2021 NL Central Preview

We're halfway through Major League Baseball for the 2021 season, and with the West slated for tomorrow, it's time for me to get back to work and start the second half of the preview series for 2021.

Earlier today I attacked the AL Central, so this afternoon I'll swap leagues and attack my home division.

Let's look at the NL Central.

2019 MLB Tournament of Champions: Championship

128 teams entered. Over six thousand games later, we're down to just two teams as we renew our quest to find the greatest MLB team of all time as part of the 2019 MLB Tournament of Champions. Every World Series champion got an invitation to the fun, and every franchise without a title got at least one iteration from their history into the festivities. They then went through a grueling 90 game double round robin to build up a significant sample size.

That accounted for 5,760 of the 6000-plus games, but that was just the beginning as I began a single elimination tournament from the top eight teams from each of the groups I'd built out for this tournament. Five rounds later, we have our top two teams left standing. And the fun part for this: we get an old rematch.

On one side was arguably the favorite coming into this whole thing. They were the best team in the 2017 Tournament of Champions, but proceeded to need every possible game to win the Championship of Champions. For a title defense, the 2016 Cubs seemed poised to be a dominant force once again, but ran into some slight hiccups. Despite losing their final four series in group play, the Cubs went 54-36, good for second place in Group H. They swept the 1919 Cincinnati Reds in the opening round of the postseason before needing winner-take-all games at home to finish off the 1972 Oakland Athletics and 1938 New York Yankees. A quarterfinal sweep over the 1944 St. Louis Cardinals, winners of their own group, and a six game victory of the legendary 1927 New York Yankees, have the Cubs back to within four wins of further immortality.

On the other side was a team that, in 2017, tied for the third-best record among my National League representatives, but was relegated to Wild Card status for the postseason. They won the Wild Card series that year before dropping a heartbreaking fifth game on a walk-off homer to... the 2016 Cubs. The 1975 Cincinnati Reds came back two years later placed in a different group, and worked to a 57-33 record... which unfortunately for them was only good for third in their group as they finished just one game behind the co-leaders. But the Reds won their first two series in four games apiece over the 2004 Boston Red Sox and 1912 Boston Red Sox, respectively, before punching their ticket to the quarterfinals with a sweep of the group champion 1924 Washington Senators. Cincinnati followed that up with a six game victory over the 1984 Detroit Tigers to remove the DH from the rest of the tournament, then won a hard-fought seven game series over the 1953 New York Yankees to get one more crack at the team that knocked them off two years ago.

This time around, the Reds will get home field advantage by virtue of their better Group Play record. It's a best of seven series played in a 2-3-2 format, so the Reds will get a little more leeway than the best-of-five they had to play in two years ago. In prior rounds of this postseason I've just gone with results and records. This time, I'm going to do brief writeups of each game in this series. You can view the bracket to date, as well as scores and standings from as far back as group play, here. All simulations for the entire Tournament of Champions are provided by WhatIfSports.com. And so, one final time this year... let's play ball!

2019 MLB Tournament of Champions: Semifinals

And then there were four.

I started this project all the way back in April with 128 teams, including every World Series champion dating back to 1903. After 90 games for each team, that got narrowed down to 64. And after four grueling rounds, we've finally advanced to the semifinals, and there are some big names here. Murderer's Row is here, along with another Yankee iteration a generation later, the Big Red Machine has advanced after having to settle for a Wild Card and getting bounced in the NLDS two years ago, and our defending Champion of Champions in the 2016 Cubs round out what's left.

To narrow the field down to just two teams, we will play a pair of best-of-seven series in a 2-3-2 format, with home field advantage going to the team with the better group play record (and as luck would have it, seedings match that as well). With all of our 1973-onward American League teams gone, so is the designated hitter for the remainder of the tournament.

You can view the bracket to date as well as how group play went here. All simulations are provided by WhatIfSports.com. Let's get to it!

2019 MLB Tournament of Champions: Quarterfinals

We're down to the final eight teams as the 2019 MLB Tournament of Champions rolls on!

We've finally moved beyond the confines of group play, as the 90 round robin games and three playoff rounds were enough. We now have group "champions" as we move on to the tournament's quarterfinals.

There was a good blend of chalk and upsets through the first three rounds, as only three round robin group winners have advanced to this stage alongside a two, three, four, five, and six seed apiece. Some of the most legendary teams are included in this group, including a playoff team from the 2017 tournament as well as the defending Champion of Champions.

At this point, for all intents and purposes, seedings based on finish in group play are being dropped and home field advantage will go to the team with the better record from group play. For this round, the higher "seeds" did have better records, but I'm making this change for this round onward because I think the sample size speaks for itself. For the remainder of the tournament as well, we're expanding the rounds from best of five to best of seven to be played in a 2-3-2 format as used in Major League Baseball's postseason. We have one series that this will impact in this round, but since the 1984 Detroit Tigers played in the DH era, all of their home games will be played with a designated hitter. All other games will have the pitcher batting ninth.

You can view the updated bracket, as well as scores and standings from group play, here. All simulations are provided by WhatIfSports.com. Let's play ball!

2019 MLB Tournament of Champions: Group Finals

I'm breaking from football again for a little bit because the 2019 MLB Tournament of Champions is still rolling on!

We've managed to narrow the field down to 16 teams from the original 128, including every World Series champion. It's a little amazing when in other sports that I've done Tournaments of Champions for it's all more modern teams, while here, half the remaining field is from before Jackie Robinson broke the color barrier. Our two highest seeds from group play, as well as our defending Champion of Champions from 2017 are all still in contention.

So today I'm going through the third round, which is the last set of series that will be played within the confines of the groups I set up at the beginning of the tournament. It's also the final round of a best-of-five. Home field advantage goes to the higher seed based on group finish in a 2-2-1 format. This is only a factor for three teams and thus three series, but any home games for American Leagues from 1973 onward are played with a designated hitter; all other games have the pitcher batting ninth.

You can view the bracket so far, as well as go back to see how group play went, here. All simulations are provided by WhatIfSports.com. Let's set up the Elite Eight!

2019 MLB Preview: NL Central

The preview series continues on with, for all intents and purposes, official Opening Day coming on Thursday. And with four divisions left to cover before then... I'd better get to work.

As in prior years, I'm going across the country and alternating leagues, ending with the defending champion's division. That means tomorrow afternoon is when I'll have a gander at the AL East. But for now, let's visit the middle of the country and look at the NL Central.

90's Youth Life Podcast Special: The 1994 MLB Playoffs Simulation

I was a radio guy in college. So it's kind of a surprise that, other than a random podcast with a Nintendo forum something like ten years ago that who knows if it even still exists anywhere or not, I am a novice at the podcast game. Fortunately, I know people.

I've talked up the immortal Geoffrey Clark on here before. He's a classmate and friend from my North Central days, a blogger for Chicago Bulls Confidential, and he is also the host of the 90s Youth Life podcast. He's talked up a number of topics from when we grew up, including topics like the McDonald's Beanie Baby craze and the career of Ken Griffey, Jr. with another WONC alum we overlapped with.

So a couple weeks ago, I got a text from Geoff regarding my favorite tool on this blog, WhatIfSports. He'd been introduced to the tool through Confessions of a Sportscaster and was talking about how addicting it was. It was through that discussion that he brought up the lost postseason of 1994 due to the strike. One thing led to another and, well... I was a guest on a podcast.

In it we run through how the 1994 Major League Baseball postseason could have played out had the playoffs been the leaders in the standings when play stopped. After the jump I will post links to the box scores of the games, but if you want to keep the element of surprise... take a listen.

2018 MLB Preview: NL Central

We're onto the second day of MLB previews as I've condensed this year's batch down to three days instead of six. We're still working our way across the country, alternating leagues, before ending with the division containing the defending World Series champion.

This brings us to the country's center, and after ending yesterday in the American League, we go to my division of greatest familiarity in the NL Central.

MLB Tournament of Champions: NLDS Series 2

The postseason of the MLB Tournament of Champions continues onward as we continue a look at the League Division Series!

As I mentioned in prior series posts, I'm devoting one post to each series to go through the storylines of each game and give every series the time and attention it deserves. And this one absolutely deserves every bit of attention it is getting, when we consider the storyline.

1975 Cincinnati Reds were a powerhouse in their day, and that power translated to the regular season where they won 52 games and challenged for, though never actually led, the NL Central. Instead, they settled for home field advantage in the Wild Card Series, though they needed the full three games to dispatch the 1998 San Diego Padres. Nonetheless, they are here and ready to continue their run.

Their obstacle is the all but unquestioned best team for the entirety of the Tournament of Champions in the 2016 Chicago Cubs. Chicago ran roughshod over pretty much every team in the tournament and had the best record virtually wire to wire. While they ran into a couple rough spots here and there, their 59 wins were the most in the tournament, and they were the first National League team to lock up a postseason berth. They defeated 108 years of negative history, and now they sit 11 wins away from being crowned the greatest team of all time.

The Cubs and Reds will play a best of five series, with the Cubs getting home field advantage in a 2-2-1 format thanks to having the aforementioned most wins in the tournament. However, it should be noted that these teams split their eight games in the regular season, which means this is anyone's series. I am keeping stats for this series, which you can view by series and in aggregate here. All simulations are provided by WhatIfSports.com. Let's play some baseball!

MLB Tournament of Champions: NL Wild Card Series

The postseason of the MLB Tournament of Champions is in full swing as we wrap up the Wild Card Round of the Elimination Stage!

This round is taking a little longer to determine than it would in the actual Major League Baseball postseason because this is a tournament to try to find the greatest team of all time... or at least since 1965. As such, I made this round a best of three instead of a winner take all game. I want to minimize the factor that luck has in determining the winner.

We move over in the National League, where the 1975 Cincinnati Reds, a team I didn't think would really play too much of a factor in this tournament, find themselves as the top Wild Card. They were in the mix all through April and by May had pretty much cemented themselves in second place in the Central division, but were pretty much constantly within striking distance of the division title for the next two months until the 2016 Cubs pulled away. But the Reds locked up a Wild Card fairly quickly after the division was lost, and they have home field advantage in this round.

They'll take on the 1998 San Diego Padres, who struggled for a significant chunk of April before finding their way. San Diego even spent a little time in first place in the West, but wasn't much of a threat for a Wild Card until near the end of the regular season when the 1986 Mets were collapsing, and the Padres swept their final regular season series to grab that second spot. During the regular season, the teams split their six games, with the road team winning every matchup.

So these teams will now play a best-of-three series, with the Reds getting home field advantage due to a better record. That home field advantage will play out in a 1-2 format, with the first game in San Diego and Game 2 (and 3 if necessary) being played in Cincy. I gave all the teams a few days between the end of the regular season and the postseason to allow for some time to set up their starting rotations, which is the only pitching-related issue I can control.

I will also be keeping stats during postseason play with the intent of naming an All Tournament Team when it's all said and done. You can keep track of those stats, both by series and in aggregate, here. All simulations are provided by WhatIfSports.com. Let's get the playoffs started!

2017 MLB Preview: NL Central

It's the sixth day, which means we're all set on baseball previews after today. As is my tradition, I've been going division by division, alternating leagues, and finishing with the division of our defending champion.

Speaking of our defending champion, they are taking part in my newest project, the MLB Tournament of Champions. You can check out information on that tournament here, and check out the action starting this coming week.

Without further ado, let's get to the NL Central. Let's note once again that both wild cards are taken.

2016 MLB Predictions: NL Central

We're just a day away from the start of the season! The excitement is mounting, and I'm nearing the end of my series of baseball preview posts.

I've handed out one predicted wild card on the National League side of things, and after looking at each coast so far, it's time to come to nation's heartland and preview the final two divisions. Today, it's the NL Central.

2015 MLB Preview: NL Central

First things first: Happy birthday to my dad, who helped nurture my love of sports in general and baseball in particular. He also helped birth my love of the Cubs, which may or may not be a good thing given history.

We're onto the National League Central as we move past the halfway point of the division previews. If you want to refer back to my predictions from last year, you can find them here.

2014 MLB Preview: NL Central

We're moving right along in this year's series of MLB previews. The West Coast is done, and now I'm heading to America's heartland and my homeland.

I pegged the top of the division right last year, if only because it seemed to be a given. St. Louis was the division winner last year, but Pittsburgh outperformed expectations and finally became that feel-good story, making the playoffs for the first time in 21 years. Maybe there will be a changing of the guard? We'll have to see this summer. For now, here's how I think the division shakes out.

Impromptu Chicago Adventure

I'm a lucky man.

So a rare glimpse into the personal life of yours truly: on my usual Fridays off, I take Logan off to school in the mornings and come home to relax a little bit. Today was a little different in that I was heading to my fiancee's house. The original reasoning for it was that they were down a car and I was taking her mom to work today to help them out. I was mistaken. Kristen had set me up: she had taken the day off of work and had completely fooled me with an elaborate plan that led to a fun afternoon, culminating in this: