The Bruin Brouhaha
-
I thought I would share the results of my summer project – The Bruin Brouhaha.
The idea was to pit the greatest Chicago Cubs teams of the 20th and 21st centuries against each other in a tournament to determine the best of all time. I began by sectioning the overall time period into four thirty year quarters (e.g. 1900-1929) and selecting four teams from each quarter to make up the top 16 seeded teams. Pool play then ensued with each team playing every team in its pool (30 year period) one time. The teams were then seeded according to their record in pool play with original season winning percentage serving as the tiebreaker. I then picked eight “at large” teams to expand the field to 24. For the at large teams, I focused on other noteworthy clubs and capturing seasons with great individual performances from the all time greats – like Hack Wilson’s record 191 RBI in 1930, Sammy Sosa’s monster 2001 season (.328, 64, 160), and the 1958 MVP season of “Mr. Cub,” Ernie Banks. These teams filled out the seeding (17-24) based on original winning percentage and matched up against the teams seeded 9-16 in the first round. Teams seeded 1-8 were granted a bye to the second round.
Teams used a four-man starting rotation, and each round consisted of a best-of-five series, excepting the Finals, which was played as a best-of-seven. Home field advantage went to the higher seeded team along the usual format (2-2-1 for best-of-five). I managed the home teams against the Micro Manager using the Set Micro Manager Lineup feature to ensure that each adhered to its four man starting rotation. I saved all the game results in a Collection to maintain tournament statistics.
The 1930 Cubs, who received an at large berth, were the surprise of the tournament – making it all the way to the Finals before they fell to the 1906 Cubs. The 1908 Cubs garnered third place while the 2003 Cubs finished fourth. Here you can find the tournament seeding, bracket, and results: https://challonge.com/bruinbrouhaha
Here are the top won-loss records:
All Tournament team to follow.
-
Here is the All Tournament Team, as determined by yours truly:
C Gabby Hartnett 1930 (20 G, .308 / .413 / .641, 15 R, 7 HR, 20 RBI)
1B Leon Durham 1984 (10 G, .303 / .467 / .848, 7 R, 5 HR, 14 RBI)
2B Ryne Sandberg 1984 (10 G, .366 / .426 / .610, 7 R, 5 2B, 7 RBI, 4 SB)
3B Harry Steinfeldt 1906 (24 G, .290 / .402 / .333, 19 R, 4 DB, 11 RBI, 9 SB)
SS Charlie Hollocher 1918 (11 G, .304 / .340 / .435, 9 R, 4 2B, 6 RBI, 3 SB)
OF Hack Wilson 1930 (20 G, .319 / .468 / .750, 17 R, 7, 19 RBI)
OF Moises Alou 2003 (15 G, .385 / .442 / .821, 9 R, 4 HR, 11 RBI)
OF Kyle Schwarber 2015 (10 G, .273 / .368 / .818, 9 R, 6 HR, 11 RBI)SP Mark Prior 2003 (9 GS, 2 CG, 4-2, 1.45 ERA)
RP Joe Borowski 2003 (17 G, 6 SV, 2-2, 2.12 ERA)Honorable Mention:
C Ken Rudolph 1972 (10 G, .419 / .441 / .839, 7 R, 4 HR, 8 RBI)
C Johnny Kling 1906 (24 G, .330 / .364 / .427, 4 3B, 18 RBI, 6 SB)
1B Phil Cavaretta 1945 (13 G, .347 / .407 / .612, 7 2B, 2 HR, 6 RBI)
OF Dode Paskert 1918 (11 G, .356 / .367 / .467, 9 R, 8 RBI, 4 SB)
OF Andre Dawson 1989 (7 G, .269, .310 / .692, 3 HR, 9 RBI)SP Three Finger Brown 1908 (7 GS, 1 CG, 3-1, 1.42 ERA)
SP Rich Harden 2008 (4 GS, 3-1, 1 CG, 1.48 ERA)
SP/RP Pat Malone 1930 (13 G, 5 GS, 2-1, 1.71 ERA, 6 SV) -
Joel,
Nice summer project! I actually just finished my 20th Century Pirates tourney (all 100 teams - Best of 7) with cards and dice that I started over three years ago. 1902 over 1912 in five games for the title. I posted most of the action on Between the Lines.
https://challonge.com/bucs20thapbatourney
Thanks for sharing this great idea!
Darren
-
Wow! What a gargantuan project! I suppose, someday, we should pit the 1906 Cubs against the 1902 Pirates. :D
-
That would be a great matchup! And yes, it was a massive one…probably why it took me over three years to complete. Best part was learning about players from 01-late 70s as I was too young to truly enjoy them as a fan. I would take the time to Google names to learn more about them.
