1960s Topps All-Star Rookie Cup Tournament - Finals!!!

Our Final features two teams from the Middle 1960s. The challenger is the overall #4 seeded 1966 squad Oliva's Army led by fresh HOF inductee Tony Oliva. They will face #1 seeded team from 1965 captained by Joe Morgan. Both teams enter the final undefeated at 4-0. 

1960s Final Game 1:

Oliva's Army 1965 (4-0)	2 - 8 - 1
Little Joe's 1966 (4-0)	1 - 5 - 0
W: Wally Bunker (3-0)	L: Frank Linzy (2-1)
HR: None

 

Oliva's Army gets the upset in game 1, Wally Bunker moves to (3-0) as he shuts down Little Joe's on 5 hits and a single run. 

Game 2

Oliva's Army 1965 (5-0)	4 - 6 - 0
Little Joe's 1966 (4-1)	5 - 9 - 3
W: Marcelino Lopez (3-0)	L: Bill McCool (2-1)
HR: Joe Morgan 66 2 (2), Bert Campaneris 65 (1)

Little Joe's Even the series behind a pair of Home Runs from the Captain himself. 

Game 3

Oliva's Army 1965 (5-1)	0 - 6 - 3
Little Joe's 1966 (5-1)	1 - 11 - 1
W: Frank Linzy (3-1)	L: Wally Bunker (3-1)
HR: None

For the 2nd time in the final Frank Linzy and Wally Bunker square off in a pitchers battle. Linzy (3-1)  avenges his game 1 loss with a 6-hit shutout. The W gives Little Joe's a 2-1 advantage going into game 4. 

Game 4

Oliva's Army 1965 (5-2)	5 - 7 - 0
Little Joe's 1966 (6-1)	6 - 7 - 0
W: Marcelino Lopez (4-0)	L: Bill McCool (2-2)
HR: Tony Perez 66 2 (3 ,4), Bert Campaneris 65 (2),

 

Little Joe's capture the 1960s Tournament with a 6-5 victory over Oliva's Army.

Tony Perez hits a pair of Home Runs to run his tournament total to 4 and takes home MVP Honors

1966 Topps Tony Perez

Marcelino Lopez goes through the tournament undefeated with 4 victories. 

Final Standings - All-Star Rookie Tournament 1960s

	Final Standings	W	L
1	Little Joe's 1966	7	1
2	Oliva's Army 1965	5	3
3	Charlie's Hustlers 1964	2	3
4	Team Boog 1963	4	4
5	Team Mad Hits 1968	1	2
6	Team Davey J 1967	1	2
7	Team Torre 1962	2	2
8	Bench No Drips 1969	0	2
9	Santos Squad 1961	1	2
10	Team McCovey 1960	0	2

Biggest Surprise 1963 Team Boog seeded 7th finished 4th

Biggest Disappointment 1969 Bench No Drips 5th Seed finished 8th

Stats

	Pitching	W	L	Pct	O/U .500
1960	Jim O'Toole	0	1	.000	-1
	Jim Perry	0	1	.000	-1
1961	Chuck Estrada	1	1	.500	0
	Dick Stigman	0	1	.000	-1
1962	Don Schwall	1	1	.500	0
	Jack Curtis	1	1	.500	0
1963	Al Jackson	3	1	.750	2
	Dean Change	1	3	.250	-2
1964	Ray Culp	1	1	.500	0
	Gary Peters	1	2	.333	-1
1965	Wally Bunker	3	1	.750	2
	Bill McCool	2	2	.500	0
1966	Marcelino Lopez	4	0	1.000	4
	Frank Linzy	3	1	.750	2
1967	Jim Nash	1	1	.500	0
	Woody Fryman)	0	1	.000	-1
1968	Dick Hughes	1	0	1.000	1
	Tom Seaver	0	2	.000	-2
1969	Jerry Koosman	0	1	.000	-1
	Stan Bahnsen	0	1	.000	-1

	Home Runs
Tony Perez 66 2 (3 ,4),	4
Bert Campaneris 65 (2)	2
Joe Morgan 66 2 (2)	2
Manny Jimenenez 63 (2)	2
Rod Carew 68 2 (2)	2
Tom Tresh 63 (1)	2
Jim Gentile 61 (1),	1
Tommy Davis 61 (1)	1
Curt Blefary 66 (1)	1
Dick Allen 65 (1)	1
Ed Charles 63 (1),	1
Floyd Robinson 62 (1),	1
Fred Whitfield 63 (1),	1
George Scott 67 (1)	1
Jimmie Hall 64 (1),	1
Joe Torre 62 (1)	1
Lee May, 68 (1)	1
Mike Brumley 65 (1)	1
Paul Schall 66 (1), )	1
Rico Carty 65 (1)	1
Ron Swoboda 66 (1)	1
Sonny Jackson 67 (1)	1
Tommie Agee 67	1
Tommy Harper 64 (1	1
Tony Conigliaro 65 (1),	1

Whats Next

Now that we have found the best rookie cup team of the 1960s we are going to move to a more recent decade.

We have the 1990s Rookie Cup All-Stars tournament on-deck!

1960s Topps All-Star Rookie Cup Tournament - SemiFinals

We are down to the final four of the Topps 1960s All-Star Rookie Cup Tournament. 

These four teams will be featured in a pair of best of 3 SemiFinals to determine which two face off for the best of the 1960s Final. 

SemiFinal A - Team Boog (1963) vs Olva's Army (1965) 

Team Boog 1963 (4-2)	2 - 5 - 2
Oliva's Army 1965 (2-0)	3 - 6 - 3
W - Wally Bunker (2-0)	L: Dean Chance (1-3)
HR: Dick Allen 65 (1)

Oliva's Army take game 1 behind the strong pitching of Wally Bunker and a Home Run from the Phillies Dick Allen. 

1965 Topps Dick Allen

Team Boog 1963 (4-3)	2 - 10 - 1
Oliva's Army 1965 (3-0)	3 - 11 - 3
W: Bill McCool (2-0)	L: Al Jackson (3-1)
HR: Rico Carty 65 (1)

In game 2 Oliva's Army completes the sweep, Rico Carty's Home Run is the difference maker. 

With that sweep the undefeated Oliva's Army (4-0) become our first team to advance to the Final. 

Lets see who they will face.

SemiFinal B - Charlies Hustlers (1964) vs Little Joes (1966)

Charlie's Huslers 1964 (2-1)	0 - 2 - 0
Little Joes 1966 (2-0)	1 - 10 - 1
W: Frank Linzy (2-0)	L: Ray Culp (1-1)

Frank Linzy pitches a Gem and Little Joe's take game 1

Charlie's Huslers 1964 (2-2)	4 - 4 - 0
Little Joes 1966 (3-0)	5 - 6 - 2
W: Marclino Lopez (2-0)	L: Gary Peters (1-2)
HR: Paul Schall 66 (1), Tommy Harper 64 (1)

Little Joe's (4-0) eliminate overall #1 Seed Charlies Hustlers which sets up a Final between two undefeated teams. 

Finals

The Pitching matchups will be as follows.

For odd numbered Games 

Oliva's Army 1965 (4-0)	Wally Bunker (2-0)
Little Joe's 1966 (4-0)	Frank Linzy (2-0)

For Evens

Oliva's Army 1965 (4-0)	Bill McCool (2-0)
Little Joe's 1966 (4-0)	Marcelino Lopez (2-0)

Two Undefeated teams, Little Joes will go in as the top seed. Originally the Little Joes were seeded 2 and Oliva's Army 4. 

1960s Topps All-Star Rookie Cup Tournament - Major Bracket Elimination Round

Two teams have gotten into the Semi-Finals, The Little Joes (1966) and Oliva's Army (1968). Today we will feature four games that to establish their opponents, and eliminate four teams

Round 2 - Elimination Games. Winners get a chance to face losers of yesterdays Winners Round. Losers will be eliminated. 

Bench No Drips 1969 (0-1)	0 - 3 - 1
Charlie's Hustlers 1964 (0-1)	4 - 7 - 0
W: Ray Culp (1-0)	L Stan Bahnsen (0-1)
HR: None

In our first elimination matchup Ray Culp pitches a Shutout and Charlie's Hustlers remain alive. Bench No Drips are eliminated with a tournament record of (0-2)

Team Mad Hits 1968 (0-1)	6 - 10 - 1
Team Torre 1962 (2-1)	5 - 7 - 1
W: Dick Hughes (1-0)	L: Jack Curtis (1-1)
HR: Lee May, 68 (1) Rod Carew 68 2 (2)

Team Mad Hits get a pair of Home Runs from Rod Carew and pick up a 6-5 victory to eliminate Team Torre. 

WTA Round 

This sets up two Winner Take All games. The winners advance to the Semi-Final, while the Losers are eliminated. 

Charlie's Hustlers 1964 (1-1)	6 - 10 - 2
Team Davey J 1967 (1-1)	5 - 7 - 1
W: Gary Peters (1-1)	L: Jim Nash (1-1)
HR: Jimmie Hall 64 (1), Tommie Agee 67

Charlie's Hustler get a 6-5 Win and advance to the SemiFinals where they will face the Little Joes. 

Team Mad Hits 1968 (1-1)	2 - 6 - 1
Team Boog 1963 (3-2)	5 - 9 - 3
W - Al Jackson (3-0)	L - Tom Seaver (0 - 2)
HR: Tom Thresh 63 (2)

 In a battle of Mets pitchers we have the biggest upset of the tournament as the #8 Seed Team Boog (4-2) and Al Jackson defeat Team Mad Hits (1-2) and Tom Seaver! 5-2. 

1963 Topps #111 Al Jackson

SemiFinals

The Semi-Final Pairings are set:

Team Boog 1963 (4-2)

Oliva's Army 1965 (2-0)

Charlie's Huslers 1964 (2-1)

Little Joes 1966 (2-0)

In Our Next Posting we will find out which of these four teams will face each other in the Final

1960s Topps All-Star Rookie Cup Tournament - Major Bracket Opening Round

 We have reached the Major Bracket of the tournament. 

The Bracket features 8 teams that will engage in a double elimination tournament to narrow the field to four teams that advance to SemiFinals. Here are the Major Bracket Day 1 Results:

Team Boog 1963 (2-1)	3 - 11 - 0
Charlie's Hustlers 1964 (0-0)	1 - 10 - 2
W: Al Jackson (2-0)	L: Gary Peters (0-1)
HR: Fred Whitfield 63 (1), Ed Charles 63 (1),

In the first game we have a HUGE Upset #8 Team Boog gets Home Runs from Fred Whitefield and Ed Charles in the 3-1 victory. The Bush Division Team Boog may be a threat to the Majors. 

Team Torre 1962 (2-0)	2 - 5 - 1
Little Joes 1966 (0-0)	3 - 12 - 3
W: Frank Linzy (1-0)	L; Don Schwall (1-1)
HR:Tony Perez 66 (1), Ron Swoboda 66 (1)

#2 Seed Little Joes earn their first W of the Tournament

Team Davey J 1967 (0-0)	4 - 9 - 3
Team Mad Hits Carew 1968 (0-0)	1 - 8 - 1
W Jim Nash (1-0)	L: Tom Seaver (0-1)
HR: George Scott 67 (1)

Jim Nash outduels Tom Seaver! the Davey J come up with a big Win over Mad Hits. 

1967 Topps Jim Nash

Bench No Drips 1969 (0-0)	0 - 5 - 2
Oliva's Army 1965 (0-0)	1 - 6 - 0
W: Wally Bunker (1-0)	L: Jerry Koosman (0-1)
HR: none

Wally Bunker tosses the tournaments first Shutout giving Tony's Cronies a narrow 1-0 Win. Tough day for for Jerry Koosman in hard luck loss. Turns out Al Jackson now 2-0 was the best Mets pitcher of the day. 

Thats it for our opening round Our next posting will feature the Winners and Elimination Brackets to determine who goes to the Semis

Round 2 Winners Bracket

The four Winners from the opening bracket now meet to determine the first 2 teams to advance to the 1960s Semis

Team Boog 1963 (3-1)	1 - 10 - 3
Oliva's Army 1965 (1-0)	4 - 12 - 3
W: Bill McCool (1-0)	L: Dean Chance (1-2)
HR: Tony Conigliaro 65 (1), Mike Brumley 65 (1)

Tony Oliva's Army becomes the first team to advance to the Semis with a Homer from another Tony (Conigliaro) and one from Mike Brumley. 

Team Davey J (1-0)	2 - 6 - 1
Little Joes 1966 (1-0)	6 - 7 - 0
W: Marcenio Lopez (1-0)	L: Woody Fryman (0-1)
HR: Tony Perez 66 (2), Curt Blefary 66 (1), Sonny Jackson 67 (1)

Tony Perez with his 2nd Home Run in as Many Games sends the Little Joes to the Semis as the #1 Seed. 

Team Boog and DaveJ are still in the mix, they will get a second shot in our next post after we resolve the elimination half of this round. 

On Deck

The Pitching matchups for the Elimination Bracket are as follows:

Bench No Drips 1969 (0-1)	Stan Bahnsen (0-0)
Charlie's Hustlers 1964 (0-1)	Ray Culp (0-0)
Team Mad Hits 1968 (0-1)	Dick Hughes (0-0)
Team Torre 1962 (2-1)	Jack Curtis (1-0)