Gems of Junk Wax Bracketology: Victors from the Elite Eight (Pt. 1)

Thanks to all the voters out there, the first half of our "Final Four" is set.

We had a couple of close matchups this time around. Then again, I pretty much expected that with all of these later-round pairings.

Once again, I'd like to stress that, since they reside on opposite sides of the bracket, these two victors will not meet up in the next round of voting. However, that does mean that they could possibly end up facing off against each other in the championship.

Ah, I'm getting ahead of myself here.

Let's meet our first pair of "Final Four" contestants.

#9 -- 1991 Topps #170 Carlton Fisk (21 votes)

def.

#6 -- 1989 Fleer #616 Billy Ripken "Rick Face" (15 votes)

In terms of sheer awesomeness, this may be the greatest matchup we've seen in this tournament thus far.

Both the "play at the plate" Fisk and profanity-laced Ripken are a couple of the more appreciated cards from the overproduction era. And, as luck would have it, they ended up facing off against each other in the "Elite Eight".

I'm proud to say that my dad's been following and voting on this tournament from the beginning. He had his money on the so-called "Rick Face" to win it all. Unfortunately, Ripken's efforts ended with a narrow six-vote defeat in this round.

Mr. Fisk's magical run just keeps on going. He's "Final Four" bound now.

I'm not sure about you, but I had a feeling he'd go deep into this tournament from the get-go.

#12 -- 1991 Topps #760 Benito Santiago (20 votes)

def.

#7 -- 1991 Topps #455 Walt Weiss (15 votes)

After a series of laughers, someone finally managed to give Santiago a run for his money in this tournament.

Fellow '91 Topps compatriot and awesome "double dip" nominee Walt Weiss managed to hang with "Benny" for most of the three-day voting period, something that I wasn't necessarily expecting to happen.

Weiss certainly have a heck of an effort. In the end, though, the greatness of Mr. Santiago just couldn't be contained.

He escaped with a five-vote victory in the "Elite Eight".

With the victories by Fisk and Santiago, 1991 Topps will comprise half of our "Final Four".

I should be revealing the latter half of "Elite Eight" matchups tonight, so be on the lookout!

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

You've made it a ton of fun.