THE ENDLESS SINGLE ELIMINATION TOURNAMENT, SUPPLEMENTAL SUPER-REGIONAL I

Because the 2,056 teams Strat printed before 2024 formed a nice (and quite expansive) tournament bracket, I cut off new entries after the 2023 season and miraculously completed that bracket.  However, since then I have acquired the 1952, 2024, and 2025 seasons, along with a couple of new deadball-era Diamond Gems teams, and in keeping with the “endless” nature of the project, these teams will get their chance in a new “Supplemental Super-Regional”, from which the winner will get a chance to climb through the path of an existing super-regional (e.g., beginning with round seven) to see if they can earn a shot at the champs.  Although a super-regional consists of a field of 64, these additional teams number somewhat more than that, necessitating play-in games involving the teams with the worst ELO ratings in the batch.  So sit back, because the project returns to its roots–playing games with lots of bad teams!

Play-In Games 

The 1952 Red Sox were a mediocre 76-78 team without Ted Williams, who was flying missions in Korea at the time, so they were hoping that a good outing from Sid Hudson (7-9, 3.62) might allow them to advance past the play-in round of the tournament.  They faced the 77-85 2025 Rays, whose Junior Caminero had 45 homers that was almost 50% more than the 1952 AL home run leader, while Drew Rasmussen (10-5, 2.76) got some Cy Young votes.  It was Boston’s Dick Gernert who hits a solo homer in the bottom of the 2nd putting the Red Sox up, but Caminero’s 2-run shot in the 6th pushes Tampa ahead.  The Red Sox respond in the bottom of the inning, with Clyde Vollmer’s RBI double being followed with a homer from Jimmy Piersall and Boston leads 4-2 after six.  Josh Lowe singles in a run in the 7th to make it a one run game and chase Hudson, but the era-typical Boston bullpen isn’t much to speak of, and in the top of the 9th the Rays erupt for five runs aided by a terrible outing from Red Sox reliever Ralph Brickner.  Piersall tries to get Boston back into it in the bottom of the 9th with a 2-run double, but Edwin Uceta comes in to earn the save as the Rays hold on with an 8-6 win and advance to the tournament proper.  

For a change, this play-in game involved two teams that weren’t terrible.  The 1952 Reds had gone 69-85 but had somewhat underperformed their projection, and Ken Raffensberger (17-13, 2.81) was a solid top of the rotation pitcher.  The 2024 Rangers went 78-84, but had won the Series in the previous year, and had Cory Seager getting MVP votes while Nathan Eovaldi (12-8, 3.80) was a decent option on the mound.  I would manage the Reds against brother Chuck and the Rangers, and a sac fly by Hank Edwards in the 3rd and an RBI single from Bobby Adams in the 5th spots the Reds to an early lead.  After five innings, Chuck heads to a deep Rangers bullpen to avoid Eovaldi’s gopher ball, but in the 8th Willard Marshall greets Cody Bradford with a leadoff homer to make it 3-0 Reds, and Raffensberger has been in control.  However, Leody Taveras breaks the shutout with a 2-run homer in the bottom of the inning, and then Marcus Semian doubles in a run in the bottom of the 9th, but Reds reliever Joe Nuxhall strands him and the game heads to extra innings.  From there a dominating Kirby Yates shackles the Reds, while Nuxhall and then Johnny Schmitz hang on with little else available in the Cincinnati bullpen.  The extra innings pass by with no action, but in the top of the 16th the 5th Ranger pitcher, David Robertson, shows signs of weakness in his 4th inning of relief.  Adams gets a hit, and defensive replacement Wally Westlake follows with a solid single and 1-14 Adams takes off for third.  However, the split is a 20, and the Reds now have two out with big Ted Kluszewski at the plate.  It’s a HR 1-7 split for Big Klu; I miss the split but the resulting triple scores Westlake.   Schmitz then holds serve in the bottom of the 16th and the Reds survive a couple games worth of innings to advance with a 4-3 win, but with the pen shot they’d better hope for complete games for their starting pitchers for the foreseeable future.

The 1952 Pirates had been nominated as one of the worst teams of all time, with a 42-112 record and an ELO rating in the bottom 50 in history, but they had Hall of Famer Ralph Kiner getting MVP votes, and Murray Dickson (14-21, 3.57) supported the old adage that you have to be a pretty good pitcher to lose 20 games, so ColavitoFan opted to manage the Bucs for Friday Night Strat.  That left the Tall Tactician at the helm of the far more modern 78-84 2025 Cardinals, who were about 500 teams better in the ELO ranks than the Bucs although Sonny Gray (14-8, 4.28) did not inspire confidence at the top of a shaky rotation.  Whether it was bad offenses or good performances from staff aces, neither team could do anything through five innings, with two intentional walks to Kiner defusing any threat the Pirates could muster.  That leaves the door open for Lars Nootbaar to put the Cards up in the bottom of the 6th when he converts Dickson’s HR split for a solo shot, and Brendan Donovan adds an RBI single in the 7th to make it 2-0 St. Louis.  When the bottom of the 8th begins with an error and a squib single, Dickson is pulled for Ted Wilks, and that proves disastrous as Nolan Arenado promptly clears the bases with a double, and a walk sets up another 2-run double, this one from defensive replacement Nathan Church.  That provides plenty of padding for the Cards, as three pitchers share in the 6-0 shutout to advance into the main rounds.

After an abortive attempt to use their cross-town brethren as ringers, the 1952 Browns had to take the field; with their 64-90 record, it seemed that their best chance to advance was if Satchel Paige (12-10, 3.07) didn’t look back during the game.  The 1952 Braves got a reprieve by avoiding the better Cardinals, and they had a Hall of Famer of their own on the mound in the form of Warren Spahn (14-19, 2.98), so befitting these legendary starters the game begins scoreless for the first pass through each batting order.  However, in the bottom of the 4th Walker Cooper’s solo shot puts the Braves on the board, only to be matched when Bobby Young raps an RBI double to tie it.  Paige then falls apart in the 6th by allowing four straight hits, one an Eddie Mathews homer, and by the time he recovers his form the Braves lead 4-1.  That proves to be the final score as Spahn closes out a 3-hitter and the Braves postpone their exit from Boston for a little while longer to move on in the tournament.

Although the 2025 Pirates thought about preserving their Cy Young winner Paul Skenes (10-10, 1.97) for later rounds, their 71-91 record was not an accident as an anemic offense made Skenes their best hope to advance.  The 2024 A’s celebrated their last season in Oakland with an even worse 69-93 record, and although there was some pop in the lineup, their inability to get on base suggested that those would be mainly solo homers, probably not enough to offset terrible starting pitching “led” by JP Sears (11-13, 4.38).  But Skenes looks mortal early, yielding back to back run-scoring doubles off his card to Zack Gelof and Abraham Toro, and Oakland leads 3-0 after two.  Lawrence Butler adds to the lead in the 3rd with a long solo homer, and the Pirates don’t get on the board until Joey Bart leads off the 7th with a homer, only the second hit off Sears.  However, Oneil Cruz adds another solo shot later in the inning and the A’s don’t like the way this is heading, so they summon Osvaldo Bido from a deep bullpen and he whiffs Andrew McCutcheon for the third out.  In the 8th, Oakland PH Tyler Soderstrom leads off with a longball for some additional insurance, and then after a single and a walk Shea Langeliers crushes a 3-run homer and the Pirates decide to let their ace suffer and leave him in.  Meanwhile, armed with a 5-run lead the A’s bring in Kyle Muller to mop up, but he seemingly forgot the mop, because he loads up the bases, walks in one run and allows another on a single to McCutcheon, and he’s yanked after recording just one out.  Tyler Ferguson comes in, tosses one pitch to Nick Gonzales who rolls his LOMAX and it’s game over, with the A’s moving on courtesy of the 8-4 victory over the disappointing Skenes.  

The tournament supplement provides Eaglesfly with another chance to manage his hometown Toronto squad, this one the 2024 Blue Jays, who were unfortunately a last place 74-88 team that would nonetheless go on to win a pennant the following season.  I was at the helm of the 2025 Braves, another team that was a disappointment with a 76-86 record after battling injuries much of the season.  The good news for me was I had Chris Sale (7-5, 2.58) healthy and at the top of the rotation, while the Jays had a decent-looking Kevin Gausman (14-11, 3.83), but looks can be deceiving as a Drake Baldwin three-run homer off Gausman’s HR split in the top of the 1st gives the Braves a big lead before Jays fans are settled in.  Matt Olson doubles in another in the 2nd, and he scores on an error from 3B-2 Ernie Clement and Atlanta leads 5-0 after two.  Another three run homer off Gausman in the 4th, this one by Austin Riley, and Kevin is sent home alone as a stream of Toronto relievers comes in to successfully halt the Braves run parade.  However, Sale is dealing, racking up strikeouts left and right; Davis Schneider eventually puts the Jays on the board in the 6th with a sac fly, and an error from 2B-3 Ozzie Albies provides Toronto with an unearned run the 8th, but that’s all they can muster as Sale closes out an 8-2 win, in the process racking up 16 strikeouts–which I believe stands as the tournament record.  It was fitting that this Friday Night Strat game was played at the same time that Sale was passing both Bob Feller and Warren Spahn on the all-time strikeout list in real life.

The 2024 Marlins lost 100 games and looking at a pitching staff that had only one starter eligible for duty under tournament guidelines, that being Trevor Rogers (2-9, 4.53), it wasn’t surprising.  Their draw in this play-in game was another not-so-great team from the same league, the 2024 Pirates, but with a 76-86 record the Bucs were sufficiently confident that they decided to save their outstanding Rookie of the Year Paul Skenes, instead sending out a pretty strong Luis Ortiz (7-6, 3.32) for the start–a strategy that had backfired on me plenty of times during the tournament.  It is the Marlins getting on the board first in the bottom of the 1st when LF-3 Bryan Reynolds misplays a Jesus Sanchez single that allows Xavier Edwards to score, and the same tandem accounts for another run on a Sanchez sac fly in the 3rd to make it 2-0 Miami.  However, Rogers is let down by his defense as two singles past the Marlins’ middle infielders are followed by a bases-clearing double from Isiah Kiner-Falefa that gets past LF-3 Nick Gordon; two batters later Gordon gives up another double to .193 hitting Michael Taylor and the Bucs take the lead, one that extends to 4-2 after a passed ball gets by C-2 Nick Fortes.  Miami strikes back with a squeeze play accomplished by Emmanuel Rivera in the bottom of the inning that narrows the lead to one, The Marlins move to their best reliever to begin the 6th, Jesus Tinoco, but in the 7th Reynolds atones for his earlier error with a solo homer.  The Marlins get the run back as Edwards singles, steals his second base of the game, and scores on a Jonah Bride two-out single, so with the lead back down to a run the Pirates summon Dennis Santana from the pen and he records the final out of the inning.  But Sanchez greets Santana as the first batter of the 8th with a solo homer and the game is tied heading into the 9th.  The Marlins bring in Anthony Bender to begin the 9th, but he’s greeted by a two-base error from his CF-3 Jazz Chisholm to start the inning; Bender responds with three straight outs and it’s now up to Santana to try to send the game to extra innings.  He does so, and the Pirates rap two straight singles to begin the 10th, so Miami summons Calvin Faucher to try to keep the game tied.  He gets one out and then veteran Andrew McCutcheon is summoned to try to score the go-ahead run.  Faucher fans him, but then a Kiner-Falefa grounder gets under the glove of 3B-2 Rivera and the Pirates move into the lead.  In the bottom of the 10th, the Marlins hero Sanchez grounds into a DP and Santana earns the win as the Pirates survive a 6-5 play-in win and will live to see their star rookie pitcher get his shot.   

One of the biggest reasons to have a supplemental bracket for the endless single elimination tournament was the clamor from followers to allow the 2024 White Sox, the losingest team in baseball history, to have their shot at taking it all.  So, here they are, in a round zero play in game against a random draw among other bad teams, and of course who should they draw but the 2025 White Sox, assuring that at least one White Sox team would win one more game in this tournament.  In the interests of fairness, I recruited brother Chuck to play this one, and he kindly selected the truly terrible 2024 version, who lost 19 more games than even the 102-loss 2025 Sox.  However, the equalizer was that while the ‘24 team had only one good player, that just so happened to be their #1 starter, Garrett Crochet (6-12, 3.58), who would be facing Shane Smith (7-8, 3.81) and some of the prospects that Crochet was traded for.  The ‘25s got off to a promising start with a solo homer from Miguel Vargas in the top of the 2nd, but an RBI double from Nicki Lopez ties it up in the bottom of the 3rd.  In the 4th, promising ‘25 rookie Colson Montgomery pokes a solo shot off Crochet’s HR split to push the later team back ahead, but the not-yet-terrible Andrew Vaughn and Gavin Sheets find some hard singles on Smith’s card to drive in two and push 2024 back on top by a 3-2 margin.  Lopez adds his second RBI of the game in the 7th to give Crochet some insurance, and although ‘25s Luis Robert hits the third solo homer of the game for the ‘25 team in the 9th, it’s not enough as the pathetic 121-loss ‘24 team actually wins a game, with Crochet finishing out a 6-hitter–three of which were solo homers.  

For a play-in game, this one looked like a bit of a mismatch on cardstock. The 77-85 2024 Reds had Elly De La Cruz getting MVP support, a supersub in slugger Rece Hinds, and a rotation good enough that they felt that Nick Martinez (10-7, 3.10) could be used to preserve their ace for later rounds.  Meanwhile, the 2025 Nationals lost 96 games, getting their manager and GM both fired in the process; the back half of their lineup couldn’t hit their weight and the rotation was unappetizing, with MacKenzie Gore (5-15, 4.17) the best of the lot.  In the bottom of the 3rd, De La Cruz singles, steals second for the second time of the game, and scores on a Jonathan India base hit for an early Reds lead.  However, in the 5th the Reds lose one of their best players, catcher Tyler Stephenson for the duration of the tournament with .178-hitting Luke Maile as his only replacement, but C-2 Maile makes his entrance by throwing out AA stealer CJ Abrams to begin the 6th.  That limits the damage from the home run hit by the next batter, Oscar-winner James Woods, but the game is nonetheless now tied.  In the bottom of the inning, Spencer Steer misses a HR 1-14 with a 15 split but the resulting double puts men on 2nd and 3rd with nobody out, so Gore is removed and Andrew Alvarez enters.  He records a big strikeout but then yields a single to TJ Friedel; one run scores but the 1-15 Steer is cut down at the plate, proving the split dice aren’t fond of him.  Even so, the one run proves to be enough as Martinez closes out a 5-hitter, fanning 13 in the 2-1 Reds win.   

For a play-in game between the 92-loss 2025 Twins and the 50-104 1952 Tigers, the pitching matchup was a pretty good one, with Joe Ryan (13-10, 3.42) for the Twins and Hal Newhouser (9-9, 3.74) both plenty capable starters.  Fittingly, the two teams collectively managed only one hit though the first four innings, but the one hit was a solo homer by Ryan Jeffers off Newhouser’s split in the top of the 4th to provide the Twins with the lead.  They add two more in the 5th off a 2-out, 2-run single from Luke Keaschall, and then in the 8th Jeffers chases Newhouser by once again finding and converting that HR result for a 2-run shot.  Willie Castro adds an RBI double in the 9th, but it’s all gravy as Ryan completes a 3-hit shutout, striking out 8 in the 6-0 win to move on.

The 2025 Rockies were one of the worst teams in baseball history with a 43-119 record, but that didn’t stop brother Chuck from attempting to lead his hometown team to glory, or at least a play-in win against the 2025 A’s, the first Strat team labeled as Sacramento.  Neither team was blessed with much of a rotation, with the Rockies’ Kyle Freeland (5-17, 4.98) and the A’s Jeffrey Springs (11-11, 4.11) nonetheless better options than the disasters lurking deeper in their rotation; the A’s were eager to send out Rookie of the Year Nick Kurtz to try his luck in the tournament.  But it’s Jordan Beck who gets lucky for the Rockies in the bottom of the 1st with a solo homer, but that is matched by Shea Langoliers in the top of the 2nd.  An A’s error sets up a sac fly by Brandon Doyle that puts Colorado back on top in the bottom of the inning, but once again the A’s respond immediately with a Tyler Soderstrom homer to lead off the 3rd.  In the 5th, the homeless A’s finally take a lead on an RBI single by Jacob Wilson, but this time it’s Colorado’s turn to respond and they do so with an RBI double from Tyler Freeman in the bottom of the frame.  With a game reset after five, both squads turn things over to their bullpens to begin the 6th, and while Jimmy Herget looks sharp for the Rockies, the A’s find no hero in Hogan Harris, who yields a two-run homer to Mickey Moniak in the 6th and an RBI single to Hunter Goodman in the 7th.  The A’s finally run out of responses, and Juan Meija closes it out for the Rockies who move along to the main bracket with the 6-3 win.

The 2024 Nationals lost 91 games with a rather punchless lineup and MacKenzie Gore (10-12, 3.90) at the front of a rotation that would get worse quickly.  They faced a 79-83 2025 Marlins team that had a young lineup with two Rookie of the Year contenders and an All-Star in LF Kyle Stowers, although their rotation also dropped off rapidly after Edward Cabrera (8-7, 3.53).  A two-out RBI single from Otto Lopez in the bottom of the 2nd puts Miami ahead, but the Nats immediately tie it with a run-scoring double from James Wood on the top of the 3rd, although Cabrera records two clutch strikeouts to avoid further damage.  However, the Marlins respond as Xavier Edwards singles, steals second, and scores on a Jakob Marsee single, while Marsee himself crosses the plate on a hit by Agustin Ramirez and it’s 3-1 Miami.  They escape a bases-loaded jam in the 4th courtesy of a DP turned by 2B-1 Edwards, but when Cabrera yields a couple of hits to begin the 7th he’s pulled in favor of Anthony Bender, and Bender says the Nats can kiss his shiny metal butt as he retires three straight to quell the threat.  When Gore allows a single to Dane Myers to lead off the bottom of the inning, he’s yanked for Trevor Williams, but Williams is victimized by a 2-out error by SS-3 CJ Abrams and Jesus Sanchez and Javier Sanoja knock in a few unearned insurance runs.  Myers adds a 2-run single in the 8th, clearing the way for Lake Bachar to mop up in the 9th as the Marlins cruise to a 7-1 victory. 

The 2025 Orioles went a disappointing 75-87, but they had a strong top of the order and a dominating #1 starter in Trevor Rogers (9-3, 1.81) in his second start of this play-in round.  Rogers alone made them ELO favorites over the 2024 Angels and Jose Soriano (6-7, 3.42), with Mike Trout hoping to stay healthy long enough in the game to make an impact.  But it’s Willie Calhoun converting a lucky split in the bottom of the 1st for a solo shot that gives the Halos an early lead, which seems to unnerve Rogers who allows three straight singles for another LA run.  That lead holds until the 4th, when Soriano allows two doubles off his card and falls apart, walking four straight to walk in two runs and then Ramon Laureano provides the final nail in the coffin with a two run single.  Ben Joyce comes in and finally gets out number three, but it’s now 6-2 Baltimore.  The O’s add to their lead in the 5th when RF-2 Jo Adell misplays an Adley Rutschman single to allow Ryan Mountcastle to score, but the Angels get that one back in the 6th when Trout leads off the inning with a long blast.  Luis Rengifo sends an RBI single under the glove of defensive replacement 2B-3 Jorge Mateo in the 7th to make it 7-4 O’s, and then Jordan Westburg gets injured for 5 games making the last out of the 8th for Baltimore who by this point is just trying to hang on for dear life.  They do so, as Rogers finishes a complete game in the 7-4 win, but they advance to the main bracket with their ace burnt and one of their main offensive weapons out for the foreseeable future. 

This supplemental super-regional afforded brother Chuck the opportunity to once again play his Rockies for a (small) chance at glory, and although the 61-101 2024 Rockies were slightly better than their franchise-worst counterparts of the following season, they still were quite bad.  However, this was a play-in game, assuring that their opponent, the 90-loss 2025 Angels, were no great shakes either.  The Rockies’s starter Ryan Feltner (3-10, 4.49) was the best of a bad rotation, giving away half a run in ERA to the Angel’s Yusei Kikuchi (7-11, 3.99), but Feltner starts out strong with five no-hit innings while a Sam Hilliard solo shot in the 4th gives Colorado the lead.  Ezequiel Tover adds another solo shot for an insurance run, and with injuries to Mike Trout and Zach Neto it looks like the Angels are grounded.   But beginning the 8th Chuck eyes Feltner’s card nervously and we forage through the Rockies bullpen (with additional players), and after a bunch are rejected I stumble across one at the bottom of the pile that actually looks pretty decent, a low use 20-inning guy by the name of River Ryan.  Sure enough, he puts away the Angels in the 8th and 9th and it looks like the Rockies move on with the shutout.  BUT….in putting the cards up, I notice–wait a minute, that River Ryan guy’s card says “Los Angeles” on it–so did I pull him from the wrong team??  No, wait, it says “Los Angeles (NL)”, so he’s supposed to be on the Dodgers….and I guess when I separated the extra players out for the 2024 season, I accidently stuck Ryan with the team that preceded his. Chuck insists that the final two innings must be replayed so as not to taint the Rockies victory, so he selects a genuine Rockies reliever from a horrible group of options, Angel Chivilli and his 4.55 ERA.  That goes as you might expect; the Angels rack Chivilli with a series of walks and hits, with RBI singles from Taylor Ward and injury replacement Tim Anderson, and the game is quickly tied and we head to extra innings, where in the bottom of the 11th a base hit and a double by Yoan Moncada provides the walk off, and upon further review the Rockies lose it, 3-2.

The Endless Single Elimination Tournament, Complete Tournament Edition

The party's over, the finals are in the books, and every one of the 2,056 different teams that Strat printed between the 1911 and 2023* seasons has had their chance at immortality, a process that has taken 46 years to complete.  In recognition of this dubious accomplishment, I have collated the "historical documents" of the project into a single PDF document, which enables any interested reader (a group probably numbering less than Jerry Dybzinski's career homer totals) to search for information about the fate of their favorite teams or players.   Since anyone reading this has to be somewhat of a numbers buff, here are some stats: the volume is 1,184 pages long and contains 651,066 words, dwarfing Leo Tolstoy’s War and Peace (561,304), Gone with the Wind (418,053), Charles Dickens' longest work, Bleak House (360,947 words), Dostoyevsky’s The Brothers Karamazov (364,153) and all seven volumes of C.S. Lewis’s The Chronicles of Narnia combined (345,535).  However, as always I must accept that my words-to-readers ratio is far higher than any of those authors, suggesting that perhaps I need to find other things to do.   At any rate, the Complete Tournament edition is available for inspection or download at the link below; hope someone enjoys it!

https://drive.google.com/file/d/1V3tW9kMUCm1JTipBOqqMExmkjGUSPzXh/view?usp=sharing

* to be continued......

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!

FINAL FOUR:  Tournament Semifinals

Two seemingly unstoppable squads clash in the first game of the Final Four, with the Tall Tactician once again at the helm of his hometown 2011 Phillies, while I would manage the 2014 Tigers as I had in their previous nine consecutive wins.  The Phils would have Cy Young runner-up and Hall of Famer Roy Halladay (19-6, 2.35) on the mound, while Detroit would counter with David Price (15-12, 3.26) who finished 6th in the Cy Young voting while pitching for two different teams.  An RBI single in the top of the 2nd by Miggy Cabrera gives the Tigers the early 1-0 lead, but that seems to wake up Halladay who goes on a strikeout binge.  On the other hand, the Phils’ bats aren’t doing much either, and that isn’t helped when Raul Ibanez goes down to injury in the 4th.  However, it’s his replacement, Ben Francisco, who treats the Phillies fans with an RBI single in the 6th that ties the game, and in the bottom of the 7th Price seems to be showing signs of discomfort after a long 7th inning stretch trivia break.  With two aboard, I opt for Al Albuquerque from the pen, and his first roll is greeted by a three-run homer from John Mayberry Jr..  His second roll results in a Ryan Howard homer, and I’ve seen enough–two batters faced, two homers.  Joe Nathan comes in to end the inning, but he yields an RBI double to Placido Polanco in the 8th and Justin Verlander has to come in to get the final out, but it’s far too late; Halladay closes out a 4-hitter in which he strikes out 14 and the Phils win 6-1 to earn a spot in the finals of the perhaps not-so-endless tournament.

2014 Tigers    010 000 000   1 4 1
2011 Phillies  000 001 41-   6 8 0

DEA: Price 6.2(5H,3R), Albuquerque 0(2H,2R), Nathan 1(1H,1R), Verlander 0.1(0H,0R)
PHN: Halladay

HR:  Mayberry Jr., R. Howard
RBI: M. Cabrera, Francisco, Mayberry Jr. 3, R. Howard, Polanco
INJ: R. Ibanez 2 games

The next stop on the Cinderella express for the 1947 Senators was a formidable roadblock in the form of the 1999 Braves.  However, the challenge was considerably lessened because it was John Smoltz’s turn in the rotation for the Braves, but brother Chuck had gotten Smoltz permanently injured on the last roll of his previous game, and replacement Terry Mulholland (10-8, 4.39) was nowhere near the regulars in this rotation, particularly because the Braves only had his combined season card that included some terrible outings with the Cubs.  Furthermore, Eaglesfly would go for his third straight upset with the Nats with the aid of Hall of Famer Early Wynn (17-15, 3.64) on the mound and .500 hitter Gil Coan in the starting lineup as an injury replacement.  All of this portends well for the Senators, and the dice gods show further favor upon them in the top of the 1st as a walk, an unthinkable 2-base error by CF-1 Andruw Jones, and a sac fly give them a quick 1-0 lead without recording a hit.  However, this is no ordinary team they are facing, and Ryan Klesko’s RBI double quickly ties things in the bottom of the inning.  With first base open, Eaglesfly opts to walk dangerous Brian Jordan to pitch to Bret Boone, and Boone booms a three-run homer to put Atlanta well in the lead.  Wynn then can’t find the strike zone, setting up an RBI single for Brian Hunter and after one inning, the Braves are up 5-1.  However, never count these Senators out; Jerry Priddy singles in a run in the 4th and then #9 hitter Mark Christman converts Mulholland’s HR split and it’s a one-run game.  After Mulholland goes the requisite five, Chuck races to his pen and Russ Springer comes in to toss two perfect innings, and in the bottom of the 7th the dice gods abandon the Senators as errors by SS-3 Christman and 3B-2 Eddie Yost open the floodgates.  Wynn can’t get anybody out and by the time Tom Ferrick comes in to retire the Braves, four more runs have crossed the plate.  With a five-run lead, Chuck summons Kevin McGlinchy to mop up in the 8th, but the Nats are not to be taken lightly, and McGlinchy doesn’t make it out of the inning as Mickey Vernon and Tom McBride each drive in runs.  It’s then time for Rudy Seanez, and he strands two runners to close out the inning with the Braves still clinging to a three run lead.  In the 9th, Coan raps a double but the Senators can muster no further offense against Seanez, and the clock strikes midnight for Cinderella as the Senators finally go down 9-6 and the Braves head to the tournament final.

1947 Senators 100 300 020  6 10 3
1999 Braves   500 000 40-  9  8 1

WAA:  Wynn 6(7H,8R), Ferrick 2(1H,1R)
ATN:  Mulholland 5(5H,4R),Springer 2(0H,0R), 
        McGlinchey 0.2(4H,2R), Seanez 1.1 (1H,0R,save)

HR: Boone, Christman
RBI: Vernon 2, Klesko, Boone 4, Hunter 2, Priddy, Christman 2, 
        G. Williams, A. Jones, McBride

Introducing the FINAL FOUR:  Sectional IV winner

The 1999 Braves captured their eighth successive division title with a record of 103–59, and marched through the playoffs to reach the World Series for the fifth time in the decade. However, somehow despite their ELO composite ranking as the 72nd best in baseball history, and their great rotation, they were swept in the Series by the Yankees, marking the end of a dynasty as they wouldn't win another pennant until 22 years later.  Famed for their rotation with the three Hall of Famers Maddux, Glavine, and Smoltz, their ace was actually Kevin Millwood who finished 3rd in the Cy Young votes.  However, Smoltz will be sitting out the remainder of the tournament after an injury in the super-regional finals, a true-to-life outcome as he had to sit out the following season due to Tommy John surgery, after which he converted to a closer.  Even with Smoltz out, when you add in John Rocker’s 38 saves and NL MVP Chipper Jones leading the offense with 45 homers and a .310 average, it’s easy to see how this group could not only survive, but thrive in the massive field of this tournament.  Teams defeated to reach the Final Four:  2015 Nationals (755) 9-7; 2023 Blue Jays (565) 7-0; 2023 Braves (73) 8-4; 1988 Red Sox (608) 11-3; 2022 Twins (1671) 4-0; 2015 Diamondbacks (1590) 7-4; 2023 Padres (544) 9-0; 2015 Yankees (748) 2-0; 1987 Tigers (296) 5-2.  Key performers:  Chipper Jones 4 HR 11 RBI, Brian Hunter 3 HR 9 RBI, Bret Boone 2 HR 9 RBI, Ryan Kelsko 2 HR 7 RBI.  Injuries:  Javy Lopez 1 game remaining, John Smoltz 11 games remaining (out for tournament). 

Introducing the FINAL FOUR:  Sectional III winner

The 1947 Senators went 64-90, good for next to last place in the American League, 27 games out, and an ELO rank as the 2,058th best team in baseball history.  Their main move in the preseason was re-acquiring longtime Senator outfielder George Case, who led the AL in stolen bases six times including in 1946, but the years of hard sliding had led to shoulder and back problems, and his hitting stroke was gone.  Hitting just .150, he retired in midseason, and the real-life Senators limped to another disappointing season.  However, manager Ossie Bluege has been outdone by a variety of managerial wizards in this tournament, because the Cinderella Senators have been the star of the ball.  Buoyed by Hall of Famers Early Wynn and Rick Ferrell, they have reeled off nine straight victories, including wins against two World Champions (the 1972 A’s and the 1952 Yankees) and an NL pennant winner in the 2017 Dodgers.  Of course, a certain amount of luck has also been involved, as the Yankees had lost Mickey Mantle, and their Final Four game against the Braves comes against a hole in the latter’s formidable rotation with John Smoltz getting injured on the final out of his previous start.  The Nats have had injuries of their own, with RF Buddy Lewis on the DL not once but twice in the project–but even this turns out to be fortuitous, as who better to replace Lewis than RF-3 Gil Coan and his freakish .500-hitting card.  Teams defeated to reach the Final Four: 1996 Pirates (1850) 7-4; 1911 Browns (2360) 2-1 (12); 1972 A's (254) 12-4; 2009 Royals (1878) 4-0; 1990 Brewers (1408) 1-0; 1995 Mets (1256) 9-3; 2017 Dodgers (86) 4-3; 1958 Yankees (121) 7-6; 2013 Dodgers (407) 5-0.  Key performers:  Stan Spence 2 HR 9 RBI, Mickey Vernon 2 HR 8 RBI, Eddie Yost 1 HR 7 RBI.  Injuries:  Buddy Lewis 8 games remaining (out for tournament).

Introducing the FINAL FOUR:  Sectional II winner

The 2011 Phillies won their fifth consecutive National League East championship, and also finished with the best record in baseball for the second straight year. However, they were eliminated in the NLDS by the eventual World Series winning Cardinals, and the loss ended a dynasty and began the longest active postseason drought in the NL at the time. One of the major preseason moves made by the Phils was to re-sign Cliff Lee, whom they had traded to the Mariners the previous season in order to acquire Roy Halladay.  With the addition of Lee to a rotation of Halladay, Cole Hamels, and Roy Oswalt, some have called this the best rotation of all time, boasting three of the top five vote-getters for the Cy Young award; furthermore, three of them were in the top 10 in career winning-percentage, and the fourth was an NLCS and World Series MVP.  The most successful of an era of Phillies teams that all progressed far in the tournament, this team had to survive repeated injuries, including a 15-gamer to Chase Utley that sent him packing for the entire tournament, but that still left four MVP vote-getters in the lineup including Ryan Howard, Carlos Ruiz, Shane Victorino, and Hunter Pence.  Teams defeated to reach round ten:  1957 Senators (2295) 5-4; 1958 Dodgers (1576) 2-1; 2020 Nationals (760) 8-6; 1950 Cardinals (649) 18-2; 1964 Pirates (1311) 4-1; 2009 Reds (1752) 4-2; 1960 Giants (881) 5-2; 2006 Dodgers (1228) 4-1; 2012 Nationals (460) 3-2.   Key performers:  Ryan Howard 2 HR 7 RBI, Raul Ibanez 2 HR 6 RBI, Shane Victorino 1 HR 5 RBI, John Mayberry Jr. 1 HR 6 RBI.  Injuries: Chase Utley 7 games remaining (out of tournament).