2019 MLB Tournament of Champions: Group Quarterfinals Part 1

The field is set, the participants are ready... let's get to some playoff baseball!

I spent three-plus months (or what in real time would have amounted to through mid-July) running through 90 game mini-seasons for 128 of Major League Baseball's best teams in history. Half of them failed to make it this far, with the 2010 Texas Rangers taking the consolation crown. But now we seek to find the champion of champions.

Over the next three rounds, we're going back into the eight groups, but in bracket form. We're onto single elimination, but in best-of-five format. The higher seeds based on group finish get home field advantage in a 2-2-1 format. One thing I want to make clear is the use of the designated hitter: my simulator goes based off of the league rules of the home team, so any games hosted by American League teams from 1973 or later will utilize the designated hitter; all other games will have the pitcher automatically bat ninth.

Because of the sheer number of games that are going to be taking place for these first few rounds, I'm going to break this round up into multiple parts focusing on just a couple of groups per each post. All simulations are provided by WhatIfSports.com. You can view the bracket, as well as scores and standings from group play, here. Let's play ball!

2019 MLB Tournament of Champions: Consolation Bracket

I really can't help myself.

I think I'd mentioned that I had the idea of pulling off a consolation tournament for the aforementioned MLB Tournament of Champions, but I hadn't officially started to set anything up until I finally worked my way through group play. The field of 128 was cut in half, but the half that missed the cut gets a chance to redeem themselves.

I'm going to run this one like I ran the unofficial consolation tournament in 2017: this will be a double elimination tournament with one-off games for each round. Seeding has been determined based first off of group finish (teams that finished ninth are the top eight seeds, followed by teams that finished tenth, and so on), then by record in group play, and finally by run differential in group play. Higher seeds host until the championship round, when the team out of the winner's bracket will get home field advantage against the team out of the loser's bracket. Any games hosted by an American League team in the DH era will be played with a DH.

You can view the full bracket here. All simulations are provided by WhatIfSports.com. Let's play ball!

2019 MLB Tournament of Champions: Postseason Introduction

Every team has played 90 games, and with that, it's time to cut the field in half.

I had minimal shenanigans in terms of imbalance among groups. 48 wins guaranteed advancement, and there's only one flagrant lack of advancing issue that I'm not thrilled about. The 2015 Kansas City Royals went 47-43, but eight other teams in that group had 48 or more; elsewhere I only had one sub-.500 team advance in the 1960 Pittsburgh Pirates. Elsewhere some .500 teams made it, while others didn't depending on how everything lined up. Even so, the records ended up distributing how they would in a normal baseball season. All but one team reached at least 30 wins, while just three teams hit the 60-win plateau; 61 of the 128 teams had between 40 and 49 wins.

So with those thoughts in mind, here's the bracket going into the postseason. The first three rounds will be played entirely in groups. All rounds will be best of 5 with the higher regular season finish getting home field advantage in a 2-2-1 format. For the quarterfinals onward, it will become best of seven in a 2-3-2 format, with home field advantage going first to the higher seed (based on group finish), with overall record, then run differential breaking ties.

Let's take a look at who advanced based on decade, franchise, and other criteria.

2019 MLB Tournament of Champions: Group Play Round 30

It all comes down to this. The 128 team field will officially be cut in half following this group of three game sets.

I started this tournament back in April and have been hard at work running through the gauntlet to start things off. Eight groups of 16 teams have been battling it out in a double round robin format, and complete their schedules in this set. From here, the top eight in each group will advance to the postseason.

To date, 47 of the 64 postseason spots have been clinched, and the 17 that remain are all tight races to grab those spots. The nice thing from what I can tell is that our worst postseason team shouldn't be far under .500. I'll have a full breakdown of that after group play is completed.

You can view the scores from the first 29 rounds, as well as the complete standings, here. All simulations are provided by WhatIfSports.com. Let's finish up the group stage!

2019 MLB Tournament of Champions: Group Play Round 29

We're down to the final week of group play in the MLB Tournament of Champions!

128 teams have played 84 games apiece, with six to go until we cut the field in half. We went from 13 spots having been clinched to, by my rough count, 25 teams having punched their tickets to the postseason. We're still stuck on two group winners in the 1927 Yankees and 1967 Cardinals, though we'll probably see at least one or two more groups determine winners in this round. There are a lot of tight races, but my favorite probably has to be the three way tie between the 1975 Reds, 1924 Senators, and 1952 Yankees at 54-30 atop Group D.

Meanwhile, there is still a fight for the top record in the entire tournament. The aforementioned '27 Yankees and '67 Cardinals are currently in the lead with 59-25 marks through 84 games. Those 59 wins match what the 2016 Cubs pulled off in the 2017 tournament and barring neither team caring about the final six games, both will top 60 wins, with the '44 Cardinals can hit that plateau with a .500 week and a few other teams if they win out can hit 60 as well.

You can view the full schedule for the remainder of the week, plus scores from prior games as well as standings, here. All simulations are provided by WhatIfSports.com. Let's play ball!

2019 MLB Tournament of Champions: Group Play Round 28

We're now 90 percent of the way through the group stage of the MLB Tournament of Champions, and each team has just nine games left to try and position themselves for a run at the Championship of Champions!

By my quick count, 13 of the 64 postseason berths have been clinched to this point; these teams are guaranteed at worst a top-eight spot in their respective group. If this stage ended today, every team with at least 42 wins would make the postseason, though some 41-40 teams would miss the cut while at least one below .500 team would advance in their group. As for the tops of each group, the 1927 Yankees and 1964 Cardinals have clinched their respective group titles and thus home field advantage for at least the first three rounds of the playoffs. Our worst group leader sits at 49-32, while the '27 Yankees lead the tournament with a 59-22 mark.

You can view the full standings, plus see the remaining schedule and scores from all games here. All simulations are provided by WhatIfSports.com. Let's play ball!

2019 MLB Tournament of Champions: Group Play Round 27

We're down to the final two weeks of group play in the 2019 MLB Tournament of Champions!

I started this project all the way back in April with every World Series champion, plus at least one representative of every other franchise totaling 128 teams. Each of those teams have played 78 of their scheduled 90 games to date, which makes these last two weeks all the more critical.

I split the field into eight groups of 16 teams, and the top eight from each group will advance to postseason play. If group play ended today, a 41-37 record would guarantee a postseason berth, though depending on the group, a 38-40 teams could still advance. To lead a group, anywhere from 46 to 56 wins is the bar to reach. I just feel bad for the 1987 Minnesota Twins, who are sitting at an abysmal 19-59 record.

You can view the full standings, plus scores from prior games and the upcoming schedule, here. All simulations are provided by WhatIfSports.com. Let's get to it!