THE ENDLESS SINGLE ELIMINATION TOURNAMENT:  THE FINAL GAME!?

After 46 years of games that have eliminated 2,054 teams from contention, the Endless Single Elimination Tournament comes to an end* (note the Maris asterisk, more on that later).  After all the improbable upsets and failures of storied squads, the two left standing are not surprising, and they have much in common.  Both teams had the best record in baseball in their respective seasons, although both fell short of the ultimate goal of World Series champions.  Both teams are prominently mentioned when discussions of the best starting rotations in baseball history take place.  Both teams have surmounted injuries to key players in reeling off ten straight wins to reach the tournament finals.  Fittingly, the game featured on Friday Night Strat with Philadelphia native Tall Tactician guiding the 2011 Phillies, as he has done for their last several wins; in the other corner, it was brother Chuck who had managed the 1999 Braves for several of their wins, even getting past the hole in their rotation caused when he rolled a tournament-ending injury for John Smoltz on the last out of a win.  Also fittingly, the pitching matchup was one for the ages, with Hall of Famer Greg Maddux (19-9, 3.57) on the mound for the Braves against Cliff Lee (17-8, 2.40), who finished third in the Cy Young in an effort to win his second such award.  With all onlookers thus betting on a pitching duel, the group is stunned when the Phillies begin the top of the 1st with 5 consecutive hits off Maddux, starting with a leadoff home run from Hunter Pence and also including a colossal homer from John Mayberry Jr. that would make his dad proud, and the score is 3-0 Phils before Maddux can record an out.  The second inning goes no better, as Brian Jordan adds a 2-run homer and Maddux is gone, lasting only an inning and a third as Chuck tries closer John Rocker as there is no tomorrow in this project.  The Phils can’t get anything off their Rocker, but Lee is in control and allows only one hit through the first five innings.  Atlanta finally breaks the ice in the 6th on a Ryan Klesko RBI double, although the Braves injury woes continue as Bret Boone is done for the tournament.  However, in the 8th Klesko knocks in another run with a single that sets up a 2-run homer from Brian Jordan and suddenly it’s 6-4, although the Tactician is sticking with his man Lee.  In the top of the 9th an error by injury replacement 2B-4 Keith Lockhart sets up a Jimmy Rollins RBI single to give the Phils an insurance run.  It quickly becomes apparent that insurance is a good idea, as Javy Lopez, just returning from an injury suffered in round one of this tournament probably decades ago, celebrates with a solo homer and it’s a two run game.  Then, an improbable error by SS-1 Rollins puts the tying run at the plate for the Braves in the form of Andruw Jones, and a mound visit to Lee is in order.  TT sticks with his ace, and his patience is rewarded as Jones goes down swinging and the Phils establish their claim as the most indomitable Strat team in history.

2011 Phillies  330 000 001  7 10 1
1999 Braves    000 001 031  5  6 2

PHN: Lee
ATN: Maddux 1.2(7H,6R), Rocker 4(2H,0R), Springer 2(0H,0R),
  Remlinger 1.1(1H,1R)

HR:  Pence, J. Mayberry Jr., B. Jordan, J. Lopez
RBI: Pence, J. Mayberry Jr. 4, Rollins 2, Klesko 2, B. Jordan 2,
J. Lopez
INJ: B. Boone 3 games

*  “End” note:  Readers may point out that this tournament is advertised as “endless”, which means that this description of the “final” game is not in keeping with the concept of the project.  In fact, the idea of the project as it originated in the dimly-remembered days of 1980 was to insure that I played every Strat team that I’d purchased over the years, and I’ve continued to attempt to make good on that goal.  However, when I “closed off” entries in the tournament after the 2023 cards were released (because the number of teams I had provided something close to a nice exponent of two, a necessity for a clean bracket), I continued to buy new Strat teams as released, figuring I’d deal with them later.  I now have the 1952, 2024, and 2025 seasons to play, along with a couple of new deadball-era Diamond Gems teams, and they will get their chance in a new “Supplemental Super-Regional” from which the winner will get a chance to climb through an existing path to see if they can earn a shot at the Phils.  So stay tuned–the project may not actually be endless, but as long as Strat keeps printing new teams, and I keep healthy enough to persist, we’ll keep rolling!