SCHEDULE: ROUND 1 - REGION 3:
6) 1968 Detroit Tigers vs. 11) 2001 Arizona Diamondbacks
Man this is a tough bracket in general. After the 2004 Red Sox, this 2001 D'Backs team gives me nightmares also. Before you crush me for just being a spoiled Yankees fan, I was personally affected very closely on 9/11, and that October brought such a great distraction and I wanted them to win so badly that I would consider trading all the others to have won that series. Though over time I've come to look at it as, win or lose, they gave the max they could give us. The last round of the playoffs, to the last game, and the last inning. Win or lose, they distracted us for as long as they could. Ugh, maybe I'm softening to the Diamondbacks!
1968 Detroit Tigers:
6 Seed – Region 3
Record: 103-59
Result: Won World Series 4-3 over St. Louis Cardinals
Entry to Tournament: At large bid (reputation)
Elo Rank: 108
Key Players:
Willie Horton (OF) .285, 36 hr, 85 rbi, 165 OPS+
Bill Freehan (C) .263, 25 hr, 84 rbi, 73 r, 6.9 WAR
Denny McLain (SP) 31-6, 1.96 era, 0.90 whip, 28 cg in 41 gs, 280 k
Notes:
This is one of the teams with the most difference between ELO Ranking and other metrics, vs. reputation. Almost every list I pulled up speaks about the greatness of the 1968 Tigers. After digging in a bit, I decided to side a bit more with the metrics and therefore they will have to earn their way deep into the tourney as a 6 seed.
Denny McLain will be the key to this team. Won the MVP and Cy Young, led the league in wins, complete games, starts, and innings pitched. Staff is underwhelming other than McLain so he will likely have to win both starts (or more?) to advance.
Further reading:
https://www.vintagedetroit.com/blog/...road-uniforms/
2001 Arizona Diamondbacks:
11 Seed – Region 3
Record: 92-70
Result: Won World Series 4-3 over New York Yankees
Entry to Tournament: Automatic bid (Best Diamondbacks team ever)
Elo Rank: 228
Key Players:
Randy Johnson (SP) 21-6, 2.49 era, 1.00 whip, 372 k, 188 ERA+
Curt Schilling (SP) 22-6, 2.98 era, 1.07 whip, 293 k, 6 cg, 157 ERA+
Luis Gonzalez (OF) .325, 57 hr, 142 rbi, 128 r, 174 OPS+
Notes:
The 2002 team may rank higher statistically, but there’s no way a team that was swept out in the 1st round was going to get the nod over these guys and their Game 7 triumph over Mariano and the three time defending champions, in the year that brought some semblance of normalcy back to baseball fans. Easy call here.
Johnson and Schilling finished 1-2 in the Cy Young vote, with The Big Unit winning his 3rd of 4 straight. It will be very interesting to see if this otherwise entirely mediocre team can advance far using these two pitchers 4-5 times in any 7 game series.
Further reading:
https://arizonasports.com/story/6555...-world-series/