It has been more than two years since my last entry here, meaning it's been more than two years since I abandoned the Great Lakes League having barely started it.
My leagues had simply gotten too complicated for me to do well, and my life had gotten too complicated to give them the time to do them well. So I stopped.
But my last day of work at the Free Press was two days ago. This opens more time. And I know that the tournament format works. So I am picking up the Strat baton once again, this time with Tournament Four, aka the Random Tournament.
Random is a slight overstatement. Four of the 64 teams will be drawn at random from the Negro Leagues set, with 20-man rosters.The rest of the field will be drawn at random from the 1924, 1961, 1969, 2009, 2017 and 2019 sets, although there are eight specific teams I want to have in the field, and I will at the end of the draw ensure that at least four of them are in. Seedings will also be at random, so it's quite possible that some very good teams will get lousy seedings and some really poor teams will get higher seeds.
I expect the NeL teams will be very strong. I expect at least one of them to reach the final four, and I won't be at all surprised if more do. (I will keep them in different regions, so an all NeL final four is possible.)
Rules for Tournament Four:
Active rosters: 25-man rosters, except for the NeL teams, which will be 20 player, with at least eight pitchers and at least one primary-position catcher.
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.)
The higher seeded team gets home field. If in the round of four two teams with like seeds face each other, the priority is John, Paul, George, Ringo
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. (For the NeL teams, Satchel Paige and Smokey Joe WIlliams are exempt.)
In the round of four, the penalties are lifted for 35 starts/250 innings. (For NeL pitchers, I will use the "154-game scan" on the front of the cards to determine eligibility.) There are no penalties for short rest in the championship series, although existing penalties 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. For the NeL pitchers, Slim Jones will be covered by the Pascual Perez rule.
Injuries: Remainder of game only.
DH: Home team rules apply; the NeL teams will use the DH at home.
