John bracket

(1) 2019 Milwaukee Brewers (89-73) and (16) 1973 Minnesota Twins (81-81) Too soon for any HOFers from Milwaukee. The Twins have prime time Rod Carew and Bert Blyleven plus the fading Harmon Killebrew and Tony Oliva.

(8) 2019 Minnesota Twins (101-61) and (9) 1961 St. Louis Cardinals (80-74). Too soon for the Twns to have any inductees; the Cards have Bob Gibson and Stan Musial, one a little before his greatness and the other a bit beyond his greatness.

(5) 2017 Boston Red Sox (93-61) and (12) Monarchs (no record). The best potential candidates on the Bosox are still active (Mookie Betts, Chris Sale, Craig Kimbrel). The Monarchs have Satchel Paige, Josh Gibson, Oscar Charleston and Willie Wells.

(4) 1961 Minnesota Twins (70-90) and (13) New York Yankees (80-81). Harmon Killebrew and Jim Kaat for the Twins; nobody from the Yankees.

(3) 2009 Minnesota Twins (87-76) and (14) 2009 Tampa Bay Rays (84-78). The Twins have Joe Mauer; the Rays have little liklihood of any inductees. 

(6) 1961 Cleveland Indians (78-83) and (11) 2019 Chicago Cubs (84-78). No Hall of Famers in this series.

(7) 2019 Boston Red Sox (84-78) and 2019 New York Yankees (103-59). The best players in this series with one exception are still active. CC Sabathia may be selected to the Hall in a couple weeks from this writing.

(2) 1969 San Diego Padres (52-110) and (15) 1969 Cincinnati Reds (89-73-1) Nobody from the expansion Padres, who may be the weakest team in the field, is in the Hall. The Reds have Johnny Bench, Tony Perez and the barred Pete Rose.

Ringo bracket

(1) 1973 San Francisco Giants (88-74) and (16) 1969 Athletics (88-74). The Giants, winners of Tournament Three, have Willie McCovey and Juan Marichal, both late in their careers. The A's have Reggie Jackson, Catfish Hunter and Rollie Fingers, the latter just finding his way in the bullpen.

(8) 1973 New York Yankees (80-82) and (9) 2017 San Diego Padres (71-91). No Hall of Famers on either roster.

(5) 2019 Los Angeles Dodgers (106-56) and (12) 2017 Arizona Diamondbacks (93-69). Too early for either team to have inductees, but the Dodgers, part of a historicly significant dynasty, feature Clayton Kershaw and the D'backs have Zack Greinke and Paul Goldschmidt.

4) 1973 Kansas City Royals (88-74) and (13) Black Barons (no record). George Brett had under 50 at bats for the Royals. The Black Barons have (deep breath) Cool Papa Bell, Ray Brown, Ray Dandridge. Martin Dihigo, John Henry Lloyd, Bullet Rogan, Mule Suttles and Jud Wilson.

3) 1973 Chicago Cubs (77-84) and (14) 2019 Cincinnati Reds (75-87). Cubs have Ron Santo, Fergie Jenkins and Billy Williams. Too early for the Reds, but Joey Votto is a strong contender.

(6) 1961 Baltimore Orioles (95-67-1) and (11) 1924 Boston Braves (53-100-1). Baltimore has Brooks Robinson and Hoyt Wilhelm. Thde Braves have Dave Bancroft, Rub Marquard (six starts) and Casey Stengel, the latter inducted as a manager.

(7) 1961 New York Yankees (109-53-1, won World Series) and (10) 2009 Colorado Rockies (92-70). One of the most famous Yankees teams with Mickey Mantle, Whitey Ford and Yogi Berra (plus Roger Maris's 61*). The Rox have Todd Helton.

(2) 1973 Los Angeles Dodgers (95-66-1) and (15) 2017 Cincinnati Reds (68-94). Don Sutton for the Dodgers, and Votto the most likely candidate, again, for the Reds).

NeL Roster: Monarchs

Home park: Muehlebach Field

Pitchers: William Bell, Dave Brown, Bill Byrd, Webster McDonald, Satchel Paige, Cannonball Redding, Harry Salmon, Frank Wickware

Catchers: Josh Gibson, TJ Young

Infielders: Newt Allen, Sam Bankhead, Dewey Creacy, Candy Jim Taylor, Willie Wells

Outfielders: Oscar Charleston, Rap Dixon, Heavy Johnson, Hurley NcNair, Neal Robinson

Comments: Paige AND Gibson AND Charleston? Those may be the three best players in the NeL set. A genuine threat to win it all.

Making a comeback

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.