Added thoughts before beginning play

I have now gone through all the teams and made rough roster determinations.

Many -- most? -- of the 1924 teams don't have 25 cards. Some get to 23 or 24 only by including players who saw so little playing time that they wouldn't get cards on teams of more recent vintage.
I am going to change something regarding injuries as a result, perhaps by going to all injuries are for remainder of game only, perhaps by making that the rule for 1924 teams. (Update: all injuries are for remainder of game only.)

All of the 2017 teams have far more players than they can use, and they all used five-man rotations, which in this format strips down to four. I will, for most 2017 teams that advance, be swapping out one or more starters.

I have updated the list of "workhorse" starters -- exempt from the three-days-of-rest penalty -- on an earlier post to include Herb Pennock (1924 Yankees) and Sloppy Thurston (1924 White Sox).

The Ringo bracket

(1) 2017 Cleveland Indians (102-60) vs. (16) 1961 Kansas City Athletics (61-100): By run differential, Cleveland "should" have won 108 games, not that 102 is a disappointing figure. The A's never had a winning season in Kansas City and would have needed a couple of seasons to get to 108.

(8) 2017 Kansas City Royals (80-82) vs. (9) 1961 Pittsburgh Pirates (75-79): The Pirates were one year removed from their World Series win; the Royals two years from theirs. Roberto Clemente hit .351 for the Buccos.

(5) 1924 New York Yankees (89-63) vs. (12) 1961 Minnesota Twins (70-90): Babe Ruth hit 46 homers for the Yankees (and hit .378). Harmon Killebrew hit 46 homers for the Twins (and hit .288, his best batting average for a full season).

(4) 2017 Arizona Diamondbacks (93-69) vs. (13) 1924 Boston Red Sox (67-87): Howard Ehmke threw 315 innings for Boston, which at least gives the Red Sox a workhorse foundation. They also have the 19-year-old Red Ruffing, who didn't pitch well but who, as a Hall of Fame inductee, will get the ball. That will probably help the D'backs, who, with Paul Goldschmidt and J.D. Martinez to anchor the lineup, won't need much help.

(3) 1924 Brooklyn Robins (92-62) vs. (14) 2017 New York Mets (70-92): The Robins have two 300-plus inning pitchers, Dazzy Vance and Burleigh Grimes. The Mets, built around their power rotation, had only one pitcher qualify for the ERA title.

(6) 1961 San Francisco Giants (85-69) vs. (11) 2017 Baltimore Orioles (75-87): Willie Mays in center field. Of the top eight center fielders in "modern era" baseball -- meaning since the birth of the American League -- six are represented in this tournament (Ty Cobb, Tris Speaker, Mays, Mickey Mantle, Duke Snider and Mike Trout). We're missing only Joe DiMaggio and Ken Griffey Jr. Adam Jones of the Orioles isn't quite in the same class, but he's pretty darn good.

(7) 1924 Chicago Cubs (81-72) vs. (10) 2017 Texas Rangers (78-84): Four Cubs pitchers had more innings and starts than Pete Alexander, age 37. He'll get the ball anyway, because he's Alexander. I count 17 Hall of Fame starters in this tournament just from the 1924 and 1961 squads, and that's excluding Hoyt Wilhelm. Not all of those Hall of Famer starters were good in that particular season (see Red Ruffing, above), but they will get starts.

2) 1961 Detroit Tigers (101-61) vs. (16) 1924 Philadelphia Phillies (55-96): There are five 100-win teams in this tournament, all of them from 162-game seasons; the Tigers are the one who didn't get a top-line seed. Norm Cash had one of the all-time fluke seasons, and Al Kaline and Rocky Colavito did Kaline and Colavito things. The Phillies should have been a 16 seed, but I wanted to keep the 61 Senators and Athletics, with identical 100-loss records in the same league, on the same line.

The George bracket

(1) 2017 Houston Astros (101-61) vs. (16) 1961 Washington Senators (61-100): The Astros won the World Series and boasted the MVP in Jose Altuve. The Senators were a first-year expansion team that played like it. Actually, the pitching appears rather competitive, but if you have competitive pitching and still lose 100 games, that doesn't say much for your lineup.

(8) 2017 Los Angeles Angels (80-82) vs. (9) 1961 Cleveland Indians (78-83): Mike Trout had only 507 plate appearances because of injury, which may have kept the Angels out of the playoffs. But he and Andrelton Simmons were really the only good players on the roster. The Indians have a lack of stars but also a lack of obvious weak spots. It was Jimmy Dykes' final year as a major league manager.

(5) 1961 Los Angeles Dodgers (89-65) vs. (12) 2017 Atlanta Braves (72-90): The Dodgers were a year away from greatness in 1961, their last in the misshapen Coliseum. The Braves have Freddie Freeman and not much else to interest me.

(4) 2017 New York Yankees (91-71) vs. (13) 1924 St. Louis Cardinals (65-89): Two historic seasons here: Aaron Judge and his 52 homers as a rookie, and Rogers Hornsby and his modern record .424 batting average. Should be a tough series to be a pitcher.

(3) 2017 Washington Nationals (97-65) vs. (14) 1961 Chicago Cubs (64-90): Ernie Banks! Bryce Harper! Ron Santo! Anthony Rondon! Billy Williams! Max Scherzer! Richie Ashburn! Daniel Murphy! The Cubs have four Hall of Famers and a lousy team. The Nationals will probably be better in this tournament than that 97-win season suggests because they'll have the bullpen reinforcements for the whole thing, not just the final two months.

(6) 1924 Cincinnati Reds (83-70) vs. (11) 2017 Oakland Athletics (75-87): A really solid pitching staff for the Reds -- Eppa Rixey, Carl Mays, Dolf Luque, Pete Donohue -- but the lineup ain't much. The A's a just kind of blah.

(7) 1961 Chicago White Sox (86-76) vs. (10) 2017 Toronto Blue Jays (76-86): Bill Veeck's final season in his first go-around on the South Side, and his preference for older players really shows on this roster. A win-now team that finished more than 20 games out. The Jays are, like the A's above, kind of blah; there are a lot of 2017 teams with very similar records.

(2) 1924 Washington Senators (92-62) vs. (15) 2017 San Francisco Giants (64-98): The only Washington team to win a World Series opens the tournament with a series against the descendents of the team they beat in that classic Classic. The Senators boast four Hall of Famers, counting player-manager Bucky Harris. The Giants were a major disappointment but still have Buster Posey.

The Paul bracket

(1) 2017 Los Angeles Dodgers (104-58) vs. (16) 1024 Boston Braves (53-100): The Dodgers spent most of the season looking like a historically great team, but they hit a skid in September and wound up losing the World Series in seven games. Still, 104 wins is enough to make them the No.2 overall seed, and they should have no trouble with the lowly Braves. The left-handed heavy Dodgers are a particularly tough matchup for Boston right fielder Casey Stengel, a noted platoon player. The Braves also have Johnny Cooney, who is as close to a successful two-way player (pitcher and position player) as was seen in the majors in the 20th century.

(8) 2017 Tampa Bay Rays (80-82) vs. (9) 1924 Philadelphia Athletics (71-81): The Rays are one of three 2017 AL teams with 80-82 records. Some power, good defense, reasonable pitching, but overall problems scoring runs. The A's are notable to this Minnesotan for Joe "Unser Choe" Hauser, who spent much of his career putting up truly heroic home run numbers for the Minneapolis Millers in the 1930s.

(5) 1961 Baltimore Orioles (95-67) vs. (12) San Diego Padres (71-91): The Orioles were turning the corner. Brooks Robinson hit .287 with 38 doubles and, of course, brilliant defense, and Jim Gentile hit 46 homers with 141 RBIs. The Padres might be the biggest overseed in the tournament; their run differential suggests they should have more than 100 losses and be a No. 16 seed.

(4) 2017 Minnesota Twins (85-77) vs. (13) 1924 Chicago White Sox (66-87): The Twins making the playoffs (barely) induced me to play this tournament. The White Sox boast five Hall of Fame players: Ray Schalk, Eddie Collins, Harry Hooper, Red Faber and Ted Lyons, but finished last anyway.

(3) 2017 Boston Red Sox (93-69) vs. (14) 2017 Cincinnati Reds (68-94): Boston's lineup was surprisingly unproductive by their standards. Cincinnati's Joey Votto was great, as usual, but the pitching was a disaster.

(6) 1924 Detroit Tigers (86-68) vs. (11) 2017 Pittsburgh Pirates (75-87): The Tigers boast a rare Hall of Fame outfield: Heinie Manush in left, Ty Cobb in center, Harry Heilmann in right. The Pirates had a disappointing season, but Andrew McCutcheon had a good bounce-back season.

(7) 1961 St. Louis Cardinals (80-74) vs. (10) 2017 Miami Marlins (77-85): Miami has an outstanding outfield (Marcel Ozuna, Christian Yelich, Giancarlo Stanton) and other good lineup pieces. The Cardinals have an aging Stan Musial plus Bob Gibson, Ken Boyer and Curt Flood.

(2) 1924 New York Giants (93-60) vs. (15) 2017 Philadelphia Phillies (66-96): The Giants, who lost a classic World Series in seven games, have seven Hall of Famers, no more than two of them truly deserving. The Phillies had a strong September to avoid 100 losses; had they hit triple digits, I would have had all three Philly teams as 16 seeds.

The John bracket

(1) 1961 New York Yankees (109-53) vs. (16) 1961 Philadelphia Phillies (47-107): The conventional wisdom in my early days as a fan held that the '61 Yankees were the one team that challenges the '27 Yankees as the best team ever. I thnk we know better now. But best team ever is rarified air, and 109 wins is an impressive total. The '61 Phils might be better remember for ineptitude had they not been followed in short order by the 1962 Mets.

(8) 2017 St Louis Cardinals (83-79) vs. (9) 1924 St. Louis Browns (74-78):  The Cardinals are the lowest seed of any .500 or better club in the tournament. No real strength, no real weakness. The Browns have an impressive lineup, with Hall of Famer George Sisler perhaps the second weakest hitter, but the pitching, despite Urban Shocker, was a problem.

(5) 1924 Pittsburgh Pirates (90-63) vs. (12) 1961 Los Angeles Angels (70-91): The Pirates were one year away from winning the World Series. The Angels were a first-year expansion team, and surprisingly competitive.

(4) 2017 Colorado Rockies (87-75) vs. (13) 1924 Cleveland Indians (67-86): Tris Speaker in center for Cleveland, Charlie Blackmon for Colorado. Speaker was, of course, the greater player, but Blackmon is probably better for this season. (Speaker was 36.)

(3) 2017 Chicago Cubs (92-70) vs. (14) 2017 Chicago White Sox (67-95): The Sox are the only 14 seed the Cubs could face, as the other 14 seeds were teh '61 Cubs team and two other 2017 NL clubs (Reds and Mets).

(6) 1961 Milwaukee Braves (83-71) vs. (11) 1961 Boston Red Sox (76-86): The Braves have Henry Aaron in center field, plus Eddie Mathews and Warren Spahn, two other all-time greats. The Red Sox have nobody with even 20 homers.

(7) 2017 Milwaukee Brewers (86-76) vs. (10) 2017 Seattle Mariners (78-84): The Brew Crew has three 30-homer guys and plenty of pop behind that. Seattle's Nelson Cruz hit more homers than any of 'em.

(2) 1961 Cincinnati Reds (93-61) vs. (15) 2017 Detroit Tigers (64-98): I'm loking forward to playing with the 1961 Reds because of Jim Brosnan's book about that season, Pennant Race. There's really not much to look forward to the the '17 Tigers.

Seeds and brackets

As in the 40 Years Tourney, I am designating the four "regions" with the first names of the Beatles: John, Paul, George and Ringo.

These are the seedings:

1: 1961 Yankees, 2017 Dodgers, 2017 Astros, 2017 Indians
2: 1961 Tigers, 1924 Senators, 1924 Giants, 1961 Reds
3: 2017 Nationals, 1924 Robins, 2017 Cubs, 2017 Red Sox
4: 2017 Yankees, 2017 Diamondbacks, 2017 Rockies, 2017 Twins
5: 1924 Pirates, 1961 Orioles, 1961 Dodgers, 1924 Yankees
6: 1924 Reds, 1924 Tigers, 1961 Giants, 1961 Braves
7: 1924 Cubs, 2017 Brewers, 1961 White Sox, 1961 Cardinals
8: 2017 Cardinals, 2017 Angels, 2017 Royals, 2017 Rays
9: 1924 Browns, 1961 Indians, 1961 Pirates, 1924 Athletics
10: 2017 Marlins, 2017 Mariners, 2017 Rangers, 2017 Blue Jays
11: 1961 Red Sox, 2017 Pirates, 2017 Orioles, 2017 Athletics
12: 2017 Braves, 1961 Twins, 1961 Angels, 2017 Padres
13: 1924 Indians, 1924 Red Sox, 1924 White Sox, 1924 Cardinals
14: 1961 Cubs, 2007 White Sox, 2007 Reds, 2007 Mets
15: 2017 Phillies, 2017 Giants, 2017 Tigers, 1924 Phillies
16: 1961 Athletics, 1961 Senators, 1924 Braves, 1961 Phillies

The brackets were set up with the following restrictions:

• No first-round matchups between teams from the same league-season (i.e, the 1961 Orioles and 1961 Twins can't meet in the first round)
• The different iterations of franchises must be in different brackets.

Setting up "Tournament Two" rules

My next Strat project will be another 64-team NCAA-style tournment of best-of-seven series involving the teams from 1924, 1961 and 2017. I did this in 2014-15 with the 40 Years Tourney, and I'm going to run another one.

Active rosters: In the last one, I used 24-man active rosters. This time, 25. (Caveat: I haven't looked hard enough at the 1924 teams to be sure they all have 25 cards.)

Schedule: All series are best of seven. They will use the standard TV-era format: 2 games at Team A, an off day, three games (as needed) at Team B, an off day, two games (as needed) at Team A. There will be one off day to follow. For purposes of calculating pitcher rest, assume that all seven games were needed. For example, if a team sweeps a series, it has five off days (Game 5, off day, Game 6 Game 7, off day.)

In bracket play, the higher seeded team gets home field. In the first round of the John, Paul and George brackets, the team with the most wins gets home field.

Once to the round of four, home field first goes to the higher seed.  If two evenly seeded teams meet, home field goes to the one with the most wins in their given season, If that is even, home field goes to the team with the better winning percentage in the tournament. If that is even, draw lots.

In the round of four, the winner of the John bracket will face the winner of the Ringo bracket. The winner of the Paul bracket will play the winner of the George bracket.
 
Pitching use rules: Pitchers with an asterisk on the roster may pitch on three days rest, but will be penalized one inning on their weakness factor on short rest. Those pitchers from 162-game seasons with 40 starts and/or 300 innings are exempt from that penalty; pitchers from 154-game seasons are exempt with 38 starts and/or 285 innings.

Severn pitchers are exempt: Burleigh Grimes and Dazzy Vance of the 1924 Robins, Howard Ehmke of the 1924 Red Sox, Herb Pennock of the 1924 Yankees, Sloppy Thurston of the 1024 White Sox, Walter Johnson of the 1924 Senators and Don Cardwell of the 1961 Cubs.

In the round of four, the penalties are lifted for 35 starts/250 innings. There are no penalties for short rest in the championship series, although existing penalities will be enforced.

The "Pascual Perez rule" will be enforced: No pitcher with less than 100 innings pitched may start more than once in a series.

Injuries: Will be enforced. A five-day disabled list will be available. Once on the DL, a player cannot come off in that series.

Losers League: Final thoughts

Man, that was a long project. I started the Losers League -- eight 1969 teams with 90+ losses in a 154-game schedule -- in June 2016, and wrapped it up in March 2018.

I figured it would take about 18 months, and it was a bit more than that, but I deliberately slowed the pace this winter to avoid being done before the cards arrived for my next Strat project, and then wound up shutting down for two weeks when I came down with the flu bug and another week for a spring training excursion.

I expect to try a similar league in the future, specifically eight teams from the 1973 National League (a set I do not have at the moment). Three things to get on the record to be aware of for that:

1) The "emergency players pool" I invented at midseason was an idea I wish I'd devised at the beginning. Details are in the linked post. I used the catchers with some frequency, and an infielder once or twice. I didn't have to resort to the outfielders or pitchers.

2) Forgoing the stats was a wise choice. Yes, I would like to have the specific numbers on Sam McDowell's dominant season. But it took about 21 months to play this out, and it might have taken twice as long if I was updating stats.

3) The use of the 1924 AL schedule didn't work as well as I had hoped. There were obvious translation issues, which can only be attributed to me. My tentative notion for the future 1973 NL leagug is to use the 1924 NL schedule; whatever I actually do with that, the schedule needs to be checked before play begins.

As for the Losers League itself: The champion White Sox had one obvious strength, at least relative to the league as a whole: They were easily the best fielding club. Somehow the weak second-line pitchers (Gary Bell, Jack Hamilton, Don Secrist, Jerry Nyman, Sammy Ellis all had real-life ERA above 5) didn't cost them many games. And they were a pretty fun team to play with.

As noted, no stats, but my choice for MVP would be Sam McDowell. I doubt Cleveland lost a game he started after April. It sure wasn't many.

Game of Tuesday, Sept. 30

Chicago             89      65      .578     ---
Seattle               87      67       .565      2
Kansas City       81      73      .526      7.5
Cleveland          79      73      .520      8.5
California          75      76      .497    12
Montreal           68      86       .442    20.5
San Diego         68      86       .442    20.5
Philadelphia      65      86       .430    21.5

End of season

Chicago 11, Montreal 1: The champion White Sox put an exclaimation point on their title with a thumping of the Expos. Pete Ward hit a three-run homer in the first inning off loser Jerry Robertson, Carlos May had three doubles and a single, and Ed Herrmann homered in the eighth. The Sox faced four Montreal pitchers and scored at least one run off each. Tommy John went 7.2 innings for the win.

Player of the Day: Carlos May, Chicago

Games of Monday, Sept. 29

Chicago             88      65      .575     ---
Seattle               87      67       .565      1.5
Kansas City       81      73      .526      7
Cleveland          79      73      .520      8
California          75      76      .497    11.5
Montreal           68      84       .447    19.5
San Diego         68      86       .442    20
Philadelphia      65      86       .430    21


Tuesday's game
Montreal (Robertson) at Chicago (John)


Kansas City 3, Montreal 2: Roger Nelson allowed four hits and one run in eight innings for the Royals. Mike Fiore homered in the first for Kansas City off loser Howie Reed; Rusty Staub homered in the ninth off Moe Drabowsky to make the score close.

Chicago 4, Seattle 2: The White Sox clinched the pennant with a three-run eighth inning that started with a leadoff pinch-hit double by Ron Hansen and included three walks. Wilbur Wood picked up the win despite allowing a homer to Jerry McNertney. George Brunet took the loss. Mike Marshall, a surprise starter for Seattle, allowed one unearned run in six innings. Ken Berry gunned down Wayne Comer at the plate in the fourth inning.

Player of the Day: Ron Hansen, Chicago

Games of Saturday, Sept. 27

Chicago             87      65      .572     ---
Seattle               87      66       .569      0.5
Kansas City       80      73      .523      7.5
Cleveland          79      73      .520      8
California          75      76      .497    11.5
Montreal           68      83       .450    18.5
San Diego         68      86       .442    20
Philadelphia      65      86       .430    21

Sunday's games
None

Monday's games
Montreal (Reed) at Kansas City (Nelson)
Seattle (Brunet) at Chicago (Wynne)

California 6, Philadelphia 5: Aurelio Rodriguez doubled in two runs in the top of the ninth to lift the Angels as the Phillies bullpen imploded yet again. Bill Wilson was the loser. The Angels got a two-run homer by Jay Johnstone in the eighth off reliever Jerry Johnson to pull within a run. Pedro Borbon got the win in relief, and Hoyt Wilhelm ended his season with the save.

Cleveland 3, San Diego 0: Sam McDowell concluded his season with a five-hit, 10-strikeout blanking of the Padres. Russ Snyder drove in two runs for Cleveland. Al Santorini took the loss; allowing one run in six innings.

Montreal 3, Kansas City 1: Bill Stoneman fanned eight Royals in eight innings, scattering seven hits. Ron Fairly and Ty Cline each homered for the Expos. Roy Face worked a perfect ninth for the save. Wally Bunker took the loss, allowing all three runs in seven innings.

Seattle 10, Chicago 8: The Pilots went through five pitchers and staved off elimination. Gene Brabender, who allowed three runs in five innings, was credited with the win, and John Gelnar, knocked out of the box in the first inning the day before, got the save with a perfect ninth. The Pilots scored twice on wild pitches and a third on a passed ball. The only home run of the game came from Chicago's Ken Berry. Paul Edmondson was the loser.

Player of the Day: Sam McDowell, Cleveland.

Chicago magic number: 2.

Games of Friday, Sept. 26

Chicago             87      64      .576     ---
Seattle               86      66       .566      1.5
Kansas City       80      72      .526      7.5
Cleveland          78      73      .517      9
California          74      76      .493    12.5
Montreal           67      83       .446    19.5
San Diego         68      85       .444    20
Philadelphia      65      85       .433    21

Saturday's games
California (Murphy) at Philadelphia (Fryman)
San Diego (Santorini) at Cleveland (McDowell)
Montreal (Stoneman) at Kansas City (Bunker)
Seattle (Brabender) at Chicago (Edmondson)

Philadelphia 5, California 2: Dick Allen and John Briggs each homered, and Rick Wise allowed two runs on eight hits in eight innings for the Phillies. The Angels got homers from Jim Spence and Jay Johnstone. John Boozer struck out two of his three batters in the ninth for the save, and Jim McGlothlin took the loss.

Kansas City 7, Montreal 6 (15 innings): The Royals kept bouncing back. Montreal led three times, including in the final frame, but the Ed Kirkpatrick tied the score in the bottom of the 15th with a double and Joe Foy followed with the game-winning single. Mack Jones hit a three-run homer in the first for the Expos and Rusty Staub a solo shot in the top of the 15th. Dave Morehead, who allowed one run in three innings, got the win; Roy Face was the loser.

Chicago 10, Seattle 3: Bill Melton homered in the first and second innings to propel the White Sox to the verge of the pennant. The Sox knocked John Gelnar out of the box with a four-run first inning and kept adding on against three Pilots relievers. Joel Horlen went seven innings, allowing three runs on four hits for the win. Luis Aparicio also homered for Chicago, and Ray Oyler for Seattle.

Player of the Day: Bill Melton, Chicago

Chicago's magic number: 2

Game of Thursday, Sept. 25

Chicago             86      64      .573     ---
Seattle               86      65       .570     0.5
Kansas City       79      72      .523      7.5
Cleveland          78      73      .517      8.5
California          74      75      .497    11.5
Montreal           67      82       .450    18.5
San Diego         68      85       .444    19.5
Philadelphia      64      85       .430    21

Friday's games
California (McGlothlin) at Philadelphia (Wise)
Montreal (Wegener) at Kansas City (Drago)
Seattle (Gelnar) at Chicago (Horlen)

San Diego 4, Chicago 3: Al Ferrara homered, doubled, scored twice and drove in a pair to power the Padres. Joe Niekro went 6.1 innings for the win, shutting out the White Sox until the seventh. The Padres pieced together the final 2.2 innings with Johnny Podres, Gary Ross and Bill McCool, none of whom were flawless but none of whom allowed any runs. Gary Peters took the loss.