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!
1953 New York Yankees vs 1967 St. Louis Cardinals
| Final Score | Series Summary | Decisions |
|---|---|---|
| @ '67 STL 1, '53 NYY 0 | '67 STL leads 1-0 | W: Willis (2-3) | L: Ford (1-2) |
| '53 NYY 1, @ '67 STL 0 | Series tied 1-1 | W: Gorman (2-0) | L: Willis (2-4) |
| @ '53 NYY 4, '67 STL 3 | '53 NYY leads 2-1 | W: Scarborough (2-0) | L: Hoerner (0-1) |
| @ '53 NYY 10, '67 STL 9 (14) | '53 NYY leads 3-1 | W: Ford (2-2) | L: Briles (0-1) |
| @ '53 NYY 1, '67 STL 0 | '53 NYY wins 4-1 | W: Kraly (1-0) | L: Hughes (2-1) |
1984 Detroit Tigers vs 1975 Cincinnati Reds
| Final Score | Series Summary | Decisions |
|---|---|---|
| @ '75 CIN 7, '84 DET 6 (11) | '75 CIN leads 1-0 | W: Kirby (1-0) | L: Bair (0-1) |
| @ '75 CIN 4, '84 DET 1 | '75 CIN leads 2-0 | W: Nolan (3-0) | L: Wilcox (1-2) |
| @ '84 DET 8, '75 CIN 5 | '75 CIN leads 2-1 | W: Morris (3-0) | L: Norman (1-2) | SV: Hernandez (6) |
| @ '84 DET 7, '75 CIN 3 | Series tied 2-2 | W: Berenguer (3-1) | L: Darcy (1-1) | SV: Hernandez (7) |
| '75 CIN 9, @ '84 DET 4 | '75 CIN leads 3-2 | W: Gullett (1-0) | L: Petry (0-2) | SV: T. Carroll (1) |
| @ '75 CIN 15, '84 DET 5 | '75 CIN wins 4-2 | W: Billingham (2-1) | L: Morris (3-1) |
1932 New York Yankees vs 1927 New York Yankees
| Final Score | Series Summary | Decisions |
|---|---|---|
| @ '27 NYY 8, '32 NYY 2 | '27 NYY leads 1-0 | W: Hoyt (2-1) | L: Gomez (1-2) |
| @ '27 NYY 7, '32 NYY 0 | '27 NYY leads 2-0 | W: Shocker (4-0) | L: Ruffing (1-3) |
| @ '32 NYY 12, '27 NYY 1 | '27 NYY leads 2-1 | W: Pipgras (2-1) | L: Pennock (3-1) |
| '27 NYY 10, @ '32 NYY 3 | '27 NYY leads 3-1 | W: Thomas (1-0) | L: Allen (2-1) |
| @ '32 NYY 14, '27 NYY 5 | '27 NYY leads 3-2 | W: Wells (1-0) | L: Moore (1-1) |
| @ '27 NYY 2, '32 NYY 1 | '27 NYY wins 4-2 | W: Shocker (5-0) | L: Pipgras (2-2) | SV: Moore (5) |
2016 Chicago Cubs vs 1944 St. Louis Cardinals
| Final Score | Series Summary | Decisions |
|---|---|---|
| '16 CHC 10, @ '44 STL 1 | '16 CHC leads 1-0 | W: Lester (4-0) | L: Cooper (3-1) |
| '16 CHC 4, @ '44 STL 2 | '16 CHC leads 2-0 | W: Rondon (1-0) | L: Donnelly (0-1) | SV: Chapman (2) |
| @ '16 CHC 11, '44 STL 7 | '16 CHC leads 3-0 | W: Rondon (2-0) | L: Jurisich (0-1) | SV: Chapman (3) |
| @ '16 CHC 6, '44 STL 1 | '16 CHC wins 4-0 | W: Rondon (3-0) | L: Cooper (3-2) |
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