[tavo2311]

Region 1 played out mostly as expected. The top five seeds all advanced and none required a 7th game. The 6 seed 1942 Brooklyn Dodgers were swept aside, so that was somewhat of a surprise, but that had to be the closest of any possible four game series sweep. A 14th inning loss, a couple blown leads in the 9th or later, and a 5-run total deficit over the 4 games. Round two will bring us a Yankee / Red Sox rivalry series, with Ted Williams and Dom DiMaggio going against rival and sibling Joe DiMaggio and team. Mantle and McGwire get to go at it as well. And I think the 2nd seed 1970 Orioles have a tricky one to navigate in 1935 Tigers who may be a bit underrated here.

Region 2 had one big upset with the elimination of the 1961 Yankees at the hands of Walter Johnson and co from 1925. The top two seeds narrowly avoided their own upset, the ’75 Reds finding themselves in a tie game in the 9th of game 7 and the 1911 A’s winning a thrilling 7th game in the tourney’s first all-dead ball matchup. The marquee matchup of the 2nd round should be the 4/5 block with the 1995 Indians and 1984 Tigers. These two teams each have the potential to do some real damage but one will be out in the round of 32. Also intriguing will be the ’69 Mets and ’75 Reds, seeing if the Mets can pull off another miracle in this series between teams from similar eras.

Region 3 lost their 2nd and 3rd seeds, teams that many thought had a real chance to win it all in the ’98 Yankees an ’04 Red Sox. Maybe our recency bias had these guys overrated related to the best in the entire history of the game? It didn’t end there either. The 4,5,6,7, and 8 seeds are all gone too. The ’27 Yankees didn’t need much help to make it out of this region, but they have to be really licking their chops now. Because of all the upsets the 2nd round doesn’t bring too much appeal on the surface. Shoeless Joe is going against Ruth/Gehrig, etc… so that should be fun to watch. Two of the ’77 Royals, ’01 D’backs, ’33 Senators, and ’72 A’s are going to be in the Sweet 16. We may get some close series’ between those teams but we’re gonna need storylines to develop in order to build any real excitement.

If you thought Region 3 was filled with upsets, Region 4 was truly decimated. The top five seeds are all gone! The 6th seed 1929 A’s was one that was seen to be under-seeded, potentially severely, coming in, and now they are the best remaining team. The 8th seed ’21 Yankees have to be watched as well. After surviving a 7th game against the 2018 Red Sox they now get the 2003 Marlins. Josh Beckett will get another chance to silence a favored Yankees lineup. The highlight of round two in my opinion is the ’29 A’s vs. ’65 Twins. I think this one will be close, and I’ll predict now that the region’s winner is the winner of this one.