sides- Maddux, Gooden, Chipper, McReynolds, Andruw, Strawberry, etc. The 87 season went to the home team, as the Mets came through with an 89-73 record. The 2000 season tightened up quite a bit, but the Mets still prevailed at 82-80 to let them advance 171-153. Tim Teufel is a big factor for this Mets team as he only played a partial season in real life but ends up playing full time here to great effect.

In the next update we will see 2016 take on 1958....some more Yankees teams.....and one of the last chances for the Phillies to make a better showing!

Highlander · 07-06-2023, 10:11 AM

Back for more of Round 2....only 9 more matchups to go after this update!

2016 Chicago Cubs vs. 1958 New York Yankees

The real 2016 Cubs are, of course, the team that finally ended the loooonnnngggg drought for the Cubs franchise. They led baseball with a 103-59 record and then finally won the World Series over the Indians. They went 101-61 in the 1st round to be one of the few teams that got 100+ wins, so they are a truly tough team to beat.

The 1958 Yankees went 92-62 in real life and then went on to beat the Braves in the World Series. It truly is something to see how many Yankees teams made it to this round....and quite a few have advanced to the next. Plus, there are more to come! This team only went 87-75 in the 1st round, so they had a tough fight to get here.

The 58 season was a pretty close one, but the Cubs came away with a pretty decent 88-74 lead. It seemed like it would be a challenge for the Yankees to outplay them in their home season.....and it was. The Cubs came back with another win at 95-67 to advance over the Yankees, 183-141.

1939 New York Yankees vs. 1926 New York Yankees

The 39 Yankees are not a team that is talked about very much, but they went 106-45 to finish 17 games ahead in the AL, then swept the Reds in the World Series. This may actually be one of the best Yankees teams ever despite not getting the press of the 1927, 1961, 1998 or even the 1936 teams. In the first round they went 91-71, so maybe OOTP doesn't think they are QUITE that dominant.

The 1926 Yankees were kind of the preview team for what was to come in 1927. In real life they went 91-63 but lost the World Series to the Cardinals. They went 89-73 in the 1st round to advance here.

This seemed like an interesting matchup with one team much more successful in real life, but both teams performing similarly in their 1st round contests. Lou Gehrig was a common player on both teams, but the 39 season was a very brief season for him for reasons everyone knows about. The 39 team came right out in the 1926 season to show they were there to play and finished at 94-68. That didn't bode well for the 26 team heading into the 39 season, and even though they kept it a little closer, they still dropped the season to the 39 team 92-70. The 1939 Yankees moved on by a 186-138 margin.

1957 Milwaukee Braves vs. 1981 Philadelphia Phillies

The 57 Braves were 95-59 and then became one of the only teams to beat the Yankees in a World Series during this era, as they won it in 7 games. In the 1st round they outlasted the Yankees as well, with a 94-68 record.

The 1981 Phillies were 59-48 overall in the real strike-shortened 1981 season. They were a first place team int he 1st half, then dropped to 3rd in the 2nd half. They then lost in the 1st round of the playoffs to the Expos. However, they "Rose" to the occasion (sorry...had to do it!) in the 1st round and finished at 95-67 to advance here.

The Phillies have not fared well in this round so far, but this 81 squad seemed to have potential with Pete Rose, Mike Schmidt, Steve Carlton and company. The 57 season wasn't kind to them, however, as the Braves won their home season 93-69. The 81 season was much closer, but the Braves still came out on top 83-79 to advance by a 176-148 margin.

1936 New York Yankees vs. 2021 Milwaukee Brewers

The 36 Yankees, as mentioned earlier, are sometimes mentioned when talk of the best team ever is brought up. They certainly had an incredible offense with Dickey, Gehrig and Joe Dimaggio (his incredible rookie season). In real life they went 102-51 and then beat the Giants in the World Series. In the 1st round of this competition they went just 87-75, showing they may not be quite as dominant as previously thought.

The 2021 Brewers are probably not a team many think of when you think of all-time great teams. They won their division at a solid 95-67, but then lost in the Division Series to the eventual World Series champion Braves. Most would have thought those Braves or the 107 game-winning Giants or the 106 game-winning Dodgers....or even the 100 game-winning Rays would have been the team to represent the 2021 season, but the Brewers went 91-71 to tie the Dodgers. The run differential went the Brewers way, however, at +66 to +47.

I had no idea what would happen in this series. It was a big era difference with a team that had a super charged offense in the Yankees against a team that was more built around pitching with the Brewers. The 36 season showed we might be in for a close one as the Brewers came out on top 86-76. Then in the 2021 season, where I thought the Yankees offense may have unloaded, the Brewers again won a close one at 85-77. In a pretty big shocker, the 2021 Brewers knocked off the 36 Yankees, 171-151!

1908 New York Giants vs. 1952 Brooklyn Dodgers

The real Giants tied for 2nd place in the NL with the Pirates at 98-56, 1 game behind the eventual champion Cubs. In the 1st round they squeaked out a close 89-73 win to advance.

The 1952 Dodgers are a very similar team to the 53 version we saw earlier, but not as strong. This team went 96-57 then lost to the Yankees in the World Series in 7 games. Here, they got some measure of revenge against the Yankees by advancing at 94-68.

Another tough matchup to predict, as these early era teams have been all over the place. Some have gotten blown out because their pitching depth just doesn't make it in later years....but some have been dominant. The Giants showed that their team was made for their home season, as they went 98-64 in the 1908 matchup. The Dodgers had a lot of work to do in their home season, but I've seen some teams win over 100 games in a situation like this. Not this time, however! The Dodgers did make a better showing, but an 81-81 tie just wasn't going to get the job done. The Giants move on by a margin of 179-145.

1913 New York Giants vs. 1990 Pittsburgh Pirates

Yet another early era Giants team appears in the 2nd round. These teams are super strong in pitching with guys like Christy Mathewson, Joe McGinnity, Red Ames, etc. They have some solid offense and defense as well, so it's not surprise we've seen a number of them. This version went 101-51, but lost in the World Series to the A's. In the 1st round they put up an impressive 102-60 record to advance.

The 1990 Pirates are representative of those really good Pirates teams of the early 90's that featured strong pitching and the Bonds/Bonilla pair on offense. I may have actually played this matchup out on Bobby Bonilla day! Enjoy that money Bobby!! In real life they went 95-67 but lost to the Reds in the playoffs.

After seeing the 08 Giants take it to the 52 Dodgers, I was thinking this Giants team would be similarly tough to beat. The Pirates came out fast, though, with an 87-75 win in the 1913 season. Their home season was actually tougher for the Pirates, but it ended it an 81-81 tie. That was enough to let the Pirates advance in a close one, 167-156.

I'll probably finish out Round 2 in my next update. Coming up will be a matchup between 1962 and 1999. We will see more versions of the Yankees, Dodgers and Cardinals.....but 2-3 teams that I don't think we've seen versions of at all.

Highlander · 07-10-2023, 11:43 AM

Alright, it's time to finish out Round 2! As always, there were some surprises in this last group of matchups......

1962 New York Yankees vs. 1999 Houston Astros

The real 1962 Yankees are not as well known as their 61 counterparts, but they went 96-66 and beat the Giants in the World Series, so they were also a very good team. In the first round, they went 85-77 to slide into this round.

The 1999 Astros won their division at 97-65, but lost to the Braves in the Division Series. They went 97-65 in the 1st round, so they were pretty strong there.

This matchup started off with a close one in the 62 season, as the Yankees edged the Astros 82-80. Then in the 99 season, the Astros came alive and won big by a 93-69 margin. That lets Houston advance to the 3rd round, 173-151.....no word on whether any signs were stolen in this series.

2004 Boston Red Sox vs. 1904 New York Giants

The 2004 Red Sox were the team that finally broke through for Boston. They only finished in 2nd place in the AL East at 98-64, but went on to beat the Yankees in a 7 game series in the playoffs and then sweep the Cardinals to win the World Series and break "the curse". In the 1st round here, they were a very strong 98-64.

The 1904 Giants were one of the many dominant Giants team of the first two decades of the 1900's. This team was especially strong, with a record of 106-47. Even though a World Series was played in 1903, there was no formal agreement between the two leagues and the Giants' owner refused to play a team from an "inferior league", so no World Series happened in 1904.

This was bound to be an interesting matchup between teams 100 years apart from each other. The 04 season went to the home team, as the Giants won it 83-79. The pitching depth issues that have hurt many of these early era teams bothered this Giants team most of all, as they dropped the 2004 season by a huge 133-29 margin. The Giants only had 2 pitchers in the bullpen.....one gave up 78 HR and one walked over 300 batters. They were just forced to be used WAY too much with no one else on the roster. Because of that huge margin, the Red Sox move on, 212-112.

1992 Atlanta Braves vs. 2002 Houston Astros

The real Braves went 98-64, then lost the World Series to the Blue Jays. They went 92-70 in the 1st round to get here.

The Astros of 2002 were only a 2nd place team that barely scraped into the 1st round. They went 84-78 that year, but due to the number of other 90+ win/playoff teams, I had to include them in round one....somehow, they came out with a 91-71 record to move on.

Based on real life success, the Braves seemed to be at an advantage here.....and they were. The 92 season went Atlanta's way 96-66 and then to remove any doubt, the Braves did even better in the 2002 season, going 101-61 to advance to the 3rd round 187-127.

1943 St. Louis Cardinals vs. 1951 New York Yankees

The 43 Cards were a dominant 105-49 in the NL that year, but then lost to the Yankees in 5 games in the World Series. They went 90-72 to get here. though.

The 51 Yankees are another team like the 62 Yankees that have a more famous predecessor. The 1950 team seems to be talked about a lot more, but the 51 team went 98-56 and beat the Giants in the World Series. They had a 92-70 record in the 1st round in order to advance.

This looked like a close one on paper, with the Cardinals having a pitching advantage but the Yankees having the better offense. The Cards came out an won their home season by 12 games, 87-75. That made it tough on the Yankees to have to win big in a season not too far removed from the first one. They came REALLY close, winning the 1951 season 86-76 to fall just short. The Cardinals squeaked by in this one, 163-161.

2008 Boston Red Sox vs. 1984 Toronto Blue Jays

The 2008 Red Sox came in 2nd place to the Tampa Rays with a 95-67 record. They advanced to the LCS, but were beaten by Tampa in 7 games. For the 1st round, they went 95-67 to advance here.

The 1984 Blue Jays are the first and only Toronto team to make it this far, which was a bit surprising. This team went 89-73 and came in 2nd place to the more famous Tigers team that I assumed would be here in Toronto's place. However, the Jays went 91-71 to get past those Tigers and represent the 84 season.

This was another matchup where one team seemed to have an advantage based on real season success, but it wasn't quite as lopsided as some others have seemed. In the 84 season, the Red Sox showed they were indeed the better team as they won 89-73. Toronto actually made it a bit closer in the 08 season, but still fell well short...losing 87-75. The 2008 Red Sox move on by a margin of 176-148.

1944 Detroit Tigers vs. 1989 Kansas City Royals

The Tigers had a few teams in the 40's that were very good, but full of relatively unknown players. Hal Newhouser was a common player on those teams, however, and was an incredible pitcher. This Tigers team went 88-66 to finish second to the Browns, so they weren't as strong as some of the others. They made it to this round with an 85-77 record, which again shows their lack of dominance....but here they are!

The 89 Royals are the only representative of the Royals franchise. They actually finished in 2nd place to the A's that year with a record of 92-70. However, they advanced here with an impressive 99-63 record, so there may be more to them than it seems.

This matchup saw a couple of real life 2nd place teams square off and was pretty much as close as you might expect. The Tigers won their home season by a close 85-77 margin. The Royals needed a decent victory in their 89 season to advance.....and they just got it, going 88-74 to move on by a 165-159 margin.

1905 Chicago White Sox vs. 1937 New York Giants

For the 3rd matchup in a row, we have a team being the only representative of their franchise....and this one is the most surprising with how long the White Sox have been around compare to Toronto and Kansas City. The 05 Sox were 92-60 and finished 2nd to the A's that year. In the 1st round, though, they went a solid 91-71.

The 1937 Giants are one of the many Giants teams that were very strong int he 30's, but ended up losing to the Yankees int he World Series. This one went 95-57, then lost to the Yankees in 5 games. Still, they were able to scrape together an 89-73 record to represent their season here.

The Giants came right out and showed they belong here by beating the White Sox in their home season, 84-78. That put pressure on a Chicago team that was the only hope for their franchise. Coming from an early era, their pitchers were limited, but only having to play in 1937 may not make that a factor. Or maybe it would.....the Giants blew Chicago away in the 37 season, 104-58 to advance by a 188-136 margin.

1916 Philadelphia Phillies vs. 1967 St Louis Cardinals

The real 1916 Phillies went 92-62 to finish second to the Brooklyn Robins in the NL. They went 88-74 to get here and are the last chance for the Phillies to get a team into the 3rd round.

The 67 Cardinals are are hoping to fare better than their 68 counterparts did a little earlier in this round. In real life, they went 101-60 and then beat the Red Sox in the World Series. They weren't dominant in the 1st round, however, going 88-74.

This matchup saw a couple of teams looking to make up for past teams in their franchise that have failed to advance. However, the pressure was heavier on the Phillies. Both teams fought hard in the 1916 season and they finished at 81-81, making it all come down to the 67 season. Once again, the Phillies couldn't make it happen, as St. Louis won their home season handily, at 91-71 to advance by a 172-152 margin.

2022 St. Louis Cardinals vs. 1942 Brooklyn Dodgers

The most recent team in the competition ended up in the very last matchup. As a refresher, this Cardinals team won their division at 93-69, but lost to the Phillies 2-0 in the Wildcard round. They went a solid 91-71 in the 1st round to advance.

The 1942 Dodgers went 104-40, but still finished 2nd to a Cardinals team that went 106-48 and beat the Yankees in 5 games in the World Series. The Dodgers scraped by at 88-74 in the 1st round, though, to get by both of those teams.

The Cardinals jumped right out in the 42 season to a big 93-69 lead and surprise the Dodgers by beating them soundly in their home season. Brooklyn tried to fight back....and they did make it much closer.....but the Cardinals won their home season as well, by an 87-75 margin. The 2022 Cardinals advance 180-144.

So there you have it....Round 2 is complete! I'll do another post to sum up the teams that have moved on and introduce what will happen in round 3!

Highlander · 07-10-2023, 12:31 PM

Round 2 is in the books. Some classic teams have advanced, but some surprise ones are still in the mix. Here is a summary of the 60 teams that are still in contention by each franchise....I've combined some where appropriate-

Baltimore Orioles (2)- 1969, 1971
Boston Red Sox (4)- 1912, 2003, 2004, 2008
Brooklyn/Los Angeles Dodgers (4)- 1953, 1959, 2014, 2019
California Angels (1)- 1986
Chicago Cubs (2)- 1907, 2016
Cincinnati Reds (3)- 1972, 1975, 1976
Cleveland Indians/Guardians (3)- 1995, 1996, 2018
Detroit Tigers (1)- 1940
Florida Marlins (1)- 1997
Houston Astros (1)- 1999
Kansas City Royals (1)- 1989
Milwaukee/Atlanta Braves (3)- 1957, 1992, 2012
Milwaukee Brewers (1)- 2021
Minnesota Twins (1)- 1963
Montreal Expos/Washington Nationals (3)- 1979, 1980, 2017
New York/San Francisco Giants (5)- 1908, 1910, 1923, 1937, 1993
New York Mets (2)- 1987, 1988
New York Yankees (11)- 1927, 1931, 1932, 1934, 1939, 1947, 1955, 1961, 1998, 2006, 2007
Oakland A's (1)- 2013
Pittsburgh Pirates (6)- 1903, 1909, 1928, 1933, 1990, 1991
St. Louis Cardinals (3)- 1943, 1967, 2022
Texas Rangers (1)- 2011

And here's how it comes out by decade-

1900's (4)- 1903, 1907, 1908, 1909
1910's (2)- 1910, 1912
1920's (3)- 1923, 1927, 1928
1930's (6)- 1931, 1932, 1933, 1934, 1937, 1939
1940's (3)- 1940, 1943, 1947
1950's (4)- 1953, 1955, 1957, 1959
1960's (4)- 1961, 1963, 1967, 1969
1970's (5)- 1971, 1972, 1975, 1976, 1979
1980's (5)- 1980, 1986, 1987, 1988, 1989
1990's (9)- 1990, 1991, 1992, 1993, 1995, 1996, 1997, 1998, 1999
2000's (5)- 2003, 2004, 2006, 2007, 2008
2010's (8)- 2011, 2012, 2013, 2014, 2016, 2017, 2018, 2019
2020's (2)- 2021, 2022

So, it is no surprise that the Yankees have the most representatives as a franchise. The fact that the Giants and Pirates are next isn't a big surprise either. I might have expected the Cardinals and Dodgers to have more. It is clear that there are certain eras for certain teams where they were very good....the Orioles, Reds, Indians, Mets, etc. all have more than one team within a year or two of each other.

Decade-wise, I found it surprising that the 90's had the most teams moving on. I expected more modern eras to have a few more because of the pitching issues that older teams tended to have, but most of those have been weeded out now (unless there were matchups against similar era teams). Again, though, the 90's are really well represented and the strange thing is that the two teams many think of as dominating the 90's....the Braves and Yankees....only have 1 team each!

On to round 3! I've decided to run this round a little differently than I originally planned. Instead of 6 groups of 10 teams, I am going to flip it to 10 groups of 6. That will give a final "top 10" to battle it out. The teams will be matched up randomly...I may "re-randomize" if one group seems way to heavy in one era or another. I'd like to see it spread out, although the more recent years have more teams, so it will skew that way a little.

My next post will reveal the first group of 6.....then I'll run the 6 seasons and see which one advances to the finals. I'll give a little more info on player performance in this round as well so you know who is coming up big and who is letting their teams down. Stats may get a little crazy, but based on past rounds, I am hoping it stays in the range I've seen so far.

Highlander · 07-10-2023, 10:03 PM

The groups have been made for Round 3! I randomized numbers 1-60 to get them figured out and made a few small changes to balance things out a bit. For example, the original grouping had the teams from 1995, 96 and 97 all in the same group, so I split them up.

Here's the teams for Group 1-

1943 Cardinals
1909 Pirates
1923 Giants
2013 A's
1961 Yankees
1928 Pirates

The first season was played in 1909. Here's a look at each team's results from least number of wins to most-

2013 A's- 61 Wins

The A's were the team that was farthest removed from the year in which the season was played, so it wasn't a total shock that they struggled. I'm not sure anyone predicted a 61-101 record, though. The offense of the A's really struggled in this era with a league worst .227 team batting average and second to last .295 on base percentage. The pitching staff was great by 2013's standards with a 2.83 team ERA....but that was also worst in the league.

1961 Yankees- 77 Wins

In a bit of a shocker, the Yankees finished in 5th this season with a 77-85 record. Not surprisingly, they were 1st in HR, but with only 28 for the team, that didn't have as big of an impact as it might in later seasons. They were last or 2nd to last in most every other category....except errors, where they again came in "first".....not in a good way. Their Pythagorean record shows they were lucky to do this well, as they were projected to only have 65 wins.

1923 Giants- 85 Wins

An 85-77 record is nothing to be upset about, but it was middle of the pack in this 1909 season. The Giants were actually 2nd in runs scored and ranked 1st in many offensive categories. Their team ERA of 2.50 was good for 2nd....a combination that would make you think they would have done better. They were projected to have 89 wins and with the success they had on both sides of the ball, better things may come in later seasons for them.

1928 Pirates- 85 Wins

The 28 Pirates put up another 85-77 record, which points to how close the top of the standings were this time through. Their offense scored the most runs in the league at 587, but their pitching was a little more "middle of the pack" with a 4th place 2.69 team ERA.

1909 Pirates- 87 Wins

The Pirates didn't win their home season, but a second place finish at 87-75 was a good showing. Offensively, they scored 562 runs, good for 4th in the league. Their 528 runs given up was 3rd. Their defense was terrific with the top defensive efficiency (.711) and Zone Rating (+39.6).

1943 Cardinals- 91 Wins

That means the 1943 Cardinals are the winner of the 1909 season at 91-71. Their team ERA was a league best 2.26. Pair that with the 2nd best defense and a 3rd best 579 runs....and that leads to a first place finish. It wasn't a dominant win, though so this group is still very much up in the air.

Award Winners (Stas in bold are league leaders)

Gold Glove Awards
P- Bill Stafford (61 Yankees)
C- George Gibson (09 Pirates)
1B- Ray Sanders (43 Cardinals)
2B- Eric Sogard (13 A's)
3B- Clete Boyer (61 Yankees)
SS- Dave Bancroft (23 Giants)
LF- Adam Comorosky (28 Pirates)
CF- Stan Musial (43 Cardinals)
RF- Chief Wilson (09 Pirates)

Silver Slugger Awards
C- Walker Cooper (43 Cardinals)- .286/.304/.353, 29 doubles, 4 triples, 0 HR, 49 R, 59 RBI, 3 SB, 5.0 WAR
1B- Ray Sanders (43 Cardinals)- .251/.334/.346, 22 doubles, 4 triples, 8 HR, 70 R, 50 RBI, 1 SB, 4.2 WAR
2B- Frankie Frisch (23 Giants)- .293/.335/.374, 25 doubles, 9 triples, 3 HR, 83 R, 60 RBI, 53 SB, 7.1 WAR
3B- Josh Donaldson (13 A's)- .266/.343/.332, 25 doubles, 5 triples, 1 HR, 52 R, 60 RBI, 7 SB, 5.6 WAR
SS- Honus Wagner (09 Pirates)- .268/.397/.382, 30 doubles, 8 triples, 4 HR, 72 R, 58 RBI, 93 SB, 7.6 WAR
LF- Fred Clarke (09 Pirates)- .246/.341/.327, 20 doubles, 10 triples, 2 HR, 78 R, 34 RBI, 86 SB, 3.8 WAR
CF- Stan Musial (43 Cardinals)- .307/.372/.414, 31 doubles, 13 triples, 2 HR, 54 R, 83 RBI, 21 SB, 7.0 WAR
RF- Paul Waner (28 Pirates)- .285/.377/.402, 26 doubles, 14 triples, 4 HR, 79 R, 66 RBI, 7 SB, 6.1 WAR
DH- Jack Bentley (23 Giants)- .357/.389/.449, 27 doubles, 10 triples, 1 HR, 57 R, 72 RBI, 1 SB, 5.8 WAR

Rookie of the Year
Dots Miller (43 Cardinals)- .273/.303/.379, 27 doubles, 16 triples, 1 HR, 63 R, 63 RBI, 74 SB, 2.3 WAR

Cy Young Award
Winner
Babe Adams (09 Pirates)- 26-15, 0 Saves, 369 IP, 1.88 ERA, .91 WAR, 172 K, 8.0 WAR

Runners-Up
Harry Brecheen (43 Cardinals)- 22-17, 0 Saves, 361 IP, 1.82 ERA, 1.01 WHIP, 166 K, 6.9 WAR
Howie Pollett (43 Cardinals)- 23-18, 0 Saves, 386 IP, 1.91 ERA, 1.12 WHIP, 197 K, 8.2 WAR
Howie Camnitz (09 Pirates)- 23-18, 0 Saves, 367.1 IP, 2.21 ERA, 1.07 WHIP, 156 K, 5.8 WAR

MVP Award
Winner- Honus Wagner

Runners-Up- Jack Bentley, Frankie Frisch, Stan Musial, Paul Waner

Misc. Notes and Stats

2013 A's
- Brandon Moss hit 30 HR in real life, but came up with 0 in 538 AB. It's 1909, but still!
- Daric Barton played all 162 games as the DH, but only hit .206 with 8 doubles, 2 triples and 2 HR.
- Bartolo Colon had a rough season, leading the league in losses with a record of 9-31.

1961 Yankees
- Mantle and Maris tied with 5 HR each....they also tied with Lee Thomas. WHO? In real life, Thomas played with the Yankees for 2 games, then got 450 at bats with the Angels, hitting .284 with 24 HR. He ends up included on the Yankees here, though.
- Luis Arroyo pitched only 4.2 innings, but somehow got 4 saves and 1 loss in that limited action

1923 Giants
- The name Jack Bentley may have been a surprise in the awards above. He was actually a pitcher in real life, but did his best Ohtani impression here. In addition to his great hitting numbers as a DH, he went 19-19 in 343.2 IP with a 2.83 ERA, 1.25 WHIP and a league leading 198 Ks. His real life hitting stats were impressive. In 89 AB, he hit .427/.446/.527 with 6 doubles, 2 triples and 1 HR. A wise choice for DH in this competition....he may be a major factor going forward.
- Jesse Barnes was one of the top relievers in the game, going 1-0 with a league leading 8 saves in 30.2 IP. He had a 1.47 ERA, 1.27 WHIP and 6 Ks.
- Rosy Ryan was left out of the Cy Young voting, but at 24-13 with a 2.09 ERA and 1.08 WHIP, he was certainly worthy of a vote.

1928 Pirates
- Burleigh Grimes led the league in games pitched, with 49. He started 41 and saw 8 games of relief. His performance was strong- 23-17, 2 saves, 2.58 ERA, 1.16 WHIP and 159 K.

1909 Pirates
- This team went crazy on the bases, stealing 626 bases....86 for Fred Clarke, 74 for Dots Miller, 93 for Honus Wagner, 86 for Tommy Leach, 71 for Chief Wilson, 46 for George Gibson (the catcher!), 46 for Ed Abbaticchio, 46 for Roy Thomas and 43 for Alan Storke to round out the main starting lineup.

1943 Cardinals
- Ray Sanders, who led the league with 8 HR, only hit 11 in real life over 478 AB.

Highlander · 07-11-2023, 12:33 PM

Time for the 2nd season for this group....this time taking place in 1923.

2013 A's- 77 Wins

Uh Oh....another last place finish for the A's. 77-85 is much better than last time, but they need a big winning season to stay alive much longer. Interestingly, they were 2nd in offensive WAR and 3rd in Pitching....but it just didn't translate to actual wins!

1928 Pirates- 78 Wins

78-84 is not a great record for a team playing so close to their own year. They were actually 2nd in runs scored with 746, but their starting pitching really let them down with a league worst 4.56 ERA. A league best bullpen ERA of 2.95 helped.

1923 Giants- 78 Wins

Another 78-84 record....this time for the home season team. They finished top 3 in many offensive categories, but their pitching was pretty bad. They also finished last in both Defensive Efficiency and Zone Rating. Not looking good for them going forward.

1961 Yankees- 79 Wins

The Yankees get a 3rd place finish, but 79-83 isn't great. They once again led the league in HR...this time with 108, but BA and OBP were both last in the league. Pitching-wise, they were kind of middle of the road, although their overall bullpen ERA was last at 4.38.

1943 Cardinals- 79 Wins

Another tie and kind of a disappointing season for St. Louis coming off a first season win. They are a pitching-centric team and finished in first in all pitching and defense categories except bullpen ERA (2nd) and Walks allowed (3rd). On the hitting side, though, things were a little rough. There were a lot of 5th and 6th place finishes.

1909 Pirates- 95 Wins

A nice 95-67 record for this Pirates team puts them in position to be the favorite to make the top 10 at this point. The Cardinals have the pitching to battle them, but their bats seem lacking. This Pirates team is strong in both areas, with a number of top 3 finishes in most categories. They once again ran wild compared to the rest of the league, stealing a league leading 366 bases....the 2nd team was the Giants with just 104!

Award Winners (Stats in bold are league leaders)

Gold Glove Awards
P- Harry Brecheen (43 Cardinals)
C- George Gibson (09 Pirates)
1B- Ray Sanders (43 Cardinals)
2B- Sparky Adams (28 Pirates)
3B- Clete Boyer (61 Yankees)
SS- Honus Wagner (09 Pirates)
LF- Yoenis Cespedes (13 A's)
CF- Coco Crisp (13 A's)
RF- Stan Musial (43 Cardinals)....interesting that he won it in CF in the 1909 season

Silver Slugger Awards
C- Elston Howard (61 Yankees)- .357/.388/.527, 26 doubles, 17 triples, 9 HR, 69 R, 79 RBI, 1 SB, 6.4 WAR
1B- Ray Sanders (43 Cardinals)- .309/.391/.431, 26 doubles, 9 triples, 8 HR, 70 R, 65 RBI, 0 SB, 3.8 WAR
2B- Frankie Frisch (23 Giants)- .354/.409/.503, 50 doubles, 10 triples, 8 HR, 121 R, 87 RBI, 33 SB, 8.0 WAR
3B- Josh Donaldson (13 A's)- .296/.382/.423, 36 doubles, 6 triples, 9 HR, 93 R, 81 RBI, 4 SB, 5.8 WAR
SS- Honus Wagner (09 Pirates)- .308/.414/.446, 36 doubles, 8 triples, 9 HR, 124 R, 96 RBI, 75 SB, 8.5 WAR
LF- Fred Clarke (09 Pirates)- .324/.425/.450, 25 doubles, 19 triples, 4 HR, 124 R, 65 RBI, 49 SB, 6.1 WAR
CF- Mickey Mantle (61 Yankees)- .339/.441/.506, 13 doubles, 8 triples, 21 HR, 87 R, 88 RBI, 10 SB, 7.7 WAR
RF- Stan Musial (43 Cardinals)- .320/.393/.499, 28 doubles, 17 triples, 14 HR, 80 R, 76 RBI, 1 SB, 6.5 WAR

Rookie of the Year
Lou Klein (43 Cardinals)- .273/.312/.380, 22 doubles, 8 triples, 5 HR, 56 R, 66 RBI, 1 SB, 2.9 WAR

Reliever of the Year
Winner
Rube Walberg (23 Giants)- 8-8, 12 Saves, 90.2 IP, 3.08 ERA, 1.42 WHIP, 30 K, -.3 WAR

Runners-Up
Sean Doolittle (13 A's)- 11-12, 19 Saves, 83 IP, 3.25 ERA, 1.51 WHIP, 35 K, 1.0 WAR
Walt Tauscher (28 Pirates)- 7-6, 6 Saves, 83.2 IP, 3.44 ERA, 1.57 WHIP, 19 K, .5 WHIP

Cy Young Award
Winner
Howie Pollett (43 Cardinals)- 23-14, 2 Saves, 306 IP, 2.44 ERA, 1.09 WHIP, 116 K, 6.7 WAR

Runners-Up
Vic Willis (09 Pirates)- 22-11, 0 Saves, 282.2 IP, 2.77 ERA, 1.28 WHIP, 76 K, 4.2 WAR
Whitey Ford (61 Yankees)- 20-14, 0 Saves, 286.1 IP, 2.77 ERA, 1.27 WHIP, 107 K, 5.3 WAR
Babe Adams (09 Pirates)- 18-14, 3 Saves, 307.1 IP, 3.05 ERA, 1.26 WHIP, 124 K, 5.9 WAR
Burleigh Grimes (28 Pirates)- 23-12, 7 Saves, 309 IP, 3.41 ERA, 1.34 WHIP, 95 K, 4.8 WAR

MVP Award- All stats above in Silver Slugger Awards
Winner- Frankie Frisch

Runners-Up- Mickey Mantle, Honus Wagner, Fred Clarke

Misc. Notes and Stats

2013 A's
-Looking back at a couple of guys mentioned in the 1909 season....Brandon Moss greatly improved his power game, going from 0 HR in 1909 to 15 this season. Bartolo Colon wasn't a 30 game loser this season, but he still lost 20 games, going 10-20.

1928 Pirates
- Paul Waner didn't get mentioned in the Awards section, but he had a very good season with a .315 BA, 45 doubles and 105 RBI.

1923 Giants
- Rosy Ryan, who had a great 1909 season, really struggled in his home season. We went just 12-12 with a 4.66 ERA.
- Jack Bentley had another incredible season at the plate, as shown above, but his pitching was more of a struggle this season. He only went 9-13 with a 4.93 ERA and a paltry 76 Ks after leading the league in Ks in 1909.

1961 Yankees
-The M&M Boys didn't tie in HR this time, but were still very close. Mantle had 21 as mentioned earlier and Maris hit 19. Teammate Johnny Blanchard, who gets fulltime duty as a DH, did tie Mickey with 21 HR of his own.

1943 Cardinals
-Howie Krist wasn't in the running for reliever of the year, but he went 5-1 with 2 saves and a 2.83 ERA in 35 innings out of the bullpen.

1909 Pirates
- The Pirates were the only team to have two players with over 100 RBI....and they had 2 others with over 90. Tommy Leach drove in 113 and Chief Wilson was the league leader with 115.
- Dots Miller, who won the 1909 Rookie Of The Year, seemed to have better year than this year's winner, Lou Klein. Dots hit .282/.326/.389 with 43 doubles, 7 triples, 2 HR, 83 R, 69 RBI, 35 SB and 1.0 WAR. The WAR hurt him, I guess.

Highlander · 07-11-2023, 03:51 PM

It's time for the 1928 season. Seems like it's pretty close to 1923, so we'll have to see how much the standings change from then.

1961 Yankees- 66 Wins

Ouch. The Yankees had been in the "hanging around" position so far, but this win total may torpedo their chances going forward. While they again led the league in HR, they were last in almost every other offensive category including runs scored. Pitching and defense were more middle of the pack, but that was nowhere near enough to make up for the surprisingly bad offense.

2013 A's- 76 Wins

The 1920's have been better to the A's than 1909 was, but not enough. They were similar to the Yankees in that they came in 2nd in HR, but did very poorly in most other offensive statistics. Pitching wasn't much better, as they finished in the bottom half of the league in most areas. Their Pythagorean record only has them at 67 wins, so they were lucky to do as well as they did.

1928 Pirates- 77 Wins

This Pirates team started off pretty well in 1909, but their win totals keep dropping, even in this....their home year. They had a middle of the pack offense, but their pitching is what does them in. They finished last in most categories, including Runs Against. They would have needed a great offense to overcome that.....and they didn't have it.

1923 Giants- 78 Wins

The 3-5 teams are pretty bunched up this season, so you know those top two must have done pretty well. The Giants did have a top scoring offense that led in many categories, including runs scored. However, their pitching and defense were both pretty bad. They were just a small notch above the 28 Pirates and even the offense they had wasn't enough to get them a winning record.

1909 Pirates- 90 Wins

The 09 Pirates put up their 2nd 90-win season in a row to firmly put themselves in the running for the team that will move on. Being 2nd in bot runs scored and runs allowed is a sure fire way to have a good season....and that's just what they did. Stolen bases continue to be a huge strength for this team as well as a very good defense.

1943 Cardinals- 99 Wins

The Cardinals put up the best season so far in this group. They join the Pirates as the two favorites to move on with 3 seasons left....the other teams in the group have a lot of work to do to catch either of these teams. The Cards only scored the 4th most runs, but their pitching and defense are both very strong....pitching was first in all but 3 categories.

Award Winners (Stats in bold are league leaders)

Gold Glove Awards
P-Bill Stafford (61 Yankees)
C- Frank Snyder (23 Giants)
1B- Ray Sanders (43 Cardinals)
2B- Lou Klein (43 Cardinals)
3B- Clete Boyer (61 Yankees)
SS- Marty Marion (43 Cardinals)
LF- Yoenis Cespedes (13 A's)
CF- Stan Musial (43 Cardinals)
RF- Roger Maris (61 Yankees)

Silver Slugger Awards
C- Walker Cooper (43 Cardinals)- .349/.376/.478, 36 doubles, 4 triples, 9 HR, 80 R, 83 RBI, 0 SB, 4.5 WAR
1B- George Grantham (28 Pirates)- .309/.399/.471, 33 doubles, 15 triples, 10 HR, 95 R, 78 RBI, 4 SB, 3.8 WAR
2B- Frankie Frisch (23 Giants)- .325/.379/.440, 35 doubles, 6 triples, 9 HR, 111 R, 83 RBI, 22 SB, 4.5 WAR
3B- Josh Donaldson (13 A's)- .302/.382/.455, 39 doubles, 9 triples, 11 HR, 83 R, 81 RBI, 3 SB, 5.2 WAR
SS- Honus Wagner (09 Pirates)- .320/.428/.466, 48 doubles, 7 triples, 7 HR, 110 R, 85 RBI, 68 SB, 6.7 WAR
LF- Fred Clarke (09 Pirates)- .323/.435/.432, 25 doubles, 11 triples, 5 HR, 119 R, 69 RBI, 42 SB, 5.1 WAR
CF- Stan Musial (43 Cardinals)- .355/.417/.563, 49 doubles, 22 triples, 10 HR, 95 R, 107 RBI, 3 SB, 8.2 WAR
RF- Paul Waner (28 Pirates)- .338/.430/.461, 41 doubles, 9 triples, 4 HR, 85 R, 87 RBI, 4 SB, 6.3 WAR
DH- Jack Bentley (23 Giants)- .401/.419/.548, 54 doubles, 12 triples, 4 HR, 74 R, 103 RBI, 0 SB, 5.2 WAR

Rookie of the Year
Al Brazle (43 Cardinals)- 20-7, 0 Saves, 266.1 IP, 3.11 ERA, 1.26 WHIP, 78 K, 5.9 WAR

Reliever of the Year
Winner
Sean Doolittle (13 A's)- 7-3, 9 Saves, 83.1 IP, 2.59 ERA, 1.22 WHIP, 27 K, .8 WAR

Runners-Up
Luis Arroyo (61 Yankees)- 7-9, 13 Saves, 81 IP, 3.33 ERA, 1.27 WHIP, 21 K, .4 WAR
Art Nehf (23 Giants)- 7-4, 5 Saves, 81.1 IP, 3.76 ERA, 1.55 WHIP, 25 K, 1.2 WAR

Cy Young Award
Winner
Howie Pollett (43 Cardinals)- 24-16, 1 Save, 316 IP, 2.42 ERA, 1.21 WHIP, 107 K, 6.7 WAR

Runners-Up
Babe Adams (09 Pirates)- 23-14, 4 Saves, 316 IP, 2.85 ERA, 1.16 WHIP, 108 K, 6.7 WAR
Harry Brecheen (43 Cardinals)- 23-9, 0 Saves, 278 IP, 2.65 ERA, 1.17 WHIP, 99 K, 5.5 WAR
Al Brazle (43 Cardinals)- numbers seen in ROY listing

MVP Award
Winner- Stan Musial

Runners-Up (lots of vote getters this time!)-
Honus Wagner
Mickey Mantle (61 Yankees)- .313/.428/.522, 17 doubles, 14 triples, 23 HR, 105 R, 72 RBI, 2 SB, 6.3 WAR
Howie Pollett, Fred Clarke, Jack Bentley, Paul Waner, Babe Adams, Frankie Frisch, Harry Brecheen
Casey Stengel (23 Giants)- .358/.400/.534, 31 doubles, 12 triples, 9 HR, 70 R, 70 RBI, 9 SB, 4.3 WAR
Ross Youngs (23 Giants)- .334/.403/.482, 45 doubles, 13 triples, 6 HR, 113 R, 75 RBI, 12 SB, 4.0 WAR

Misc. Notes and Stats

1961 Yankees
- Mantle was way ahead of Maris this season, 23-16. However, teammate Johnny Blanchard beat them both with a league leading 27 bombs.
- Lee Thomas had an interesting stat line....15 doubles, 15 triples and 15 HR!

2013 A's
- Nothing additional of note

1928 Pirates
- Reliever Walt Tauscher wasn't in the running for an award because of his 4.89 ERA and 1.82 WHIP....but impressively, he ended up with a 12-7 record and 5 saves.
- Pete Scott was in the rare (so far) 100 RBI club with 101. He's a guy in real life that never had much more than 200 AB in any season but was pretty strong in 1928 so he gets the DH role here.

1923 Giants
- Worth mentioning again that Jack Bentley hit over .400! I won't be surprised if he makes another run at it in the next 3 seasons as well.
- Dave Bancroft wasn't mentioned in any of the awards, but he led the league with 60 doubles. Just another part of this potent Giants offense.

1909 Pirates
- Tommy Leach and Chief Wilson both, again, drove in 100 runs....101 for Leach to be exact.

1943 Cardinals
- Coaker Triplett is worth mentioning here. In real life, he only played 9 games for the Cards and hit a paltry .080.....2-25. He then went to the Phillies where he hit a much better .272 with 14 HR. So far, he's been awful in the seasons we've done....until 1928 when he put it all together to hit- .285/.313/.422 with 23 doubles, 3 triples, 16 HR, 66 R, 88 RBI, 1 SB and .7 WAR.

Highlander · 07-11-2023, 06:53 PM

Question for anyone following along. Is the level of detail I have been going into in Round 3 interesting/worth it? It takes a while to write up each season....I know I could do screen shots of some of it, but I get more of an impact myself by typing it out. However, if people think it's more than needed or are only interested in certain areas, it would save time to cut back. I always struggle with wanting to give lots of interesting detail.....but not take forever to write things up! Thanks for any input!!

06-22-2023, 08:54 PM	#1
Highlander All Star Reserve Join Date: Dec 2001 Posts: 942	The Greatest Team of All-Time! According to OOTP, anyway! That is the goal.....to find out which team in the history of baseball is, according to OOTP, the best ever. Well, almost. I'm starting with teams from 1903 (the first World Series year) and going to 2022.....but leaving out 2020. I think most would agree that the best team of all time likely comes from one of those years, though. So, how do we get there? How do we narrow down teams from 119 years' worth of teams? I've thought a lot about it came up with a system comprised of 4 rounds. I've already completed round 1, so the good news is that we are down to 119 teams. Still a lot, but a little easier to deal with than what I started with! Before I get to how I narrowed down to those teams, I need to share what criteria I am using for a team to be called "the best" in this project. To me, the World Series champion is not always the best team from that season. They were clearly a very good team, but to me, a team that wins 110 out of 162 games is a "better team" than one that wins 87 games but gets hot in a couple of short series.....or has a pitcher that can dominate in a short series. Some may disagree, and that is fine, but I want the team I name as the best of all time to prove it over multiple seasons in multiple eras....and that is what they will have to do. A couple of other notes.....based on the above, playoffs will not be used. The team with the best record moves on....period. If there is a tie, run differential will be used. Injuries will be turned off....I want all teams at full strength all season (although suspensions will be allowed). Player development will be turned off. In a few early tests, there were too many prospects who developed quickly enough to become a much bigger factor than they were in real life. The same was true with older players who really fell apart much more than in real life. Other things like morale, personalities, finances, spring training, the All-Star game, etc. will also be turned off. In round one, the DH will be used for years that had it.....but then, once eras start to mix, it will be used all the time. I think that covers most of the "under the hood" stuff. If someone has other questions, let me know. I've been pretty happy with most of the results I've gotten stat-wise, so it's working OK. There will always be a few guys that come out of nowhere to be bigger factors than in real life, but I've tried to limit them as much as possible. On to Round 1! For the first round, I played 119 seasons...one for each year 1903-2022 (minus 2020....too many skewed stats with all of the low AB and IP totals). Each season was only comprised of the "best" teams from that year. The criteria I used were teams that either made the playoffs or won 90+ games were included. The only exceptions to this were when that total came out with an odd number of teams. I would then take the remaining team with the next best record to even it up. In early seasons, there were often only 4 teams included in a given season.....in later years, there were usually 10 or more. A full 162 game season was done for each year and the team with the best record moved on to round 2.....run differential was used to settle any ties (there were a few). Some teams that advanced were exactly the one you would expect.....other teams were not, but it does give a different perspective for which team might have actually been "the best" that year. 119 teams doesn't really work, though, as you need even numbers to make these types of projects work. I decided that the team that was able to compile the best record in their season would get a bye into round 3. That team, with a 112-50 record, was the 1907 Cubs. A 107 game winner in their "real life" season, the Cubs were not a surprise contender for the bye. They will be the first official round 3 team. For the rest of the teams to make it to the 3rd round, they will have bit tougher road. Round 2 will see the remaining 118 teams randomly paired up. Each pair will play 2 full seasons against each other....one in each of their years. So the teams from 1921 and 2015 would play a season set in 1921 and one set in 2015. The team with the best combined record will move on to round 3. That will leave 60 teams in round 3. Those 60 teams will randomly be placed in 6 groups of 10. You guessed it.....each group will play 10 seasons, with one set in each year represented in that group. The teams with the best combined records move on to round 4. Finally, in the final round, there will be 6 teams standing. They will go through that round 3 process one more time. Six teams.....six seasons.....six different years. The best combined record for those 6 seasons will be.....The Greatest Team of All-Time. I'm sure there are a million different ways to do a project like this, but this is what I settled on. Hopefully there are some great moments....and a few surprises. I'll do my best to keep this going and report my results as I go along. Round one was a lot of fun and it should only get better! My next post will share the results of the first Round 2 matchup I did. Remember that the 1907 Cubs got the bye, and they will be joined by either the 1971 Baltimore Orioles or the 2010 Philadelphia Phillies! __________________ "The baseball mania has run its course. It has no future as a professional endeavor." — Cincinnati Gazette editorial, 1879

06-22-2023, 09:33 PM	#2
Highlander All Star Reserve Join Date: Dec 2001 Posts: 942	Round 2, Matchup #1 1971 Baltimore Orioles vs. 2010 Philadelphia Phillies The real 1971 Orioles won 101 games and lost to the Pirates in the World Series, so they were not a huge surprise to get to this round. Their season for me was a close one as they advanced to round 2 with just an 83-79 record. The real 2010 Phillies led baseball with 97 wins, but lost to the eventual World Champion Giants in the LCS. Again, not a surprise, but an example of a team that may have been the best in their season....but just didn't do well in 1 short series. Their season for me was also kind of close, as they advanced with a record of 90-72. The Orioles got off to a great start in their home year as they went 97-64. The 2010 matchup went a little better for the Phillies, but Baltimore still came out on top in that year as well, at 88-74. With a 185-138 advantage, the 1971 Orioles become the 2nd team to move on to round 3. __________________ "The baseball mania has run its course. It has no future as a professional endeavor." — Cincinnati Gazette editorial, 1879

06-23-2023, 11:03 PM	#3
Highlander All Star Reserve Join Date: Dec 2001 Posts: 942	Round 2, Matchups 2-3 Two more teams have moved into round 3. Here's the results of the most recent matchups I completed- 1980 Montreal Expos vs 2015 St. Louis Cardinals The real Expos went 90-72 and came in 2nd place in the NL East to the eventual World Champion Phillies. They were only 1 game behind the Phillies, though. In the 1st round for me, they finished at 94-68, which is even better than real life. The real 2015 Cards lost in the Division Series to the Cubs, but they led all of baseball that year with a 100-62 record. They finished 98-64 in the first round for me, so they were a pretty clear winner. The upstart 1980 Expos came right out in their home year with 94 wins to give the Cards a pretty big challenge. In the 2015 season, the Expos again surprised by winning 90 more games to take the series 184-140 and move on to the 3rd round. 1927 New York Yankees vs. 1974 Oakland A's Here we go....one of the big boys! As a Yankees fan myself, I was a bit nervous about this matchup because the A's of this era are no joke. The real Yankees team in this matchup is one of the most famous teams of all time. They went 110-44, had 16 more wins than any other team in baseball and 19 more than the 2nd place AL team. They went on to sweep the Pirates in the World Series. In my first round season, they went a very solid 96-66. Not a 100 game winner, but still a convincing win. The real 1974 A's went 90-72 in real life, then went on to beat the Dodgers in the World Series. They were part of the great Oakland dynasty of the early-mid 70's. In the 1st round, they went 94-68 to move to this point. The first season between these two teams was 1927, and the Yankees didn't let their home year down. They finished the season with 94 wins. The big question was how a team from the 20's would fare in the 1970's......and the answer was, pretty well! The 27 Yankees came right back in the 1974 season to win 91 more games. Fear not Yankees fans.....the 1927 Yankees have moved on to Round 3 with a 185-139 win. As a bit of a teaser, the next matchup I will complete will be between teams that are separated by over 100 years.....1914 and 2018! Any guesses who those teams will be? Both of them may be surprising. __________________ "The baseball mania has run its course. It has no future as a professional endeavor." — Cincinnati Gazette editorial, 1879

06-24-2023, 05:52 PM	#5
Highlander All Star Reserve Join Date: Dec 2001 Posts: 942	Round 2- Matchups 7-9 1949 St. Louis Cardinals vs 2014 Los Angeles Dodgers The real life Cardinals finished at 96-58, 1 game behind the Dodgers. This was a really tight real life season.....the Yankees and Dodgers led their leagues at 97-57, while the Cards and Red Sox were both at 96-58. In my first round, the Cardinals were tied with the Yankees at 83-79, but won the run differential tie breaker +33 to -21. The 2014 Dodgers were 94-68 in real life, losing to the Cardinals in the Division Series. They were pretty dominant, however, in round one with a record of 104-58. Clayton Kershaw is a beast for this version of the Dodgers. In the opening 1949 season, the Dodgers won handily at 90-72. The prediction was that, based on their success in 1949, that the Dodgers would also be successful in their home year. That turned out to be the case, as LA put up an even better 94-68 record to move on to the 3rd round with a 184-140 total record. 1919 Cincinnati Reds vs. 1940 Detroit Tigers The real life Reds led baseball in 1919 with a 96-44 record and then won one of the most famous World Series of all time over the White Sox. They had a close call in the 1st round at 84-78. The 1940 Tigers were 90-64 in real life, but then lost the World Series to the Reds in 7 games. In the first round, they also had a close season with an 85-77 record. The 1919 season looked close a the beginning, but as the season went on, the Tigers pulled ahead to finish at 94-68. The Reds fared no better in the 1940 season as the Tigers again finished at 94-68 to move on to round 3 at 188-136. It's been a bit amazing to see teams from somewhat close eras play to exactly the same record in both seasons. It also seems to be hard for teams to play better outside of their own year than they did in their own year......so far! (hint, hint) 1955 New York Yankees vs. 1985 St. Louis Cardinals The 55 Yankees finished their real life season at 96-58, but lost the World Series to the Dodgers in 7 games. They didn't have much trouble in the 1st round, again winning 96 games to advance. The 1985 Cardinals were 101-61 in real life but, like the 55 Yankees, lost the World Series in 7 games....only they lost to the Royals. In the first round, they advanced by going 94-68. In the 1955 season, things were very close. Both teams went back and forth, but the Cardinals prevailed with a record of 83-79. That didn't bode well for the Yankees as the matchup headed to the 1985 season. However, Yankees bucked the the trend of teams doing worse when playing out of their year. They finished the 1985 season at 91-71 to advance to round 3 at 170-154. Mickey Mantle was a major factor for the Yankees in that 1985 turn-around. He really thrived in that 85 season, going .353/.445/.679 with 29 D, 5 T, 47 HR, 120 R, 125 RBI and 11.6 WAR. The 85 Cardinals were really a team different from their era. They were built around a lot of speed, defense and pitching. I guess it's not a surprise they did better in an earlier year than their own. The Yankees joined the Expos as the only two franchises to have two teams in the final 60 so far. I am sure a few others will join them! Up next, we'll see a matchup of 1960 and 1997, among others! __________________ "The baseball mania has run its course. It has no future as a professional endeavor." — Cincinnati Gazette editorial, 1879

06-25-2023, 07:34 PM	#6
Highlander All Star Reserve Join Date: Dec 2001 Posts: 942	Round 2, Matchups 10-13 1997 Florida Marlins vs. 1960 Pittsburgh Pirates The 97 Marlins came in 2nd place in the NL East at 92-70, but then went on to win the World Series over the Indians in 5 games. They finished 95-67 in the first round to advance. The 1960 Pirates were 95-59 in real life and famously beat the Yankees in the World Series despite being out scored 55-27. In the 1st round, they scraped their way by with an 83-79 record. With the way the Pirates fought against long odds in their real season and the speed with which the Marlins won a World Series so soon after being an expansion team......it seemed like we were in for a close battle with these two teams. They did not disappoint. The Pirates jumped out to a 92-70 lead in the 1960 season. Then, in the 97 season, the Marlins squeaked out an over all lead by going 94-68. Just 4 games separated the two teams, but the Marlins move on 164-160. 2009 Boston Red Sox vs. 2017 Washington Nationals The real life Red Sox finished 8 games behind the Yankees at 95-67 and then lost to the Angels in the Division Series. However, they finished at 93-69 in the 1st round to advance against a number of other teams that seemed to be better. The 2017 Nationals were 97-65 and won their division by 20 games, but then lost in the division series to the Cubs. It definitely seemed like they should have done better and in the 1st round here, they did. They finished at a convincing 103-59 to move to this 2nd round. This is the first matchup of two teams from the 2000s, so there wasn't a big difference for either team in years. The Nationals jumped right out to a 92-70 lead in the 2009 season.....then followed it up by going 90-72 in their own season to take a pretty easy 182-142 win and advance to the next round. Just looking at this team, they are going to be a tough out next round. Bryce Harper is a beast and they have some great pitching with Scherzer and Strasburg. 1929 Chicago Cubs vs. 1972 Cincinnati Reds The real life Cubs were 98-54, but lost the World Series to a 104 win A's team. They have always been an intriguing team for me with some incredible offensive performances from Rogers Hornsby, Hack Wilson, Kiki Cuyler and others. They didn't have a real convincing 1st round, at 85-77, but just beating that A's team was a big accomplishment. The 72 Reds were an early version of the Big Red Machine (hint- we will see more of "The Machine" in future matchups!). They finished at 95-59 to win their division, but weren't ready to take over the great A's teams of the early 70's quite yet and lost to them in the World Series. In the 1st round, however, they did beat out the A's and finished with an 86-76 record. This was an interesting pair of teams and I wasn't sure what to expect. When the Reds went 83-79 in the 1929 season, I still thought the offense of the Cubs might still give them a chance in 72. However, that wasn't the case....the Reds took their own year 88-74 to advance to the 3rd round by a 171-153 margin. Seeing this "lesser" version of the Big Red Machine advance against a pretty tough opponent makes me really wonder what the prime teams might do. 2007 New York Yankees vs. 1950 Boston Red Sox The real life Yankees were 94-68 and finished 2 games behind the eventual World Champion Red Sox. They were even better in round one against the best of that season, finishing at 96-66. The real 1950 Red Sox are the 1st 3rd place team we've seen make it this far, as that's where they finished in the AL that year. However, their 94-60 record got them into the 1st round. They didn't disappoint and came through with a "just good enough" 87-75 record to get to this round. So, not only do we have our first Yankees/Red Sox matchup, but it is between two teams that spoiled their Yankees/Red Sox counterpart's appearance here. It seems like it should be the 2007 Sox and 1950 Yankees facing off. We'll see what their opposites do! In the 1950 season, it was a typical NY/Boston matchup as they finished in a dead tie....81-81. 2007, however, was not as kind to the Red Sox and the Yankees came through at 88-74 to advance to round 3 by a 169-155 margin. 14 teams down.....46 to go! Next up is a battle of the 60's, with 1963 taking on 1966. __________________ "The baseball mania has run its course. It has no future as a professional endeavor." — Cincinnati Gazette editorial, 1879

06-24-2023, 01:34 PM	#4
Highlander All Star Reserve Join Date: Dec 2001 Posts: 942	Round 2, Matchups 4-6 1914 Boston Red Sox vs. 2018 Cleveland Indians The real life 1914 Red Sox finished at 91-62, 8.5 games behind the Philadelphia A's. However, in the 1st round for me, they made it through with an 88-74 record. The real life Indians of 2018 were 91-71 and did finish in 1st place in the AL Central. However, they lost to Houston 3-0 in the Division Series and with teams like the Red Sox with 108 wins, the Yankees with 100 wins and the Astros with 103 wins.....it was a surprise to see Cleveland representing 2018. It was a pretty convincing win for them, though, at 99-63. The 1914 season was as close as it could be between these two teams as they finished in a tie at 81-81. It's pretty amazing that two teams could play 162 games against each other and still not be able to determine who is better. That's why we do more than one season, though! The 2018 season was a whole other story. The Indians were at a clear advantage in modern times and dominated the 1914 Red Sox 113-49 to easily move on to the 3rd round. Pitching was the big issue....or depth of pitching. The Sox only had 3 relievers and obviously relief pitching in 2018 is a pretty big deal. Those 3 guys got totally overworked and were all really bad. I can see this being an issue with many of the early teams....those top 4 starters or so just pitched SO much back then that they won't have the depth to compete in today's game. We'll see if any teams can overcome that and break through. One odd thing that happened was how much the Indians used their bullpen. The majority of relievers on the team had double digit win totals and the starters, therefore, did not win much more than 8-10 games each. Not sure why it was so extreme, but the Indian bullpen was very good. 1924 Washington Senators vs. 1979 Montreal Expos The 1924 Senators were 92-62 in real life and won the World Series over the Giants. This was one of the few successful seasons for the Senators in real life. In the 1st round, they moved on with a record of 89-73, so it wasn't easy, but they did it. If you are surprised to see both the 1979 and 1980 Expos represent their given years in this round.....you are not alone! Even though I am a Yankees fan myself, one of my all-time favorite teams is the 1979 Pirates. I was pretty disappointed to see them knocked out so early. In real life, this Expos team finished 95-65 and were just 2 games behind the Pirates, so they were clearly very good. In my 1st round, they stepped up and finished with an 89-73 record....same as the Senators above! Up first was the 1924 season and the upstart Expos kept rolling with an 88-74 advantage. Based on other matchups, it wasn't a good sign for the team from an earlier era to lose their own home year. The 1979 season was no exception, as the Expos came out on top again at 90-72 to advance to the 3rd round by a 178-146 margin. I haven't mentioned individual players yet.....that will happen more in rounds 3 and 4.....but Goose Goslin put up one of the best seasons I've seen so far when he played in 1979. Goose hit .346/.429/.625 with 26 D, 4 T, 43 HR, 114 R and 131 RBI with 9.1 WAR. It wasn't enough to propel his team to a winning record, but impressive nonetheless. Larry Parrish's overall numbers for Montreal weren't as good as Goose's, but he did hit 41 HR with 124 RBI and that helped offset Goslin's line pretty well. 1982 Milwaukee Brewers vs. 1988 New York Mets The real life Brewers, aka Harvey's Wallbangers, were a power laden team that led the majors with a 95-67 record. They went on to lose the World Series to the Cardinals in 7 games. They advanced to this round by going 92-70 in the 1st round. The 88 Mets led the NL in wins, going 100-62, but lost in the LCS to the Dodgers. Pitching is their strength and with both teams coming from a very similar time period, it is a true power vs. pitching matchup. The Mets made it into this round by going 95-67. The 1982 season was up first and the power of the Brewers was neutralized, as the Mets went 99-63. 1988 didn't go much better for the Brew Crew, as the Mets again won the season 99-63. This was a pretty dominant win for the Mets as they move into the 3rd round with the best record so far at 198-126. The pitching for this Mets team is pretty great, so it will take a team that has strong hitting and pitching to take them down in the next round. __________________ "The baseball mania has run its course. It has no future as a professional endeavor." — Cincinnati Gazette editorial, 1879

06-25-2023, 09:16 PM	#7
Highlander All Star Reserve Join Date: Dec 2001 Posts: 942	Round 2, Matchups 14-18 1963 Minnesota Twins vs. 1966 Baltimore Orioles The real Twins barely made it into the 1st round, as they were a 3rd place team in the AL with a 91-70 record. However, somehow they came through with a 90-72 record to advance here. It must be noted that they do have some players who played lesser roles on the real team that give them pretty good ratings in OOTP, so some of the success of this team is because of that. Other teams have that as well, but I noticed more players on this team than most others. The real Orioles were 97-63 and swept the Dodgers in the World Series. They finished at 95-67 in the 1st round. It seemed like the Orioles had the advantage in this matchup and without a major difference in years, challenges with playing outside their era wouldn't really come into play. However, the Twins jumped out in the 1963 season with an 87-75 lead. Orioles fans may hope that was just a fluke, but the Twins came right back with an 83-79 record in the 1966 season to advance with a record of 170-154. 2019 Los Angeles Dodgers vs. 1922 New York Giants The 2019 Dodgers were 106-56 but were upset by the eventual upstart World Champion Nationals in the Division Series. They went 98-64 in the 1st round to leave no doubt about who should advance. The 1922 Giants 93-61 and then swept the Yankees in the World Series, so they are a formidable opponent. Their 1st round victory was with an 88-74 record. A good old Giants/Dodgers matchup....with almost 100 years between the teams! It seemed like the Dodgers would be at a big advantage in this one, but the Giants defended their home year with an 83-79 record to put a scare Dodger fans. 2019 quickly showed there was nothing to worry about, however, as the Dodgers flexed their muscle and finished at 103-59. The pitching depth of early year teams was an issue, but the bigger issue was that Giants pitchers just gave up a TON of HR. 4 players on the Dodgers hit over 40 with Joc Pederson hitting 62....the most I've seen so far. This Dodgers team will be tough. 1954 Cleveland Indians vs. 2012 Atlanta Braves The real Indians were a very impressive 111-43, but then got swept by the Giants in the World Series. They were 93-69 in the 1st round, so they weren't quite as dominant as in real life. The 2012 Braves were a 94-68 2nd place team that lost in the Wildcard to the Cardinals. They outperformed their real life selves in the 1st round and advanced with a 95-67 record. This was a pretty interesting matchup with a team that had one of the best records ever, but kind of choked in the World Series against a team that barely scraped into this tournament at all. The Braves shocked me a bit by jumping out to an 85-77 lead in the 1954 season. I thought maybe the Indians would bounce back, but 2012 brought another 85-77 Braves win. Atlanta, much like the Giants in 1954, swept the Indians and advanced 170-154. The Braves have a couple of pitchers in Beachy and Medlen who did not pitch full seasons but were really good....they are coming up big so far. We'll see how long they can push this team farther. 2003 Boston Red Sox vs. 1978 Baltimore Orioles The real Red Sox finished 95-67, in 2nd behind the Yankees. They lost to the Yankees in the LCS thanks to Aaron Boone's HR. They get some measure of revenge by representing 2003 here...I guess? In the 1st round they had a very convincing 101-61 record. The 1978 Orioles are probably the most surprising team to make it this far that we've seen. They were in 4th place in the AL East with a 90-72 record....the bare minimum for making it to even the 1st round. However, their 86-76 record brought them here. While the real Sox were not a hugely dominant team by any means, this OOTP version is looking really good. They won 101 games in the 1st round and came right out in the 1978 season here with a 104-58 record. The Orioles really had no chance after that, but the Red Sox won another 100 games in their own season to put up the most dominant win of any team so far....204-120. Is it because the Orioles were just lucky to get this far and weren't really that good, or could this Red Sox team be a real contender? 1948 New York Yankees vs. 1961 New York Yankees We end the night with an all-Yankees matchup, including the famous 1961 team. First, the real life 48 Yankees were only a 3rd place team in the AL that year with a 94-60 record. Not as big of a surprise as the 78 Orioles, but still not the team I expected to be here. They went 90-72 in the 1st round, though. The 1961 Yankees are always in the discussion for best teams, but I never see them on the level of some of the real greats, despite having Mantle/Maris and some really good pitching. Johnny Blanchard will help them a lot, as well, as the DH will be used and he had a terrific partial season. The real 61 team did go 109-53 and then beat the Reds in the World Series. They went a much less impressive 92-70 in the first round. The 48 Yankees jumped right out in their season with a record of 83-79 to send a signal that they weren't afraid of the M&M boys. However, the 61 Yankees were just a little better in their home season at 86-76 to advance with a 165-159 record. Even as a Yankees fan, I am not convinced this 61 team will be in serious contention for the title, but we shall see! The next set of matchups will start with one that will pit teams from a couple of years you don't hear a whole lot about.....1945 and 1923. __________________ "The baseball mania has run its course. It has no future as a professional endeavor." — Cincinnati Gazette editorial, 1879

06-26-2023, 06:23 PM	#8
bsmuke22 Bat Boy Join Date: Oct 2014 Posts: 17	I love this idea and how you set it up! Looking forward to following your progress.

06-27-2023, 07:01 PM	#10
Highlander All Star Reserve Join Date: Dec 2001 Posts: 942	Round 2, Matchups 19-27 Spent some more time running seasons, so I have a lot to update! 1945 St. Louis Cardinals vs. 1923 New York Giants The real life Cards were 95-59 and finished in 2nd place behind the Cubs. They were one of the few 100 game winners in the 1st round, however, as they finished at 101-61. The Giants are going to be a familiar bunch, as the 1922 team has already made an appearance.....remember they got beat by the 2019 Dodgers, so maybe an earlier opponent will help them. The real life Giants were 95-58 and then lost to the Yankees in the World Series. They were quite a bit better in the 1st round than their 1922 counterparts, as they finished at an impressive 98-64. The Giants jumped right out to a big lead in their home season, as they beat the Cardinals 96-66. The 22 team struggled in the season outside of their era, but this one was much closer, and even though the Cards won the 1945 season 88-74, it wasn't enough. The Giants move on 170-154. 1903 Pittsburgh Pirates vs. 2001 Cleveland Indians The Pirates are from the earliest year represented in this tournament. In real life, they finished at 91-49 and then lost the very first World Series 5 games to 3 against the Boston Pilgrims. They were 92-70 in the 1st round. The 2001 Indians were 91-71, winning their division. They lost in the division series to the 116 game winning Mariners. There were a lot of teams from 2001 that I would have picked to be here over the Indians, but they finished at 93-69 to make it clear they were the ones to represent 2001. This was one of the most interesting and surprising matchups so far. The 1903 season played out first and the Indians jumped right out to an 84-79 lead. Based on past teams, I expected the Pirates to really struggle in the season played close to 100 years after they were around. This time that wasn't the case! The Pirates showed they are going to be a contender by going 106-56 in 2001 to blow out the Indians 184-140. They had a bigger number of pitchers who could fill in those relief roles, so that really helped. Plus, they were able to have 4 guys hit 30+ HR....so they are going to be able to compete in all eras it seems. 1938 New York Yankees vs. 1998 New York Yankees Not surprisingly, the Yankees are very well-represented in this competition....some expected teams and some not. Although, both of these teams were highly favored to represent their years. The 1938 Yankees were 99-53 and swept the Cubs in the World Series. They left no doubt in the 1st round, going 98-64. The 1998 Yankees are one of the winningest teams ever, as they went 114-48 and then swept the Padres in the World Series. Their 95-67 1st round win shows they may not be as dominant as some might think, however. This matchup started out, as all of them do, in the earliest year. The 98 Yankees seemed right at home back in 1938 and they took an early 92-70 lead. Recently, early teams have been having more success in later years.....but that was not to be the case here, as the 98 Yankees also took their home year 94-68 to cruise to a 186-138 win and advance to round 3. There's not a lot of standout guys on that 98 team.....just a solid team from top to bottom. One factor that really helps, though, is the season by Shane Spencer. He came out of nowhere that year to put up a .373 average and 10 HR in just 73 plate appearances. He ends up doing big things in a full season. We'll see if it will be enough to go all the way....other teams have similar players both as hitters and pitchers. 1993 San Francisco Giants vs. 1994 Houston Astros This is as close as you can get to having teams from similar times. The 1993 Giants were a second place team that didn't make the playoffs back then....although they went 103-59! In the 1st round, they were 94-68 to get to this point. The 94 Astros were also a 2nd place team in the strike shortened season, going 66-49....just a half game out of 1st. In the first round, they went 93-69. It was a matchup of the "B's"! Bonds vs. Bagwell and Biggio. In the 1993 season, the Giants showed that their 103 real life wins were no joke as they went 94-68 to take a big lead. The Astros could only manage a 1 game improvement in their home season as the Giants went 93-69 to advance by an overall score of 187-137. In the 93 season, Bagwell out-homered Bonds 35-34....but Matt Williams outdid them both with 38. Another "B", Rod Beck, was a huge factor for the Giants that season. He had 47 saves and a .83 ERA! In the 94 season, Bonds won the HR battle with Bagwell, 40-38. 1931 New York Yankees vs. 1983 New York Yankees Another day, another all-Yankees matchup! The real 1931 Yankees a surprise to make it this far. They were a solid team at 94-59, but came in 2nd by 13.5 games to the 107-45 A's. Add in the 101-game winning Cardinals who beat the A's in the World Series, and this was a pretty big upset. The 31 Yankees were a solid 92-70 in the 1st round to advance. I guess the Babe wanted one more shot! The 1983 Yankees were another surprise team. They barely scraped into the competition as a 3rd place team that went 91-71. They barely scraped by in the 1st round as well, as they finished at 86-76, tied with the Chicago White Sox. Their +76 to +47 run differential got them here. So we have two teams that were pretty lucky to be here and they lived up to that fact in their matchup for sure. The 1931 season was barely won by the 31 Yankees with an 83-79 record. In many cases, when the early season is that close, the later team pulls it out by a larger margin in their season. This time, the 83 Yankees did win their own season....but also by an 83-79 margin! Our first tie!! As with the last round, I went to combined run differential to settle the tie. The 31 Yankees outscored the 83 Yankees in the 1931 season by 58 runs.....the 83 Yankees only had a +17 in 1983, so the 1931 Yankees will move on by a +41 run differential. Not sure we will have another matchup this close! 1991 Pittsburgh Pirates vs. 1918 Chicago Cubs The 91 Pirates had the best record in baseball that year at 98-64, but lost the LCS to the Braves in 7 games. They were 91-71 in the 1st round to ger here. The 1918 Cubs were 84-45 in real life and lost the World Series to the Red Sox in 6 games. They barely slipped into this round with an 84-78 record. Based on their own season success in the 1st round, it appeared the Cubs were the underdogs. However, they came out in their season and squeaked by the Pirates at 82-80. The Pirates, though, followed the trend I mentioned earlier and won their home season by a 94-68 margin to advance 174-150. 1941 Brooklyn Dodgers vs. 2011 Texas Rangers When I started this, I thought we'd see a few more Brooklyn Dodger teams make it to this round, but in many cases, it was like in real life where the Yankees beat them out by small margins....or a surprise team popped up. This Dodger team was one that broke that trend. They went 100-54 in real life, but lost to the Yankees in the World Series. In the 1st round, though, they came through with an 89-73 record to slip by the Yankees into this round. The 2011 Rangers were 96-66 in real life and then lost to the Phillies in the World Series. In the first round, however, they showed that they might be a contender to go far in this competition, as they ended up with the second best record I saw after the 1907 Cubs. The Rangers went 107-55 to get here....it will be interesting to see how far they can go. The Dodgers fought hard against this surprisingly good Rangers team in the 1941 season and the teams ended up tied 81-81. It was all up to the 2011 season to determine who would move one.....and the Rangers dominated their season once again, finishing with a record of 98-64 to advance by a margin of 179-145. 2013 Oakland A's vs. 1935 Detroit Tigers The 2013 A's were 96-66 to win their division, but then lost in the LCS to the Tigers. Their 1st round record was 93-69. The real 35 Tigers were 93-58 and won the World Series over the Cubs. In the 1st round, they finished at 92-70, tied with those same Cubs....but the run differential for the Tigers was an impressive +136, compared to a still strong +51 for the Cubs. Despite coming from very different years, this proved to be a good matchup. The A's jumped out to a big lead in the 1935 season, at 94-68. Surprisingly, the Tigers regrouped and won the 2013 season with a record of 83-79. It wasn't enough, though, as the A's had too big of a lead and advanced 173-151. 1906 Chicago Cubs vs. 1975 Cincinnati Reds The 1906 Cubs are part of those great early 1900's Cubs teams with guys like Three-Finger Brown and the famous Tinker to Evers to Chance. This version was the big one, going 116-36. Surprisingly, they lost to the White Sox in the World Series that year. The real 1975 Reds are a team right in the heart of The Big Red Machine....Rose, Perez, Bench and the rest. The 75 team went 108-54 on the season and then beat the Red Sox in the World Series in 7 games. This matchup features two very famous and successful teams from totally different eras. The Cubs jumped out to a lead in their home season, going 87-75. However, once the game moved to a more modern time, the Cubs just couldn't come through and the Reds won the 75 season 91-71 to advance by a 166-158 margin. An important thing to note about the Cubs is that they were able to win those 71 games over that 1975 season with only 6 pitchers on their roster. They had a 5-man rotation most of the way and had to used their starters to relieve a few times, but the one true reliever they had was Carl Lundgren. He ended up going 7-19 with 15 saves, appearing in 91 games for 211.1 IP. That included zero starts. His ERA was 7.58. His real life ERA was 2.21 in 1906. I really think that if the Cubs had even 2-3 more guys in their bullpen, they could have won it. Lack of pitchers really hurts those super early teams in later years. The next update will start off with the teams from 1930 and 1933 going at it. We will also see a pretty decent run of Cleveland teams being in the mix over the next few games. __________________ "The baseball mania has run its course. It has no future as a professional endeavor." — Cincinnati Gazette editorial, 1879

06-30-2023, 06:37 PM	#11
Highlander All Star Reserve Join Date: Dec 2001 Posts: 942	Round 2, Matchups 28-35 1933 Pittsburgh Pirates vs. 1930 Washington Senators The real 33 Pirates are (I think) the first team with less than 90 wins to make it this far. They were the 2nd place team in the NL that year, but the AL had two 90 game winners so they were included to even things up at just 87-67. Somehow, they came out on top....with a 94-68 record! 7 more wins than they got in real life. The 1930 Senators were also a 2nd place team in real life, finishing at 94-60. They were 8 games behind the A's.....those A's teams of the 20's and 30's have not fared well so far! In the 1st round, the Senators went 85-77 to make it to this point. There haven't been many matchups with the the years this close and the two I can think of were both kind of blowouts. The Pirates took a pretty big lead in the 1930 season by going 89-73. Then, for the 3rd OOTP season in a row, they got more wins than in real life by going 92-70 in the 1933 season. The Pirates....who barely made it into the whole competition....advance to the 3rd round 181-143. 1920 Cleveland Indians vs. 1910 New York Giants The Indians had the most wins in baseball back in 1920 at 98-56, then went on to win the World Series over the Brooklyn Robins. In the 1st round, however, they only went 89-73....but it was enough to get them here! Back in 1910, the Giants were just 91-63, 13 games behind the Cubs. However, they went 98-64 in the 1st round to show that they were deserving of advancing to this round. An early era matchup for sure, the underdog Giants (at least based on real life success) jumped out to a big lead in their home season, going 94-68. The Indians hoped to regroup as the matchup moved to 1920....and they did a bit....but it was still an 82-80 win for the Giants. Overall, the NYG went 176-148 to advance in a bit of a surprise. 2006 New York Yankees vs. 1946 Detroit Tigers The 2006 Yankees were not one of the many Yankees teams I might have predicted to be representing their year. Looking back, though, they tied the Mets at 97-65 for the best record in baseball. Like the Mets, they disappointed in the playoffs and lost to the Tigers in the Division Series. In the 1st round, they were one of the better teams I saw at 104-58. The 1946 Tigers finished in 2nd place at 92-62, 13 games behind the Red Sox. They were certainly not the first choice to make it through the opening round, but their 86-76 record was just enough! Based on round 1 results, it seemed like the Yankees were a big favorite coming into this matchup. However, it was the Tigers that jumped out to the early lead in their home season at 86-76. It wasn't a big lead, but a little surprising nonetheless. The 2006 season saw the Yankees wanting to live up to their dominant showing against their same-year opponents in Round 1.....and they sure did. A 101-61 record totally erased the Tigers' lead and gave the Yankees a huge 177-146 margin to go on to round 3. Their weakness in earlier years, however, may come back to bite them in round 3. We shall see! 1996 Cleveland Indians vs. 1921 Cleveland Indians The 96 Indians were one of a number of great Indians teams in the 90's. This one went 99-62 in real life to lead baseball in wins, but stumbled in the playoffs, losing to Baltimore in the Division Series. They went 94-68 in the 1st round to get here. The 1921 Indians are also from a strong era of Cleveland baseball, as we just saw the 1920 team make an appearance. The 21 version finished 2nd to the Yankees at 94-60. In the 1st round, the went 92-70 to get to this matchup. This is the first "same-franchise" matchup we've seen other than with the Yankees......and many of those ended up very close. The 1921 team wanted to make sure that didn't happen in their home year and jumped out to a 91-71 lead. The 96 team, however, came right back with a 91-71 season of their own to tie it up. Run differential was checked next and the 96 team came out on top by 45 runs overall. 1964 Philadelphia Phillies vs. 1934 New York Yankees The real 64 Phillies were tied for 2nd in real life at 92-70 with the Reds....one game behind St. Louis. In the 1st round they went 89-73 and were tied with the Giants....but a +48 run differential (compared to just +8 for the Giants) got them here. The real 1934 Yankees were also a 2nd place team, finishing at 94-70. They were 7 games behind Detroit. In the 1st round, they went 93-69 to advance. Not much to say about this matchup, other than it was a blowout. The Yankees came right out with a 92-70 record in the 1934 season and then really piled on in the 1964 season, going 104-58. The matchup ended with a 196-128 margin. We've had a few other blowouts like this and it is still hard to tell if the winner is that good or the loser was lucky in round one and not really that good. The Phillies have fared pretty poorly overall in this contest....unless I missed one, they have 2 more chances to redeem themselves. 1912 Boston Red Sox vs. 1917 Cleveland Indians The 1912 Sox were 105-47, then won the World Series against the Giants. They barely scraped by in round one, however, at 84-78....which was kind of surprising. The 1917 Indians are the latest in the run of Cleveland teams we've seen recently. This team is fortunate to be in round 2.....because they barely made it into round one. They are our 2nd team with a win total in the 80's, at 88-66. Their 83-79 record in round 1 shows that they continue to just scrape by. Nothing like a matchup of teams in the teens to get the ball flying out of the park! OK.....clearly that wasn't the case. There were a few "twins" playing in this matchup against themselves, though, including Tris Speaker and "Smokey Joe" Wood. That made it fun to see which version would come out on top. The Red Sox got out to a slim 84-78 lead in the 1912 season. They followed that up with an 87-75 record in the 1917 season to complete the sweep and advance at 171-153. 2005 Los Angeles Angels of Anaheim vs. 1995 Cleveland Indians The 2005 Angels were 95-67, then lost in the LCS to the White Sox. Not the top choice for the team from 2005 to get here, but a definite contender. They went 91-71 in round 1 to seal the deal. The 95 Indians are the second time we see the Albert (Don't Call Me Joey) and Manny show, as the 96 team squeaked out a close one earlier. This Indians team went 100-44 and then lost to the Braves in the World Series. Not a surprise they made it here, though, and their 98-64 record in the 1st round shows they deserved it. On paper, this seemed like another blowout with the Indians looking like the far superior team......and it was! Cleveland went 90-72 in the 1995 season and then went one better in 2005 going 91-71 to advance at 181-141. Wonder if Albert and Manny will face themselves in the next round? That might be just too much Manny!! 1986 California Angels vs. 1973 Cincinnati Reds I always like this Angels team when I was a kid. They had a bunch of "old guys" who used to be really good. Reggie Jackson, Bobby Grich, Don Sutton, Brian Downing, etc. But then they mixed it together with Wally World. In real life they were 92-70, then lost to the Red Sox in the LCS.....which led to one of the more famous World Series ever. It's hard to believe the Red Sox and Mets both got beat by this old bunch. In fact, the Angels tied the Mets with 89-73 records, but the +81 to +45 run differential went the Angels' way and they advanced here. We've seen other versions of this Reds team already. The Big Red Machine.....1972, 1973, 1975.....and one more later on. They were one of the best dynasties ever and one of them could go all the way. This 73 team went 99-63, then lost to the Mets in the LCS. They went 95-67 in the 1st round. That shows this may not be the best version of these Reds, but they are still formidable. This matchup ends up an old team from the 80's versus a young team heading towards becoming a dynasty. The Angels seemed like underdogs in this one....but they took it to the Reds in the 73 season with a record of 86-76. Kind of a shocker! Then, in the 86 season, the Reds did bounce back some, but only to a record of 82-80. Not enough to overcome the lead the Angels built in the first season. The old men of California move on 166-158! I guess even though the team is from the 80's, many of the players were stars of the 70's so that 73 season was perfect for them! That's all for this group of matchups. 24 to go before we hit round 3. The next group of matchups will start with the teams from 1970 and 1976 (bet you can at least guess the 76 team!). The Pirates and Dodgers will get a little love in the next group....and there will also be a couple of appearances by some team called the Yankees! It's about time! __________________ "The baseball mania has run its course. It has no future as a professional endeavor." — Cincinnati Gazette editorial, 1879

07-03-2023, 11:25 AM	#12
Highlander All Star Reserve Join Date: Dec 2001 Posts: 942	Round 2, Matchups 36-39 Had some real blowouts in these 4 matchups....some surprising and some not so much! 1970 Pittsburgh Pirates vs. 1976 Cincinnati Reds The 1970 Pirates won their division, but only had a record of 89-73. They lost to the Reds in the LCS. In the 1st round, they advanced with an identical 89-73 record to what they did in real life. The 1976 Reds led baseball with a 102-60 record, then swept through the 101 game winning Phillies and the 97 win Yankees in the playoffs to win the World Series. They were the last of the Big Red Machine teams to make it to a World Series. In the 1st round, they blew through the competition at 101-61. The Pirates seemed to be in a big underdog role against these mighty Reds and it sure ended up that way in the 1970 season, as the Reds came through with a 94-68 record. The 76 season didn't go any better as the Reds again got the blowout win at 97-65 to advance 191-133. The Reds don't seem to be THAT dominant when you look at their ratings. Other than Joe Morgan, no one stands out that much more than other teams, but they sure do win games! I have to believe at least one of the 70's Reds teams will make it to the final round....it will be very interesting to see which one(s). 1925 Pittsburgh Pirates vs. 1928 Pittsburgh Pirates The Pirates join the select few franchises who had two teams square off in this round. The 1925 version went 95-58 and then beat the Senators in the World Series. They were 95-67 in the 1st round to advance here. The 1928 Pirates were a much bigger surprise to get this far. I think they are the lowest finishing real life team we've seen in this round, as they finished in 4th place in the NL. There were enough 90-win teams that year that I had to use them to even up the season.....and somehow, they came through with a 90-72 record to represent their year over many seemingly better teams. Based on real life success, it seemed like the 25 Pirates were at an advantage....however, having two teams from the same franchise in years so close together, that suggests it might be closer than we'd think. The 1925 season made clear these teams were in a battle. The 25 Pirates squeaked out an 82-80 win. The 28 season seemed like it might go the same way, but a late season surge gave the 28 team an 85-77 advantage. That slim margin was enough and the 1928 Pirates continue their unlikely run with a 165-159 victory. 1977 Baltimore Orioles vs. 1909 Pittsburgh Pirates The 1977 Orioles finished tied for 2nd with the Red Sox at 97-64 behind the 100 game winning Yankees. They finished at 87-65 to advance here. The 1909 Pirates were an incredible 110-42 in real life, beating out the 104-49 Cubs to get to the World Series. Then they beat the Tigers there in 7 games. In the 1st round, they left little doubt who would represent 1909 with a 101-61 record. We already saw the 78 Orioles get to this point in a surprising win and then fall apart. The 77 team had a huge challenge against one of the great early era teams. Based on the 1909 season, it looked like the Orioles were not up for that challenge, as the Pirates took a huge 99-63 lead. Many of the early era teams have done very poorly in later years, so the Orioles still had a chance. However, this Pirates team showed they are real contenders for the top spot as they blew out the Orioles in the 77 season, 110-52 to advance by a 209-115 margin. 1947 New York Yankees vs. 1968 St. Louis Cardinals The real 1947 Yankees were one of those great 40's/50's Yankees team that won the AL (this time with a 97-57 record) and then beat the Dodgers in the World Series. They finished at 89-73 in the 1st round, so it was not an easy competition for them. The 1968 Cardinals are one of the more famous St. Louis teams, mostly thanks to the incredible season by Bob Gibson and his 1.12 ERA that year. They finished at 97-65, but lost to the Tigers in the World Series. In the 1st round they had a similar tough time as the 47 Yankees, also finishing with an 89-73 record. This one looked like a tough call on paper as it was hard to tell how Gibson and company would do outside of the pitching friendly era they played in. The 1947 season showed that they might not do very well, as the Yankees won handily, 98-64. Things had to get better in the 68 season, though....right? Surprisingly, the answer to that question is a big NO! The Yankees came into the 68 season and again beat the Cardinals pretty soundly, at 93-69 to advance to the next round 191-133. That's all for this update. The next one will include a matchup between 1911 and 1932 as well as an interesting contest between two all-time great Dodger teams. __________________ "The baseball mania has run its course. It has no future as a professional endeavor." — Cincinnati Gazette editorial, 1879

07-03-2023, 05:35 PM	#13
Highlander All Star Reserve Join Date: Dec 2001 Posts: 942	Round 2, Matchups 40-44 I've got 5 more matchups to report.....a pretty good mix here! 1911 Philadelphia A's vs. 1932 New York Yankees The A's of 1911 were a real pitching-centered team. They went 101-50 in real life, then beat the Giants in the World Series. In the 1st round they went 97-65 to advance pretty easily. I've lost track of how many Babe Ruth teams are in the competition so far, but this has to be at least #4 or so. This Yankees team was one of the best ones, going 107-47 and then sweeping the Cubs in the World Series. They went 97-65, just like The A's above, to advance here. Two very successful teams from their years and in the first round squared off here. With different matchups, they both may have advanced, but sometimes "contenders" get eliminated before "pretenders"! In the 1911 season, the two teams played to an exact tie....81-81. That left it as close as it could be heading to the 1932 season. It looked like another tie could be in the works as the games played out early on, but eventually the Yankees pulled away and came out with a record of 89-73. The Babe gets another team in the 3rd round by a margin of 170-154. 1965 Los Angeles Dodgers vs. 1953 Brooklyn Dodgers The 65 Dodgers are well known for the incredible season of Sandy Koufax who struck out an incredible 382 batters. In real life they went 97-65 and then beat the Twins in the World Series. They had a very close call in the 1st round, ending up tied at 83-79 with the White Sox. A +25 run differential got them through, as the Sox were a "break even" team for their run differential...exactly the same number of runs scored and given up. The 53 Dodgers were one of the teams going into this that I thought had a great shot at winning the whole thing. Yes, they lost in the World Series to the Yankees that year, but their 105-49 record shows they were a fantastic team. They went 100-62 in the first round to solidify that idea. I wasn't sure what to expect in this one. The closest matchup we've seen recently might be the one involving the 68 Cardinals with Bob Gibson being similar to Koufax. The Cards didn't fare well in their series, so that could spell trouble for the 65 Dodgers. The 1953 season was up first and the 53 team jumped right out to a big 100-62 lead. Any thoughts that the pitching of the 65 team in a pitching heavy year would help them fell to the side pretty quickly, as the 53 team was even more dominant at 104-58. The 1953 Dodgers advance by a 204-120 margin.....still among the favorites. 1956 Cincinnati Redlegs vs. 1969 Baltimore Orioles The 56 Redlegs were a team I knew very little about. They had Frank Robinson in his rookie year and Ted Kluszewski....but that was about all I knew. They had a really close race in the NL that year and the Reds actually finished in 3rd at 91-63, but only 2 games out of first. In the 1st round, they went just 87-75, so it was a very close race there too. The real 1969 Orioles are most famous for who they played in the World Series....losing to the Miracle Mets. However, what is sometimes forgotten is how good they really were. They finished 19 games ahead of 2nd place Detroit with a 109-53 record. The first round had no miracles as the Orioles finished at 97-65 to advance. This matchup is another of the recent ones we've had that really looked like a mismatch on paper. The most interesting thing to me was that both teams.....despite being from different decades and franchises.....both had Frank Robinson as a player. The 56 season saw the Orioles come through with a blowout 99-63 win. The 69 season wasn't much better for rookie Frank Robinson as the elder Frank's Orioles again won easily, 97-65. The 1969 Orioles move on at 196-128 and may have an outside shot at the final round. 1959 Los Angeles Dodgers vs. 1915 Boston Red Sox The 59 Dodgers were a real transition team between the Brooklyn teams of the 50's and the LA teams of the 60's. They won the NL in a very close race at just 88-68, but then won the World Series over the White Sox. The 1915 Red Sox are actually another team featuring Babe Ruth, but this time as a pitcher. They finished 101-50 in real life and then won the World Series over the Phillies. In the 1st round they were 91-71 to advance. The 1915 season saw the Babe do his best Ohtani impression by being one of the best pitchers on the Red Sox and also DHing. His double duty led them to an 89-73 win over the Dodgers. In the 59 season, however, the Sox didn't use Babe as a DH. I have no idea why! In any case, it may not have mattered as the rest of the team just didn't adjust to the new era and the Dodgers blew them out 100-62. Despite losing the earlier year, the Dodgers huge home year won let them advance 173-151. 2000 Atlanta Braves vs. 1987 New York Mets The 2000 Braves are one of those great Maddux/Glavine/Chipper teams of that era. This one was 95-67, but lost to the Cardinals in the Division Series, so it was a small surprise to see them advance here. Their first round record was 99-63, so they left little doubt. The 87 Mets were a bit of a surprise being here as well, especially considering the much more famous and successful 86 Mets didn't make it. This team was a 2nd place team to the Cardinals and finished 92-70. They were pretty dominant in the first round, though, going 102-60! I wasn't sure what to expect in this one.....some great players on both sides- Maddux, Gooden, Chipper, McReynolds, Andruw, Strawberry, etc. The 87 season went to the home team, as the Mets came through with an 89-73 record. The 2000 season tightened up quite a bit, but the Mets still prevailed at 82-80 to let them advance 171-153. Tim Teufel is a big factor for this Mets team as he only played a partial season in real life but ends up playing full time here to great effect. In the next update we will see 2016 take on 1958....some more Yankees teams.....and one of the last chances for the Phillies to make a better showing! __________________ "The baseball mania has run its course. It has no future as a professional endeavor." — Cincinnati Gazette editorial, 1879

07-06-2023, 10:11 AM	#14
Highlander All Star Reserve Join Date: Dec 2001 Posts: 942	Round 2, Matchups 45-50 Back for more of Round 2....only 9 more matchups to go after this update! 2016 Chicago Cubs vs. 1958 New York Yankees The real 2016 Cubs are, of course, the team that finally ended the loooonnnngggg drought for the Cubs franchise. They led baseball with a 103-59 record and then finally won the World Series over the Indians. They went 101-61 in the 1st round to be one of the few teams that got 100+ wins, so they are a truly tough team to beat. The 1958 Yankees went 92-62 in real life and then went on to beat the Braves in the World Series. It truly is something to see how many Yankees teams made it to this round....and quite a few have advanced to the next. Plus, there are more to come! This team only went 87-75 in the 1st round, so they had a tough fight to get here. The 58 season was a pretty close one, but the Cubs came away with a pretty decent 88-74 lead. It seemed like it would be a challenge for the Yankees to outplay them in their home season.....and it was. The Cubs came back with another win at 95-67 to advance over the Yankees, 183-141. 1939 New York Yankees vs. 1926 New York Yankees The 39 Yankees are not a team that is talked about very much, but they went 106-45 to finish 17 games ahead in the AL, then swept the Reds in the World Series. This may actually be one of the best Yankees teams ever despite not getting the press of the 1927, 1961, 1998 or even the 1936 teams. In the first round they went 91-71, so maybe OOTP doesn't think they are QUITE that dominant. The 1926 Yankees were kind of the preview team for what was to come in 1927. In real life they went 91-63 but lost the World Series to the Cardinals. They went 89-73 in the 1st round to advance here. This seemed like an interesting matchup with one team much more successful in real life, but both teams performing similarly in their 1st round contests. Lou Gehrig was a common player on both teams, but the 39 season was a very brief season for him for reasons everyone knows about. The 39 team came right out in the 1926 season to show they were there to play and finished at 94-68. That didn't bode well for the 26 team heading into the 39 season, and even though they kept it a little closer, they still dropped the season to the 39 team 92-70. The 1939 Yankees moved on by a 186-138 margin. 1957 Milwaukee Braves vs. 1981 Philadelphia Phillies The 57 Braves were 95-59 and then became one of the only teams to beat the Yankees in a World Series during this era, as they won it in 7 games. In the 1st round they outlasted the Yankees as well, with a 94-68 record. The 1981 Phillies were 59-48 overall in the real strike-shortened 1981 season. They were a first place team int he 1st half, then dropped to 3rd in the 2nd half. They then lost in the 1st round of the playoffs to the Expos. However, they "Rose" to the occasion (sorry...had to do it!) in the 1st round and finished at 95-67 to advance here. The Phillies have not fared well in this round so far, but this 81 squad seemed to have potential with Pete Rose, Mike Schmidt, Steve Carlton and company. The 57 season wasn't kind to them, however, as the Braves won their home season 93-69. The 81 season was much closer, but the Braves still came out on top 83-79 to advance by a 176-148 margin. 1936 New York Yankees vs. 2021 Milwaukee Brewers The 36 Yankees, as mentioned earlier, are sometimes mentioned when talk of the best team ever is brought up. They certainly had an incredible offense with Dickey, Gehrig and Joe Dimaggio (his incredible rookie season). In real life they went 102-51 and then beat the Giants in the World Series. In the 1st round of this competition they went just 87-75, showing they may not be quite as dominant as previously thought. The 2021 Brewers are probably not a team many think of when you think of all-time great teams. They won their division at a solid 95-67, but then lost in the Division Series to the eventual World Series champion Braves. Most would have thought those Braves or the 107 game-winning Giants or the 106 game-winning Dodgers....or even the 100 game-winning Rays would have been the team to represent the 2021 season, but the Brewers went 91-71 to tie the Dodgers. The run differential went the Brewers way, however, at +66 to +47. I had no idea what would happen in this series. It was a big era difference with a team that had a super charged offense in the Yankees against a team that was more built around pitching with the Brewers. The 36 season showed we might be in for a close one as the Brewers came out on top 86-76. Then in the 2021 season, where I thought the Yankees offense may have unloaded, the Brewers again won a close one at 85-77. In a pretty big shocker, the 2021 Brewers knocked off the 36 Yankees, 171-151! 1908 New York Giants vs. 1952 Brooklyn Dodgers The real Giants tied for 2nd place in the NL with the Pirates at 98-56, 1 game behind the eventual champion Cubs. In the 1st round they squeaked out a close 89-73 win to advance. The 1952 Dodgers are a very similar team to the 53 version we saw earlier, but not as strong. This team went 96-57 then lost to the Yankees in the World Series in 7 games. Here, they got some measure of revenge against the Yankees by advancing at 94-68. Another tough matchup to predict, as these early era teams have been all over the place. Some have gotten blown out because their pitching depth just doesn't make it in later years....but some have been dominant. The Giants showed that their team was made for their home season, as they went 98-64 in the 1908 matchup. The Dodgers had a lot of work to do in their home season, but I've seen some teams win over 100 games in a situation like this. Not this time, however! The Dodgers did make a better showing, but an 81-81 tie just wasn't going to get the job done. The Giants move on by a margin of 179-145. 1913 New York Giants vs. 1990 Pittsburgh Pirates Yet another early era Giants team appears in the 2nd round. These teams are super strong in pitching with guys like Christy Mathewson, Joe McGinnity, Red Ames, etc. They have some solid offense and defense as well, so it's not surprise we've seen a number of them. This version went 101-51, but lost in the World Series to the A's. In the 1st round they put up an impressive 102-60 record to advance. The 1990 Pirates are representative of those really good Pirates teams of the early 90's that featured strong pitching and the Bonds/Bonilla pair on offense. I may have actually played this matchup out on Bobby Bonilla day! Enjoy that money Bobby!! In real life they went 95-67 but lost to the Reds in the playoffs. After seeing the 08 Giants take it to the 52 Dodgers, I was thinking this Giants team would be similarly tough to beat. The Pirates came out fast, though, with an 87-75 win in the 1913 season. Their home season was actually tougher for the Pirates, but it ended it an 81-81 tie. That was enough to let the Pirates advance in a close one, 167-156. I'll probably finish out Round 2 in my next update. Coming up will be a matchup between 1962 and 1999. We will see more versions of the Yankees, Dodgers and Cardinals.....but 2-3 teams that I don't think we've seen versions of at all. __________________ "The baseball mania has run its course. It has no future as a professional endeavor." — Cincinnati Gazette editorial, 1879

07-10-2023, 11:43 AM	#15
Highlander All Star Reserve Join Date: Dec 2001 Posts: 942	Round 2, Matchups 51-59 Alright, it's time to finish out Round 2! As always, there were some surprises in this last group of matchups...... 1962 New York Yankees vs. 1999 Houston Astros The real 1962 Yankees are not as well known as their 61 counterparts, but they went 96-66 and beat the Giants in the World Series, so they were also a very good team. In the first round, they went 85-77 to slide into this round. The 1999 Astros won their division at 97-65, but lost to the Braves in the Division Series. They went 97-65 in the 1st round, so they were pretty strong there. This matchup started off with a close one in the 62 season, as the Yankees edged the Astros 82-80. Then in the 99 season, the Astros came alive and won big by a 93-69 margin. That lets Houston advance to the 3rd round, 173-151.....no word on whether any signs were stolen in this series. 2004 Boston Red Sox vs. 1904 New York Giants The 2004 Red Sox were the team that finally broke through for Boston. They only finished in 2nd place in the AL East at 98-64, but went on to beat the Yankees in a 7 game series in the playoffs and then sweep the Cardinals to win the World Series and break "the curse". In the 1st round here, they were a very strong 98-64. The 1904 Giants were one of the many dominant Giants team of the first two decades of the 1900's. This team was especially strong, with a record of 106-47. Even though a World Series was played in 1903, there was no formal agreement between the two leagues and the Giants' owner refused to play a team from an "inferior league", so no World Series happened in 1904. This was bound to be an interesting matchup between teams 100 years apart from each other. The 04 season went to the home team, as the Giants won it 83-79. The pitching depth issues that have hurt many of these early era teams bothered this Giants team most of all, as they dropped the 2004 season by a huge 133-29 margin. The Giants only had 2 pitchers in the bullpen.....one gave up 78 HR and one walked over 300 batters. They were just forced to be used WAY too much with no one else on the roster. Because of that huge margin, the Red Sox move on, 212-112. 1992 Atlanta Braves vs. 2002 Houston Astros The real Braves went 98-64, then lost the World Series to the Blue Jays. They went 92-70 in the 1st round to get here. The Astros of 2002 were only a 2nd place team that barely scraped into the 1st round. They went 84-78 that year, but due to the number of other 90+ win/playoff teams, I had to include them in round one....somehow, they came out with a 91-71 record to move on. Based on real life success, the Braves seemed to be at an advantage here.....and they were. The 92 season went Atlanta's way 96-66 and then to remove any doubt, the Braves did even better in the 2002 season, going 101-61 to advance to the 3rd round 187-127. 1943 St. Louis Cardinals vs. 1951 New York Yankees The 43 Cards were a dominant 105-49 in the NL that year, but then lost to the Yankees in 5 games in the World Series. They went 90-72 to get here. though. The 51 Yankees are another team like the 62 Yankees that have a more famous predecessor. The 1950 team seems to be talked about a lot more, but the 51 team went 98-56 and beat the Giants in the World Series. They had a 92-70 record in the 1st round in order to advance. This looked like a close one on paper, with the Cardinals having a pitching advantage but the Yankees having the better offense. The Cards came out an won their home season by 12 games, 87-75. That made it tough on the Yankees to have to win big in a season not too far removed from the first one. They came REALLY close, winning the 1951 season 86-76 to fall just short. The Cardinals squeaked by in this one, 163-161. 2008 Boston Red Sox vs. 1984 Toronto Blue Jays The 2008 Red Sox came in 2nd place to the Tampa Rays with a 95-67 record. They advanced to the LCS, but were beaten by Tampa in 7 games. For the 1st round, they went 95-67 to advance here. The 1984 Blue Jays are the first and only Toronto team to make it this far, which was a bit surprising. This team went 89-73 and came in 2nd place to the more famous Tigers team that I assumed would be here in Toronto's place. However, the Jays went 91-71 to get past those Tigers and represent the 84 season. This was another matchup where one team seemed to have an advantage based on real season success, but it wasn't quite as lopsided as some others have seemed. In the 84 season, the Red Sox showed they were indeed the better team as they won 89-73. Toronto actually made it a bit closer in the 08 season, but still fell well short...losing 87-75. The 2008 Red Sox move on by a margin of 176-148. 1944 Detroit Tigers vs. 1989 Kansas City Royals The Tigers had a few teams in the 40's that were very good, but full of relatively unknown players. Hal Newhouser was a common player on those teams, however, and was an incredible pitcher. This Tigers team went 88-66 to finish second to the Browns, so they weren't as strong as some of the others. They made it to this round with an 85-77 record, which again shows their lack of dominance....but here they are! The 89 Royals are the only representative of the Royals franchise. They actually finished in 2nd place to the A's that year with a record of 92-70. However, they advanced here with an impressive 99-63 record, so there may be more to them than it seems. This matchup saw a couple of real life 2nd place teams square off and was pretty much as close as you might expect. The Tigers won their home season by a close 85-77 margin. The Royals needed a decent victory in their 89 season to advance.....and they just got it, going 88-74 to move on by a 165-159 margin. 1905 Chicago White Sox vs. 1937 New York Giants For the 3rd matchup in a row, we have a team being the only representative of their franchise....and this one is the most surprising with how long the White Sox have been around compare to Toronto and Kansas City. The 05 Sox were 92-60 and finished 2nd to the A's that year. In the 1st round, though, they went a solid 91-71. The 1937 Giants are one of the many Giants teams that were very strong int he 30's, but ended up losing to the Yankees int he World Series. This one went 95-57, then lost to the Yankees in 5 games. Still, they were able to scrape together an 89-73 record to represent their season here. The Giants came right out and showed they belong here by beating the White Sox in their home season, 84-78. That put pressure on a Chicago team that was the only hope for their franchise. Coming from an early era, their pitchers were limited, but only having to play in 1937 may not make that a factor. Or maybe it would.....the Giants blew Chicago away in the 37 season, 104-58 to advance by a 188-136 margin. 1916 Philadelphia Phillies vs. 1967 St Louis Cardinals The real 1916 Phillies went 92-62 to finish second to the Brooklyn Robins in the NL. They went 88-74 to get here and are the last chance for the Phillies to get a team into the 3rd round. The 67 Cardinals are are hoping to fare better than their 68 counterparts did a little earlier in this round. In real life, they went 101-60 and then beat the Red Sox in the World Series. They weren't dominant in the 1st round, however, going 88-74. This matchup saw a couple of teams looking to make up for past teams in their franchise that have failed to advance. However, the pressure was heavier on the Phillies. Both teams fought hard in the 1916 season and they finished at 81-81, making it all come down to the 67 season. Once again, the Phillies couldn't make it happen, as St. Louis won their home season handily, at 91-71 to advance by a 172-152 margin. 2022 St. Louis Cardinals vs. 1942 Brooklyn Dodgers The most recent team in the competition ended up in the very last matchup. As a refresher, this Cardinals team won their division at 93-69, but lost to the Phillies 2-0 in the Wildcard round. They went a solid 91-71 in the 1st round to advance. The 1942 Dodgers went 104-40, but still finished 2nd to a Cardinals team that went 106-48 and beat the Yankees in 5 games in the World Series. The Dodgers scraped by at 88-74 in the 1st round, though, to get by both of those teams. The Cardinals jumped right out in the 42 season to a big 93-69 lead and surprise the Dodgers by beating them soundly in their home season. Brooklyn tried to fight back....and they did make it much closer.....but the Cardinals won their home season as well, by an 87-75 margin. The 2022 Cardinals advance 180-144. So there you have it....Round 2 is complete! I'll do another post to sum up the teams that have moved on and introduce what will happen in round 3! __________________ "The baseball mania has run its course. It has no future as a professional endeavor." — Cincinnati Gazette editorial, 1879

07-10-2023, 12:31 PM	#16
Highlander All Star Reserve Join Date: Dec 2001 Posts: 942	Round 2 Summary and Round 3 Introduction Round 2 is in the books. Some classic teams have advanced, but some surprise ones are still in the mix. Here is a summary of the 60 teams that are still in contention by each franchise....I've combined some where appropriate- Baltimore Orioles (2)- 1969, 1971 Boston Red Sox (4)- 1912, 2003, 2004, 2008 Brooklyn/Los Angeles Dodgers (4)- 1953, 1959, 2014, 2019 California Angels (1)- 1986 Chicago Cubs (2)- 1907, 2016 Cincinnati Reds (3)- 1972, 1975, 1976 Cleveland Indians/Guardians (3)- 1995, 1996, 2018 Detroit Tigers (1)- 1940 Florida Marlins (1)- 1997 Houston Astros (1)- 1999 Kansas City Royals (1)- 1989 Milwaukee/Atlanta Braves (3)- 1957, 1992, 2012 Milwaukee Brewers (1)- 2021 Minnesota Twins (1)- 1963 Montreal Expos/Washington Nationals (3)- 1979, 1980, 2017 New York/San Francisco Giants (5)- 1908, 1910, 1923, 1937, 1993 New York Mets (2)- 1987, 1988 New York Yankees (11)- 1927, 1931, 1932, 1934, 1939, 1947, 1955, 1961, 1998, 2006, 2007 Oakland A's (1)- 2013 Pittsburgh Pirates (6)- 1903, 1909, 1928, 1933, 1990, 1991 St. Louis Cardinals (3)- 1943, 1967, 2022 Texas Rangers (1)- 2011 And here's how it comes out by decade- 1900's (4)- 1903, 1907, 1908, 1909 1910's (2)- 1910, 1912 1920's (3)- 1923, 1927, 1928 1930's (6)- 1931, 1932, 1933, 1934, 1937, 1939 1940's (3)- 1940, 1943, 1947 1950's (4)- 1953, 1955, 1957, 1959 1960's (4)- 1961, 1963, 1967, 1969 1970's (5)- 1971, 1972, 1975, 1976, 1979 1980's (5)- 1980, 1986, 1987, 1988, 1989 1990's (9)- 1990, 1991, 1992, 1993, 1995, 1996, 1997, 1998, 1999 2000's (5)- 2003, 2004, 2006, 2007, 2008 2010's (8)- 2011, 2012, 2013, 2014, 2016, 2017, 2018, 2019 2020's (2)- 2021, 2022 So, it is no surprise that the Yankees have the most representatives as a franchise. The fact that the Giants and Pirates are next isn't a big surprise either. I might have expected the Cardinals and Dodgers to have more. It is clear that there are certain eras for certain teams where they were very good....the Orioles, Reds, Indians, Mets, etc. all have more than one team within a year or two of each other. Decade-wise, I found it surprising that the 90's had the most teams moving on. I expected more modern eras to have a few more because of the pitching issues that older teams tended to have, but most of those have been weeded out now (unless there were matchups against similar era teams). Again, though, the 90's are really well represented and the strange thing is that the two teams many think of as dominating the 90's....the Braves and Yankees....only have 1 team each! On to round 3! I've decided to run this round a little differently than I originally planned. Instead of 6 groups of 10 teams, I am going to flip it to 10 groups of 6. That will give a final "top 10" to battle it out. The teams will be matched up randomly...I may "re-randomize" if one group seems way to heavy in one era or another. I'd like to see it spread out, although the more recent years have more teams, so it will skew that way a little. My next post will reveal the first group of 6.....then I'll run the 6 seasons and see which one advances to the finals. I'll give a little more info on player performance in this round as well so you know who is coming up big and who is letting their teams down. Stats may get a little crazy, but based on past rounds, I am hoping it stays in the range I've seen so far. __________________ "The baseball mania has run its course. It has no future as a professional endeavor." — Cincinnati Gazette editorial, 1879

07-10-2023, 10:03 PM	#17
Highlander All Star Reserve Join Date: Dec 2001 Posts: 942	Round 3- Group 1/Matchup 1 The groups have been made for Round 3! I randomized numbers 1-60 to get them figured out and made a few small changes to balance things out a bit. For example, the original grouping had the teams from 1995, 96 and 97 all in the same group, so I split them up. Here's the teams for Group 1- 1943 Cardinals 1909 Pirates 1923 Giants 2013 A's 1961 Yankees 1928 Pirates The first season was played in 1909. Here's a look at each team's results from least number of wins to most- 2013 A's- 61 Wins The A's were the team that was farthest removed from the year in which the season was played, so it wasn't a total shock that they struggled. I'm not sure anyone predicted a 61-101 record, though. The offense of the A's really struggled in this era with a league worst .227 team batting average and second to last .295 on base percentage. The pitching staff was great by 2013's standards with a 2.83 team ERA....but that was also worst in the league. 1961 Yankees- 77 Wins In a bit of a shocker, the Yankees finished in 5th this season with a 77-85 record. Not surprisingly, they were 1st in HR, but with only 28 for the team, that didn't have as big of an impact as it might in later seasons. They were last or 2nd to last in most every other category....except errors, where they again came in "first".....not in a good way. Their Pythagorean record shows they were lucky to do this well, as they were projected to only have 65 wins. 1923 Giants- 85 Wins An 85-77 record is nothing to be upset about, but it was middle of the pack in this 1909 season. The Giants were actually 2nd in runs scored and ranked 1st in many offensive categories. Their team ERA of 2.50 was good for 2nd....a combination that would make you think they would have done better. They were projected to have 89 wins and with the success they had on both sides of the ball, better things may come in later seasons for them. 1928 Pirates- 85 Wins The 28 Pirates put up another 85-77 record, which points to how close the top of the standings were this time through. Their offense scored the most runs in the league at 587, but their pitching was a little more "middle of the pack" with a 4th place 2.69 team ERA. 1909 Pirates- 87 Wins The Pirates didn't win their home season, but a second place finish at 87-75 was a good showing. Offensively, they scored 562 runs, good for 4th in the league. Their 528 runs given up was 3rd. Their defense was terrific with the top defensive efficiency (.711) and Zone Rating (+39.6). 1943 Cardinals- 91 Wins That means the 1943 Cardinals are the winner of the 1909 season at 91-71. Their team ERA was a league best 2.26. Pair that with the 2nd best defense and a 3rd best 579 runs....and that leads to a first place finish. It wasn't a dominant win, though so this group is still very much up in the air. Award Winners (Stas in bold are league leaders) Gold Glove Awards P- Bill Stafford (61 Yankees) C- George Gibson (09 Pirates) 1B- Ray Sanders (43 Cardinals) 2B- Eric Sogard (13 A's) 3B- Clete Boyer (61 Yankees) SS- Dave Bancroft (23 Giants) LF- Adam Comorosky (28 Pirates) CF- Stan Musial (43 Cardinals) RF- Chief Wilson (09 Pirates) Silver Slugger Awards C- Walker Cooper (43 Cardinals)- .286/.304/.353, 29 doubles, 4 triples, 0 HR, 49 R, 59 RBI, 3 SB, 5.0 WAR 1B- Ray Sanders (43 Cardinals)- .251/.334/.346, 22 doubles, 4 triples, 8 HR, 70 R, 50 RBI, 1 SB, 4.2 WAR 2B- Frankie Frisch (23 Giants)- .293/.335/.374, 25 doubles, 9 triples, 3 HR, 83 R, 60 RBI, 53 SB, 7.1 WAR 3B- Josh Donaldson (13 A's)- .266/.343/.332, 25 doubles, 5 triples, 1 HR, 52 R, 60 RBI, 7 SB, 5.6 WAR SS- Honus Wagner (09 Pirates)- .268/.397/.382, 30 doubles, 8 triples, 4 HR, 72 R, 58 RBI, 93 SB, 7.6 WAR LF- Fred Clarke (09 Pirates)- .246/.341/.327, 20 doubles, 10 triples, 2 HR, 78 R, 34 RBI, 86 SB, 3.8 WAR CF- Stan Musial (43 Cardinals)- .307/.372/.414, 31 doubles, 13 triples, 2 HR, 54 R, 83 RBI, 21 SB, 7.0 WAR RF- Paul Waner (28 Pirates)- .285/.377/.402, 26 doubles, 14 triples, 4 HR, 79 R, 66 RBI, 7 SB, 6.1 WAR DH- Jack Bentley (23 Giants)- .357/.389/.449, 27 doubles, 10 triples, 1 HR, 57 R, 72 RBI, 1 SB, 5.8 WAR Rookie of the Year Dots Miller (43 Cardinals)- .273/.303/.379, 27 doubles, 16 triples, 1 HR, 63 R, 63 RBI, 74 SB, 2.3 WAR Cy Young Award Winner Babe Adams (09 Pirates)- 26-15, 0 Saves, 369 IP, 1.88 ERA, .91 WAR, 172 K, 8.0 WAR Runners-Up Harry Brecheen (43 Cardinals)- 22-17, 0 Saves, 361 IP, 1.82 ERA, 1.01 WHIP, 166 K, 6.9 WAR Howie Pollett (43 Cardinals)- 23-18, 0 Saves, 386 IP, 1.91 ERA, 1.12 WHIP, 197 K, 8.2 WAR Howie Camnitz (09 Pirates)- 23-18, 0 Saves, 367.1 IP, 2.21 ERA, 1.07 WHIP, 156 K, 5.8 WAR MVP Award Winner- Honus Wagner Runners-Up- Jack Bentley, Frankie Frisch, Stan Musial, Paul Waner Misc. Notes and Stats 2013 A's - Brandon Moss hit 30 HR in real life, but came up with 0 in 538 AB. It's 1909, but still! - Daric Barton played all 162 games as the DH, but only hit .206 with 8 doubles, 2 triples and 2 HR. - Bartolo Colon had a rough season, leading the league in losses with a record of 9-31. 1961 Yankees - Mantle and Maris tied with 5 HR each....they also tied with Lee Thomas. WHO? In real life, Thomas played with the Yankees for 2 games, then got 450 at bats with the Angels, hitting .284 with 24 HR. He ends up included on the Yankees here, though. - Luis Arroyo pitched only 4.2 innings, but somehow got 4 saves and 1 loss in that limited action 1923 Giants - The name Jack Bentley may have been a surprise in the awards above. He was actually a pitcher in real life, but did his best Ohtani impression here. In addition to his great hitting numbers as a DH, he went 19-19 in 343.2 IP with a 2.83 ERA, 1.25 WHIP and a league leading 198 Ks. His real life hitting stats were impressive. In 89 AB, he hit .427/.446/.527 with 6 doubles, 2 triples and 1 HR. A wise choice for DH in this competition....he may be a major factor going forward. - Jesse Barnes was one of the top relievers in the game, going 1-0 with a league leading 8 saves in 30.2 IP. He had a 1.47 ERA, 1.27 WHIP and 6 Ks. - Rosy Ryan was left out of the Cy Young voting, but at 24-13 with a 2.09 ERA and 1.08 WHIP, he was certainly worthy of a vote. 1928 Pirates - Burleigh Grimes led the league in games pitched, with 49. He started 41 and saw 8 games of relief. His performance was strong- 23-17, 2 saves, 2.58 ERA, 1.16 WHIP and 159 K. 1909 Pirates - This team went crazy on the bases, stealing 626 bases....86 for Fred Clarke, 74 for Dots Miller, 93 for Honus Wagner, 86 for Tommy Leach, 71 for Chief Wilson, 46 for George Gibson (the catcher!), 46 for Ed Abbaticchio, 46 for Roy Thomas and 43 for Alan Storke to round out the main starting lineup. 1943 Cardinals - Ray Sanders, who led the league with 8 HR, only hit 11 in real life over 478 AB. __________________ "The baseball mania has run its course. It has no future as a professional endeavor." — Cincinnati Gazette editorial, 1879

07-11-2023, 12:33 PM	#18
Highlander All Star Reserve Join Date: Dec 2001 Posts: 942	Round 3- Group 1/Matchup 2 Time for the 2nd season for this group....this time taking place in 1923. 2013 A's- 77 Wins Uh Oh....another last place finish for the A's. 77-85 is much better than last time, but they need a big winning season to stay alive much longer. Interestingly, they were 2nd in offensive WAR and 3rd in Pitching....but it just didn't translate to actual wins! 1928 Pirates- 78 Wins 78-84 is not a great record for a team playing so close to their own year. They were actually 2nd in runs scored with 746, but their starting pitching really let them down with a league worst 4.56 ERA. A league best bullpen ERA of 2.95 helped. 1923 Giants- 78 Wins Another 78-84 record....this time for the home season team. They finished top 3 in many offensive categories, but their pitching was pretty bad. They also finished last in both Defensive Efficiency and Zone Rating. Not looking good for them going forward. 1961 Yankees- 79 Wins The Yankees get a 3rd place finish, but 79-83 isn't great. They once again led the league in HR...this time with 108, but BA and OBP were both last in the league. Pitching-wise, they were kind of middle of the road, although their overall bullpen ERA was last at 4.38. 1943 Cardinals- 79 Wins Another tie and kind of a disappointing season for St. Louis coming off a first season win. They are a pitching-centric team and finished in first in all pitching and defense categories except bullpen ERA (2nd) and Walks allowed (3rd). On the hitting side, though, things were a little rough. There were a lot of 5th and 6th place finishes. 1909 Pirates- 95 Wins A nice 95-67 record for this Pirates team puts them in position to be the favorite to make the top 10 at this point. The Cardinals have the pitching to battle them, but their bats seem lacking. This Pirates team is strong in both areas, with a number of top 3 finishes in most categories. They once again ran wild compared to the rest of the league, stealing a league leading 366 bases....the 2nd team was the Giants with just 104! Award Winners (Stats in bold are league leaders) Gold Glove Awards P- Harry Brecheen (43 Cardinals) C- George Gibson (09 Pirates) 1B- Ray Sanders (43 Cardinals) 2B- Sparky Adams (28 Pirates) 3B- Clete Boyer (61 Yankees) SS- Honus Wagner (09 Pirates) LF- Yoenis Cespedes (13 A's) CF- Coco Crisp (13 A's) RF- Stan Musial (43 Cardinals)....interesting that he won it in CF in the 1909 season Silver Slugger Awards C- Elston Howard (61 Yankees)- .357/.388/.527, 26 doubles, 17 triples, 9 HR, 69 R, 79 RBI, 1 SB, 6.4 WAR 1B- Ray Sanders (43 Cardinals)- .309/.391/.431, 26 doubles, 9 triples, 8 HR, 70 R, 65 RBI, 0 SB, 3.8 WAR 2B- Frankie Frisch (23 Giants)- .354/.409/.503, 50 doubles, 10 triples, 8 HR, 121 R, 87 RBI, 33 SB, 8.0 WAR 3B- Josh Donaldson (13 A's)- .296/.382/.423, 36 doubles, 6 triples, 9 HR, 93 R, 81 RBI, 4 SB, 5.8 WAR SS- Honus Wagner (09 Pirates)- .308/.414/.446, 36 doubles, 8 triples, 9 HR, 124 R, 96 RBI, 75 SB, 8.5 WAR LF- Fred Clarke (09 Pirates)- .324/.425/.450, 25 doubles, 19 triples, 4 HR, 124 R, 65 RBI, 49 SB, 6.1 WAR CF- Mickey Mantle (61 Yankees)- .339/.441/.506, 13 doubles, 8 triples, 21 HR, 87 R, 88 RBI, 10 SB, 7.7 WAR RF- Stan Musial (43 Cardinals)- .320/.393/.499, 28 doubles, 17 triples, 14 HR, 80 R, 76 RBI, 1 SB, 6.5 WAR Rookie of the Year Lou Klein (43 Cardinals)- .273/.312/.380, 22 doubles, 8 triples, 5 HR, 56 R, 66 RBI, 1 SB, 2.9 WAR Reliever of the Year Winner Rube Walberg (23 Giants)- 8-8, 12 Saves, 90.2 IP, 3.08 ERA, 1.42 WHIP, 30 K, -.3 WAR Runners-Up Sean Doolittle (13 A's)- 11-12, 19 Saves, 83 IP, 3.25 ERA, 1.51 WHIP, 35 K, 1.0 WAR Walt Tauscher (28 Pirates)- 7-6, 6 Saves, 83.2 IP, 3.44 ERA, 1.57 WHIP, 19 K, .5 WHIP Cy Young Award Winner Howie Pollett (43 Cardinals)- 23-14, 2 Saves, 306 IP, 2.44 ERA, 1.09 WHIP, 116 K, 6.7 WAR Runners-Up Vic Willis (09 Pirates)- 22-11, 0 Saves, 282.2 IP, 2.77 ERA, 1.28 WHIP, 76 K, 4.2 WAR Whitey Ford (61 Yankees)- 20-14, 0 Saves, 286.1 IP, 2.77 ERA, 1.27 WHIP, 107 K, 5.3 WAR Babe Adams (09 Pirates)- 18-14, 3 Saves, 307.1 IP, 3.05 ERA, 1.26 WHIP, 124 K, 5.9 WAR Burleigh Grimes (28 Pirates)- 23-12, 7 Saves, 309 IP, 3.41 ERA, 1.34 WHIP, 95 K, 4.8 WAR MVP Award- All stats above in Silver Slugger Awards Winner- Frankie Frisch Runners-Up- Mickey Mantle, Honus Wagner, Fred Clarke Misc. Notes and Stats 2013 A's -Looking back at a couple of guys mentioned in the 1909 season....Brandon Moss greatly improved his power game, going from 0 HR in 1909 to 15 this season. Bartolo Colon wasn't a 30 game loser this season, but he still lost 20 games, going 10-20. 1928 Pirates - Paul Waner didn't get mentioned in the Awards section, but he had a very good season with a .315 BA, 45 doubles and 105 RBI. 1923 Giants - Rosy Ryan, who had a great 1909 season, really struggled in his home season. We went just 12-12 with a 4.66 ERA. - Jack Bentley had another incredible season at the plate, as shown above, but his pitching was more of a struggle this season. He only went 9-13 with a 4.93 ERA and a paltry 76 Ks after leading the league in Ks in 1909. 1961 Yankees -The M&M Boys didn't tie in HR this time, but were still very close. Mantle had 21 as mentioned earlier and Maris hit 19. Teammate Johnny Blanchard, who gets fulltime duty as a DH, did tie Mickey with 21 HR of his own. 1943 Cardinals -Howie Krist wasn't in the running for reliever of the year, but he went 5-1 with 2 saves and a 2.83 ERA in 35 innings out of the bullpen. 1909 Pirates - The Pirates were the only team to have two players with over 100 RBI....and they had 2 others with over 90. Tommy Leach drove in 113 and Chief Wilson was the league leader with 115. - Dots Miller, who won the 1909 Rookie Of The Year, seemed to have better year than this year's winner, Lou Klein. Dots hit .282/.326/.389 with 43 doubles, 7 triples, 2 HR, 83 R, 69 RBI, 35 SB and 1.0 WAR. The WAR hurt him, I guess. __________________ "The baseball mania has run its course. It has no future as a professional endeavor." — Cincinnati Gazette editorial, 1879

07-11-2023, 03:51 PM	#19
Highlander All Star Reserve Join Date: Dec 2001 Posts: 942	Round 3- Group 1/Matchup 3 It's time for the 1928 season. Seems like it's pretty close to 1923, so we'll have to see how much the standings change from then. 1961 Yankees- 66 Wins Ouch. The Yankees had been in the "hanging around" position so far, but this win total may torpedo their chances going forward. While they again led the league in HR, they were last in almost every other offensive category including runs scored. Pitching and defense were more middle of the pack, but that was nowhere near enough to make up for the surprisingly bad offense. 2013 A's- 76 Wins The 1920's have been better to the A's than 1909 was, but not enough. They were similar to the Yankees in that they came in 2nd in HR, but did very poorly in most other offensive statistics. Pitching wasn't much better, as they finished in the bottom half of the league in most areas. Their Pythagorean record only has them at 67 wins, so they were lucky to do as well as they did. 1928 Pirates- 77 Wins This Pirates team started off pretty well in 1909, but their win totals keep dropping, even in this....their home year. They had a middle of the pack offense, but their pitching is what does them in. They finished last in most categories, including Runs Against. They would have needed a great offense to overcome that.....and they didn't have it. 1923 Giants- 78 Wins The 3-5 teams are pretty bunched up this season, so you know those top two must have done pretty well. The Giants did have a top scoring offense that led in many categories, including runs scored. However, their pitching and defense were both pretty bad. They were just a small notch above the 28 Pirates and even the offense they had wasn't enough to get them a winning record. 1909 Pirates- 90 Wins The 09 Pirates put up their 2nd 90-win season in a row to firmly put themselves in the running for the team that will move on. Being 2nd in bot runs scored and runs allowed is a sure fire way to have a good season....and that's just what they did. Stolen bases continue to be a huge strength for this team as well as a very good defense. 1943 Cardinals- 99 Wins The Cardinals put up the best season so far in this group. They join the Pirates as the two favorites to move on with 3 seasons left....the other teams in the group have a lot of work to do to catch either of these teams. The Cards only scored the 4th most runs, but their pitching and defense are both very strong....pitching was first in all but 3 categories. Award Winners (Stats in bold are league leaders) Gold Glove Awards P-Bill Stafford (61 Yankees) C- Frank Snyder (23 Giants) 1B- Ray Sanders (43 Cardinals) 2B- Lou Klein (43 Cardinals) 3B- Clete Boyer (61 Yankees) SS- Marty Marion (43 Cardinals) LF- Yoenis Cespedes (13 A's) CF- Stan Musial (43 Cardinals) RF- Roger Maris (61 Yankees) Silver Slugger Awards C- Walker Cooper (43 Cardinals)- .349/.376/.478, 36 doubles, 4 triples, 9 HR, 80 R, 83 RBI, 0 SB, 4.5 WAR 1B- George Grantham (28 Pirates)- .309/.399/.471, 33 doubles, 15 triples, 10 HR, 95 R, 78 RBI, 4 SB, 3.8 WAR 2B- Frankie Frisch (23 Giants)- .325/.379/.440, 35 doubles, 6 triples, 9 HR, 111 R, 83 RBI, 22 SB, 4.5 WAR 3B- Josh Donaldson (13 A's)- .302/.382/.455, 39 doubles, 9 triples, 11 HR, 83 R, 81 RBI, 3 SB, 5.2 WAR SS- Honus Wagner (09 Pirates)- .320/.428/.466, 48 doubles, 7 triples, 7 HR, 110 R, 85 RBI, 68 SB, 6.7 WAR LF- Fred Clarke (09 Pirates)- .323/.435/.432, 25 doubles, 11 triples, 5 HR, 119 R, 69 RBI, 42 SB, 5.1 WAR CF- Stan Musial (43 Cardinals)- .355/.417/.563, 49 doubles, 22 triples, 10 HR, 95 R, 107 RBI, 3 SB, 8.2 WAR RF- Paul Waner (28 Pirates)- .338/.430/.461, 41 doubles, 9 triples, 4 HR, 85 R, 87 RBI, 4 SB, 6.3 WAR DH- Jack Bentley (23 Giants)- .401/.419/.548, 54 doubles, 12 triples, 4 HR, 74 R, 103 RBI, 0 SB, 5.2 WAR Rookie of the Year Al Brazle (43 Cardinals)- 20-7, 0 Saves, 266.1 IP, 3.11 ERA, 1.26 WHIP, 78 K, 5.9 WAR Reliever of the Year Winner Sean Doolittle (13 A's)- 7-3, 9 Saves, 83.1 IP, 2.59 ERA, 1.22 WHIP, 27 K, .8 WAR Runners-Up Luis Arroyo (61 Yankees)- 7-9, 13 Saves, 81 IP, 3.33 ERA, 1.27 WHIP, 21 K, .4 WAR Art Nehf (23 Giants)- 7-4, 5 Saves, 81.1 IP, 3.76 ERA, 1.55 WHIP, 25 K, 1.2 WAR Cy Young Award Winner Howie Pollett (43 Cardinals)- 24-16, 1 Save, 316 IP, 2.42 ERA, 1.21 WHIP, 107 K, 6.7 WAR Runners-Up Babe Adams (09 Pirates)- 23-14, 4 Saves, 316 IP, 2.85 ERA, 1.16 WHIP, 108 K, 6.7 WAR Harry Brecheen (43 Cardinals)- 23-9, 0 Saves, 278 IP, 2.65 ERA, 1.17 WHIP, 99 K, 5.5 WAR Al Brazle (43 Cardinals)- numbers seen in ROY listing MVP Award Winner- Stan Musial Runners-Up (lots of vote getters this time!)- Honus Wagner Mickey Mantle (61 Yankees)- .313/.428/.522, 17 doubles, 14 triples, 23 HR, 105 R, 72 RBI, 2 SB, 6.3 WAR Howie Pollett, Fred Clarke, Jack Bentley, Paul Waner, Babe Adams, Frankie Frisch, Harry Brecheen Casey Stengel (23 Giants)- .358/.400/.534, 31 doubles, 12 triples, 9 HR, 70 R, 70 RBI, 9 SB, 4.3 WAR Ross Youngs (23 Giants)- .334/.403/.482, 45 doubles, 13 triples, 6 HR, 113 R, 75 RBI, 12 SB, 4.0 WAR Misc. Notes and Stats 1961 Yankees - Mantle was way ahead of Maris this season, 23-16. However, teammate Johnny Blanchard beat them both with a league leading 27 bombs. - Lee Thomas had an interesting stat line....15 doubles, 15 triples and 15 HR! 2013 A's - Nothing additional of note 1928 Pirates - Reliever Walt Tauscher wasn't in the running for an award because of his 4.89 ERA and 1.82 WHIP....but impressively, he ended up with a 12-7 record and 5 saves. - Pete Scott was in the rare (so far) 100 RBI club with 101. He's a guy in real life that never had much more than 200 AB in any season but was pretty strong in 1928 so he gets the DH role here. 1923 Giants - Worth mentioning again that Jack Bentley hit over .400! I won't be surprised if he makes another run at it in the next 3 seasons as well. - Dave Bancroft wasn't mentioned in any of the awards, but he led the league with 60 doubles. Just another part of this potent Giants offense. 1909 Pirates - Tommy Leach and Chief Wilson both, again, drove in 100 runs....101 for Leach to be exact. 1943 Cardinals - Coaker Triplett is worth mentioning here. In real life, he only played 9 games for the Cards and hit a paltry .080.....2-25. He then went to the Phillies where he hit a much better .272 with 14 HR. So far, he's been awful in the seasons we've done....until 1928 when he put it all together to hit- .285/.313/.422 with 23 doubles, 3 triples, 16 HR, 66 R, 88 RBI, 1 SB and .7 WAR. __________________ "The baseball mania has run its course. It has no future as a professional endeavor." — Cincinnati Gazette editorial, 1879

07-11-2023, 06:53 PM	#20
Highlander All Star Reserve Join Date: Dec 2001 Posts: 942	Question for anyone following along. Is the level of detail I have been going into in Round 3 interesting/worth it? It takes a while to write up each season....I know I could do screen shots of some of it, but I get more of an impact myself by typing it out. However, if people think it's more than needed or are only interested in certain areas, it would save time to cut back. I always struggle with wanting to give lots of interesting detail.....but not take forever to write things up! Thanks for any input!! __________________ "The baseball mania has run its course. It has no future as a professional endeavor." — Cincinnati Gazette editorial, 1879