[Highlander]

Round 2 is in the books. Some classic teams have advanced, but some surprise ones are still in the mix. Here is a summary of the 60 teams that are still in contention by each franchise....I've combined some where appropriate-

Baltimore Orioles (2)- 1969, 1971
Boston Red Sox (4)- 1912, 2003, 2004, 2008
Brooklyn/Los Angeles Dodgers (4)- 1953, 1959, 2014, 2019
California Angels (1)- 1986
Chicago Cubs (2)- 1907, 2016
Cincinnati Reds (3)- 1972, 1975, 1976
Cleveland Indians/Guardians (3)- 1995, 1996, 2018
Detroit Tigers (1)- 1940
Florida Marlins (1)- 1997
Houston Astros (1)- 1999
Kansas City Royals (1)- 1989
Milwaukee/Atlanta Braves (3)- 1957, 1992, 2012
Milwaukee Brewers (1)- 2021
Minnesota Twins (1)- 1963
Montreal Expos/Washington Nationals (3)- 1979, 1980, 2017
New York/San Francisco Giants (5)- 1908, 1910, 1923, 1937, 1993
New York Mets (2)- 1987, 1988
New York Yankees (11)- 1927, 1931, 1932, 1934, 1939, 1947, 1955, 1961, 1998, 2006, 2007
Oakland A's (1)- 2013
Pittsburgh Pirates (6)- 1903, 1909, 1928, 1933, 1990, 1991
St. Louis Cardinals (3)- 1943, 1967, 2022
Texas Rangers (1)- 2011


And here's how it comes out by decade-

1900's (4)- 1903, 1907, 1908, 1909
1910's (2)- 1910, 1912
1920's (3)- 1923, 1927, 1928
1930's (6)- 1931, 1932, 1933, 1934, 1937, 1939
1940's (3)- 1940, 1943, 1947
1950's (4)- 1953, 1955, 1957, 1959
1960's (4)- 1961, 1963, 1967, 1969
1970's (5)- 1971, 1972, 1975, 1976, 1979
1980's (5)- 1980, 1986, 1987, 1988, 1989
1990's (9)- 1990, 1991, 1992, 1993, 1995, 1996, 1997, 1998, 1999
2000's (5)- 2003, 2004, 2006, 2007, 2008
2010's (8)- 2011, 2012, 2013, 2014, 2016, 2017, 2018, 2019
2020's (2)- 2021, 2022

So, it is no surprise that the Yankees have the most representatives as a franchise. The fact that the Giants and Pirates are next isn't a big surprise either. I might have expected the Cardinals and Dodgers to have more. It is clear that there are certain eras for certain teams where they were very good....the Orioles, Reds, Indians, Mets, etc. all have more than one team within a year or two of each other.

Decade-wise, I found it surprising that the 90's had the most teams moving on. I expected more modern eras to have a few more because of the pitching issues that older teams tended to have, but most of those have been weeded out now (unless there were matchups against similar era teams). Again, though, the 90's are really well represented and the strange thing is that the two teams many think of as dominating the 90's....the Braves and Yankees....only have 1 team each!

On to round 3! I've decided to run this round a little differently than I originally planned. Instead of 6 groups of 10 teams, I am going to flip it to 10 groups of 6. That will give a final "top 10" to battle it out. The teams will be matched up randomly...I may "re-randomize" if one group seems way to heavy in one era or another. I'd like to see it spread out, although the more recent years have more teams, so it will skew that way a little.

My next post will reveal the first group of 6.....then I'll run the 6 seasons and see which one advances to the finals. I'll give a little more info on player performance in this round as well so you know who is coming up big and who is letting their teams down. Stats may get a little crazy, but based on past rounds, I am hoping it stays in the range I've seen so far.