Last Winter we started a project to try and figure out what season produced the best Topps All-Star Rookie Team. That tournament was between the 10 squads that represented the 1960s. It was won by the Little Joes from 1966 led by Joe Morgan, Tony Perez, and stellar pitching by Marcelino Lopez.
For our second Tournament we visit the 1990s. Lets take a look at the seeding for the last decade of the 20th century.
| seed | Year | Team | Captain |
| 1 | 1993 | Kenny's Kids 1993 | Kenny Lofton |
| 2 | 1991 | Maple Larry's 1991 | Larry Walker |
| 3 | 1992 | Team Pudge 1992 | Ivan Rodriguez |
| 4 | 1996 | Chippers | Chipper Jones |
| 5 | 1994 | Piazza Peeps 1994 | Mike Piazza |
| 6 | 1998 | Todd's Gods | Todd Helton |
| 7 | 1998 | Rock and Rolen | Scott Rolen |
| 8 | 1990 | Juniors Kids | Ken Griffey Jr |
| 9 | 1995 | Manny Being Manny | Manny Ramirez |
| 10 | 1997 | Team Captains | Derek Jeter |
No I am not a Jeter hater, we determined seeding using a forumula. Turns out the rest of the 1997 team was pretty weak.
Lets get to the actual games. The preliminary round is a double elimination featuring the bottom 4 teams. Two of these teams advance to the major tournament while the other two will be eliminated.
| | | |
| 1997 | Team Captains | | 0 - 4 - 1 |
| 1998 | Rockin and Rolen | | 5 - 6 - 1 |
| | | |
| W: Jason Dickson (1-0) | | L: Billy Wagner (0-1) |
| HR 1990: None | | |
| HR 1997: None | | |
| MVP: Scott Rolen (1) | |
| | | |
| 1995 | Manny Being Manny | | 5 - 7 - 0 |
| 1990 | Juniors Kids | | 2 - 6 - 1 |
| | | |
| | | L: Tom Gordon (0-1) |
| HR 1995 Ryan Klesko (1), Javy Lopez (1), Jose Oliva (1) | | |
| HR 1990: none | | |
| MVP: Ryan Klesko (1) | |
| 1990s Game 3 Avancement Game | | |
| 1995 | Manny Being Manny | | 3 - 10 - 2 |
| 1998 | Rockin and Rolen | | 0 - 6 - 1 |
| | | |
| W: Joey Hamilton (1-0) | | L: Mike Holtz (0-1) |
| HR 1995: None | | |
| HR 1998: None | | |
| | | |
|
Manny Being Manny (2-0) Advance as 7 Seed | |
| 1990s Game 4 Elimination Game | | |
| 1997 | Team Captains | | 1 - 8 - 2 |
| 1990 | Juniors Kids | | 6 - 10 - 2 |
| | | |
| W: Jim Abbott (1-0) | | L: Alan Benes (0-1) |
| HR 1997: none | | |
| HR 1990: Ken Griffey Jr (1). Gary Sheffield (1) | | |
| MVP: Ken Griffey Jr (1) | | |
| Team Captains (0-2) Eliminated Finish 10th Original Seed 10th | |
| | | |
| 1990 | Juniors Kids | | 4 - 10 - 1 |
| 1998 | Rockin and Rolen | | 2 - 8 - 0 |
| | | |
| W: Tom Gordon (1-1) | | L: Jason Dickson (1-1) |
| HR 1990: GREGG JEFFERIES (1), BOB GEREN 2 (2) | | |
| HR 1998: None | | |
| | | |
| Juniors Kids (2-1) advance as 8 seed | |
The two teams that advance out of the preliminary tourney are Manny Being Manny (1995) and Junior Kids (1990) they will be the 7th and 8th seeds respectively. The Surprise is the elimination of seven seed 1998 Rockin and Rolen.
This brings us to the opening round of the major tournament.
| 1990s Game 6 - Major Bracket - Double Elimination 8 -> 4 teams Opening Round | | |
| 1990 | Juniors Kids (2-1) | | 3 - 10 - 1 |
| 1993 | Kenny's Kids (0-0) | | 1 - 4 - 0 |
| | | |
| W: Jim Abbott (2-0) | | L: Cal Eldred (0-1) |
| HR: 1990 None | | |
| HR: 1990 None | | |
| MVP: Jim Abbott (1) | |
| 1990s Game 7 | | |
| 1995 | | | 1 - 10 - 0 |
| 1991 | Maple Larry's (0-0) | | 6 - 10 - 0 |
| | | |
| W: Kevin Appier (1-0) | | L: Brian Anders (1-1) |
| HR: 1995: None | | |
| HR: 1990: None | | |
| MVP: Delino DeShields (1) | |
| | | |
| 1999 | Todd's Gods | | 2 - 11 - 0 |
| 1992 | Team Pudge 1992 | | 1 - 11 - 0 |
| | | |
| W: Kerry Wood (1-0) | | L: Mark Leiter (0-1) |
| HR 1999: Mark Kotsay (1), Todd Helton (1) | | |
| HR 1992: None | | |
| MVP: Kotsay (1) | |
| 1990s Game 9 | | |
| 1994 | Piazza Peeps 1994 | | 3 - 4 - 1 |
| 1996 | Chippers | | 4 - 5 -1 (10) |
| | | |
| W: Hideo Nomo (1-0) | | L: Greg McMichael (0-1) |
| HR 1994: None | | |
| HR 1996: Garrett Anderson (1) | | |
| MVP: Garrett Anderson (1) | |
Major Round 2 Winners Brackets
| 1990s Game 10 - Major Bracket - Round 2 - Pivot Round Winner Advacnes | | |
| 1990 | Juniors Kids (3-1) | | 3 - 5 - 0 |
| 1996 | Chippers (1-0) | | 4 - 9 - 1 |
| | | |
| W: Carlos Perez (1-0) | | L: Tom Gordon (1-2) |
| | | |
| HR 1996: Chipper Jones (1) | | |
| | | |
| Chipers (2-0) Advance as #1 Seed | |
| 1990s Game 11 - Winner Advances | | |
| 1999 | Todd's Gods (1-0) | | 4 - 10 - 0 |
| 1991 | Maple Larry's (1-0) | | 2 - 6 - 0 |
| | | |
| | | L: Scott Radinksy (0-1) |
| HR 1999: None | | |
| HR 1991: None | | |
| | | |
| Todd's Gods (2-0) Advance as #2 Seed |
|
Major Round 2 Losers Bracket (elimination Games)
| 1990s Game 12 - Elimination Game | | |
| 1995 | | | 5 - 6 - 0 |
| 1992 | Team Pudge 1992 (0-1) | | 3 - 6 - 2 |
| | | |
| W: Joey Hamilton (2-0) | | L: Al Osuna (0-1) |
| HR 1995: none | | |
| HR 1992: none | | |
| | | |
| Team Pudge 92 (0-2) Eliminated finish 8th orginal seed 1 | |
| 1990s Game 13 - Elimination Game | | |
| 1994 | Piazza Peeps (0-1) | | 3 - 8 - 0 |
| 1993 | Kenny's Kids (0-1) | | 1 - 4 - 2 |
| | | |
| W: Steve Cooke (1-0) | | Dave Fleming (0-1) |
| HR 1994: none | | |
| HR 1993: none | | |
| MVP: Steve Cooke (1) | | |
| Kenny's Kids (0-2) Eliminated Finish 7th original seed 3 | |
Major Round 3 WTA Bracket, Winners advance, Losers Eliminated.
| 1990s Game 14 - Major Bracket - Round 3 - WTA Round | | |
| 1995 | | | 1 - 2 - 0 |
| 1991 | Maple Larry's (1-1) | | 2 - 4 - 2 |
| | | |
| W: Kevin Appier (2-0) | | L: Brian Anderson (1-2) |
| HR 1995: none | | |
| HR 1991: Felix Jose (1) | | |
| MVP: Felix Jose (1) | | |
| Maple Larry's (2-1) Advance as #4 Seed | |
| | | |
| 1994 | Piazza Peeps (1-1) | | 1 - 3 - 1 |
| 1990 | Juniors Kids (3-2) | | 3 - 6 - 0 |
| | | |
| W: Jim Abbott (3-0) | | L: Greg McMichael (0-2) |
| HR 1994: none | | |
| HR 1990: none | | |
| MVP: Jim Abbott (2) | | |
| Juniors's Kids (4-2) Advancd as #3 Seed | |
This brings us to the Final Four who will meet in a pair of best of 3 semi-finals
The 1-4 match up is:
| 1991 | Maple Larry's (2-1) |
| 1996 | Chippers (2-0) |
The 2-3 match up is:
| 1990 | Juniors Kids (4-2) |
| 1999 | Todds Gods (2-0) |
The 2-3 pairing features the surprises with 8 seeded Juniors Kids and #6 Todd's Gods both getting to the semis. #1 seed Kenny Kids had a horrible showing, losing both of their games to finish 6th in the 10 team tournament.
Ok that is it for now, The Final four will be featured in our next post.
