Spring training games are just getting underway this week.
With that in mind and some excitement building in Cincinnati, hopefully, it’s time for another Strat-O-Matic tournament presented by Press Room Pass.
This time, eight of the top teams in Cincinnati Reds history will square off to become champions again or for the first time. Each round is a best two out of three games to advance. The higher seed will host games two and three.
Three World Series winners (1940, 1975, 1990) and a pair of National League pennant winners (1961, 1970) should be the favorites.
Rounding out the bracket are two other playoff teams (1995, 2010) along with the 1981 squad that had the NL’s best record during that strike year, but didn’t play in the post-season.
In the seeding process it was determined that the top three would be the world championship teams. The 1975 squad was in the top spot by record with a coin flip determining the next two places with second going to the 1990 team.
The fourth and fifth positions by record went to the 1970 bunch and then 1961.
The only non-playoff team in the event was selected for the sixth seed, while 2010 was seventh and 1995 eighth, which was decided with another coin flip.
REDS TOURNAMENT FIRST ROUND SCHEDULE
No. 1 1975 vs. No. 8 1995
No. 4 1970 vs. No. 5 1961
No. 3 1940 vs. No. 6 1981
No. 2 1990 vs. No. 7 2010