RBI Tournament 2002 Preview

Note

The RBI Tourney 2002 is complete, with Potsie taking the championship. We've been lazy with writeups, pics or stats, but check out the Forum Results and Final Thoughtsa

Introduction

Every year in late April, four morons get together and compete in the biggest event in their pathetic lives - The RBI Baseball Championship. It's a brutal, daylong battle involving dozens of games and dozens of beers. By the end of the night, only one man is left standing (well stumbling) - the RBI Champion. The prestige and personal satisfaction is overwhelming and lasts for a full year. Nothing finer...

Tourney Info

• The Date - Saturday May 4th, 2002
• The Venue - The Dee-Nee House, Wheeling IL
• First Pitch - 2pm CST
• The Beer - Miller Lite
• The Crowd - By invite only, basically all the friends and a few stragglers

The Rules

Here's how the rules break down:

1. Most importantly - All games are playing according to the rules of the RBI Drinking Game.
2. No All-Star teams allowed
3. Semi-finals are a 2-game round robin, meaning everyone plays everyone twice.
4. Order of the games is chosen out of a hat
5. Games are played in two-game series.
6. Choice of team alternates, with the first team out of hat getting first choice.
7. Top two records (everyone will have played 6 games) go to finals.
8. If there is a tie, head-to-head record is used
9. If there is still a tie, most slaughters is used
10. If there is still a tie, total runs is used
11. Finals are a best-of-three series
12. Best record from semis gets choice of team in games 1&3
13. First to win two games is 2002 RBI Champion

Competitor Breakdown

Here's a breakdown of the competitors going into the tourney. I'll seed them, though seeds aren't used in the tourney. Think of them as a gauge to where everyone currently stands:

1. Potsie - That's right, the perennial cellar-dweller Potsie is the hottest player going into the tourney. I can't believe it either... He has been simply unstoppable with Detroit, winning at an 85% clip as of late. He also been consistenly slaughtering opponents, which is key in tourney games. He is really swinging well from both sides of the plate and been godlike with two outs. Typically everyone goes into the tourney with the impression of taking two from Pots. This year, I think we'd all be happy breaking even...

2. Gantry - How the mighty have fallen. Gantry gets a token #2 seed by virtue of being the defending champ, but he really hasn't been himself lately. The king of lefties has somehow lost the ablity to hit well with any southpaw but Potatoes. His Wally Joyner, typically so feared by his opponents, is simply pathetic. On the plus side he has been hitting much better with righties, especially avoiding double-plays. If the champ even wants to get out of the semis, he needs to recapture his lefty magic....

3. Lips - Lips isn't playing terribly well or terribly bad, but hasn't had his typical winning streaks lately. On the plus side he has finally groomed Boston into a competitive #2 team, something he's never had in previous tourneys. On the bad side he has been getting slaughtered way too much lately, and that hurts in this tourney. They break your spirit, cut down on your opponents drinking (liquor intake is a huge factor) and potentially screw up the tiebreakers. If Lips wants to get to the dance he has to take care of business with Detroit and avoid the quick slaughter...

4. Sperlng - Sperling has been taking it very easy lately, which is probably going to hurt him in the opening rounds. I'd say his opponents play 3-4 times as often as he does, and when he does play he swings like complete ass. Sperling always brings his A game to the semis though, as he's made the finals all three years. To earn trip #4, he'll have to pull some games out of his ass and get over his Gantry curse (0-6 against him the last two tourneys). It will be an uphill battler for Sperling, but he always seems to come through...

Competitor Strategies

The key to the tourney is just to get through the semifinals in one piece. It is such a dogfight in the semis. Going 2-0 in the first round is the best thing that can happen and takes a huge weight off your shoulders. The first round opponent is a very big deal as well. Typically we all hover around the hat hoping to draw Potsie, but that's not the case this year. You definitely want someone you have a good history against in the first round. Watching the booze intake between games is also a big factor. Every year we all go in with the intention of not drinking between games, but that never happens. It's especially worse when you have to sit out a couple games after getting whooped in the previous round. Once you get to the finals, all bets are off...

Live Updates

The 2002 tourney will be updated immediately after the conclusion of each game on The Dee-Nee Forums. So be sure check in early and grab a good seat. I'm sure there will be some commentary/complaining on there as well, depending on who is posting...