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.