Round 3 S36


Matt-Holliday-Featured-Card

The thoroughly modern Matt Holliday claims the top seed, facing old-timers John Reilly and Joe Harris, along with mid-century stars Bob Nieman and Joe Adcock, 70s greats, Hall-of-Famer Willie Stargell and Cecil Cooper, and (maybe) unfairly maligned Rafael Palmeiro. With 154 games ahead of them, only the Top 4 are guaranteed slots in Round 5.


Matt-Holliday-Card Baseballs Greatest Player Playoff

Played as: Matt Holliday
Full Name: Matthew Thomas Holliday
Nicknames: Big Daddy, Bull
Twitter: @MHollidayOKST

John-Reilly-Card Baseballs Greatest Player Playoff

Played as: John Reilly
Full Name: John Good Reilly
Nicknames: Long John

Joe-Harris-Card Baseballs Greatest Player Playoff

Played as: Joe Harris
Full Name: Joseph Harris
Nicknames: Moon

Willie-Stargell-Card Baseballs Greatest Player Playoff

Played as: Willie Stargell
Full Name: Wilver Dornel Stargell
Nicknames: Pops

Bob-Nieman-Card Baseballs Greatest Player Playoff

Played as: Bob Nieman
Full Name: Robert Charles Nieman
Nicknames: None

Cecil-Cooper-Card Baseballs Greatest Player Playoff

Played as: Cecil Cooper
Full Name: Cecil Celester Cooper
Nicknames: Coop
Twitter: @CecilCooop

Rafael-Palmeiro-Card Baseballs Greatest Player Playoff

Played as: Rafael Palmeiro
Full Name: Rafael Palmeiro Birth Name: Rafael Corrales Palmeiro
Nicknames: Raffy, Lightning
Twitter: @Rafael_Palmeiro

Joe-Adcock-Card Baseballs Greatest Player Playoff

Played as: Joe Adcock
Full Name: Joseph Wilbur Adcock
Nicknames: Billy Joe

The Results

Willie Stargell unleashed significant power and ran away with the season title. Matt Holliday had an enviable season win total but only managed a second place finish. Rafael Palmeiro and Joe Harris claimed the other two qualifying slots. The others get a second chance in Round 4.

Season Highlights

  • Matt Holliday led all teams in hitting with Holliday6 easily winning the batting title with a .320 average.
  • Stargell9 won the other two legs of the Triple Crown with 42 homers and 97 RBIs.
  • Holliday6 also had a hitting streak of 21 games. Reilly7 hit safely in 20 straight.
  • Pedro Martinez7 won the pitching Triple Crown with 253 Ks, an ERA of 1.96, and a 27-7 record while pitching for the Willie Stargell team.
  • Cooper6, Holliday9, Stargell9, and Stargell8 each had 3-HR games. Holliday hit a grand slam and 2 3-run HRs, giving him 10 RBIs for the game.
  • No-Hitters
    8/10 Bucky Walters7 twirled a 3-0 no-no vs Joe Adcock for Willie Stargell. He only walked one.

Tim Bruno

Tim has been a baseball fan for most of his life and has played a great deal of baseball and softball over the years. Although his playing days are long behind him, he remembers back when he was an extremely fast catcher with an extremely bad arm. He has been playing Strat-o-Matic baseball since he was 14. Tim is currently living in southwest France and writes A LOT about coffee at Procaffeination.com. He has also written Procaffeination: A Coffee Lover's Dictionary, which will be available soon. You can find out more about Tim's writing at TimothyBruno.com and if you want to contact him about the tournament, drop him an email at Tim@BaseballsGreatestPlayerPlayoff.com

Check out these most recent seasons:

link to Round 4 S26

Round 4 S26

The Hitters We are treated to a true mix of players for this elimination round, covering a broad swath of baseball history. Top seed Herman Long hails from the 19th century with...