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>>> CLICK HERE FOR THE FINAL BRACKET <<<

After roughly two weeks of grueling competition between 64 of our favorite names from ancient baseball history, we have reached a triumphant conclusion. After three days of championship voting, a winner has been crowned.

2. Shadrack McHooveter (56.7%) vs. 3. Pretzels Getzien (43.3%)

To recap our champion’s historic run, I’ll seek to answer three simple questions.

How did Shadrack McHooveter get to this point?

In Round 1, the #2 seed Shadrack was matched up against what we thought to be the toughest #15 seed: Cliff Doom. Shad and his supporters were hardly intimidated, handing doom a defeat of biblical proportions: 76% of the vote — the highest % he would ultimately receive all tournament.

Round 2 presented Shadrack with the first of three consecutive juvenile competitors, this being one of the two Dick Jokes in the tournament: #10 seed Dick Powers. The Dick Jokes proved to be a tough test for anyone unfortunate enough to have to face them, but McHooveter McHooved by Powers with just under 51% of the vote to advance to the Sweet 16.

After surviving the Dick, Shadrack was now faced with the butts; underdog #14 seed Clovis Butts, to be exact. Early support for Butts eventually faded, as Shadrack surged ahead and advanced with a solid yet unspectacular 54% of the vote.

The Elite Eight presented Shadrack with another Cinderella story that tickled a lot of voters’ fancies in the form of #13 seed Dizzy Nutter. After countless cries against the under-seeding of Mr. Nutter, his strongest supporters seemed to fall silent for this crucial stage in the tournament, only mustering 42% any of the vote to Shadrack’s 58%. McHooveter moved on.

The Final Four was undoubtedly Shadrack’s most difficult challenge: the #1 overall seed and perennial powerhouse, Ten Million. Those crying Real Names Over Nicknames had no argument against Million’s genuine moniker, and yet, Shadrack managed to edge out an incredible victory by a mere nine votes against the Ten Million Dollar Man. Many argued that this deserved to the be the championship match-up — I can’t say I disagree. Regardless, Shadrack advanced to the final stage.

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CHAMPIONSHIP VOTING IS NOW OPEN

>>> CLICK HERE FOR THE BRACKET <<<

>>> CLICK HERE FOR ROUND 1 RESULTS <<<

>>> CLICK HERE FOR ROUND 2 RESULTS <<<

>>> CLICK HERE FOR SWEET 16 RESULTS <<<

>>> CLICK HERE FOR ELITE EIGHT RESULTS <<<

We have reached the agonizing final stages of this bracket, with each region’s winner ascending to the Final Four to compete for a spot in the Best Name Championship. Our four remaining competitors:

Ten Million AKA 10,000,000 AKA The Original North West entered the tourney as the #1 overall seed and the favorite to take home the trophy. He cruised through the first few rounds of his region, but his 55% showing in the Elite Eight against Van Lingle Mungo did seem to cast some doubt on his pedigree.

Shadrack McHooveter, a valiant #2 seed who crushed Dizzy Nutter’s Cinderella story in the previous round to punch his ticket to the Final Four. “Shad”, as his friends know him, garnered immense support once matched up against Ten Million, with many citing the popular Beastie Boys song as his official anthem.

Pretzels Getzien, the OG Best Name and the god damn inspiration for this entire tournament and innovator of the curveball, has earned hundreds of votes from Barbecast listeners and snack enthusiasts alike. His remarkable run to the latter stages of this tournament will never be forgotten, no matter the end result.

And of course, Orlando Zgraggen, the other remaining #1 seed alongside Mr. Million, fought through what we considered to be the toughest region in the tournament on his way to the Final Four. He took down crowd favorites Yank Deas and Lil Stoner with no remorse, and appeared locked and loaded heading into his match-up against Pretzels.

Four names entered. Only two remain. The results:

Final Four

1. Ten Million (49.6%) vs. 2. Shadrack McHooveter (50.4%)

This is what happens when an unstoppable force meets an immovable Shadrack. McHooveter holds on by a mere nine votes to advance to the title match.

3. Pretzels Getzien (54.6%) vs. 1. Orlando Zgraggen (45.4%)

The support for our German hero stayed strong, as the Zgraggen was sent home Zpacking.

***

The official sponsor of the Best Name Bracket is baseball-reference.com! Right now, you can head over to http://www.baseball-reference.com/play-index/bbq.shtml and use the coupon code “bbq” to get $6 off a one-year subscription to the Play Index, an invaluable tool for answering all your ridiculously specific statistical queries about baseball history.

CHAMPIONSHIP VOTING IS NOW OPEN

>>> CLICK HERE FOR THE BRACKET <<<

>>> CLICK HERE FOR ROUND 1 RESULTS <<<

>>> CLICK HERE FOR ROUND 2 RESULTS <<<

>>> CLICK HERE FOR SWEET 16 RESULTS <<<

>>> CLICK HERE FOR ELITE EIGHT RESULTS <<<

>>> FINAL FOUR VOTING IS NOW OPEN <<<

>>> CLICK HERE FOR THE BRACKET <<<

>>> CLICK HERE FOR ROUND 1 RESULTS <<<

>>> CLICK HERE FOR ROUND 2 RESULTS <<<

>>> CLICK HERE FOR SWEET 16 RESULTS <<<

We’ve come a long way since the BBQ Best Name Bracket opened about a week ago with 64 tremendous baseball names from the distant past. Over 50,000 individual votes have been cast since the first 32 match-ups were opened, and after a smattering of upsets and dominant performances from higher seeds alike, America has narrowed the field down to four. The results:

REGION 1

1. Ten Million (55%) vs. 3. Van Lingle Mungo (45%)

The pre-tourney favorite to win it all had his first real test in Mungo, and his % dropped another 7 points from the previous round. It was still more than enough to defeat VLM and punch his ticket to the Final Four.

REGION 2

13. Dizzy Nutter (42%) vs. 2. Shadrack McHooveter (58%)

The fan favorite Nutter’s miracle run comes to an end, as Shadrack moves on with the highest % of votes among the four winning teams this round.

REGION 3

9. Boots Poffenberger (48%) vs. 3. Pretzels Getzien (52%)

The #9 seed had one hell of a run to this point, but his amusing belligerent alcoholism detailed so eloquently in his description could only take him so far. Pretzels > Poff.

REGION 4

1. Orlando Zgraggen (54%) vs. 11. Lil Stoner (46%)

Enter the Zgraggen, Lil Stoner did, and eliminated he was.

***

The official sponsor of the Best Name Bracket is baseball-reference.com! Right now, you can head over to http://www.baseball-reference.com/play-index/bbq.shtml and use the coupon code “bbq” to get $6 off a one-year subscription to the Play Index, an invaluable tool for answering all your ridiculously specific statistical queries about baseball history.

>>> FINAL FOUR VOTING IS NOW OPEN <<<

>>> CLICK HERE FOR THE BRACKET <<<

>>> CLICK HERE FOR ROUND 1 RESULTS <<<

>>> CLICK HERE FOR ROUND 2 RESULTS <<<

>>> CLICK HERE FOR SWEET 16 RESULTS <<<

>>> CLICK HERE FOR THE BRACKET <<<

>>> CLICK HERE FOR ROUND 1 RESULTS <<<

>>> CLICK HERE FOR ROUND 2 RESULTS <<<

The Sweet 16 of the BBQ Best Name Bracket presented us with eight heart-wrenching match-ups. This brutal round forced us to do some thorough soul searching in an effort to determine which of these 16 names were worth of Elite Eight status. In the words of Ryan Seacrest, America has spoken. Full results and analysis:

REGION 1

1. Ten Million (62%) vs. 4. Cheese Goggans (38%)

While the #1 overall seed won handily yet again, it’s worth pointing out that Mr. Million has dropped roughly ten percentage points each round. If the trend continues, he may struggle to beat the intimidating Mungo.

3. Van Lingle Mungo (59%) vs. 7. Mysterious Walker (41%)

Mysterious Walker’s mysterious hot streak ends at the hands of VLM. About time.

REGION 2

1. Count Sensenderfer (48%) vs. 13. Dizzy Nutter (52%)

Another #1 seed falls at the hands of Dizzy Nutter and the enormous bandwagon of support he’s got right behind him. Many thought this would be the end of the line for Dizzy, but here we are.

14. Clovis Butts (46%) vs. 2. Shadrack McHooveter (54%)

The Cinderella Butts story comes to a tragic yet understandable end, as the six-syllable Shadrack earned just enough votes to continue onto Round 4.

REGION 3

9. Boots Poffenberger (66%) vs. 4. Ed Head (34%)

Arguably a more surprising upset than his takedown of #1 seed Bris Lord, Boots continued his excellent form with a shockingly easy defeat of the best rhyme in the tourney, Ed Head.

3. Pretzels Getzien (64%) vs. 2. The Only Nolan (36%)

After a second round scare against Dick Oder, Pretzels and his supporters re-gained focus and confidently beat The Only Nolan. The Only Pretzels.

REGION 4

1. Orlando Zgraggen (53%) vs. 5. Yank Deas (47%)

The first two rounds seemed to indicate an unstoppable journey towards the title for Yank, but the Zgraggen was released and Deas’ journey was indeed stopped in Round 3.

11. Lil Stoner (51%) vs. 2. Squiz Pillion (49%)

Perhaps the most disappointing result for us here at the BBQ, one of our all-time favorites was eliminated by a mere 13 votes in favor of The Littlest Stoner. So much for the Million vs. Pillion championship. THANKS, GUYS.

The official sponsor of the Best Name Bracket is baseball-reference.com! Right now, you can head over to http://www.baseball-reference.com/play-index/bbq.shtml and use the coupon code “bbq” to get $6 off a one-year subscription to the Play Index, an invaluable tool for answering all your ridiculously specific statistical queries about baseball history.

>>> CLICK HERE FOR THE BRACKET <<<

>>> CLICK HERE FOR ROUND 1 RESULTS <<<

>>> CLICK HERE FOR ROUND 2 RESULTS <<<

>>> CLICK HERE FOR THE BRACKET <<<

>>> CLICK HERE FOR ROUND 1 RESULTS <<<

>>> CLICK HERE FOR SWEET 16 RESULTS <<<

Round 2 of the BBQ Best Name Bracket concluded last night, as voters across the globe determined the 16 names they’d like to see duke it out for the title of Best Name in Baseball History. In turn, 16 tremendous names were sent home, forced to ponder what combination of letters or string of consonants could have given them a better chance in this remarkably tough field. We enter the Sweet 16 with only three #1 seeds, a Cinderella #14 seed, and perhaps most shockingly, zero dick jokes. Full results and analysis:

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REGION 1

1. Ten Million (74%) vs. 9. Bill Dingus (26%)

The Ten Million train had no issue with the scrappy #9 seed. He’ll face his first true competition in the Sweet 16.

12. Bud Weiser (42%) vs. 4. Cheese Goggans (58%)

America may have liked Budweiser enough to put the #12 seed through to Round 2, but he was no match for the man known as Cheese.

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>>> CLICK HERE FOR THE BRACKET <<<

>>> CLICK HERE FOR ROUND 2 RESULTS <<<

>>> CLICK HERE FOR SWEET 16 RESULTS <<<

Earlier this week, we introduced the BBQ Best Name Bracket presented by Baseball-Reference, a March Madness-style tournament allowing you to help us determine the funniest name in old-timey baseball history. After some initial discomfort with the committee’s seeding selections, passionate folk across America rushed out to the polls to express their support for their favorite monikers. Roughly 34,000 individual votes were cast (about 1,000 per match-up) during Round 1 of the Best Name Bracket. Here are the results, along with some super serious analysis:

(click image to enlarge)

Region 1

1. Ten Million (85%) vs. 16. Firpo Marberry (15%)

The #1 overall seed had no trouble advancing, steamrolling the unassuming Firpo with a convincing % of the vote.

8. Frank De Frank (42%) vs. 9. Bill Dingus (58%)

The 8-9 match-up is generally a toss-up, but the voters seemed pretty sure about this one. Mr. Dingus comfortably defeated Frankie Frank. He’ll need a lot of support in Round 2 to defeat the 10,000,000 powerhouse.

5. Double Duty Radcliffe (43%) vs. 12. Bud Weiser (57%)

America loves beer. Even bad beer. Bud Weiser moves on, while Bud Light was eliminated in the first round of the Best Name NIT.

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