Quick Little 3-Month Tournament Idea For You..

[RandySteinman]

Am already more than halfway thru a triple-knockout tournament I’m playing on GO, featuring 24 teams from the 1970’s and '80s. Three-man starting rotations. No DH’s. Optional Pitching, Pitcher Fatigue and Advanced Fielding are in play.
I expect this solitaire project will be around 85 games when completed. So far, I’ve played 45 games.
To start, the tournament has been divided into three brackets:

70’s Division:
Undefeated: '71 A’s
One loss: '78 Red Sox, '79 Expos
Two losses: '75 Reds, '77 Phillies
Eliminated: '74 Dodgers, '77 Yankees, '79 Pirates

Early 80’s Division:
Undefeated: '83 White Sox
One loss: '83 Orioles, '84 Cubs
Two losses: '82 Brewers, '82 Angels
Eliminated: '80 Royals, '80 Astros, '84 Padres

Late 80’s Division:
Undefeated: '85 Blue Jays
One loss: '88 A’s, '88 Dodgers
Two losses: '85 Yankees, '86 Red Sox
Eliminated: '84 Tigers, '85 Cardinals, '86 Mets

The eventual three bracket champions will all advance to the semi-finals. The three bracket runners-up will also have a chance to be the fourth semi-finalist.
So far, every team has played at least three games. The early batting MVP (minimum 13 PA’s) has been Jose Canseco with a .583 BA, 1.583 SLG and 2.199 OPS. Canseco shares the HR lead with 3, tied with Mike Schmidt and Mike Pagliarulo. Canseco also leads the tournament with 8 RBI, while Johnny Bench has 7.
The Most Valuable Pitcher so far has been the Angels’ Ken Forsch (B-Z). In 16-1/3 innings, he’s 2-0 with a 0.55 ERA. In 16 innings, Orel Hershiser (A-X) has an ERA of 0.56 and a WHIP of 0.31. Roger Clemens (A-XYZ) has 15 K’s in 15+ innings.

Thru 45 games, the tournament Batting Average is .227, the ERA is 3.68, and the Fielding % is .982.

Since I average a game a day, the tournament should wrap up close to New Year’s Day.

[RandySteinman]

So I have now completed the three triple-elimination brackets:

1970’s Division:
Champion - '71 A’s
Runner-up - '78 Red Sox

Early 80’s Division:
Champion - '83 White Sox
Runner-up - '83 Orioles

Late 80’s Division:
Champion - '85 Blue Jays
Runner-up - '85 Yankees

Interestingly, all six teams to advance are AL teams. The eleven NL teams in the tournament have all been eliminated.

The three champs will now advance to a mini round-robin, lasting six games.
The two top teams of that will meet in a semi-final.
The third-place team will face the winner of the six-game runner-up round-robin.
(The two bottom teams in the runner-up bracket will be eliminated.)

Updating some overall tournament stats after 66 games:
The tournament BA is still .227, but the ERA is up to 3.86, while the Fielding % has climbed to .984.

[RandySteinman]

To update: We are now through the round-robin portion of the schedule. (Six of the twelve games went to extra innings!) The '78 Red Sox and '85 Yankees have been eliminated. The tournament is now down to four teams…

ROUND-ROBIN RESULTS

CHAMPIONS DIVISION:
WHITE SOX 5 @ A’s 3
BLUE JAYS 2 @ WHITE SOX 3 (13 innings)
A’s 6 @ BLUE JAYS 2
A’s 2 @ WHITE SOX 3
WHITE SOX 4 @ BLUE JAYS 5 (11 innings)
BLUE JAYS 1 @ A’s 0 (12 innings)

CHAMP STANDINGS:
WHITE SOX 3-1
BLUE JAYS 2-2
ATHLETICS 1-3

–

RUNNERS-UP DIVISION:
YANKEES 5 @ RED SOX 4 (10 innings)
ORIOLES 2 @ YANKEES 1
RED SOX 9 @ ORIOLES 2
RED SOX 8 @ YANKEES 0
YANKEES 5 @ ORIOLES 6 (12 innings)
ORIOLES 3 @ RED SOX 2 (12 innings)

RUNNERS-UP STANDINGS:
ORIOLES 3-1
RED SOX 2-2
YANKEES 1-3

–

UPCOMING GAMES:

QUARTER-FINAL
'83 ORIOLES @ '71 A’s

SEMI-FINAL #1
'85 BLUE JAYS @ '83 WHITE SOX

SEMI-FINAL #2
WINNER (Orioles/A’s) @ LOSER (Blue Jays/White Sox)

TWO SEMI-FINAL WINNERS ADVANCE TO BEST-OF-THREE CHAMPIONSHIP SERIES