14. 1909 Chicago Cubs v. #54 1969 AL Champion Baltimore Orioles
In our 4th and Final Elite 8 matchup it's the '09 Cubs, favored in every matchup to date, taking on the 2nd Oriole team we'll see in the Elite 8, the '69 club. Neither of these teams won the World Series, as is the case with the other Elite 8 matchup in this half of the bracket, the Astros against the Dodgers. Meanwhile, in the top half - all 4 teams still standing are World Champions, guaranteeing us a World Champion v Non World Champion to meet for all the money, which is excellent.
Cubs 104-49 (Pythag: 109-44) Mgr. Frank Chance
d. #115 2004 Red Sox 2-1 (MVP-Ed Reulbach)
d. #78 1978 Yankees 3-2 (MVP-Orvall Overall)
d. #19 1953 Yankees 3-1 (MVP-Pat Moran)
d. #126 2011 Phillies 4-2 (MVP-Frank Schulte)
Hall of Famers: Three Finger Brown, Frank Chance, Johnny Evers, Joe Tinker
This Cub team had a 109-44 pythagorean record and finished in 2nd in the NL, 6 1/2 behind the Pirates. The Cubs won the pennant in '06, '07, '08, '10. The pitching staff had a 1.75 ERA. This team was looking to three-peat, the Cubs having won the World Series in '07 and '08.
Orioles 109-53 (Pythag 110-52) Mgr. Earl Weaver
1st in AL East
d. Twins 3-0 in ALCS
lost to Mets 4-1 in World Series
d. #75 1949 Yankees 2-0 (MVP-Mike Cuellar/Jim Palmer)
d. #118 1917 Giants 3-1 (MVP-Davey Johnson/Mike Cuellar)
d. #43 1928 Yankees 3-0 (MVP Don Buford)
d. #6 2016 Cubs 4-2 (MVP-Boog Powell)
All-Stars: OF Paul Blair, 2B Davey Johnson, SP Dave McNally (4th AL Cy Young) 1B Boog Powell (2nd AL MVP) 3B Brooks Robinson, OF Frank Robinson (3rd AL MVP)
Cy Young: SP Mike Cuellar
Hall of Famers: Jim Palmer, Brooks Robinson, Frank Robinson, Earl Weaver
109 wins, 19 games ahead of the Tigers in AL East. Same year – heavily favored Orioles lost to Mets, heavily favored Colts lost to Jets (and best NBA record – Bullets, lost in playoffs to Knicks), 1970 team also in field, this team had best winning % in Orioles history.
REGION THREE RECAP: HOW THE 1909 CUBS GOT HERE
The Cubs kicked off against the 115th seeded 2004 Red Sox, In Game 1, Three Finger Brown threw a 6 hitter, Johnny Evers had 3 hits and the Cubs won 7-1. They lost Game 2 to Pedro Martinez, meaning they had the showdown game back in Chicago. Ed Reulbach came up huge with a 1 hitter, the Cubs won 5-1, Brown and Reulbach sharing MVP honors.
In Round 2, the Cubs faced the #78th seed, the 1978 Yankees, sequel to the '77 team that would go on and win Region 1. The Yanks had game one in hand, 5-2 in the 9th, Goose Gossage on the mound - and Joe Tinker hit a 3 run homer that tied the score. It took 14 innings - but the Yanks still came away with an 8-5 win. Game 2 was another extra innings affair - New York took a 3-2 lead in the 11th and brought on Gossage again - Three Finger Brown was the game 1 starter for Chicago, came out of the pen in game 2 - was left in to hit off of Gossage - and he cracked a miraculous 2 run double that won the game for the Cubs. That's 25 innings of baseball in the first two games of the series. The Cubs lost game three 1-0 and so had to win both games 4 and 5 to advance. Game 4 again went into extra innings, Frank Schulte singled home Johnny Evers in the 10th to give the Cubs what turned out to be the winning run in a 5-4 game. And then in game 5 Orval Overall threw a one hitter and hit his second home run of the series; the Cubs won 3-0 and knocked the Yankees out. Overall winning the MVP
In the Regional semi-Final the Cubs faced another Yankees squad, the 19th seeded '53 Yanks. Brown took game one, went 8 innings, gave up 6 hits. Overall did him one better in game 2, going the whole way and giving up those same 6 hits. The Yanks took game 3 and game 4 was 1-1 in the 10th, Frank Schule scores on a Pat Moran double, it gives the Cubs the lead and they hold on to end the series. Moran reached 8 times in the series and won the MVP.
And in the Regional Final, the opponent was the 126th seeded 2011 Phillies. Like the 2019 Astros, the Phillies entered this matchup undefeated - that remained true after game one; Roy Halladay went the whole way to beat the Cubs. Ed Reulbach evened things up with a complete game win in Game 2 and the Phils seeming invincibility was punctured. Three Finger Brown matched Reulbach with a complete game win of his own in game 3; and in game 4 the Cubs scores 7 runs off Phillies relievers in the 8th and 9th to win 8-4. Halladay shut the Cubs out in game 5 and the series headed back to Chicago, Cubs up 3 games to 2. 4-4 in the bottom of the 9th - Frank Schulte pulled a Travis Ishikawa - he hit a walk off home run to dead center to give the Cubs the Regional Championships and earn the MVP.
REGION SIX RECAP: HOW THE 1969 ORIOLES GOT HERE
The 54th overall seed - the 1969 Orioles. Their first round matchup was against the #75th seeded '49 Yanks. Mike Cuellar threw a 4 hit shutout in game one; then Jim Palmer a 1 hitter in game two; the Orioles swept both games and the two starters shared MVP honors.
In round 2, the Orioles faced the 1917 Giants, seeded #118. Cuellar again came through, a complete game win to start the series. Palmer followed by winning game 2, the Giants got 2 in the 7th and 2 in the 8th to come back and take game 3 but Cuellar went 8 in game 4, the Orioles won 6-4, he and Davey Johnson, who reached 8 times in the series, shared the MVP.
In the semi-final, the Orioles faced the final Babe Ruth team standing, the 43rd seed, the '28 Yanks. Cuellar went 8 to win game one; the Orioles had 20 hits including 8 doubles. 5 RBI for Johnson. Palmer threw a 3 hitter to take game 2 and the Orioles swept by taking game 3. Don Buford reached 11 times and had 4 doubles, giving him the MVP
And in the Regional Final the Orioles had to overcome the 6th overall seed in this tournament, the 2016 Cubs. Cuellar did it again here, like Verlander, like Kershaw, he moved to 4-0 with a 6 hitter in game one; Baltimore pounding 5 homers. As he's done in each series, Palmer was right behind and the Orioles took game 2, three Baltimore pitchers giving up 4 hits. The Cubs took game 3 - but then Baltimore native Tom Phoebus went 7 innings to take game four for the Orioles, 11-1. Boog Powell and Elrod Hendricks each homering twice. The Cubs got to Cuellar in game 5, they had a 13-5 lead going to the bottom of the 9th - Baltimore staged an amazing comeback, scoring 7 runs - but that left them one short and the Cubs sent the series back to Wrigley, still trailing 3 games to 2. Palmer finished Chicago off in game 6 with 8 scoreless in a 3-0 win. Powell had 4 homers in the series to take the MVP.
So, that's the bottom half of the bracket.
2019 Astros v. 2017 Dodgers
1909 Cubs v. 1969 Orioles
And so - we've reached the end of the talking. It's time to do it. There are just 7 series left to play in this tournament. There's not going to be much previewing, not going to be a lot of biographical content during the games. We've done all that stuff. It's really just time to play baseball and crown the winner of this tournament.
