Hey if the '87 Mariners can beat the '89 A's, why not the '86 Indians beating the '84 Tigers? Well it happened thus meaning the '88 Dodgers were the only #1 seed to get out of the first round and they had to go to seven games to do so. The top half of the bracket in this region/division has been blown wide open as every lower seed won while on the bottom half three of the four higher seeds advanced. We had our second sweep as the '80 Yankees dusted off the '80 Orioles including an 18-0 thrashing to close the series.
(16) 1986 Cleveland Indians def. (1) 1984 Detroit Tigers 4-2
Game 1: Indians 4, Tigers 1
Game 2: Tigers 9, Indians 3
Game 3: Indians 2, Tigers 1
Game 4: Tigers 7, Indians 2
Game 5: Indians 11, Tigers 7
Game 6: Indians 4, Tigers 1
Joe Carter: 12-25, 4 2B, 7 RBI
(9) 1988 Boston Red Sox def. (8) 1987 Detroit Tigers 4-1
Game 1: Red Sox 4, Tigers 2
Game 2: Red Sox 10, Tigers 2
Game 3: Red Sox 4, Tigers 0
Game 4: Tigers 10, Red Sox 2
Game 5: Red Sox 10, Tigers 5
Mike Greenwell: 7-19, 3 HR, 6 RBI
(13) 1987 Toronto Blue Jays def. (4) 1982 Milwaukee Brewers 4-3
Game 1: Blue Jays 4, Brewers 3
Game 2: Brewers 1, Blue Jays 0
Game 3: Blue Jays 8, Brewers 5
Game 4: Brewers 4, Blue Jays 1
Game 5: Blue Jays 4, Brewers 3
Game 6: Brewers 11, Blue Jays 3
Game 7: Blue Jays 4, Brewers 3
Tom Henke: 3 Saves
(12) 1985 New York Yankees def. (5) 1981 New York Yankees 4-1
Game 1: '85 Yankees 14, '81 Yankees 12
Game 2: '81 Yankees 8, '85 Yankees 2
Game 3: '85 Yankees 10, '81 Yankees 4
Game 4: '85 Yankees 5, '81 Yankees 4 14 innings
Game 5: '85 Yankees 4, '81 Yankees 0
Don Mattingly: 9-26, 3 HR, 13 RBI
(6) 1980 New York Yankees def. (6) 1980 Baltimore Orioles 4-0
Game 1: Yankees 3, Orioles 2
Game 2: Yankees 5, Orioles 4
Game 3: Yankees 9, Orioles 5
Game 4: Yankees 18, Orioles 0
Graig Nettles: 6-16, 3 HR, 7 RBI
(3) 1986 Boston Red Sox def. (14) 1982 Baltimore Orioles 4-1
Game 1: Red Sox 3, Orioles 2
Game 2: Orioles 4, Red Sox 0
Game 3: Red Sox 6, Orioles 1
Game 4: Red Sox 6, Orioles 3
Game 5: Red Sox 3, Orioles 2
Jim Rice: 9-19, 3 2B
(10) 1989 Toronto Blue Jays def. (7) 1985 Toronto Blue Jays 4-2
Game 1: '89 Blue Jays 6, '85 Blue Jays 5 10 innings
Game 2: '89 Blue Jays 5, '85 Blue Jays 4
Game 3: '85 Blue Jays 5, '89 Blue Jays 4 12 innings
Game 4: '89 Blue Jays 4, '85 Blue Jays 3
Game 5: '85 Blue Jays 6, '89 Blue Jays 4
Game 6: '89 Blue Jays 3, '85 Blue Jays 2 10 innings
Nelson Liriano: 8-21, 4 2B
(2) 1983 Baltimore Orioles def. (15) 1981 Milwaukee Brewers 4-3
Game 1: Orioles 4, Brewers 1
Game 2: Brewers 3, Orioles 2 14 innings
Game 3: Orioles 3, Brewers 0
Game 4: Brewers 5, Orioles 1
Game 5: Orioles 5, Brewers 4
Game 6: Brewers 4, Orioles 1
Game 7: Orioles 2, Brewers 1 11 innings
Storm Davis: 2 CG, 1 SHO, 14 K, 0 BB
A.L. East Quarterfinals Match-ups
(16) '86 Indians vs. (9) '88 Red Sox
(13) '87 Blue Jays vs. (12) '85 Yankees
(6) '80 Yankees vs. (3) '86 Red Sox
(10) '89 Blue Jays vs. (2) '83 Orioles
Up Next: N.L. East Quarterfinals
The biggest shock of the tournament so far...a #1 seed advances! Unfortunately it had to be the '88 Dodgers. We had our first sweep of the tournament as the '80 Astros made easy work of the '82 Braves. The '89 Giants nearly blew a 3-0 series lead but pull it out in seven over the '89 Padres. Plenty of upsets as usual as the #12, #13, and #15 seeds all advanced.
(1) 1988 Los Angeles Dodgers def. (16) 1982 Los Angeles Dodgers 4-3
Game 1: '88 Dodgers 4, '82 Dodgers 2
Game 2: '82 Dodgers 3, '88 Dodgers 0
Game 3: '88 Dodgers 7, '82 Dodgers 4
Game 4: '88 Dodgers 4, '82 Dodgers 1
Game 5: '82 Dodgers 4, '88 Dodgers 1
Game 6: '82 Dodgers 3, '88 Dodgers 1
Game 7: '88 Dodgers 10, '82 Dodgers 0
Orel Hershiser: 3-0, 1.13 ERA
(9) 1987 San Francisco Giants def. (8) 1983 Los Angeles Dodgers 4-1
Game 1: Giants 5, Dodgers 0
Game 2: Giants 3, Dodgers 1
Game 3: Giants 9, Dodgers 1
Game 4: Dodgers 10, Giants 8 12 innings
Game 5: Giants 8, Dodgers 2
Candy Maldonado (SF): 9-21, 2 3B, 2 HR, 7 RBI
(13) 1985 Cincinnati Reds def. (4) 1984 San Diego Padres 4-1
Game 1: Reds 6, Padres 3
Game 2: Reds 4, Padres 3 10 innings
Game 3: Padres 5, Reds 1
Game 4: Reds 3, Padres 1
Game 5: Reds 4, Padres 0
Tom Browning: 2-0, 1.20 ERA
(12) 1980 Los Angeles Dodgers def. (5) 1986 Houston Astros 4-2
Game 1: Astros 6, Dodgers 0
Game 2: Dodgers 7, Astros 1
Game 3: Astros 4, Dodgers 2
Game 4: Dodgers 3, Astros 2
Game 5: Dodgers 4, Astros 2
Game 6: Dodgers 11, Astros 3
Steve Garvey: 11-24, 3 2B
(6) 1985 Los Angeles Dodgers def. (11) 1981 Cincinnati Reds 4-1
Game 1: Dodgers 4, Reds 2
Game 2: Dodgers 5, Reds 4
Game 3: Dodgers 9, Reds 8 11 innings
Game 4: Reds 5, Dodgers 0
Game 5: Dodgers 9, Reds 0
Bill Madlock: 9-21, 5 RBI
(3) 1989 San Francisco Giants def. (14) 1989 San Diego Padres 4-3
Game 1: Giants 5, Padres 1
Game 2: Giants 3, Padres 0
Game 3: Giants 11, Padres 3
Game 4: Padres 7, Giants 2
Game 5: Padres 6, Giants 2
Game 6: Padres 5, Giants 2
Game 7: Giants 8, Padres 0
Rick Reuschel: One-hitter in Game 2
(7) 1980 Houston Astros def. (10) 1982 Atlanta Braves 4-0
Game 1: Astros 6, Braves 3
Game 2: Astros 3, Braves 2 16 innings
Game 3: Astros 12, Braves 6
Game 4: Astros 2, Braves 0
Joe Morgan: 3 HR, 5 RBI
(15) 1983 Atlanta Braves def. (2) 1981 Los Angeles Dodgers 4-3
Game 1: Dodgers 4, Braves 3
Game 2: Braves 8, Dodgers 7
Game 3: Braves 5, Dodgers 1
Game 4: Dodgers 6, Braves 5 10 innings
Game 5: Braves 3, Dodgers 0
Game 6: Dodgers 7, Braves 2
Game 7: Braves 6, Dodgers 1
Bruce Benedict: 15-25 (.625)
N.L. West Quarterfinal Match-ups
(9) '87 Giants vs. (1) '88 Dodgers
(13) '85 Reds vs. (12) '80 Dodgers
(6) '85 Dodgers vs. (3) '89 Giants
(15) '83 Braves vs. (7) '80 Astros
Up Next: A.L. East
As many of you know the TSM Fantasy Baseball Draft is currently going on. I personally don't really even like playing fantasy baseball that much as I never want to be on those people rooting for players on the team who's playing against their favorite team. Because of this I never play for money as I have enough things to worry about than if Brett Myers gets 10 strikeouts and smacks his wife three times so I can win my game that week. This is the 4th year of the league with it being the 2nd year of the current incarnation run by MJ Styles. The first two years of the league were run by Lightning Flik and in those two years I had one of the best teams in the league, reaching the championship game both years although losing the title both years. I had Albert Pujols and Bobby Abreu both seasons and all was right with the world. But when Lightning Flik left the board, I think at least, the league was rebooted and all keepers were gone. No biggie but when I drew the 17th pick in the draft order I knew there'd be no Pujols left for me and I proceeded to draft one of the worst teams in the league, finshing 15th out of 20 and not even qualifying for the consolation bracket.
Here's a recap of my terrible draft from last year. Feel free to point and laugh.
1. Carl Crawford - (Final Yahoo Ranking: 20th, 89 R, 183 H, 18 HR, 77 RBI, 58 SB, .348 OBP)
This is another reason why I don't really like fantasy baseball is that because of stolen bases a player like Crawford is a superstar in fantasy baseball. He's a good player no doubt but no one would ever think of Crawford as one of the elite players in baseball.
2. Rich Harden - (Final Ranking: 379th, 46.2 IP, 4 W, 0 SV, 46 K, 0 HLD, 4.24 ERA, 1.22 WHIP)
I didn't follow Rule #1 of fantasy sports: Don't draft players from your favorite team. Harden certainly has the talent of a pitcher to be drafted this high and I gambled on him finally having an injury free year and lost badly. I did end up keeping him as I had hardly any players worth keeping but we were required to keep four so maybe Harden will finally pitch 200 innings this year. And maybe the Royals will win the World Series.
3. Chad Tracy - (Final Ranking: 175th, 91 R, 168 H, 20 HR, 80 RBI, 5 SB, .343 OBP)
Ugh. I had a hard on for Tracy going into last season as I was convinced he'd have a breakout year and plus he also had eligiblity at three positions. Had a decent year but no where near a 3rd round pick.
4. Brett Myers - (Final Ranking: 73rd, 198 IP, 12 W, 0 SV, 189 K, 0 H, 3.91 ERA, 1.30 WHIP)
This was one of my few solid picks as based on the Yahoo rankings he ended up being worth exactly a 4th round pick thus I ended up having to keep him almost by default.
5. Bobby Crosby (Final Ranking: 613th, 42 R, 82 H, 9 HR, 40 RBI, 8 SB, .298 OBP)
I forgot one of my own rules here: If ESPN "experts" are really high on a player assume he'll be terrible. Now I didn't think Crosby was going to emerge as an MVP candidate like some did but I definately thought he'd continue to improve. Not only was he hurt, he was also terrible when he was in the line up.
6. Derrick Turnbow (Final Ranking: 428th, 56.1 IP, 4 W, 24 SV, 69 K, 4 HLD, 6.87 ERA, 1.69 WHIP)
Maybe I should just stop this entry because this is getting embarrasing. I should have listened to those who thought Turnbow's excellent 2005 season was a fluke and boy were they right. This pick pretty much killed me in the saves category all year as I never found a decent closer.
7. Brian Giles (Final Ranking: 216th, 87 R, 159 H, 14 HR, 83 RBI, 9 SB, .374 OBP)
Because of the park he plays in Giles isn't a very attractive player in fantasy baseball but he had an outstanding 2005 season so I was happy when he fell to me but his OBP dropped 49 points in 2006. I actually have drafted him again this year hoping he'll have a bounce back year but I'm probably going to be wrong on that as he just turned 36 last month.
8. Placido Polanco (Final Ranking: 430th, 58 R, 136 H, 4 HR, 52 RBI, 1 SB, .329 OBP)
This seemed like a good pick at that time as Polanco had emerged as one of the better second basemen in baseball the previous couple of years but he had a terrible year offensively in 2006.
9. Michael Barrett (Final Ranking: 317th, 54 R, 115 H, 16 HR, 53 RBI, 0 SB, .368 OBP)
Barrett was having a good year for a catcher, and became one of my favorite players for punching A.J. Pierzynski, but he missed the last month of the season due to injury.
10. Nick Johnson (Final Ranking: 120th, 100 R,145 H, 23 HR, 77 RBI, 10 SB, .428 OBP)
The best pick I made in the draft and even it came back to haunt me. He of course suffered an ugly broken leg injury with about a week left in the season and is likely going to start this year on the DL but because my team was so terrible I decided to keep him in spite of this.
11. Brad Radke (162.1 IP, 12 W, 0 SV, 83 K, 0 HLD, 4.32 ERA, 1.41 WHIP)
Because he retired I don't know what his final Yahoo ranking was but it couldn't have been very good as Brad went out at the right time.
12. Scott Linebrink (Final Ranking: 235th, 75.2 IP, 7 W, 2 SV, 68 K, 36 HLD, 3.57 ERA, 1.22 WHIP)
One thing I really dislike about this league is the inclusion of the completlely irrelevent Hold statistic being included. I let Linebrink go at some point because I think I was desperate to fill the other numerous holes on my team due to injuries that I abandoned Holds.
13. Carlos Silva (Final Ranking: 375th, 180.1 IP, 11 W, 0 SV, 70 K, 2 HLD, 5.94 ERA, 1.54 WHIP)
Another terrible pick. Silva had made a living off never striking out anybody but never walked anybody either but the never striking out part bit him in the ass finally last year and I didn't wait too long before releasing him.
14. Dan Johnosn (Final Ranking: 693rd, 30 R, 67 H, 9 HR, 37 RBI, 0 SB, .323 OBP)
Yet again not following Rule #1 but even I wasn't as high on Johnson as some A's fans but I figured this was a low risk pick here and boy was I wrong.
15. Brian Anderson (Final Ranking: 664th, 46 R, 82 H, 8 HR, 33 RBI, 4 SB, .290 OBP)
Gambled on a rookie here and once again was wrong as Anderson was not ready yet to hit MLB pitching.
16. Dave Roberts (Final Ranking: 146th, 80 R, 146 H, 2 HR, 44 RBI, 49 SB, .360 OBP)
Hey a decent pick, imagine that.
17. Luis A. Gonzalez (7 R, 36 H, 2 HR, 14 RBI, 1 SB, .269 OBP)
Picked purely because he was eligible at a ton of positions and had been halfway decent offensivley but was just awful in 2006. Don't know his ranking because he's now in Japan.
18. Jason LaRue (Final Ranking: 762nd, 22 R, 37 H, 8 HR, 21 RBI, 1 SB, .317 OBP)
Seemed like a decent choice as my back up catcher but not even close.
19. Jeff Franics (Final Ranking: 285th, 199 IP, 13 W, 0 SV, 117 K, 0 HLD, 4.16 ERA, 1.29 WHIP)
Pretty good pick here as him and Myers were the only pitchers I could rely on all year.
20. Todd Coffey (Final Ranking: 285th, 78 IP, 6 W, 8 SV, 60 K, 15 HLD, 3.58 ERA, 1.44 WHIP)
I was hoping Coffey would emerge as the Reds primary closer but never happened.
Because I had so little to work with going into this year I already hate the look of my team this year so far. I'm counting on Ryan Zimmerman emerging as a superstar this year but given how things went last year I'll assume he'll do a good Bobby Crosby 2006 impression.
Now for the final region/division in the tournament, the A.L. East. The East features just two World Champions but is loaded with great teams who came up just short of winning their division. During the 80's seven of the nine normal pennant chases in the division were decided by three games or less. Of course given how this tournament has gone the '86 Indians will probably win the region as they get in as the only Indians team of the decade to have a winning record.
#1
1984 Detroit Tigers (104-58, defeated San Diego 4-1 in World Series)
OPS+: 114 (1st)
ERA+: 112 (1st)
DefEff: .713 (3rd)
Best Player: Alan Trammell
Best Pitcher: Willie Hernandez
#2
1983 Baltimore Orioles (98-64, defeated Philadelphia 4-1 in World Series)
OPS+: 111 (2nd)
ERA+: 108 (3rd)
DefEff: .705 (5th)
Best Player: Cal Ripken
Best Pitcher: Scott McGregor
#3
1986 Boston Red Sox (95-66, lost to New York 4-3 in World Series)
OPS+: 107 (t-3rd)
ERA+: 106 (5th)
DefEff: .686 (12th)
Best Player: Wade Boggs
Best Pitcher: Roger Clemens
#4
1982 Milwaukee Brewers (95-67, lost to St. Louis 4-3 in World Series)
OPS+: 121 (1st)
ERA+: 95 (11th)
DefEff: .702 (9th)
Best Player: Robin Yount
Best Pitcher: Pete Vukovich
#5
1981 New York Yankees (59-48, lost to Los Angeles 4-2 in World Series)
OPS+: 107 (t-3rd)
ERA+: 124 (1st)
DefEff: .721 (3rd)
Best Player: Dave Winfield
Best Pitcher: Goose Gossage
#6
1980 New York Yankees (103-59, lost to Kansas City 3-0 in ALCS)
OPS+: 112 (1st)
ERA+: 109 (t-2nd)
DefEff: .699 (t-6th)
Best Player: Reggie Jackson
Best Pitcher: Tommy John
#7
1985 Toronto Blue Jays (99-62, lost to Kansas City 4-3 in ALCS)
OPS+: 104 (t-4th)
ERA+: 128 (1st)
DefEff: .724 (1st)
Best Player: Jesse Barfield
Best Pitcher: Dave Stieb
#8
1987 Detroit Tigers (98-64, lost to Minnesota 4-1 in ALCS)
OPS+: 114 (1st)
ERA+: 106 (4th)
DefEff: .705 (3rd)
Best Player: Alan Trammell
Best Pitcher: Jack Morris
#9
1988 Boston Red Sox (89-73, lost to Oakland 4-0 in ALCS)
OPS+: 114 (1st)
ERA+: 104 (t-4th)
DefEff: .693 (t-12th)
Best Player: Wade Boggs
Best Pitcher: Roger Clemens
#10
1989 Toronto Blue Jays (89-73, lost to Oakland 4-1 in ALCS)
OPS+: 105 (2nd)
ERA+: 105 (5th)
DefEff: .704 (t-5th)
Best Player: Fred McGriff
Best Pitcher: Tom Henke
#11
1980 Baltimore Orioles (100-62, finished 3 games behind New York)
OPS+: 107 (t-4th)
ERA+: 109 (t-2nd)
DefEFf: .709 (2nd)
Best Player: Al Bumbry
Best Pitcher: Steve Stone
#12
1985 New York Yankees (97-64, finished 2 games behind Toronto)
OPS+: 112 (1st)
ERA+: 109 (3rd)
DefEff: .710 (t-4th)
Best Player: Rickey Henderson
Best Pitcher: Ron Guidry
#13
1987 Toronto Blue Jays (96-66, finished 2 games behind Detroit)
OPS+: 104 (t-3rd)
ERA+: 121 (1st)
DefEff: .712 (2nd)
Best Player: George Bell
Best Pitcher: Jimmy Key
#14
1982 Baltimore Orioles (94-68, finished 1 game behind Milwaukee)
OPS+: 108 (4th)
ERA+: 101 (7th)
DefEff: .719 (2nd)
Best Player: Eddie Murray
Best Pitcher: Jim Palmer
#15
1981 Milwaukee Brewers (62-47, lost to New York 3-2 in ALDS)
OPS+: 107 (t-3rd)
ERA+: 88 (14th)
DefEff: .705 (10th)
Best Player: Cecil Cooper
Best Pitcher: Rollie Fingers
#16
1986 Cleveland Indians (84-78, finished 11 ½ games behind Boston)
OPS+: 109 (2nd)
ERA+: 90 (t-12th)
DefEff: .695 (10th)
Best Player: Joe Carter
Best Pitcher: Tom Candiotti
A.L. East 1st Round Match-ups
'86 Indians vs. '84 Tigers
'88 Red Sox vs. '87 Tigers
'87 Blue Jays vs. '82 Brewers
'85 Yankees vs. '81 Yankees
'80 Orioles vs. '80 Yankees
'82 Orioles vs. '86 Red Sox
'89 Blue Jays vs. '85 Blue Jays
'81 Brewers vs. '83 Orioles
