Champions: Pittsburgh Pirates
Project #2: Rolling dice for the 1981 tournament was a lot of fun, so I stuck with APBA. I loved reading about old-time baseball when I was younger. So I acquired the BATS 3 Pre-Expansion Set – the 16 primary franchises from the first half of the 20th century and the best players on those teams between 1875 and 1960.
This was set up as a straight 16-team tournament, and teams will play best-of-seven series to advance. AL teams were on one side of the bracket, NL on the other. Teams were put into pots, followed by a blind draw to fill out the tournament field. Obviously, these players didn’t compete in an era with the designated hitter. I went with a DH to make it a little bit easier, and to make it a little more interesting by adding another all-time hitter into the lineup instead of watching the pitchers bat.
This was played with the APBA basic cards-and-dice set in January and February 2023.
After 95 games, the Pittsburgh Pirates emerged as the champions, beating the Cleveland Indians in seven games in the World Series. The Pirates were by far the most successful team, posting a 16-6 (.727) record. Their first three series only went five games. Cleveland was a picture of perseverance, as all four of their series went seven games. The Indians won their first seven elimination games and three game 7s before faltering in the last one.
Observations: The fact that practically every pitcher had an “A” rating meant that SO MANY singles were turned into outs. The overall batting average for the tournament was .222, which is pretty low considering these were only the best hitters of the era. Of the teams that played more than one series, the Yankees had the best team average at .234. But, the “A” pitchers couldn’t change the extra-base hits for all these great hitters, and as a result, 52.4% of all the hits in the tournament were doubles, triples or home runs.
With all the pitchers having “A” ratings, and the lineups all having their share of Hall of Fame talent, the tournament was pretty evenly matched. With 95 games over 15 rounds, that’s an average of 6.3 games per round! Nine series went the distance (Cleveland did for all four rounds). There were no sweeps. There were only four series that went five games (Pittsburgh won three of them).
Initial Bracket
Rosters
Cumulative Batting Statistics
Cumulative Pitching Statistics
Series MVP: Ralph Kiner, Pittsburgh
Kiner cooled off over the final two rounds, but he finished with 12 home runs in 22 games and a team-best .315 batting average (23-for-73). He also drew 17 walks to finish with an on-base percentage of .444 and a slugging percentage of .849. He drove in 20 runs and scored 18. Kiner had nine home runs in the first 10 games. He had a walk-off game-winning hit in game 1 of the World Series.
Cy Young Award: Babe Adams, Pittsburgh
Adams went 6-1 with a 2.80 ERA in nine starts. He gave up 48 hits and 24 walks in 74 innings and struck out 24. Adams won game 7 of the World Series.
FIRST ROUND
(AL) New York Yankees defeat St. Louis Browns, 4 games to 2
(NL) Philadelphia Phillies defeat Chicago Cubs, 4 games to 3
(AL) Washington Senators defeat Boston Red Sox, 4 games to 3
(NL) St. Louis Cardinals defeat Boston Braves, 4 games to 2
(AL) Cleveland Indians defeat Detroit Tigers, 4 games to 3
(NL) Cincinnati Reds defeat New York Giants, 4 games to 3
(AL) Chicago White Sox defeat Philadelphia Athletics, 4 games to 1
(NL) Pittsburgh Pirates defeat Brooklyn Dodgers, 4 games to 1
QUARTERFINALS
(AL) New York Yankees defeat Washington Senators, 4 games to 3
(NL) St. Louis Cardinals defeat Philadelphia Phillies, 4 games to 3
(AL) Cleveland Indians defeat Chicago White Sox, 4 games to 3
(NL) Pittsburgh Pirates defeat Cincinnati Reds, 4 games to 1
SEMIFINALS
(AL) Cleveland Indians defeat New York Yankees, 4 games to 3
(NL) Pittsburgh Pirates defeat St. Louis Cardinals, 4 games to 1
WORLD SERIES
Game 1: Pittsburgh 6, Cleveland 5
Game 2: Pittsburgh 3, Cleveland 0
Game 3: Cleveland 11, Pittsburgh 5
Game 4: Cleveland 3, Pittsburgh 1
Game 5: Pittsburgh 4, Cleveland 0
Game 6: Cleveland 5, Pittsburgh 3
Game 7: Pittsburgh 6, Cleveland 3
ROGER SPORTS & GAMES 