The Frankenset Bracket: Our champion

We have a winner!

#3 (Page 3) -- 1972 Topps #19 Billy Cowan (25 votes)

def.

#1 (Page 70) -- 1973 Topps #627 Luis Alvarado (15 votes)

It's official: after many hard-fought weeks and nail-biting rounds, Billy Cowan is our frankenset champion!

Honestly, I didn't peg Cowan as one of the possible victors when I was first setting up the bracket -- a legendary card, no doubt, but not one I thought could take down the likes of other giants in the tournament. I actually didn't vote for Cowan in either of his final two matchups versus Kurt Bevacqua or Luis Alvarado. (Alvarado was my personal pick to win it all.)

For now, please join me in a round of applause for Billy Cowan -- the truest Angel of them all -- who will from this day forward be forever honored with a commemorative spot on the sidebar of this blog.

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So where do we go from here?

First off, I'd like to thank everyone who took the time to vote in the frankenset, both in the individual pages and the eventual bracket. Believe me, the polls kept me on the edge of my seat week after week.

I honestly don't know what's next. I'm thinking of making Monday an unofficial Theme Day for the blog: Short-Term Stops, sunset posts, and I'm even plotting a possible Gems of Junk Wax revival.

Because of how fun this frankenset foray was, I'm also testing the waters on possibly starting a second Dime Box Frankenset from the three big boxes I have of also-rans that didn't make the cut the first time around. A minor league frankenset, if you will. But I'm still teasing that one out.

In the meantime, thanks again to all who participated in making this frankenset so special.

I hope it was as much fun for you as it was for me.