At last, we have come to the end of our 15-team simulated tournament to determine the best World Series champion of the 2000s. To remind you, this was how we started:

We are down to just two teams.

No. 1 2009 New York Yankees

The top overall seed has breezed through every round so far, dispatching the 2008 Phillies and the 2000 Yankees after a Round 1 bye. This team, remember, was the one in which the Yankees went out and spent $423.5 million on three players (CC Sabathia, Mark Teixeira and A.J. Burnett) within two months of the economic collapse of October 2008. It was a huge, ostentatious and even sort of garish bet -- banks were falling apart, we were all afraid another Depression was starting, and the Yankees were dropping money from airplanes. It paid off immediately, with the Bombers winning a title in the first year in their new stadium. They're still paying two of those players, and they haven't won a World Series since … but it's still probably worth it for them.

Here are the top 10 players in Baseball Reference WAR on that 2009 Yankees team:

1. Derek Jeter: 6.5

2. CC Sabathia: 6.2

3. Mark Teixeira: 5.3

4. Robinson Cano: 4.5

5. A.J. Burnett: 4.5

6. Johnny Damon: 4.2

7. Alex Rodriguez: 4.1

8. Mariano Rivera: 3.6

9. Andy Pettitte: 3.4

10. Hideki Matsui: 2.7

So, yeah. Pretty good team.

No. 4 2004 Boston Red Sox

(We did some reseeding. It makes sense in our heads.)

This, of course, is one of the most famous baseball teams of all time, the Idiots who came back from 3-0 down against the Yankees in the ALCS to win seven games in a row and claim the franchise's first title since 1918. But even though this was a Wild Card team, it was a terrific one: It won 98 games, after all.

And it still all came down to this:

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After that, they were unstoppable.

Here are the top 10 players in Baseball Reference WAR on that 2004 Red Sox team:

1. Curt Schilling: 7.9

2. Pedro Martinez: 5.5

3. Johnny Damon: 4.2

4. David Ortiz: 4.2

5. Manny Ramirez: 4.1

6. Jason Varitek: 4.0

7. Mark Bellhorn: 3.6

8. Keith Foulke: 3.5

9. Kevin Millar: 2.8

10. Bronson Arroyo: 2.6

So, two iconic teams, two iconic franchises, with the champ of the last 15 years on the line. Here we go.

Game One: 2004 Boston Red Sox 7, 2009 New York Yankees 2. RED SOX 1-0.

The roller coaster ride of this tournament for Curt Schilling takes an uptick here, as he holds a historically outstanding offense to just two runs in the seventh inning. The game is decided in the first inning, when both Manny Ramirez and Jason Varitek hit homers off CC Sabathia, who settles down after that … but it's too late. The Red Sox take control of home-field advantage in Game 1.

Game Two: 2009 New York Yankees 13, 2004 Boston Red Sox 8. TIED 1-1.

The Yankees salvage one game at home with a total shellacking of Pedro Martinez, scoring seven runs off of him in the first inning in front of a presumably throaty Yankee Stadium crowd. Derek Jeter hits Pedro's first pitch for a homer, but Jorge Posada hits a grand slam, followed by a HBP to Robinson Cano and then back-to-back triples from Nick Swisher and Melky Cabrera. Boston manager Terry Francona then pulls Pedro, who ends up with a final line of 1/3 IP, 4 H, 2 BB, 1 HBP, 7 ER. Not great, Bob.

Game Three: 2004 Boston Red Sox 13, 2009 New York Yankees 5. RED SOX 2-1.

Here's your A.J. Burnett blowup game. He gives up two in the first, and after Jeter hits a three-run homer in the second to give the Yankees the lead, he cedes a solo homer to Mark Bellhorn and three-run double to Kevin Millar. It's a homer-riffic game for the Sox, who bash six of them: Bellhorn (2), Millar, Ramirez, David Ortiz and Johnny Damon.

Game Four: 2004 Boston Red Sox 18, 2009 New York Yankees 5. RED SOX 3-1.

So! The Red Sox can hit! The victim this time is Joba Chamberlain, who is tagged for seven runs in the second inning, kicked off by a Damon grand slam. It doesn't go better for anyone else: Six Yankees relievers give up a total of 11 runs, and Millar, the early favorite for MVP, knocks in six runs. And the Red Sox can clinch this thing at Fenway.

Game Five: 2004 Boston Red Sox 5, 2009 New York Yankees 2. RED SOX 4-1.

This one's a lot quieter than the other games -- it's the only game the Red Sox scored fewer than seven runs -- but it doesn't make a difference: The Red Sox clinch our silly tournament at Fenway Park thanks to a three-run third, a Millar homer in the fourth, an Orlando Cabrera double in the sixth and a perfect ninth from Keith Foulke. Jeter flies out to Manny, and Fenway explodes. And we have our champion.

2004 BOSTON RED SOX WIN 4-1.

We'll be back next week to pit those Red Sox against this year's champion. We like their odds.

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Email me at leitch@sportsonearth.com; follow me @williamfleitch; or just shout out your window real loud, I'll hear you. Point is, let's talk.

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2000s World Series bracket: Final 4