SEC - "Sweet 16" Match Up #8

Read all about it! Griffey no match for iconic set!

It's the last round of the Sweet 16! If you like predominately blue cards with compliments of red in them, then boy do I have a match up for you! It a battle of iconic blue uniforms!

1985 Topps #578 Terry Francona	VS	1972 Kellogg's #2 Amos Otis

Terry Francona
Bracket Round: defeated Ted Williams (1-0)
Fun Fact: Due to a lost bet, Francona has an "I love Manny Ramierez" tattoo on an undisclosed location of his body.

Amos Otis
Bracket Round: defeated Bo Jackson (1-1 tiebreaker)
Fun Fact: Otis's favorite breakfast cereal is Raisin Bran. He is credited with convincing the executives of Kellogg's to up the raisin allowance to two scoops.

SEC - "Sweet 16" Match Up #7

Extra! Extra! Henderson Steals Victory!

This week is the ultimate vintage vs. junk wax smack down! Only one can advance!

1955 Bowman #9 Gil McDougald	VS	1989 Donruss #33 Ken Griffey Jr. (RC, RR)

Gil McDonald
Bracket Round: defeated Dave Stewart (3-0)
Fun Fact: To get this particular pose, McDougald was asked how he had to hold the TV antennae in order to get the evening news.

Ken Griffey Jr.
Bracket Round: defeated Max Scherzer (2-1)
Fun Fact: Ken's son is named Ken Griffey Jr. Jr., and has stipulated in his will that every future generation of Griffeys should have a Ken with an additional Jr at the end.

Voting is now open - it's an All-Time Great vs an All-Time Great Set! Comment and let your voice be heard!

SEC - "Sweet 16" Match Up #6

Bell Stays Cool In The Face of Smokey

On to the next contestants! This week we have the rookie cards of 2 Hall of Famers! Both members of the 3,000 hit club! Both in the Top-20 in career Runs scored. These guys could hit!

1980 Topps #482 Rickey Henderson (RC)	VS	1978 Topps #707 Rookie Shortstops

Rickey Henderson
Bracket Round: defeated Lee Evans (1-0)
Fun Fact: Rickey proved an old adage wrong when he stole first during a regular season game. Rickey simply dropped his bat and ran to first. The home plate umpire was so confused he initially ruled it a hit by pitch, even though Rickey was already on first when the ball made it to the catcher's mitt.

Paul Molitor
Bracket Round: defeated Dom DiMaggio (1-0)
Fun Fact:The 4 shortstops formed a barbershop quartet while in the minors. The musical venture was short lived when they realized none of them could sing.

Who gets another at-bat in the tournament? Leave a comment with your vote!

SEC - "Sweet 16" Match Up #5

El Tiante Takes Tie-Breaker!

Since both cards received the same number of votes, the tie breaker goes to the older card. Sorry, Big Unit, but being a Hall of Fame pitcher will have to be consolation prize enough.

Hot dog! I'm excited about this match up! I randomly seeded the card in the Single Elimination Challenge, and it's always cool when there some connection between the two cards squaring off. Kahn's has been issuing cards for a long time, and two of their cards are represented here.

1989 Kahn's Cooperstown Collection "Cool Papa" Bell	VS	1956 Kahn's Weiners Smoky Burgess

Cool Papa Bell
Bracket Round: defeated Roberto Alomar (2-0)
Fun Fact: Other nicknames Bell's teammates considered included "Chill Daddy", "Ice Pop", and "The Frozen Father".

Smokey Burgess
Bracket Round: defeated Bob Gibson (3-0)
Fun Fact: Burgess's sponsorship deal with Kahn's was terminated when he gave an newspaper interview and controversially stated that a hot dog was, in fact, a sandwich.

Who decides the winner? You Kahn do it! Comment below and let me know which wiener you await!

SEC - "Sweet 16" Match Up #4

Schacht Gets Last Laugh! Read All About It!

As sad as I am seeing another Red Sox card fall by the wayside, I can't argue one bit with the Al Schacht victory. It's such a great card! It was the visible top card in a pack of repacks and I knew I had to own it.

This week, we have two masterful pitchers. One is one of the greatest strikeout artists of all time and a Hall of Famer. The other is a beloved baseball personality with one of the best windups in baseball.

1968 Topps #532 Luis Tiant	VS	1992 Leaf - Black Gold #302 Randy Johnson

Luis Tiant
Bracket Round: defeated Mariano Rivera (1-0)
Fun Fact: Topp's initial plan was to make this set out of actual burlap. The project was scraped when kids complained about the cards getting tangled up in their bike spokes.

Randy Johnson
Bracket Round: defeated Dave Parker (1-0)
Fun Fact: Every March 24th, birds from all over the world descend upon Randy Johnson's car and cover it with poop. Ornithologists believe this is direct retaliation for the shocking death of one of their own.

The voting booths are open! Comment on this post and help decide which card is better!

SEC - "Sweet 16" Match Up #3

McCutchen advances!

Now that's what I'm talking about! A little pleading on the TCDB forums and I've set a new high in votes! Thanks to everyone that came and visited the blog! Let's keep it up! On to our next competitors:

2004 Topps World Champions Boston Red Sox #54 Team Celebration WS	VS	1987 Conlon World Wide Sports Series 2 #9 Al Schacht

2004 World Series Champion
Bracket Round: defeated Billy Martin (2-1)
Fun Fact:This historical World Series win forced the writers of the movie "Fever Pitch" to change the Jimmy Fallon/Drew Barrymore film from a shock horror gore-fest to a romantic comedy.

Al Schacht
Bracket Round: defeated William O'Leary (1-1 Tie Breaker)
Fun Fact: If you have a starring contest with this card, not only will Al Schacht always win, but he will also read your thoughts.

SEC - "Sweet 16" Match Up #2

Extra! Banks takes down Guillen!

An easy win for Ernie. I almost want to label him as the favorite to win it all.It's hard to bet against a playable record card, but who knows! Next up, we have two former MVPs squaring off for your votes.

1985 Leaf/Donruss #99 Roger Clemens	VS	2015 Topps Pittsburgh Pirates #PIP-1 Andrew McCutchen

Roger Clemens
Bracket Round: defeated Jose Berrios (3-2)
Fun Fact: Canadian company Leaf had to modify its original logo because too many people confused the maple leaf with a pot leaf.

Andrew McCutchen
Bracket Round: defeated Dustin Pedroia (3-1)
Fun Fact: Andrew's recent haircut was the result of losing a cage match to former wrestler Brutus "The Barber" Beefcake.

Your votes decide the winner! Comment below and let me know who is the real MVP!

SEC - "Sweet 16" Match Up #1

Read all about it! Final match up of round set!

And with that, the introductory round of the Single Elimination Challenge is complete! I'd like to thank everyone who voted! 10 different visitors cast a total of 39 votes, with 3 tiebreakers and 8 shutouts! I especially want to thank Kin, who voted in every single match up - 5 times he single handedly decided a bracket by casting the lone vote! Let's see if I can get more voters moving forward!

On to the "Sweet 16" round of the competition!

Made with printyourbrackets.com

Our opening match up features two of the more colorful characters in baseball history:

1962 Auravision Records Ernie Banks	VS	1990 Donruss #15 Ozzie Guillen DK

Ernie Banks
Bracket Round: defeated Tim Wallach (4-1)
Fun Fact: If you play this record backwards, you'll hear Eddie Vedder's "Bryzzo" jingle from the MLB commercial.

Ozzie Guillen
Bracket Round: defeated 2004 ALCS Game 7 Boston Red Sox (1-1 Tiebreaker)
Fun Fact: The original prints of every Dick Perez Diamond King are currently housed in a private wing at the Lourve.

Same rules as always - all you need to do to vote is comment on this post! Let me know which card is your favorite!