The Greatest MLB Tournament Ever Created (AL, Round One, Group 4)

Last group is here.

4. 1910 A's (won WS)
v.
125. 2003 Mariners (2nd in West)

-Something's got to give here, each of the top seeds in all groups, both leagues, have advanced so far - but modern teams have really had great success against 19th C/early 20th squads.  23 year old Eddie Collins, 24 year old Home Run Baker, 26 year old Chief Bender, 34 year old Eddie Plank - all Hall of Famers leading the A's.  The Mariners have a 29 year old Ichiro Suzuki, a 40 year old Edgar Martinez and a 34 year old John Olerud.  Let's see if we get the biggest upset in the tournament thusfar.

C A's-Lapp
1B Mariners-Olerud
2B A's-Collins
SS A's-Barry
3B A's-Baker
LF Mariners-Winn
CF Mariners-Cameron
RF Mariners-Suzuki
DH Mariners-Martinez
SP1 A's-Coombs
SP2 A's-Franklin
SP3 Mariners-Pineiro
Cl Mariners-Hasegawa
Double: Bat WAR A's
Double: Pit WAR Mariners

Mariners 9 A's 8 - and it happened; the Mariners pitching advantage is as slight as it could possibly have been to not be called a push - it is the thinnest possible margin of victory for the modern club.

61. 2002 Angels (Won WS)
v.
68. 1952 Yankees (Won WS)

-10 Yankee teams are already in the Field of '64, but none from the 50s (the '54 and '55 teams got bounced)  I believe this is the only Angels representative in the tournament. The Angels have a 28 year old Darin Erstad and a 30 year old Garret Anderson. The Yankees have a 20 year old Mickey Mantle and a 27 year old Yogi Berra. 

C Yankees-Berra

1B Yankees-Collins

2B Angels-Kennedy

SS Angels-Eckstein

3B Angels-Glaus

LF Angels-Anderson

CF Yankees-Mantle

RF Yankees-Bauer

DH Angels-Fullmer

SP1 Yankees-Reynolds

SP2 Angels-Washburn

SP3 Push

Cl Angels-Percival

Double: Bat WAR Yankees

Double: Pit WAR Angels

Angels 9 Yankees 7 - the Angels really won with the pitching, they got the matchup win and the overall win, getting them the victory.

29. 1935 Tigers (Won WS)
v.
100. 1905 A's (Lost WS)

-The '10 A's team just got knocked off in the biggest upset seed wise we're likely to see in the entire tournament; we've seen a couple of Tigers teams already make the Field of 64. The A's have 21 year old Chief Bender, 29 year old Eddie Plank and 28 year old Rube Waddell.  The Tigers have 24 year old Hank Greenberg, 32 year old Mickey Cochrane, 32 year old Charlie Gehringer.

C Tigers-Cochrane

1B Tigers-Greenberg

2B Tigers-Gehringer

SS Tigers-Rogell

3B A's-Cross

LF A's-Hartsel

CF A's-Hoffman

RF A's-Seybold

SP1 A's-Plank

SP2 A's-Waddell

SP3 A's-Coakley

Cl Tigers-Hogsett

Double: Bat WAR Tigers

Double: Pit WAR A's

A's 9 Tigers 7 - The A's ran swept the outfield and dominated the pitching to pull the big upset.  

36. 1956 Yankees (Won WS)
v.
93. 2017 Astros (Won WS)

-The 50s Yankees still don't have a representative in the Field of 64 - and they take on a very recent Houston Astros club.  Mantle's 24, Yogi's 31, Whitey's 27.  For the Astros Jose Altuve is 27, Alex Bregman's 23, Carlos Correa is 22.

C Yankees-Berra

1B Yankees-Skowron

2B Astros-Altuve

SS Astros-Correa

3B Astros-Bregman

LF Astros-Aoki

CF Yankees-Mantle

RF Astros-Reddick

DH Yankees-Collins

SP1 Yankees-Ford

SP2 Astros-Morton

SP3 Astros-Keuchel

Cl Astros -Giles

Double: Bat WAR Astros

Double: Pit WAR Astros

Astros 10 Yankees 7 - Houston wins those infield matchups and then sweeps the overall categories

13. 1953 Yankees (Won WS)
v.
116. 1963 White Sox (2nd in AL)

-The Yankees 50s clubs still can't find a spot in the next round; the White Sox don't have any representatives at all who have advanced.  Let's see what gives.  Mantle's 21, Yogi's 28, Whitey's 24. The Sox have a 40 year old Hoyt Wilhelm and a 26 year old Gary Peters. 

C Yankees-Berra

1B Yankees-Collins

2B Yankees-Martin

SS White Sox-Hansen

3B White Sox-Ward

LF Yankees-Woodling

CF Yankees-Mantle

RF Yankees-Bauer

SP1 White Sox-Peters

SP2 White Sox-Herbert

SP3 White Sox-Pizarro

Cl White Sox-Wilhelm

Double: Bat WAR Yankees

Double: Pit WAR White Sox

White Sox 9 Yankees 8 - the 50s Yankees teams continue to be snakebit, here, they had a heavy advantage with the bats and just got clean swept on the mound.  

52. 1913 A's (won WS)
v.
77. 1949 Yankees (won WS)

-we just saw one of these A's teams advance, while the Yankees have struggled recently - let's see what happens here. We've seen this A's quartet of Hall of Famers multiple times - Baker is 27, Collins 26, Bender 29 and Plank is 37.  This Yankee team has a 34 year old DiMaggio and a 24 year old Yogi.

C Yankees-Berra

1B A's-McInnish

2B A's-Collins

SS A's-Barry

3B A's-Baker

LF A's-Oldring

CF Yankees-DiMaggio

RF Yankees-Henrich

SP1 Yankees-Raschi

SP2 Yankees-Lopat

SP3 Yankees-Reynolds

Cl Yankees-Page

Double: Bat WAR A's

Double: Pit WAR Yankees

Yankees 9 A's 7 - The A's dominated offensively, sweeping through the IF, but New York won every pitching matchup and then easily took the overall pitching.  The Yankees advance. 


20. 1917 White Sox (won WS)
v.
109. 1951 Yankees (won WS)

We just had a White Sox/Yankees matchup; here, it's the ChiSox who are the solid favorites.  Shoeless Joe is 29 and Eddie Collins is 30. The two years prior Yankees just advanced in the previous game - it's a 26 year old Yogi and a 36 year old DiMaggio joined by a 19 year old Mickey Mantle

C Yankees-Berra

1B White Sox-Gandil

2B White Sox-Collins

SS Yankees-Rizutto

3B White Sox-Weaver

LF White Sox-Jackson

CF White Sox-Felsch

RF Push

SP1 White Sox-Cicotte

SP2 Yankees-Lopat

SP3 Yankees-Reynolds

Cl White Sox-Danforth

Double: Bat WAR Yankees

Double: Pit WAR White Sox

White Sox 9 Yankees 6 - the Yankees had better overall bats, but the White Sox won the lineup matchups and the total pitching to advance.  

45. 1909 Tigers (lost WS)
v.
84. 1930 A's  (Won WS)

-we finish up the first half of Round 1 in the American League with Tigers/A's - we've seen one of these Ty Cobb Tigers teams advance already; and the 1929 A's, just a year before this club, have already moved forward.  Cobb is 22 here, Sam Crawford's 29. Mickey Cochrane isn't a Tiger - that doesn't happen until '34.  He's a 27 year old A - and so is a 43 year old Eddie Collins, a 22 year old Jimmie Foxx, a 30 year old Lefty Grove.

C A's-Cochrane

1B A's-Foxx

2B A's-Bishop

SS Tigers-Bush

3B Tigers-Moriarity

LF A's-Simmons

CF Tigers-Crawford

RF Tigers-Cobb

SP1 Tigers-Mullin

SP2 A's-Grove

SP3 Tigers-Summers

Cl Push

Double: Bat WAR Tigers

Double: Pit WAR A's

Tigers 8 A's 7 - Just super close a dead even matchup with Detroit's bats just...barely squeezing them by the A's to end Group 4.  The next time we see this group:

125. 2003 Mariners
v.
61. 2002 Angels

100. 1905 A's
v.
93. 2017 Astros

116. 1963 White Sox
v.
77. 1949 Yankees

20. 1917 White Sox
v.

45. 1909 Tigers

Half the bracket for the AL is done.  When we return to the NL for Group 4, it's with the 4th seed in the NL, the 1944 Cardinals.