Here’s a better preview of these early-round series:
Twin States (48) vs. Mexico (49)
MEXICO has Fernando Valenzuela and a few guys who can hit the longball – Vinny Castilla and Erubiel Durazo. TWIN STATES is led by Carlton Fisk and will have to piece together a rotation led by Chris Carpenter. Winner faces Arkansas, the 17 seed.
Colorado (44) vs. Delaware (53)
COLORADO doesn’t have a lot of hitting, but boasts an ace in Roy Halladay and killer relief led by Goose Gossage. DELAWARE doesn’t have any Hall of Famers, but Webster McDonald and Chris Short might be enough starting pitching in a short series. Winner gets West Virginia (21).
Mississippi (45) vs. NJAA (52)
Cool Papa Bell, Dave Parker and Roy Oswalt lead MISSISSIPPI. The NJAA team – that’s “non-Japan Asia and Australia” – did a good job to finish ahead of two teams in the overall standings. They’ll have their hands full here. Indiana (20) awaits the winner.
Mountain West (43) vs. Dakota (54)
The MOUNTAIN WEST team, which includes New Mexico, Utah and Nevada, is the highest seed of the teams in this round, and is led by Vern Stephens and Ralph Kiner. DAKOTA, representing North and South, won just five games in the 34-game season and will have to win three of five to pull the upset and move on to face Wisconsin (22).
Alaska/Hawaii (46) vs. Kansas (51)
KANSAS, as we mentioned previously, finds itself in this round rather surprisingly. But they have Walter Johnson going twice in a five-game series. ALASKA/HAWAII, however, has a fine rotation for a small duo of states with not very many players: Curt Schilling, Charlie Hough, Ron Darling and Sid Fernandez. Should be a good series, with the survivor to take on Massachusetts (19).
Arizona (47) vs. District of Columbia (50)
As of the time I set the rosters, these teams were evenly matched in size, with D.C. having 89 players to choose from and Arizona 82. Not much has changed since then, of course, with D.C. led by Don Money, Maury Wills and Nip Winters, while Arizona has Shea Hillenbrand, Chris Duncan and Andre Ethier … yeah, it’s a long way up for them. The winner takes on Cuba (18).
Base instincts 