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.