Eighteen players gathered to contest this year's tournament. The format was changed this year. For the first time ever an auction was held to determine which team each participant would manage. Each team was rated based on the strength of its hitting and pitching. The best team was the 1949 Red Sox (rated an 11) and the worst team was the 1927 Red Sox (rated a -13). The ratings determined how many outs a team would forfeit to make a game competitive. So if the '49 Red Sox played the '27 Red Sox the '49 team would forfeit 24 outs. That's right, the '49 team would bat one inning while the '27 team would play nine innings. It would have been great to see that match-up but the '27 team was too bad for anyone to even consider playing them.

The auction saw mostly conservative bidding (of additional out handicaps) with only the 1976 Cincinnati Red's (The Big Red Machine), producing spirited bidding. Five leagues were formed and round robin play determined the eight teams that would advance to the single elimination playoffs. Each league winner advanced automatically then a complicated lottery system that gave the more successful teams in round robin play a greater probability of advancement determined the wild card teams.

The four league winners were the 1936 Yankees (3-0), the 1978 Yankees (3-0), the 1986 Red Sox (3-0), the 1949 Red Sox (3-0), and the 1994 Braves (2-1), the First Wild card was the 1965 Cleveland Indians (2-1) (tied with the Braves as division champ), then the 1931 Athletics (2-1), and lastly the 1984 Cubs (2-1). The first round pairings were '78 Yanks vs. '31 A's (Yankees win 2-1), '86 Red Sox vs. '49 Red Sox ('49 Sox win 1-0), '36 Yanks vs. '84 Cubs (Yankees win 8-2), and lastly, '94 Braves vs. '65 Indians (Indians win 3-2 reversing a previous one run defeat to the Braves in league play). The second round pitted '78 Yanks vs. '49 Sox (Sox win 2-1), and '36 Yanks vs. '65 Indians (Indians win 4-2). The finals would pit the '49 Sox against the wild card '65 Indians.

The final game was marked by lots of hitting and poor pitching. Both team's starters tired early but remained in the game due to depleted bullpens. The Sox jumped out early slapping the ball all over the field and building a 4-0 lead early only to see the Indians rally on a grand slam ... all this was before the end of the third inning. The Red Sox bats were relentless the rest of the game scoring in almost every inning but the Indians never quit. The light hitting Indians scrapped together enough hits to keep the game close but eventually fell, 12-9. It seemed like the Indians were pitching a softball to the Red Sox hitters. Their tired pitching staff could just not get the powerful Red Sox out.

There were plenty of highlights in the tournament including the masterful pitching duel between Lefty Grove and Ron Guidry in the first round playoff game between the '78 Yanks and '31 A's. Grove gave up three hits and got eight K's only to lose to Guidry who gave up four hits with 14 K's! This write-up is already beyond the limit but there was so much more excitement. Come play in the 2004 event where the greatest all-star team from each franchise will be pitted against each other to determine the WBC champion.