Results of the 3rd (2004) R.B.I. Baseball Championship of the Universe Tournament
1st Mike Riley (Ohio)
2nd Colin Foster (Illinois) aka HoJoFan
3rd Mike Beales (Illinois) aka SmokedUBad
4th Joe Cordiano (Ohio) aka JoeDirt
5th Clark Carden (Tennessee)
5th Matt Podgorski (Illinois)
7th Jim Callan (Illinois) aka jcbball86
7th Marty Stroka (Illinois)
9th Torre Craigue (Tennessee)
9th Carlos Diaz (Illinois)
9th Gary LeDonne (Illinois) aka Ultimate7
9th Tony Wojo (Illinois)
13th Jeff Bandur (Illinois) aka DX XPAC321
13th Bill Glassi (Illinois)
13th Jason Kazmierczak (Illinois) aka Ozzy364
13th Trevor Martin (Texas)
I'd like to congratulate Mike Riley on his recent feat of becoming the Third R.B.I. Baseball Champion of the Universe. He's a terrific player that posted a 5-0 series record, which, by the way is a new COTUT record as nobody has ever finished a tourney undefeated.
Colin Foster (HoJoFan), defending champ, finished with a 4-2 series record to snag 2nd place. One special note... both of his series losses occurred to the champion, Mike Riley.
I finished in 3rd place with a series record of 4-2. Both of my defeats were received by the top two finishers, Riley and Foster.
Joe Cordiano (JoeDirt) came in 4th place with a 4-2 record as well. He was defeated by both Foster and I.
Honorable mentions go out to Clark Carden from Tennessee and Matt Podgorski from Illinois for their 5th place finishes. Both proved to be excellent contenders and just missed prize money by one victory.
Overall, this was the best tournament that the COTUT has seen. The talent and enthusiasm of all players was something that we'd love to see in future tournaments. Honestly, everybody proved to be a contender and that's all we can really ask for. So thanks to everybody for making this an awesome tourney all-around.
Beales
www.rbibaseballcotut.com - The R.B.I. Baseball COTUT
Nice job coming back through for 3rd Mike, and congrats to others (Riley, Foster, JoeDirt), very well run tourney. I wish I could have hung around and won a few more and watched a bit of the Sunday games.
Wow, Riley comes in and gets the sweep. Most impressive... What were his series scores with Foster?
Championship Series Scores
Game 1
M. Riley Away Dt 1
C. Foster Home Bo 2
Series: 1-0 Foster
Game 2
M. Riley Away Ca 1
C. Foster Home SF 0
Series: 1-1 Tie
Game 3
M. Riley Home Mn 4
C. Foster Away NY 5 Top of the 9th Solo Homer
Series: 2-1 Foster
Game 4
M. Riley Home SL 2
C. Foster Away Ho 0
Series: 2-2 Tie
Game 5
M. Riley Away Bo 5
C. Foster Home Dt 1
Series: 3-2 Riley
Game 6
M. Riley Home SF 1
C. Foster Away Ca 4
Series: 3-3 Tie
Game 7
M. Riley Away SL 5
C. Foster Home MN 1
Series: 4-3 Riley
It really was a tremendous championship series. The scores for the first four games really show the intensity.
We kept scores for every game played in the tournament. Couldn't keep statistics because we didn't have the time because we needed to keep the tourney moving. After all the website updates, I'll get all those scores together in a single Word document and make them available through the website and the forum. Don't look for those anytime soon though... maybe another week or two.
Beales
www.rbibaseballcotut.com - The R.B.I. Baseball COTUT
Wow Riley chose to use SL instead of NY for Game 7 and scored 5 runs with them.
So who's up for an OH COTUT next summer for $100 entry fee? :D
What are the advantages of increasing the entry fee? Obviously more $$$ to the winners, but will it draw out better competition or will it scare players away? It seems as though there is enough money riding on it. It is not as though people aren't taking it seriously. And the more money involved the more likely you could end up with some dispute or issue that involves a fight or legal action or who knows what.
Good points, Ultimate...lemme tell you what we're thinking:
* $100 increases talent level per player
* Finishing in the money bracket allows for a profitable trip for out of towners...for example, even if I would have finished 2nd in the 3rd COTUT, I would have taken a loss on the trip. The hotel/airfare is a fixed price, so the higher the entry fee, the higher the winnings...and the higher the winnings, the higher the payout...and the higher the payout, well, you get the point.
* Since there are a lot of worthy RBI players in Chicago--we need to make it "worth the trip" for you guys...$50 might not do it.
* Higher entry fee should encourage a lot more practicing. I'm guessing the Chicago Contingency will play each other a lot more often, if the stakes are higher--and that's a great thing.
But, we're only one day removed from the 3rd COTUT, so it's all still up in the air.
I just know that we need to keep the COTUT and its regulars (and newbies) running forevermore. :)
Also, perhaps we can talk about a tiered entry fee...where you can pay either $50 or $100...obivously, if you pay $50, you get half the winnings of what the $100 winner would otherwise get...
...eh, something to talk about for the next year, anyway. :)
Personally, I just enjoy playing RBI and I like competing. I'd play happily if no money were invloved, and would probably go to Ohio for a tourney, if I was available that weekend. But as the money goes up I have to make $$$ decisions. As you said there is plenty of time to consider what to do.
Thanks for all the accolades and stuff. It was a very competitive and well run tourney. Lots of fun!
I started off slow in the first few rounds but found my grove by the time I played Foster in a best of 5 series. I was fortunate I didn't have to face my buddy, Joe Dirt. Joe and I are from Columbus, OH and we play each other about once a month or once every other month. He is the best player I have ever played against. We usually split our games about 50-50 over a 30 game season. We both can be very streaky at times. I think Joe and I would have hooked up in the Championship if it wasn't for his tough early draw. Playing Foster in a 3 game series is tough. The nerves are going strong and there is little room for error against guys like Foster and Beales.