Gems of Junk Wax Bracketology: Victors from the field of 64 (Pt. 3)

Albeit a little later than I'd anticipated, we're finally ready to reveal the victors from the most recent batch of matchups.

My apologies for the delay. That whole Mickey Mantle thing kind of got in the way of my plans.

Many of the victors from these eight matchups won handily, although a couple ended up being extremely close races. One even caused a bit of a rift among the "Gems of Junk Wax" tournament committee.

Let's see who'll be moving on to the "Terrific 32", shall we?

#16 seed -- 1991 Topps #530 Roger Clemens (23 votes)

def.

#1 seed -- 1991 Fleer #689 Tom Glavine (11 votes)

As much as I despise Roger Clemens, I think my voters got this one right.

I certainly would've chosen "The Rocket" in this matchup. As much as I love Glavine's 1991 Fleer issue, this Clemens is one of the more recognizable cards of the overproduction era.

And, yet again, a #16 seed took down a #1 seed. That's already the second time we've seen such a thing in this tournament.

It's madness!

#8 -- 1987 Topps #170 Bo Jackson RC (29 votes)

def.

#9 -- 1994 Pinnacle #379 Mark McLemore (5 votes)

Not much of a surprise here.

Much like a few other matchups we've seen so far, this one was quite lopsided from the start.

Personally, I think Mr. McLemore should be proud of his five-vote showing.

#5 -- 1988 Donruss #625 The Ripken Family (22 votes)

def.

#12 -- 1991 Bowman #410 "The Shot Heard 'Round the World" (12 votes)

If it were my choice, I would've taken "The Shot" over "The Ripken Family" in this matchup.

Still, as much as I love Bobby Thomson's historic dinger, I had a feeling the Ripkens would be the victor here. As I've found, most Ripken-related items tend to be quite popular in this hobby.

It's a trend that doesn't look to be stopping anytime soon.

#13 -- 1988 Score #501 Reggie Jackson (18 votes)

def.

#4 -- 1992 Upper Deck #780 Turk Wendell RC (16 votes)

This proved to be one of the two neck-and-neck races I mentioned earlier.

I tracked the voting for this matchup quite closely during the three polling days. One minute, Wendell would push ahead my a couple votes. The next, "Mr. October" would be back in front. Then, Wendell led. It kept going back and forth.

After all was said and done, Jackson as an "O" eked out a narrow two-vote victory over the hygienic Mr. Wendell.

But it was definitely a fight to the finish.

#11 -- 1991 Upper Deck #175 Fernando Valenzuela (23 votes)

def.

#6 -- 1993 Upper Deck #645 Phil Hiatt (11 votes)

In the end, the self-dubbed "matchup of the tournament" turned out to not be much of a contest after all.

Mr. Valenzuela handily won the battle of the "multiple-exposure" cards.

While I love the Hiatt, my readers probably made the proper choice with this one.

#3 -- 1993 Upper Deck #174 Carlos Baerga (17 votes)

TIES

#14 -- 1993 Topps #633 "The Three Russians" (17 votes)

In hindsight, I guess I should've prepared for this.

While I briefly mentioned it in my last "victors" post, I never made a final decision on what I'd do in the event of a tie.

And, wouldn't you know it, a deadlock indeed presented itself in this latest region. Apparently, my readers equally appreciate the "double dipping" Baerga and under-the-radar "Three Russians" pieces.

So, after some deliberation, the "Gems of Junk Wax" tournament committee has handed down a ruling regarding the results of a deadlock.

"In the event of a tie, the victory will go to the higher seed."

In the end, it was the only plausible result I could find. I didn't want to have my readers re-vote on anything. And I couldn't think of any other logical tiebreakers.

Since the seeding was a random and unbiased process, I figure it's fair to give the higher seed the edge in these situations.

So, as much as I hate to see the "Three Russians" go, Mr. Baerga moves on.

#7 -- 1994 UD Ken Burns Baseball #66 Bill Mazeroski (21 votes)

def.

#10 -- 1992 Topps #2 Rickey Henderson RB (11 votes)

This one flat-out surprised me.

I thought the Mazeroski-Henderson matchup would be much, much closer. After all, both chronicle landmark moments from baseball history. Plus, much like Ripken, "Rickey" has a pretty strong following in the cardboard universe.

I guess the jaw-dropping photography on the "Maz" was too awesome to ignore.

#2 -- 1994 Conlon Collection #1000 Ty Cobb (24 votes)

def.

#15 -- 1992 Score #891 Rob Dibble "Dream Team" (8 votes)

Thank you, fellow readers.

I think I would've cried if Cobb lost out to Mr. Dibble in this matchup. In the end, I didn't have much to worry about.

"The Georgia Peach" won comfortably.

Now, let's take a quick peek at this region's "Terrific 32" matchups...

#16 -- 1991 Topps #530 Roger Clemens vs. #8 -- 1987 Topps #170 Bo Jackson RC

#5 -- 1988 Donruss #625 The Ripken Family vs. #13 -- 1988 Score #501 Reggie Jackson

#11 -- 1991 Upper Deck #175 Fernando Valenzuela vs. #3 -- 1993 Upper Deck #174 Carlos Baerga

#7 -- 1994 UD Ken Burns Baseball #66 Bill Mazeroski vs. #2 -- 1994 Conlon Collection #1000 Ty Cobb

A stellar batch of battles, no doubt. I can't wait to see how the voting on the Clemens-Jackson matchup shakes out.

Again, a huge thanks goes out to everyone who has taken the time to vote in this tournament thus far.

I'll have the fourth and final region's matchups from the field of 64 up later tonight!