By the Numbers (Tourney Edition)

So I'll be doing this tournament using APBA's greatest teams of the past in a bracket of 64 teams (yes, NCAA style), early rounds are the best of five and best of seven when we get to the final four! So let's break the teams down by the numbers, shall we?

• N.L. Teams / A.L. Teams: 32 teams each, amazingly it was broke down the middle, I believe the teams in the volumes were 30 each, and the four teams I added at one point had 3 N.L. & one A.L. team, but when it turned out that APBA no longer sold the 69' Atlanta Braves & we had to go with the last-minute replacement of the 2008 Tampa Bay Rays, it has made it 50-50.

The M&M boys of 1961.

• The Number of Yankees teams: (6) - The Yankees teams that will be represented would be the 1927 New York Yankees (considered by many as the greatest team ever), the 1937 New York Yankees led by the young Joe DiMaggio, the 1953 Yankees that would defeat the 53' Dodgers in one of many match-ups between the two franchises, the M&M boys (Mantle & Maris) of the 1961 Yankees (the same season Maris hit a record 61 HR's), the 1977 Yankees led by Reggie Jackson & Billy Martin & the 1998 New York Yankees, who are ranked #2 in the entire tournament, who might be the most balanced team as well.

• The Number of New York City teams (12) + New York Area (Brooklyn) 2 = 14 teams! The 6 Yankees teams previously mentioned, plus the 1969 & 1986 New York Mets, The New York Giants of 1904, 1912, 1937 & 1954. Then add the two Brooklyn Dodgers teams from 1941 & 1953, and we have a total of 14 teams, taking up almost 22% of the tournament bracket spots.

• Hey Yankees! The Giants also have six! Before you Giant fans get too excited though, please note that only four of the Giant teams actually come from the 3 Greatest Teams of the Past volumes by APBA, I added the 1971 & 1993 San Francisco Giants teams which I bought separately from APBA and then added them to the tournament mix. The 71' team barely edged the Dodgers & the 1993 Giants (Barry Bonds' first season as a Giant) missed the playoffs as they were caught by the Atlanta Braves.

• The three "non-playoff" teams in the tournament: The reason I wrote "non-playoff" than non-playoff teams is that the 1904 New York Giants fall under this technicality due to manager John McGraw allowing the American League to play his Giants in the 04' World Series, because he felt the A.L. was an inferior league. 1904 would be the only other time, than the 1994 strike season in which we would not see a World Series played. The Giants would have the non-playoff team 1993 Giants team mentioned in the previous paragraph. The 1962 Los Angeles Dodgers join the mix (denied the playoffs by the 62' Giants in a 3-game tie-breaker series).

Where's Gibby? or any LaSorda team for that matter?

• Only three from Dodgerland?! - This caught me by surprise, the Dodgers will only be represented by the 1941 & 1953 Brooklyn teams & the 62' Los Angeles Dodgers that failed to make the playoffs. I'm not sure why APBA didn't make one of the 70's teams (with the infield of Steve Garvey, Davey Lopes, Bill Russell & Ron Cey) or any Tommy LaSorda managed 80's teams not included in one of the Greatest Teams of the Past volumes, I guess this should be added to my other interesting observations post.

• "Four Play" - franchises or cities with four teams represented: The Detroit Tigers (1909, 1934, 1968 & 1984), The Athletics (The Phila A's of 1931 + the Oakland teams from 1971, 1988 & 2002), the Pittsburgh Pirates (1902, 1927, 1960 & 1971), the St. Louis Cardinals (1934, 1942, 1967 & 1985), and the city of Boston will have the Red Sox' (of 1912, 1946 & 1967) three teams and the Braves of 1914, while the city of Philadelphia will have the Phillies teams (of 1915, 1977 & 1993) + the same 1931 Philadelphia A's team of all the Athletics franchise teams.

• It's a Brave, Brave, Brave World! - The Braves have three teams, each represented by one of the cities that called home: Boston (1914), Milwaukee (1957) & Atlanta (1998).

• The City of Chicago & Cleveland have three: The 1906 Chicago Cubs, 1917 White Sox & the Chicago Cubs of 1929; while the Cleveland Indians have teams from 1920, 1954 & 1995.

The 86' Mets will be among the 17% of "expansion teams" in the tournament.

• The Ex-Factor: the Number of Expansion teams (11) - The teams that have are represented from the expanison teams are as followed: 1969 New York Mets, 1980 Kansas City Royals, 1982 Milwaukee Brewers, 1985 Toronto Blue Jays, 1986 New York Mets, 1998 Houston Astros, 1998 San Diego Padres, 1999 Arizona Diamondbacks, 2001 Seattle Mariners, 2002 Anaheim Angels, and the 2008 Tampa Bay Rays. Taking up 17% of the space in the tournament.

•  The only first-round match-up between New York teams: The 1998 New York Yankees (#1 seed) vs. the 1969 New York Mets (#16 seed) in the Cobb Bracket. Which is a bit surprising with the New York area having 14 teams!