Some History
In my last post, I noted that there were 40+ teams vying in eleven separate play-in brackets to have an opportunity to join the 53 teams already in the main 64 team bracket. Thought I would post some of the history here. Five of the eleven brackets have been completed… the results are below. The numbers next to the team names show the teams relative position (or standard order) in the field of 97 teams as ranked by their regular season record for that year.
Bracket 1:
Teams; 1986 Orioles (69), (Empty), 1986 Pirates (89), 2004 Rays (81)
There were only three teams to fill out this bracket so a ‘bye’ was granted to a team scheduled against the empty slot. Unfortunately, the score sheets for this play-in bracket have been lost, but I still have the results. The 1986 Orioles went 0-2, 1986 Pirates went 2-2, & the 2004 Rays won the bracket going 3-1, an upset given their relative position. It will be interesting to watch how the various generations do against each other.
Bracket 2:
Teams; 1986 Dodgers (70), 2004 Diamondbacks (95), 2004 Expos (88), 1986 Cubs (80)
This bracket went the full seven games but seemed to go as you would expect with the 1986 Dodgers winning the bracket going 3-1, the 2004 Diamondbacks went 0-2, the 2004 Expos went 1-2 and the 1986 Cubs went 3-2.
Bracket 3:
Teams; 1997 Cardinals (71), 2004 Royals (94), 2004 Mets (78), 1986 Mariners (87)
Game 1: 1997 Cardinals defeat the 2004 Royals 11-3
Game 2: 2004 Mets defeat the 1986 Mariners 4-3
Game 3: 1997 Cardinals defeat the 2004 Mets 10-1
Game 4: 1986 Mariners defeat the 2004 Royals 3-0 (Royals eliminated)
Game 5: 1986 Mariners defeat the 2004 Mets 6-3 (Mets eliminated)
Game 6: 1997 Cardinals defeat the 1986 Mariners 11-0 (Mariners eliminated
1997 Cardinals win the bracket in impressive fashion going 3-0, 2004 Royals went 0-2, 2004 Mets went 1-2, 1986 Mariners went 2-2
Bracket 4:
Teams; 1967 Senators (61), 1969 White Sox (84), 1967 Orioles (62), 1969 Royals (83)
Game 1: 1969 White Sox defeat the 1967 Senators 6-4
Game 2: 1969 Royals defeat the 1967 Orioles 5-1
Game 3: 1969 White Sox defeat the 1969 Royals 4-0
Game 4: 1967 Orioles defeat the 1967 Senators 4-3 (Senators eliminated)
Game 5: 1969 Royals defeat the 1967 Orioles 4-0 (Orioles eliminated)
Game 6: 1969 Royals defeat the 1969 White Sox 5-3
Game 7: 1969 Royals defeat the 1969 White Sox 6-3 (White Sox eliminated)
Royals hold on to win a tight bracket beating the White Sox twice in row in elimination games.
Bracket 5:
Teams; 1967 Braves (60), 2004 Blue Jays (85), 1986 Athletics (63), 1967 Astros (82)
Game 1: 2004 Blue Jays defeat the 1967 Braves 5-1
Game 2: 1986 Athletics defeat the 1967 Astros 3-1
Game 3: 1986 Athletics defeat the 2004 Blue Jays 3-1
Game 4: 1967 Astros defeat the 1967 Braves 6-4 (Braves eliminated)
Game 5: 1967 Astros defeat the 2004 Blue Jays 4-0 (Blue Jays eliminated)
Game 6: 1986 Athletics defeat the 1967 Astros 3-1 (Astros eliminated)
The 1986 Athletics win the bracket going 3-0, 1967 Braves went 0-2, 1967 Astros went 2-2, 2004 Blue Jays went 1-2.
