SUPER-REGIONAL W:  This group of regional winners had a collection of franchises that had relatively few survivors at this level, such as the Browns, Mariners, and Royals; it also had two entries from the Blue Jays who would face off immediately for bragging rights in round four, a classic Red Sox team that unfortunately had lost one of the best cards in Strat history to injury in the first round of the tournament, and a very good Astros team that had just fallen short of a pennant in the playoffs.  That Astros team seemed like a likely candidate to capture the crown in this super-regional, with the teams in the bottom portion of the bracket looking like a crapshoot to me–I thought perhaps the Mariners might make the final.  The ELO ratings agreed with that assessment, with none of the bottom four rated as strong teams.

Round four action

For this round four matchup between the 1998 Astros and the 1941 Red Sox, Strat enthusiast Kevin traveled to Endless Tournament Central to helm his 102-win Astros against a Boston team that had lost .400-hitting Ted Williams to injury in the very first round of the tournament.  Still, these Red Sox, who finished 2nd in the AL, still boasted other Hall of Famers like Jimmie Foxx and Joe Cronin, although #4 starter Joe Dobson (12-5, 4.49) was at a disadvantage against Kevin’s Mike Hampton (11-7, 3.36).  The Red Sox grab the lead in the bottom of the 3rd courtesy of an RBI single from Dom Dimaggio, while Moises Alou singles in a run in the 5th to tie the game although the Astros leave the bases loaded.  Nonetheless, it’s killer bee time in the top of the 7th with Bagwell and Biggio driving in runs for a 3-1 Houston lead and Dobson heads to the showers.  However, with their best reliever burnt from their regional final, the Red Sox have to try their luck with another Hall of Famer, 41 year old Lefty Grove, but he is a shadow of his former self as Alou and Derek Bell drive in two more; Billy Wagner pitches the 8th and the 9th and the Astros head to round five with the 5-1 win, and the Splendid Splinter heads back to the card catalogs with almost no chance to show his stuff in this project.

For the round four matchup between the 86-win 1990 Blue Jays and the 76-win 2017 Blue Jays, we had to give Toronto denizen Eaglesfly the choice of which team to manage, and he went with the earlier version to avoid Vlad Jr., who wasn’t even on the team yet in 2017.  So brother Chuck was responsible for the underdog 2017s, with homer-prone Marcus Estrada (10-9, 4.98) getting the call against 1990’s Jimmy Key (13-7, 4.25) testing the bottom of the rotation for both squads.  Furthermore, both teams had their starting catchers injured with 2017’s backup also hurt, so backstops were at a premium, but fittingly it was 90’s catcher Greg Myers who connects with Estrada’s solid HR result for a solo shot in the top of the 3rd to give the elders the early lead.  In the 4th, it was Kelly Gruber’s turn, a solo shot on his own card, and that 2-0 lead only lasts until the bottom of the inning, when Key can’t lock down the 17s who rap out four runs, three of them on a bases-loaded double from Jose Bautista.  Tony Fernandez responds with an RBI single in the top of the 5th but he’s thrown out stealing, contributing to an 0 for 3 rate on SB attempts for the 1990 team courtesy of my terrible split dice rolling.  It remains a one-run game until the bottom of the 7th, when supersub outfielder Teoscar Hernandez converts Keys’ HR result for a 2 run shot, and Eaglesfly summons Jim Acker bemoaning that he left in Key for one batter too long.  However, in the top of the 9th it’s Chuck who gets that feeling, as the redoubtable PH Glenallen Hill locates Estrada’s solid 5-homer for a 2-run shot and it’s a one-run game with nobody out.  At that point, Chuck has to burn closer Pablo Osuna, but it proves worthwhile as he strikes out the side and the 2017 Jays hold on for the contested 6-5 win over their earlier counterparts.

The 94-loss 1997 Royals were another one of those teams that seemed to have no business participating in a super-regional, but that didn’t stop brother Chuck from volunteering to roll on their behalf against me and the 88-win 2007 Mariners.  Although the Royals’ Tim Belcher (13-12, 5.02) did little to instill confidence, he was still better than the only remaining option for the Mariners, a terrible Jeff Weaver (7-13, 6.44) who had one of the worst pitching cards to start in this project.  Sure enough, the Royals get a run in the top of the 1st with a Chili Davis RBI single, but they leave the bases loaded, and then Weaver gets a scoreless inning in the 2nd and things are looking a little better.  That is, at least until the 3rd, when Jeff King rips a 2-run triple past a fumbling RF-4 Jose Guillen, and then a solo homer by Jose Offerman in the 4th later followed with a 2-run homer from Jay Bell and then a decent Mariners bullpen can finally take over to try to dig out of a 6-0 deficit.  They make a good start at it in the bottom of the 5th with Ichiro and Guillen each driving in two to make it a two-run game after five.  King ups his RBI total with a solo shot in the 7th, and although the M’s load the bases in the bottom of the 8th to threaten, they can only produce one run on a Guillen sac fly; Dave Veres comes in from the pen to earn the save in a 7-5 win that keeps the Royals run alive.

This game involved an increasingly rare matchup of two old-school die-cut teams,those being the mediocre 80-82 1973 Yankees and the Cinderella 1950 Browns that had somehow won their regional despite a dismal 58-96 record.  However, it was hard to envision any glass slippers for the Browns with two of their best players injured during the regional, and some ghastly options for a #4 starter with Dick Starr (7-5, 5.02) perhaps the least bad.  Meanwhile, the Yankees had already gotten through the wife-swapping portion of their rotation, and they figured that Pat Dobson (9-8, 4.24) might be able to handle the Browns and keep swingman Lindy McDaniel available for relief work.  That decision is called into question when the second batter of the game, Dick Kokos, rolls Dobson’s solid HR result for a quick 1-0 Browns lead.  The Yanks don’t get a hit off Starr until Bobby Murcer’s single in the 4th, but although a couple of walks load the bases they come away empty.  With the offense not generating any scores, the Yanks move to McDaniel to begin the 6th even though Dobson has only allowed the one hit; NY threatens again with the bases loaded in the 6th but once again #9 hitter Gene Michael can’t bring anyone home.  And Starr continues to pitch over his head, shutting down PH Jim Hart for the final out of a 2-hit shutout and the Browns somehow manage to move on despite notching only three hits themselves.  

The survivors:  round five

After having his ‘90 Jays downed by Chuck and the 2017 Blue Jays, Eaglesfly abandoned the Jays and decided to let Chuck test his luck against the formidable 1998 Astros.  With pinch-roller Kevin out of the country, it would fall to me to direct the Killer B’s in their round five matchup, with ace Jose Lima (16-8, 3.70) going against the Jays’ Marcus Strohman (13-9, 3.09) in a good pitching matchup.  And both keep the game scoreless until the top of the 4th, when Jeff Bagwell scores from first on a Carl Everett double for a 1-0 lead.  But Toronto storms back in the 6th when 3rd string catcher Luke Maile, in because Russell Martin managed to get his second three-game injury in five tournament games, drives in a run on a single and he scores on a Teoscar Hernandez double to make it 2-1 Jays.  However, a critical error in the 7th by Toronto 3B-2 Josh Donaldson helps to set up a two run double by Bill Spiers, and then PH Sean Berry adds a sac fly and Craig Biggio contributes a 2-out RBI single and the Astros lead 5-2 after 7.  A leadoff double in the 8th chases Lima, and with Billy Wagner burnt Houston goes to Scott Elarton, who is the beneficiary of some insurance in the 9th courtesy of a Spiers RBI single.   The Jays get two on in the bottom of the 9th and Donaldson comes to the plate with a chance to make it a one run game, but he misses the 3-4 homer with a 3-3 roll and the Astros walk away with the 6-2 win, and a chance at a berth in the final field of 32.  

One would not have expected the 94-loss 1997 Royals and the 98-loss 1950 Browns to have been two of the 128 teams able to knock off four straight opponents in this tournament, but here they were; Chuck would try to replicate his previous success with the Royals with their ace Kevin Appier (9-13, 3.40) on the hill, while I would lead one of the only two Browns teams to win their regional, with top starter Ned Garver (13-18, 3.39) getting the assignment–with this Browns squad short two starters due to injuries.  The game began a lot like the Royals’ round four game, with Johnny Damon leading off with a triple and Chili Davis knocking him in with a single.  However, in the bottom of the 4th Les Moss ties the game with a solo homer, making him the top home run hitter named Les in this project; nonetheless, KC regains the lead as Jay Bell raps an RBI single past 2B-4 Owen Friend in the 5th.  Chuck inserts a slew of defensive replacements in the 6th to shore up a shaky Royals defense, but Appier hits a rough patch as a Moss double puts runners on 2nd and 3rd, and PH Bill Sommers cracks a single that scores two when the 1-10+2 Moss hoofs it home to give the Browns their first lead.  From there the Royals are Garvered, as they can only muster one hit in the final four innings and even though a St. Louis insurance run is cut down at the plate with a 1-14 chance, the insurance isn’t needed as the lowly Browns survive and advance to the super-regional final with a 3-2 win.

Super-regional finals

It was another David v. Goliath matchup for the super-regional final, although the slingshot has often proved to be a successful weapon in so many games in this tournament.  This time it was the 102-win 1998 Astros against the 58 win 1950 Browns, and to make matters even more lopsided, the Browns still had their best hitter, Don Lenhardt, on the DL, and they had a Houston problem with Randy Johnson (19-11, 3.28) on the mound against the Brown’s less impressive Al Widmar (7-15, 4.76).  However, Widmar keeps pace and the game begins as a pitching duel with only three hits between the two teams through four scoreless innings, but in the top of the 5th Bill Spiers continues his strong tournament performance with a triple, and Brad Ausmus lofts a sac fly for a 1-0 lead that looks like it might hold up the way that the Big Unit is delivering.  Jeff Bagwell then adds a solo shot in the 6th, and two more tallies for the Killer B’s are recorded in the 7th from Derek Bell and Bagwell which is more than enough for Johnson against the undermanned Browns.  The Unit finishes with a 3-hit shutout, fanning 11 and leading the Astros into the final field of 32 for the tournament, while the Browns head back to the card catalogs but should take pride in reeling off five straight wins against supposedly superior opponents.

Interesting card of Super-Regional W:   With a strong rotation, the super-regional winning 1998 Astros may not have needed much help from the bullpen, but that pen included a closer that was one of this year’s Hall of Fame inductees, Billy Wagner.  This card nicely captures my recollection of his characteristics as a closer–ungodly strikeout numbers, an uncomfortable number of walks, and the hint of disaster lurking in the form of that 5-10 result.  Wagner describes this 1998 season as a turning point for him, when he was hit in the head by a line drive off the bat of Kelly Stinnett around the All Star break.  Wagner was able to return after a three week stint on the DL, which he said changed his perspective on pitching; after his return he described pitching more calmly and with greater control, and he had a career year the following season with a 1.57 ERA to finish fourth in the Cy Young award.  In this tournament he has racked up two saves in five and two-thirds scoreless innings, helping his Astros reel off six straight wins to become one of the final 32 teams surviving from the original 2,060 that began the project.

SUPER-REGIONAL V:   This group of eight regional winners featured a bunch of teams that were great and near-great, with the 1993 Blue Jays a pennant winner that would have to face an earlier version of themselves in their first game in the bracket and the 2019 Nationals being another pennant winner in that half of the group.  The ‘47 Cardinals had won a pennant with an all-time great team in the prior year, the 2021 Giants were one of the winningest teams in recent years, and the 1984 Cubs had provided a respite from decades in the wilderness with a division title.  All in all, this was one of the strongest groups of eight I’d encountered in quite a while, and other than a surprising 2019 Tigers team none of the entries seemed like longshots.  I figured that the depth and power of the more modern teams would prevail and guessed that the Giants would top the Nationals in the final; the ELO ranks picked the same two in the final but had the Nationals as the favored squad in the bracket.

Round four action

The 1984 Cubs had won their division to spite White Sox fans who had celebrated their first division win in the prior season, and these Cubs also sought to spite me in particular by winning their regional over some pretty strong competition.  They got the easiest draw in this super-regional in the shape of the surprising 2019 Tigers, a 114-loss team that won their regional as a #8 seed but looked hopelessly overmatched at the super-regional level.  The pitching matchup of #4 starters was predictably lopsided, with the Cubs’ Steve Trout (13-7, 3.41) a seemingly huge advantage over Detroit’s Jordan Zimmerman (1-13, 6.91).  Zimmerman starts off well but an error by 1B-5 Miguel Cabrera sets up a 2-out Henry Cotto RBI single, and then a distracted Zimmerman grooves one to powerless Larry Bowa, who hits the pitcher’s solid homer result for a 3-run shot and a big Cubs lead.  The Tigers move to reliever Buck Farmer to begin the 6th in an effort to stay in the game, but in the 7th Keith Moreland drives a bases-loaded triple past RF-4 Nick Castellanos, Ron Cey follows with a 2-run homer, and the fat lady is singing loud.  The Tigers find Trout’s weaknesses in the 8th and rack up five hits and two runs, but George Frazier comes in to end the inning with the Cubs still up 9-2.   Chicago gets another run when Rob Cey hits into a DP in the top of the 9th, and Frazier tames the Tigers to seal the 10-2 win and the Cinderella run for the Tigers comes to an end.  

The Zoom game of the week was a David vs. Goliath matchup with the role of the big guy played by the 2021 Giants, a 107-win team ranked among the top 75 ELO ratings.  The underdog wass the 1986 Orioles, an 89-loss team that was stacked with many big names, most of them well past their sell-by dates.  On the mound for the Giants was Alex Wood (10-4, 3.83), while the O’s Scott McGregor (11-15, 4.52) had seen better days; both bullpens were depleted from tight regional finals, but SF’s pen was far deeper than Baltimore’s.  Giants’ fan StratFan Rick would be steering them, while ColavitoFan, freshly back from a Far East sojourn, agreed to helm the Orioles, and that guidance gets off to a good start with a Fred Lynn solo homer in the bottom of the 1st for a quick Baltimore lead.  RBI singles from Evan Longoria and Brandon Crawford push SF ahead 2-1 in the top of the 3rd, but the O’s are assisted by an error from SF CF-2 Austin Slater in the 4th and they move out to a 3-2 lead.  When Brandon Belt belts a homer to lead off the 6th, McGregor is pulled for Nate Snell, who prevents further damage and the game remains tied heading into the 8th.  Slater bounces a solo homer off the foul pole in the top of the inning to atone for his error, but in the bottom of the inning it’s C-1 Buster Posey who earns the goat hordes with a passed ball and it’s tied 4-4 heading into the 9th.  ColavitoFan summons Odell Jones from the pen to begin the 9th, and things quickly go south; with 3B-4 Juan Bonilla at the hot corner after a series of pinch hitters, he watches as a single goes through his legs, and then after a few walks Bonilla adds a bases-loaded 2-base error to deliver the lead to the Giants.  Belt then singles home the two runners perched in scoring position, and the Giants break open the hard-fought game in the 9th and set the Orioles down for the 8-4 win to advance.  

For the Zoom game of the week Toronto area resident Eaglesfly had the dilemma of picking between the 1993 Blue Jays and the 1984 Blue Jays to see who would advance further to represent the franchise.  It didn’t seem to take him long to select the Series champion 1993 version, which was one of his favorite teams, so brother Chuck would roll the bones for 1984.  Both teams were down to their #4 starters, with 93’s Todd Stottlemyre going against swingman Jim Gott  going for ‘84, and although both pens were rested, the depth of the ‘93 version was far greater than anything the ‘84s could muster.  Things start off nicely for the ‘84s in the top of the 1st with an RBI triple by slow-footed DH Cliff Johnson, and George Bell scores Johnson on a sac fly for an early 2-0 lead.  However, the 1984’s experience an Orwellian nightmare in the bottom of the inning.  After Rickey Henderson leads off with a walk and is promptly caught stealing, the ‘93s rack up hit after hit, and they don’t get retired until Henderson comes around again to provide the third out with the 93s leading 6-2.  Alfredo Griffin and Rance Mullineks each contribute RBI singles in the 2nd to narrow the gap to 6-4, but Chuck then calls a 2-run shot by Paul Molitor in the bottom of the inning and it’s 8-4 after only two innings of play.  With nothing in the pen, Chuck prays that Gott can keep the 93s in single digits for a few more innings, although John Olerud adds to the lead in the 4th and Ed Sprague and Roberto Alomar drive in two more in the 5th to dash those hopes.  Meanwhile, Stottlemyre is getting out of jams, but Roy isn’t taking any chances, bringing in Frank Castillo to quash any possible comeback.  The 84’s make the effort, with a Griffin RBI in the 8th and a Bell homer to lead off the 9th, so just to be safe closer Duane Ward is summoned for the last out and the 1993 Jays hang on and advance with the noisy 11-6 win.  

The 93-69 2019 Nationals were World Series champions and had a season-ending ELO rating placing them among the top 40 squads of all time.  The good news for the Nats was that their #4 starter, Anibal Sanchez (11-8, 3.85) was a solid option, but the bad news is that Juan Soto would be unable to play due to an injury suffered in their tight regional final. The opposing 1947 Cardinals were also no slouches, going 89-65 as the NL runner-up one season after fielding an epic championship team., and they were perhaps even better stocked with Red Munger (16-5, 3.37) an All-Star on the hill.  The Nats get a solo homer from Anthony Rendon in the top of the 1st for a quick lead, and in the 2nd Soto’s replacement Michael Taylor doubles in a run to put Washington up 2-0.   Doubles from a pair of Hall of Famers, Stan Musial and Joe Medwick, in the bottom of the inning narrow the lead to 2-1, but once again Munger can’t keep the Nationals off the board as Asdrubal Cabrera’s sac fly adds another run to the lead.  The Cards respond again, as Musial's two-out single scores one but 1-17+2 Enos Slaughter is out going to 3rd with a 20 split roll to cut off the rally.  In the 6th, back to back doubles off Munger’s card provide another Washington run, but a 2-out double by Ron Northey in the bottom of the inning lead them to yank Sanchez for Daniel Hudson, who whiffs Medwick to end the threat.  But Hudson issues 2 straight walks in the 8th, setting up a Marty Marion single that scores one, but 1-16 Red Schoendienst is nailed going to third with yet another 20 split.  The Nats sense the gap closing and pile on Munger in the 8th, with RBI singles from Victor Robles and Adam Eaton chasing Munger for Gerry Staley.  But Staley can’t stop the bleeding and when the dust clears the Nats have batted around to score five more, and they trust that lead enough for homer-prone closer Sean Doolittle to finish out the 9-3 win to survive and advance, with Soto scheduled to rejoin the lineup for round five.  

The survivors:  round five

This round five matchup pitted two division winners that both arguably were the best teams in their respective leagues, the 1984 Cubs and the 2021 Giants.  With both teams returning to the top of the rotation, this merited a Zoom game of the week, and Giants fan StratFan Rick would have Kevin Gausman (14-6, 2.81) on the hill while brother Chuck, born in the Chicago area, would spare me from having to manage my nemesis, with Cy Young winner Rick Sutcliffe (16-1, 2.69) sporting a ridiculous winning percentage.  Although both lineups have some weapons, this has the markings of a pitchers’ duel and that’s what we get, with both pitchers racking up strikeouts until Cubs OF Henry Cotto manages to convert a TR 1-3 on Gausman’s card to record a run in the top of the 3rd.  Gausman settles down from there, but Sutcliffe is dominating, ending the lone whiff of a Giants rally in the bottom of the 5th with two consecutive strikeouts.  Gausman ends the game with 10 Ks and only one run allowed on a lucky split roll, but Sutcliffe is better, with 13 strikeouts in a 5-hit shutout as the Cubs squeak into the super-regional finals with the 1-0 pitching gem.  

Two Series champs squaring off with their top starters in this round five game, the type of squads one expects to see (but rarely does) at this point in the tournament.  This merited Zoom game of the week status, with Torontoan Eaglesfly once again directing the 1993 Blue Jays with Pat Hentgen (19-9, 3.87) and the Tall Tactician stepping in for the second time to manage the 2019 Nationals and Stephen Strasburg (18-6, 3.32).   Eaglesfly nominated me to actually roll the dice on his behalf given that I had staked them to a 6-run first inning last time they played, so out came the trusty dice but this time I could only manage one run on a John Olerud single in the top of the 1st.  However, a bases loaded single by Joe Carter courtesy of Strasburg’s 4-8 TR 1-3/SI split and RBI hits from Paul Molitor and Tony Fernandez gives the Jays a 4-run 3rd inning and a 5-0 lead.  Trea Turner gets the Nats on the board with a 2-run homer in the bottom of the 3rd, but my dice continue to pound that 4-8 outcome, hitting it five times in total while converting two of them for triples, and by the time Strasburg is mercifully lifted after the 6th following a 2-run Rickey Henderson homer, he’s allowed 13 hits and the Jays lead 10-2.  PH Kurt Suzuki raps an RBI single for Washington in the 7th, but Molitor matches that with a 4-8 split RBI single off reliever Wander Suero, and Hentgen hangs on as the Jays march to the super-regional final with a dominating 11-3 win. 

Super-regional finals

The matchup for the super-regional final was appropriate for determining a team that would be one of the final 32 survivors out of the over 2,000 teams that began this tournament, because it paired the Series champion 1993 Blue Jays against the 1984 Cubs, with the NL’s best record that season.  Two veteran managers for each team faced off on Zoom, with brother Chuck attempting to repeat his success with the Cubs and Dennis Eckersley (10-8, 3.03) against Toronto’s own Eaglesfly with Juan Guzman (14-3, 3.99) on the hill.   The Cubs get off to an auspicious start, as Bob Dernier leads off the game by getting injured, but by Grabthar’s Hammer, he would be avenged:  his teammates extract their revenge on the Jays as Chuck manages to roll and convert every possible hit outcome on Guzman’s card in the first inning and a third.  After Ron Cey squibs a single that puts the Cubs on the board and loads the bases, it’s Jody Davis checking off Guzman’s HR split for a grand slam and the Cubs lead 5-0 after one.  Inning two goes no better, with a three-run homer by Leon Durham and an RBI double by MVP Ryne Sandberg and it’s 9-0 Cubs, and the Jays have yet to record a hit.  Durham and Davis knock in two more runs in the 4th and the Cubs have a double digit lead, while the Jays can’t mount a threat until the 7th when injury replacement C Randy Knorr belts a three-run homer to make it 11-3.  The teams exchange runs in the 8th, which finally chases the beleaguered Guzman, but that proves far too late as the Cubs continue to taunt Sox fans everywhere with an easy 12-4 win, earning a trip to the sectionals where Dernier will be ready to resume his centerfield duties.

Interesting card of Super-Regional V:   At 6 foot 7 inches and sporting a distinctive red beard, Rick Sutcliffe was an imposing presence on the mound, but his 1984 season began rather painfully: early in his season with Cleveland, he was suffering from severe dental issues that required four straight days of root canal surgery.  Sutcliffe had led the AL in ERA in 1982 but the dental work seemed to have impacted him, so to speak; he was 4-5 with a 5.15 ERA in June and was due to become a free agent at the end of the season.  With the Indians hopelessly out of the running, they found a willing buyer in the Cubs, who were in a fight to make their first post-season appearance since 1945 and who had just been upstaged by their cross-town rival White Sox who had won the AL West the preceding season.  Having suffered some key injuries to their rotation, the Cubs shipped Mel Hall and Joe Carter to Cleveland for the big right-hander, and you could say that it paid off.  Sutcliffe assembled a remarkable 16-1 record in 20 starts for the Cubs, and he was the unanimous choice for the Cy Young while being the first player to have pitched in both leagues while winning the award.  Sutcliffe was on the mound when the Cubs clinched the NL West; he was the Game 1 starter in the NLCS, where he pitched a shutout and hit a home run to boot.  However, in the deciding Game 5 against the Padres, Sutcliffe blew a 3-0 lead and absorbed the loss as the Cubs dream of their first pennant in decades evaporated.  Regardless, he came through big in this super-regional, shutting out an imposing 2021 Giants offense to pull out a 1-0 round five win and helping send his team to the round of 32 after six straight victories.

SUPER-REGIONAL U:  Only one of the three pennant-winners that began this group of 64 teams survived to reach the super-regional level:  the 1998 Padres (the other two both Astros teams).  Nonetheless, these eight survivors also included a couple of near misses as well as two pair, a duo of Padres and the other involving two distinctly different Twins teams.   One of those entries for the Twins was from the season following their 1965 pennant, while other squads from the Giants and Phillies were also within a couple of years of World Series trips.  And then there was a Senators team that was an unlikely survivor to this level of the tournament; I suspected that the clock would strike midnight for that Cinderella story, and that the two 21st century teams here would meet in the finals, with the Phillies pulling off another win to join the 2008 and 2011 squads in the final 32.  The ELO rankings predicted something completely different, with the 1998 pennant-winning Padres picked to best the 1966 version of the Twins to move on.  

Round four action

For the Zoom game of the week, it would be StratFan Rick, who grew up listening to the Giants on a weak radio signal during the 60’s, reliving his youth at the helm of the 1966 Giants.  Meanwhile, brother Chuck would attempt to replicate his Super-Regional R successes with the 1997 Brewers, and like the ‘87 team Chuck had previously helmed, this version had also been hobbled by injuries during the regional with both SS Jose Valentin and C Mike Metheny out for the entire super-regional.  It would be the bottom of the rotation in round four, with Ron Herbel (4-5, 4.16) for the Giants matched against the gopher-ball prone Jeff D’Amico (9-7, 4.71) for the Brew Crew, but it’s Herbel who yields the first long-ball to the second batter of the game, Jeff Cirillo, and Milwaukee takes a 1-0 lead.  In the top of the 4th, John Jaha finds a solid homer on his own card for a solo shot, but the Giants finally put together a couple of hits in the 5th and Hal Lanier makes it a one-run game with a sac fly.  In the 6th, Herbel allows only his third hit of the game, but once again it’s a solo homer, this time by PH Jack Vogt, and with runs seeming hard to come by Chuck summons Bob Wickman from the pen.  He holds off the imposing core of the Giants order–Mays, McCovey, Hart–and for the 8th it’s time for closer Doug Jones and some defensive replacements.  Jones does what he’s paid to do, and he closes out the 3-1 win to earn the save and propel the Brewers to round five despite recording only four hits in the game–three of them solo homers.  

The Zoom game of the week features the Tall Tactician managing his hometown 2012 Phillies, who only went 81-81 but were the last of a run of Phils teams from this era to win their regional, against StratFan Rick and the 89-win 1966 Twins, the AL runner-up who featured much the same lineup as had won the league the prior season.  It would be Philly’s Kyle Kendrick (11-12, 3.90) against Mudcat Grant (13-13, 3.25), with both bottom-of-the-rotation starters getting off to a strong start.  The ice is broken in the bottom of the 4th when Harmon Killebrew finds Kendrick’s alluring home run result for a solo shot, but the Phils respond with four runs in the top of the 5th with Juan Pierre, Kevin Frandsen, Carlos Ruis and Chase Utley (who was not injured for a change) all taking turns driving in runs.  The Twins immediately respond with a pair of runs in the bottom of the inning courtesy of Jimmie Hall and Don Mincher, but a Placido Polanco sac fly makes it 5-3 after six innings.  But Kendrick seems to lose the ability to throw strikes in the 7th and after a couple of walks TT summons Jeremy Horst from the pen, as Jonathan Papelbon was burnt from the regional.  Horst continues the walk parade and provides Ted Uhlander with a bases-loaded base on balls for one run, and then it’s Cesar Tovar with a two run single and the Twins move into the lead.  Horst is worst in the 8th as well, with more walks setting up a 2-run double by Earl Battey, and after two hitless innings from Pete Cimono the Twins have Al Worthington close out the 9th for an 8-5, come from behind win in which they garnered as many walks as they did hits.

The 2017 Twins had powered past their opposition in Regional #165, outscoring them by a 20-5 margin, but with #4 starter Bartolo Colon (7-14, 6.48) a disaster waiting to happen, they might need to score 20 more in this round four game.  They faced the 1998 Padres, who had scored 21 runs of their own and had Joey Hamilton (13-13, 4.27) backed up by dominating closer Trevor Hoffman, who was fully rested.  The Twins strike in the top of the 1st with an RBI single from Eddie Rosario but Greg Vuaghn ties it in the bottom of the inning with a run-scoring grounder.  Then the Padres move out in front in the 2nd courtesy of a Wally Joyner leadoff homer, but that lead is also short-lived as Brian Dozier crushes a 2-run shot in the 3rd to put Minnesota back on top.  Rosario then goes back to back and it’s 4-2 Twins, and they breathe a sigh of relief as big Bartolo manages to hold that lead through his mandatory five innings.  When Byron Buxton converts a HR 1-3 off Hamilton’s card to start the 6th, they immediately summon Hoffman to try to stay within reach, and although he yields a double he’s bailed on when 1-10 Jason Castro is cut down trying to score.  A leadoff double by Joyner in the bottom of the inning and Colon is gone for Alan Busenitz and his 1.99 ERA, and he ends the threat with no damage.  He tosses three hitless innings and the Twins hope to preserve him, inserting closer Brandon Kintzler to begin the bottom of the 9th.  That proves problematic, as he yields two hits and a sac fly by Tony Gwynn narrows the lead to two runs, bringing 50 homer-hitting Greg Vaughn to the plate as the tying run with two outs.  But Vaughn lines out to first and it’s game over, with the Twins hanging on for the 5-3 win and quite happy to be returning to the top of their rotation for round five.

At first glance, the 1969 Senators seemed like an unlikely participant in a super-regional, but this team had responded to new manager Ted Williams to win 86 games, perhaps the pinnacle in the brief history of those expansion Senators.  They would have Jim Hannan (7-6, 3.65) as their #4 starter and they had some bullpen wear from their extra-inning win in their regional final, but they were still ELO favorites over the 1995 Padres, a middling 70-74 team that would send out WIllie Blair (7-5, 4.34) but was still without an injured Bip Roberts in the lineup.  An RBI single from big Frank Howard puts the Senators up in the bottom of the 1st, but injury replacement Melvin Nieves crushes a 2-run homer in the 4th to put the Padres ahead, and Tony Gwynn drives in another in the 5th with an RBI double on a missed HR split.  When Ken Caminiti wraps a 2-run shot around the foul pole in the 7th, the Senators try Darold Knowles from the pen, and although he does his job, so does Blair to shut down the Nats and send the Padres forward with the 5-1 win and buoyed by the return of Roberts for round five.

The survivors:  round five

The 1966 Twins were one season off an AL pennant and seemed like a team deserving of a berth in round five, while the 1997 Brewers were an unexpected squad to reel off four straight wins.  Both were back to their aces, with the Twins’ Jim Kaat (25-13, 2.75) an apparent big advantage against Ben McDonald (8-7, 4.06).  Both teams had been bitten by the injury bug, with the Twins losing SS Zoilo Versalles while the Brewers were also out their SS, Jose Valentin, as well as C Mike Metheny.  The Twins jump out to a 1-0 lead in the bottom of the 1st courtesy of a 2-out RBI double by Harmon Killebrew, but their body count increases as 1B Don Mincher is lost for the super-regional in the 4th with an injury.  Meanwhile, Kaat doesn’t allow a baserunner until the 5th, but he gets into a jam in the 6th and Jeff Cirillo knocks a 2-out 2-run single that provides the Brewers with the lead.  A 2-out 2-base error in the 8th by Twins CF Ted Uhlander sets up Julio Franco for an RBI single and an insurance run, and the Brewers tap closer Doug Jones to try to record the save in the 8th.  However, Jimmie Hall drives in a run with a triple, but Jones strands him at third to hold a slim one run lead entering the 9th.  With two away in the bottom of the 9th, Tovar singles to represent the tying run, and Bob Allison rolls a DO 1-3/flyB with a chance to score the speedy Tovar on the split.  But alas for the Twins, the roll is a 7 and the Brewers continue their unlikely run with a 3-2 win in which they were outhit 10 to 5.  

For the second round in a row, the 2017 Twins face a group from San Diego in the 1995 Padres, but this time both squads were back to the top of their rotations, and both of these pitchers had thrown three-hitters in their first appearance in the tournament–Ervin Santana (16-8, 3.25) for the Twins and Andy Ashby (12-10, 2.94) for the Padres.  Max Kepler records the first hit of the game in the top of the 2nd in the form of a solo homer that gives the Twins an early edge, but Ken Caminiti raps a 2-run double in the 3rd and the Padres lead 2-1 after three.  The Twins respond immediately in the 4th, as Kepler knocks an RBI single that sets up a 3-run homer for Byron Buxton off Ashby’s card and a 5-2 Twins lead.  Four straight singles for Minnesota gives Kepler another RBI and chases Ashby for Trevor Hoffman, who does the best he can stranding the bases loaded to keep the score at 6-2.  That looks big when Ken Caminiti, Scott Livingstone, and Eddie Williams go back-to-back-to-back, all with two out in the bottom of the inning, because suddenly it’s all tied up after 5 and the Twins are giving a panicked look at their depleted bullpen.  To compound their misery, C Jason Castro leads off the 6th by getting injured for 7 games, and when Jody Reed leads off the bottom of the inning with a single off Santana’s card the Twins can take it no longer and try Matt Belisle out of the pen.  He’s greeted with a double by PH Archi Cianfrocco and then elderly Tony Gwynn scores both runners with a single for an 8-6 San Diego lead.  The Twins aren’t rolling over for anyone, as Miguel Sano leads off the 7th with a tape measure shot that makes it a one run game, and although Kepler doubles Hoffman strands him by fanning Buxton with his final pitch.  The Pads then go with Bryce Florie to begin the 8th in the hopes he can close out the save, a possibility that is bolstered when SS-4 Ray Holbert makes a stellar play to strand the tying run on 3rd in the 8th.  Florie yields two singles in the top of the 9th, but bears down and again Buxton strikes out, this time for the final out of the game and the Padres hang on to record the 8-7 win and earn a trip to the super-regional final.  

Super-regional finals

Given the many strong teams among the 64 that began this super-regional, it was two supposed mediocrities that managed to win the 5 games in a row needed to reach these finals, the 1997 Brewers and the 1995 Padres that each had records around the .500 mark.  Milwaukee continued to be shorthanded with their starting shortstop and catcher both injured, and closer Doug Jones was burnt to further complicate the job of starter Jose Mercedes (7-10, 3.79).   For the Padres it would be Joey Hamilton (6-9, 3.08) and their closer Trevor Hoffmann also required rest.   The Pads strike first in the bottom of the first, with Steve Finley singling and stealing second, setting up a 2-out Scott Livingstone RBI single, but Gerald Williams homers for the Brewers in the top of the 2nd to tie it up.  But Williams misplays a Finley single in the 5th that puts two runners in scoring position for Tony Gwynn, who rips a double to score two, and then Livingstone brings him home with a double of his own and the Padres lead 4-1 after five.  The Padres threaten again in the bottom of the 7th and Milwaukee brings in Bob Wickman to successfully avoid any damage.  The Brewers get a run in the 8th on a 2-out John Jaha single, but SD responds immediately with a Bip Roberts double and a Jody Reed single.  After a Finley walk, Gwynn drives in another with a single and Wickman is gone for Mike Fetters, and although he retires the side, the Brewers lose the duel with Hamilton and the Padres capture the super-regional and head to the final 32 with the 6-2 victory.  

Interesting card of Super-Regional U:   The 1995 Padres were an unlikely winner to emerge from a super-regional field of 64 teams that included many far more highly-rated entries.  In the prior season, which had ended prematurely by a strike, the Padres had the worst record in baseball and were going nowhere.  However, with the strike still unsettled in the off-season, some clubs anticipated that negotiations might ultimately result in a salary cap, and as such began to unload high-priced talent in preparation.  One such club was the Astros, who traded Ken Caminiti to the Padres as a part of a 12-player deal that was one of the largest swaps in modern baseball.  For San Diego, this began a major turnaround as Caminiti’s toughness and intensity sparked a teamwide resurgence that led them to the World Series three years later.  For Caminiti, it proved both a boon and a tragedy.  On the upside, this first card of his with the Padres represented career highs to that point in batting average, homers, and OPS as well as the first Gold Glove of his career (only a 2 in Basic, but a 1e31 in ADV); all of that was just a precursor to a huge year the following season when he was the unanimous choice for NL MVP.  However, the move to San Diego also brought with it a downside: he learned that teammates had been helped getting through injuries using steroids that could be bought over the counter just a few minutes away in Tijuana, a discovery that coincided with the sudden jump in his offensive stats with San Diego.  Thus began a downward spiral that involved injuries, ever-expanding steroid use, and abuse of alcohol, pain-killers, and street drugs such as cocaine and heroin.  An interview shortly after his 2001 retirement in which he acknowledged the far-reaching impact of steroids in baseball made him a pariah in the sport, and his life began to fall apart legally and interpersonally.  After multiple probation violations resulting from a drug arrest, he was sentenced to jail in 2004; released after a month, he died five days later from a heart attack resulting from a “speedball” of heroin and cocaine.  That was only 8 years after this card was printed, representing a season which began both the best years of his life, and the worst. 

SUPER-REGIONAL T:  This group of eight seemed to include a variety of unlikely contenders considering that six pennant winners had begun this group of 64, but none of them had survived past round three.   Of the eight that did persevere, not many were within hailing distance of an epic season, with the Rays being two years post their first pennant, and for the Mets and Brewers pennants would be 5+ years away.  Picking from among this group seemed to be a total crapshoot, but I figure the Brewers would emerge from the top half of the bracket and fall to the Rays in the finals.  The ELO rankings agreed with that prediction, portraying the four teams in the bottom of the bracket as much better than the dubious group at the top.

Round four action

Two rather unlikely regional winners square off in this round four matchup.  The 1976 Padres went 73-89 but pulled off three straight upsets to win Regional #153; however, they now faced the bane of the underdog squads in going to the bottom of their rotation in the form of Tom Griffin (9-6, 4.10), who was a base on balls waiting to happen.  The 1990 Brewers had a similar record at 74-88 but they sported a much better ELO ranking, and they did have some Hall of Famers such as Robin Yount, Paul Molitor, and the newly inducted Dave Parker; Mark Knudson (10-9, 4.12) was tapped for the start from a variety of options.  The Padres jump to a quick lead in the top of the 1st on an RBI single from Dave Winfield that gets past SS-3 Bill Spiers, but Winfield is caught stealing by BJ Surhoff to prevent further damage.  Both pitchers work their way out of jams until Parker delivers a 2-out RBI single in the bottom of the 5th that ties the game, and Gary Sheffield follows with another for a Brewers lead.   When Griffin yields a double to Greg Vaughn and a walk in the 6th, he’s gone for Dave Tomlin, who ends the threat with no damage.   However, in the 8th Timlin is injured for the tournament, and Butch Metzger holds to send the game to the 9th with the Padres still down by a run.  But Knudson tosses a perfect 9th to hold on for the 2-1 Brewers victory and the end of the line for the upstart Padres. 

Another couple of teams that had no business making it to round four of the tournament, the 97-loss 2009 Royals and Kyle Davies (8-9, 5.27) taking on the arguably worse 64-90 1947 Senators, with Mickey Haefner (10-14, 3.64) sporting a nice card for a #4 starter on a 90-loss team that was no doubt enhanced by pitching in spacious Griffith Stadium.  The task for the Royals was complicated by lengthy injuries suffered by Mark Teahen and Alex Gordon in their regional final, and RF-2 Mitch Maier doesn’t help matters when he misplays an Eddie Yost single in the top of the 2nd that allows a run to score.  Things just get worse for the Royals when 2B Alberto Callaspo gets injured for 10 games in the bottom of the inning, with the KC bench already badly depleted.  A Sherry Robertson RBI double in the 4th makes it 2-0 Senators, and run-scoring singles from Stan Spence and Al Evans in the 5th extend it to a four-run lead.  The Royals try Jamey Wright from the pen to begin the 6th, and he holds the Nats scoreless for four innings.  However, that’s not quite as good as Haefner, who blanks the battered Royals for nine innings and finishes up a 2-hit shutout as the Senators move on with a 4-0, while the Royals return to the storage drawers to nurse their wounds.  

There were no particular partisans for the Zoom game of the week between the 2010 Rays and the 2007 A's; Tall Tactician liked the look of the 96-win, AL East-winning Rays while brother Chuck would try to squeeze the last dime out of the moneyball A’s, who had handled three pretty good teams in winning Regional #158 despite a mediocre 76-86 record.  Both managers were uneasy about their #4 starters, Wade Davis (12-10, 4.07) for the Rays and Chad Gaudin (11-13, 4.42) for Oakland, and were convinced this was going to be a high scoring affair.  Sure enough, the A’s Milton Bradley proves he’s a gamer with a solo homer off Davis’s generous gopher ball options in the bottom of the 1st, and although an RBI double in the top of the 2nd by Sean Rodriguez makes it a tie game, Mark Ellis homers in the bottom of the inning to put Oakland back on top, 2-1.  However, for the rest of his appearance Gaudin can’t escape an inning without allowing a run, with a Carl Crawford homer tying it in the 3rd, a 2-out RBI single by #9 hitter Bartlett in the 4th, and a run scoring single by Carlos Pena in the 5th providing Tampa with a 4-2 lead.   Meanwhile, Davis has taken control of the game for the Rays, but TT doesn’t trust those homer results and in the 6th moves immediately to Grant Balfour, but that turns out poorly as A’s DH Jack Cust crushes a 2-run homer to tie the game…one that would have been a 3-run homer but Shannon Stewart had been caught stealing.  Chuck then summons the A’s sole decent available relief pitcher, Huston Street, and although the Rays threaten, none score and the game enters the 8th still knotted.  At this point TT opts for the imposing Joaquin Benoit and his 1.34 ERA to try to send the game to extra innings, at which point Street will be toast with only terrible options remaining for the A’s.  However, Nick Swisher foils that plan with a long solo homer, and Street ends his eligibility for the super-regional with a 1-2-3 9th to seal the 5-4 win for the A’s and a trip to round five.  

This round four matchup was a Zoom game of the week, with Toronto-area resident Eaglesfly taking the reins of the 2000 Blue Jays.  The Jay had a middling 83-79 record despite oozing with steroid-era power that had bashed their way through Regional #160, but their rotation also bore the scars of that era and their #4 starter, Steve Trachsel (8-15, 4.80) was certainly no exception.  ColavitoFan volunteered to steer the 1995 Mets, who had a 69-75 record in that strike-shortened season that narrowed his #4 starting options to one:  Dave Mlicki (9-7, 4.26), and to make matters worse they would be without the services of injured 2B Jeff Kent for the foreseeable future.  The game begins ominously for the Jays, as Trachsel is injured while walking the first batter of the game, forcing a move to an already depleted bullpen resulting from some tough regional games.  Paul Quantrill then comes on and promptly allows a run-scoring double to Rico Brogna and the Mets move out to a 1-0 lead.  Unfortunately for the Mets, Mlicki does not get injured while allowing four hits to the Jays in the bottom of the 1st, including RBI hits from Carlos Delgado and Darren Fletcher, and Shannon Stewart adds another in the 2nd as the Jays move out to a 3-1 lead.  Mlicki then fails to get anyone out in the 3rd until allowing a 3-run homer to Tony Batista, and the Jays lead 6-1 but the good news is that ColavitoFan can finally pull the terrible Mlicki and Jason Isringhausen gets the assignment.  In the 4th, a last-minute lineup adjustment by ColavitoFan pays off as Chris Jones leads off the inning with a homer that narrows the gap to 6-2, and Ryan Thompson’s sac fly in the 6th makes it 6-3 as the Mets slowly inch back into the game.  In the top of the 7th, the Jays insert Lance Painter as their 4th pitcher of the game, and he paints the Jays a disastrous picture, yielding five hits including a big 2-run double to Brogna; by the time he’s pulled after recording only two outs, the Mets now hold a one run lead.  From there, it’s Doug Henry and John Franco thwarting the power-packed Jays lineup and the Mets pull off the remarkable comeback for the 7-6 win.  

The survivors:  round five

Two teams with losing records that nonetheless survived to round five, the 1990 Brewers and the 1947 Senators square off to determine which of them will play for the super-regional title.   Both teams were back to the top of their rotation, with the Nats’ Walt Masterson (12-16, 3.13) and Milwaukee’s Ted Higuera (11-10, 3.76) getting the honors.  In the bottom of the 1st, Buddy Lewis (who had just been the subject of a Friday Night Strat trivia question) hits a 2-out RBI double to give the Senators a quick lead, while Masterson is masterful in repeatedly bailing out the bad Nats defense.  The Brewers threaten in the top of the 7th with 1st and 3rd with one out, and the Senators bring in the infield; A-stealer Paul Molitor is tossed out trying to steal second and Masterson fans the next two batters to end the threat.  The Brewers get the tying run in scoring position in the 9th, but Masterson induces a grounder out of Molitor for the third out and the unlikely Washington Senators head to the super-regional finals with the 1-0 shutout gem. 

Brother Chuck had led the 2007 A’s to a come-from-behind win in round four, and although in the process he had burnt Oakland’s best reliever, he would have top-of-the-rotation Dan Haren (15-9, 3.07) on the mound, with RF Travis Buck still out with an injury suffered in the regional.  The matchup against a 1995 Mets team that had pulled off a remarkable comeback in their prior game seemed to merit a Zoom faceoff, and I would try to continue their luck with Bill Pulsipher (5-7, 3.98) hopefully doing better than he had in his round one start that had been won by his bullpen, a game in which Jeff Kent suffered an injury that continued to keep him out of the lineup.  Despite their best hopes, once again Pulsipher proves generous with the hits, yielding a series of RBI hits to Nick Swisher, Mark Ellis, and Dan Johnson as the Mets again are faced with a steep deficit after the top of the 1st.  However, as has been their way they immediately chip away at the lead, with a run scoring on a double play ball hit by Bobby Bonilla and a 2-out RBI single by Todd Hundley narrowing the gap to 3-2 in the bottom of the 1st.  Edgardo Alfonso ties the game in the bottom of the 2nd with an RBI single but Eric Chavez homers to lead off the 3rd to reestablish an Oakland lead.  In the 4th, Chaves adds a 2-run triple giving him the two hard parts of a cycle, and he scores on a Johnson single and it’s 7-3 A’s; the good news for the Mets is that Pulsipher can now be pulled, and Mike Birkbeck comes in to hold the A’s at bay for four innings.  In the meantime, Hundley picks up another RBI hit in the 5th and Rico Brogna makes up for missing a HR 1-16 split earlier with a solid HR solo shot in the 7th, and once again the Mets appear to be creeping back into the game.  A leadoff triple by Johnson in the 8th and I decide to go with John Franco for the strikeout to keep the Mets in the game; however, he does one better, with a LOMAX wiping out the running at third and a whiff to finish the inning with emphasis.  However, Mark Ellis gets to Franco with an RBI double in the top of the 9th, meaning that the A’s take an 8-5 lead into the bottom of the inning needing three outs to move on.  With little to work with in the pen, Chuck lets Haren take his shot at the final inning, but after recording an out Jose Vizcaino slaps a base hit, bringing up Bobby Bonilla; Chuck, showing inordinate fear of Bonilla, or perhaps his contract, opts to intentionally walk Bonilla for the second time in the game, a controversial move that puts the tying run at the plate in the form of Todd Hundley.  Hundley then draws a bases on balls, and suddenly the tying run is aboard and Chris Jones steps to the plate.  Now, Jones is only in the game because ColavitoFan had opted for his bat over Tim Bogar’s glove in the prior game, and I had retained that lineup since, after all, it had worked swimmingly in the prior round.  So Haren delivers, the roll is 1-6; a solid home run for a walk-off grand slam that gives the Miracle Mets a 9-8 victory.  A little research revealed that this is actually the 5th walk-off home run of the tournament, and the second (after the 1954 White Sox, how could I forget) to be immortalized on a Zoom game. 

Super-Regional final:  round six

In a very unlikely matchup for a super-regional final, the 64-90 1947 Senators, winners of five straight upsets, found themselves facing the 1995 Mets, who had put together two remarkable comebacks in their past two games to reach this spot.   The Nats would again be the underdogs according to the ELO ratings, but the Mets had some factors that might be equalizers, with Jeff Kent still out to injury, and closer John Franco burnt while their starter Pete Harnisch (2-8, 3.68) was not a Hall of Famer, unlike Washington’s Early Wynn (17-15, 3.64).  The Mets get to start playing from behind once again when the Senators get runs via a Mickey Vernon single and a 2-out double by Sherry Robertson, but Harnisch settles down and the Mets narrow the gap in the 4th when Bobby Bonilla leads off with a tape measure homer.  Two batters later, it’s round five hero Chris Jones with a long 2-run blast and the Mets have uncharacteristically come back to take the lead early in the game.  Although Harnisch is now mowing down the Nats, the Mets move to Jason Isringhausen to begin the 8th, but he loads the bases with two singles and a walk, and then he walks Stan Spence to tie the game with still nobody out.  After a lineout, PH Rick Ferrell laces a 2-run single, another PH Gil Coan adds an RBI single, and Eddie Yost provides a sac fly and suddenly the Mets are once again looking at another large late-inning deficit.  A single to begin the top of the 9th chases Isringhausen, but Doug Henry promptly loads the bases and Mickey Vernon drives the ball through a drawn-in infield and Farrell adds a sac fly and the Mets need another miracle staring at a six run deficit in the bottom of the 9th.  But Wynn isn’t having it, and the Mets go down as the Senators record a statement 9-3 win and become one of the most improbable teams to advance to the final field of 32.  

Interesting card of Super-Regional T:  At first, this may appear to be a partial rerun of this feature from Regional #155, which featured the card of the inestimable Gil Coan, but bear with me, because this is going to turn into a rant (warning: some math ahead).  Now, Mr. Coan once again helped lead his 1947 Senators to victory as a late inning sub, with 6 straight upsets putting them into the final 32 surviving teams in this tournament.  However, if you want to read my writeup on Mr. Coan, I'll refer you to my blog for his regional results, because here I want to take time to express my irritation with the game company for their latest assault on my White Sox.  To begin the math portion of our presentation, getting Mr. Coan to hit .500 is a difficult feat, because for the 50% of rolls where he is on the pitcher's card, he will only hit .256, the league average for the 1947 AL.  He makes up for that with a card on which 68.6% of at-bat results is a hit, which averages out to a projected batting average of .471--not quite .500, but I'll take it.  Now, consider the case of Eddie Murphy from the 1919 White (Black) Sox of the recently issued Deadball Diamond Gems.  Eddie's .486 average puts him in the same ballpark as Gil's--but his card doesn't, because only 37.9% of the AB results are hits.  Combine that with a .268 league average for the 1919 AL, and Eddie's card should be good for a .323 average: not .486, not Ted Williams, not even Pete Rose.  Now, perhaps for some reason Strat wanted to normalize Diamond Gems cards against each other--however, because of the quality of pitching on those teams, the "league average" would be even lower and Murphy would hit for even less.  But even that excuse can be ruled out based upon teammate Shoeless Joe's Diamond Gems card, where Jackson's .351 average presents as a card with 42.7% of ABs resulting in hits, combining for a .348 average against 1919 AL pitching--pretty close.  So why pick on Eddie Murphy--was it because of Beverly Hills Cop III?  Assuming not, I am left with two possible conclusions:  1) that Strat made a mistake and that we are owed an errata card for Murphy (for which I'm not holding my breath), or 2) that Strat suddenly decided (since Coan's 1947 card was only released a few years ago) to provide low AB wonders like Murphy (and Coan and the like) with "imagined" cards, based upon Strat's voodoo projections similar to the 2020 "imagined" or the Negro League DG teams.  If it's the latter, count me in the “opposed” category.  Just give me the card that is merited by the actual stats, and I'll decide how to use it, thank you.  I may be in the minority, but it is an empirical question:  just how well do you think those "2020 imagined" cards sold?

SUPER-REGIONAL S:  There were four pennant winners that began this group of 64, but three of them were in Regional #152 and the survivor of that bracket, the 2017 Dodgers, were the lone league champion in this group of eight.  The Dodgers were perhaps eager for revenge after getting trash-canned out of a Series win, but it looked like they would face some capable opposition in their quest to move on to the final set of 32 teams in the tournament.  These potential opponents included two Pirates teams on either side of their 1960 miracle squad, and entries from the Royals, Angels, and Twins that I seemed to remember having made strong runs in real life.  Still, the Dodgers seemed like the obvious choice as bracket favorites; I guessed that the steroid-era Twins would power past their opposition but that eventually their pitching would fall short in the finals.   The ELO rankings agreed, as they also had the Dodgers as prohibitive favorites, with the Twins really constituting the only real challenge they might face. 

Round four action

It’s the Beatlemania era for this round four matchup between the 1964 Indians and the 1963 Pirates, and being a pitching-rich era both teams had strong #4 starters for this game.  The Tribe had Jack Kralick (12-7, 3.20) while after three complete game wins in their regional the Pirates felt comfortable taking Al McBean (13-3, 2.58) out of the pen for a swing start in this game.  But Dick Howser begins the game by converting a split for a triple off McBean’s card, and he scores on a John Romano grounder, and later Tito Francona slides under the tag to score on a 2-out single by Leon Wagner for a 2-0 lead before the Bucs can bat.  The Pirates get another scare in the bottom of the inning when Roberto Clemente, who had already been knocked out for two games in the tournament regional, rolls an injury but he’s able to remain in the game.  In the 2nd slow-footed 1-9 Jerry Lynch tries to score for the Pirates on a single with two out, but he’s out by a mile, and it’s not until the 5th that Pittsburgh can get on the board with the faster Mazeroski able to score on a 2-out single by Smoky Burgess.  However, a Lynch single followed by a Donn Clendenon double to put two in scoring position with nobody out in the 6th, so Cleveland opts for Don McMahon and bring the infield in to try to keep the slim lead.  But young Willie Stargell rips a grounder ++ through the infield to score both runners and suddenly it’s a Pittsburgh lead.  And McBean’s rough start was quickly corrected, as he allows only one hit in the final six innings to complete a 5-hitter and the Pirates move on with the 3-2 comeback win.  

Both the 2004 Twins and the 1993 Angels had been pushed to extra innings in order to win their regional finals, meaning that both had some wear and tear on their bullpens with the bottom of their rotations coming up, with terrible Kyle Lohse (9-13, 5.34) for the Twins and the even worse John Farrell (3-12, 7.35) forced into service for the Angels because of a scarcity of innings in that strike year.  Surprisingly, nobody scores until Chad Curtis raps a 2-run double to give the Angels the lead in the bottom of the 3rd, and then the Twins’ primary power threat Justin Morneau immediately gets injured in the top of the 4th for the rest of the super-regional and beyond, making the picture even more bleak for Minnesota.  Even though Ferrell has a shutout going, the Angels go to their pen to begin the 6th, with Steve Frey, but in the 7th Cristian Guzman singles under the glove of 2B-3 Torey Lovullo to drive in a run that makes it a one-run game.  At that point the Twins summon reliever Juan Rincon to try to keep things close, and in the 9th Luis Rivas converts a SI 1-5 and then steals second to put the tying run in scoring position, but PH Shannon Stewart pops out on Frey’s card to send the underdog Angels on to round five with an unexpected 2-1 pitching duel, with California mustering only four hits in the win.   

The 69-85 1947 Cubs had relied upon fairly weak opposition, my White Sox jinx, and good work from their bullpen to win Regional #150, but they would now need #4 starter Hank Borowy (8-12, 4.38) to go late in the game against the 1955 Pirates.  However, in keeping with the fortunate draws of the Cubs, these Pirates were even worse on paper, going 60-94 but taking their regional despite ongoing injuries to Jerry Lynch and Johnny O’Brien, thanks to three strong complete game wins from the rotation.  However, the dropoff to Ron Kline (6-13, 4.15) was a big one and a 94-loss lineup missing two regulars was not a pretty sight.  The Pirates smallball their way to a run in the top of the 2nd on a double, a bunt and a sac fly from Dick Cole, while the Cubs load the bases in the 4th with a two-out rally but Don Johnson hits the Miami Vice hole in his best column and they get nothing to show for it.  In the 5th, weak hitting catcher Jack Shepard finds and converts Borowy’s HR split for a solo shot, and when Phil Cavaretta leads off the 6th with a base hit the Pirates pull Kline despite his shutout, and opt for Dick Hall who retires the side without incident.  In the top of the 7th RF-3 Bill Nicholson swishes on a Roberto Clemente flyball for a 2-base error, and Emil Kush is summoned from the pen with runners on 2nd and 3rd with nobody out.  Although he issues a walk to load the bases, the Cubs defense holds and it remains 2-0 Bucs going into the 7th inning stretch.   In the bottom of the inning, injury replacement 2B-4 Cole drops a Johnson grounder and Andy Pafko convert a 2-out SI* 1-12 split to drive in the Cubs’ first run; Cavaretta then further tests the terrible Pittsburgh defense and slaps a single past LF-4 Frank “the other” Thomas and the game is tied.  That holds to the bottom of the 9th, when Johnson leads off by driving a double past 3B-4 Gene Freese (who is apparently still a better fielder than his brother George).  Lennie Merullo singles off Hall’s card putting the winning run 90 feet away for the top of the order.  Hall gets Stan Hack to ground out, but then Pafko rips a liner into right, pinch runner Bobby Sturgeon trots home, and the reverse jinx for the Cubs continues to hold with a come-from-behind 3-2 win in which they hold the Pirates to only three hits.  

The 2017 Dodgers won 104 games and the NL pennant before losing a controversial Series to a trashcan-banging group from Houston, and as befitting a league champion they had a solid #4 starter in Yu Darvish (10-12, 3.86).  The 1987 Royals were a much less impressive 83-79 team but they had outscored their Regional #151 opposition 23 to 9 despite having lost Bo Jackson for the entire regional, and he would still be out for this matchup so it would be important for Bud Black (8-6, 3.60) to keep things close.  The Royals waste no time demonstrating their credentials, with Danny Tartabull smacking a 3-run homer in the top of the 1st for a rapid and healthy lead.  Back to back doubles by Curtis Granderson and Joc Pederson give the Dodgers a run in the bottom of the 2nd, and Darvish escapes a bases-loaded jam in the top of the 3rd to keep the Dodgers in striking distance.  In the 5th, Logan Forsythe misses Black’s 6-5 HR 1-3/DO split, the 4th time the Royals have done so in 5 innings, but Corey Seager finally makes him pay by singling in front of RF-4 Tartabull to score Forsythe, and the Royals lead is down to one.  Beginning with the 6th, both starters are on very short leashes, and it’s Black who gets pulled first after allowing a single to Yasmani Grandal, so John Davis enters the game; however, with two out Pederson doubles and the slow 1-8+2 catcher Grandal slides under the tag and the game is tied.  In the 7th, Chris Taylor draws a leadoff walk, steals second easily on C-4 Jamie Quirk, and races home on a Seager single and the Dodgers lead for the first time.  Cody Bellinger then doubles past 3B-4 Kevin Seitzer and a Justin Turner sac fly extends the LA lead, although the 1-14 Bellinger is out trying to score on a Yasiel Puig base hit.  Darvish yields a hit to George Brett in the 8th and the Dodgers summon Brock Stewart from the pen, who whiffs Steve Balboni and Frank White in succession to end that threat.  But in the 9th PH Lonnie Smith leads off with a single that LF-2 Pederson misplays, putting the tying run at the plate with nobody out.  PH Bill Pecota then singles and Smith scores easily, bringing up the top of the order with the tying run aboard and nobody out.  LA then reluctantly is forced to bring in Brandon Morrow to try to preserve the lead, and after a whiff, a walk, and another whiff Tartabull steps into the batter’s box.  However, he lofts a lazy fly and Pederson gloves it to seal the 5-4 win for the Dodgers and a visit to round five.  

The survivors:  round five

The 1963 Pirates and the 1993 Angels only won 74 and 71 games, respectively, but over four rounds of this tournament they’ve proven to have what it takes to win, and now both squads are back to the top of their rotation for round five:   Bob Friend (17-16, 2.34), who had tossed a 10-inning shutout for the Bucs in round one, and Mark Langston (16-11,3.20), who had a 3-hit shutout of his own under his belt for the Halos.  The Angels waste no time in breaking Friend’s scoreless streak, beginning the bottom of the 1st with three straight hits including a Tim Salmon RBI single, but a caught stealing and a DP prevent the inning from being worse for Pittsburgh.  A 2-out single by Rene Gonzales puts up another run for the Angels in the 2nd, but in the 6th an error by Langston helps to load the bases for Roberto Clemente; he misses a grand slam HR split, but two score on the resulting double and Jerry Lynch picks up the third runner on a sac fly and the Bucs take the lead.  A walk and a single to begin the 7th and the Angels decide that Langston is too rattled, so Mike Butcher comes in from the pen and he quickly escapes the jam when Bill Mazeroski pops into a DP on an attempted sacrifice.  However, in the 9th young Willie Stargell rips an RBI triple and Maz atones with a 2-out single that scores Pops, and Friend wraps up a new scoreless streak of seven innings as the Pirates march on to the super-regional final with the 5-2 win, their third come-from-behind win in a row.

The 1947 Cubs would need their luck to hold up in this round five matchup against the pennant-winning 2017 Dodgers, with both teams returning to the top of their rotation, with LA’s Alex Wood (16-3, 2.72) having the league’s best winning percentage while the Cubs’ Johnny  Schmitz (13-18, 3.22) led the league in losses.   Bill Nicholson leads off the top of the 2nd for the Cubs with a double, and Eddie Waitkus shoots a single in front of LA CF-3 Joc Pederson for an early Chicago lead, but in the bottom of the inning Yasmani Grandal rips an RBI single under the glove of Cubs SS-3 Lennie Merullo, and Curtis Granderson adds a sac fly that puts the Dodgers up 2-1.  Wood then survives a number of jams, but as the Dodgers are also held in check they opt for supercloser Kenley Jansen to begin the 8th in the hopes of preserving the one run lead.  And he records six straight outs, four by strikeout, to earn the save in the narrow 2-1 win that propels the Dodgers to the super-regional final.

Super-regional final

The super-regional final features the bracket favorite, 104-win 2017 Dodgers and Cy Young runner-up Clayton Kershaw (18-4, 2.31) against the 74-88 1963 Pirates, who had relied on their three Hall of Famers to get this far, while Don Cardwell (13-15, 3.07) would seek to reprise his four-hit complete game that he tossed in the second round.   The Pirates provide a quick demonstration of their mettle as Dick Schofield leads off the top of the 1st by finding Kershaw’s Achilles heel–a solid 5-5 home run that stuns the few Dodgers fans who arrived on time for the game.  However, in the bottom of the inning Cody Bellinger crushes a 2-run shot for an emphatic Dodger response and it’s game on.  The Pirates defense then crumbles in the 2nd, with errors by P-5 Cardwell, SS-3 Schofield, and 1B-2 Clendenon lead to four unearned runs, and in the 3rd Curtis Granderson gets an RBI triple on a missed HR 1-17 split and although Cardwell fans two to strand him at third, it’s still a 7-1 LA lead after three.  Jerry Lynch gets a run-scoring triple of his own in the 4th, but Donn Clendenon is promptly lost for the tournament with an injury and Lynch also gets stranded 90 feet away.  Three hits against Cardwell in the bottom of the 4th, the last an RBI double by Bellinger, and the Pirates move to the pen for Bob Veale and his 1.04 ERA, but Yasiel Puig singles in both baserunners to put the Dodgers up 10-2.  The Dodgers score on a Bellinger DP in the 6th to add to the pile, and then in the 8th Roy Face comes in to be battered with a Cory Seager RBI single followed by another 2-run homer by Bellinger.  The Pirates load the bases in the 9th with three singles for a last ditch effort, but Kershaw notches his 11th and 12th strikeouts of the game to end the beating and the Dodgers win the super-regional with a 14-2 blowout and stake their claim as a team to beat in the final round of 32.

Interesting card of Super-Regional S:  Although the 1963 Pirates fell short in the final, they did knock off five consecutive wins to get that far, and one of the reasons was timely hitting by a rookie that at age 23 was not yet being called “Pops” by his teammates.  Although he had a few appearances the prior season, 1963 was Stargell’s rookie year, and although it was probably the worst full season of his career, it deserves recognition as his first Strat card, the original of which is also presented here.  Stargell began playing organized baseball relatively late, and he was only the third best player on his high school team (behind future major leaguers Tommy Harper and Curt Motton), so he was not a particularly heralded rookie, and his early difficulties against LHP and the spacious dimensions of Forbes Field made for a slow start to his career.  He celebrated his first full season playing in Three Rivers Stadium by leading the majors with 48 homers, although he was famous for hitting tape-measure shots that would be a round-tripper anywhere–only four balls have been hit completely out of Dodger Stadium, and Stargell hit two of them.  In this tournament, the rookie Stargell had to step up after an injury to Pirates star Roberto Clemente, and he was good for one walk-off homer and five RBI in the five games leading up to the super-regional final–a pretty good showing for an unspectacular card.

SUPER-REGIONAL R:  This bracket included two of the six pennant winners that began this group of 64.  One of them was the 2004 Cardinals, who were also accompanied by a 1949 version of the team that had been in a bit of a decline since winning a championship three seasons earlier.  The bracket was also noteworthy in including a number of franchises that had seen little overall success in the tournament, such as the Expos, Brewers, Nationals, Mariners, and the hapless Browns, but there was also another pennant winner, the 1974 Dodgers, a representative of one of the most successful brands in the project.  I figured that a 21st century pennant winner would have the power, depth, and bullpen to handle these older squads, and that they would best the other more modern entry, the Nationals, in the finals.  The ELO rankings picked the same winner, but they predicted an all-Cardinals faceoff in the sixth round.

Round four action

For the Zoom game of the week, it would be up to our resident Canadian Eaglesfly to keep the hopes alive of one of the few Montreal teams to show anything in this tournament, the 1992 Expos.  He would have the task of facing the pennant-winning 2004 Cardinals, helmed by brother Chuck, and it would be a battle of the Larry Walkers as each team had the right fielder batting second in their lineup.  It was also a matchup of #4 starters, and the two managers each selected a starter that I would have skipped, Matt Morris (15-10, 4.72) for the Cards and Mark Gardner (12-10, 4.36) for Montreal, and with land mines scattered across both cards it seemed like a high scoring affair was in order.  And sure enough, in the top of the 1st after a leadoff walk and a single by the junior Walker, Moises Alou finds Morris’s solid HR result for a three run blast before an out is recorded.  A few batters later, Spike Owen then helpfully locates Morris’s HR split and converts that for a two-run shot and the Expos lead 5-0 before the Cards can swing a bat.  Deciding that Morris doesn’t have nine lives, Chuck opts for the much-better-carded Steve Kline to begin the second inning, and he shuts down the Expos, who only manage to get 3B Tim Wallach injured for three games.  Meanwhile, the Cards begin chipping away at the lead, with an RBI single for Albert Pujols in the 3rd and another by the senior Walker in the 4th narrowing the lead to 5-2, but Gardner whiffs Jim Edmonds to ward off a potential three run homer that could have tied the game.  The Expos respond with a Walker of their own, whose solo shot in the 5th makes it 6-2, and as the Cards move through their pen the Expos keep up the pressure, with Alou getting a solo shot in the 7th for his second homer of the game and Delino Deshields adding an RBI single in the 8th.  And Gardner proves remarkable efficient in pitching from the stretch, as he records a complete game to give the Montreal pen some much-needed rest as the Expos advance with the impressive 8-2 upset.

The next Zoom game of the week would involve Seattle area denizen Stratfan managing the local 1990 Mariners against brother Chuck, who would try to avoid further injuries to a 1987 Brewers team that was already down Robin Yount and Ernest Riles, although Paul Molitor had recovered from his injury suffered in the opening game of the tournament.  Also spelling trouble for the Brewers was the fact that it was time for the #4 starters, and while swingman Bill Swift 6-4, 2.39) looked like a strong option for the M’s, Chuck was faced with a decision between bad and badder, ultimately going with Chris Bosio (11-8, 5.24) and a seriously taxed bullpen would likely provide little help.  But it initially looks like he might not need that much help, because the Brewers swiftly pound Swift in the top of the 1st with a 2-run homer from DH Bill Schroeder and an RBI double from BJ Surhoff providing a quick 3-0 lead before the M’s can swing a bat.  However, once they get a chance, those bats don’t miss a hit on Bosio, loading up the bases for a 2-run single from Jay Buhner that closes the gap to one run.  The Brewers retaliate as Schroeder knocks in another two runs in the top of the second, but in the bottom of the inning Seattle continues to rock Bosio, with Jeff Leonard, Edgar Martinez and Ken Griffey Jr. all driving in runs to chase Bosio, and Chuck tries the other guy who could have started, Juan Nieves, who finally ends the inning but Seattle now holds a 6-5 lead after two innings.  But the Brewers are undaunted, and they continue to blast Swift with a two-run double from Molilor and two more RBI for Schroeder put Milwaukee up 9-6.  Rob Deer gets a sac fly in the 6th to make it 10-6, but Buhner drives in two in the bottom of the inning with a double and it’s 10-8.  But Schroeder continues to terrorize Seattle pitching, ending with seven RBI for the game, while pushing two more runs across in the 7th.  When Nieves runs out of eligibility after the 6th, it’s too early to go for their already fatigued closer Mark Clear, so Chuck hopes to get one decent inning out of aging veteran Len Barker, who has already declared his retirement after the tournament.  But not only do the Brewers get one inning out of Barker, they get three scoreless frames as he looks like the guy who had led the AL in strikeouts a decade earlier, and the Brew Crew move on to round five with the 12-8 victory.

The 2014 Nationals won 96 games and the NL East, and captured Regional #141 with strong starting pitching and pop in the lineup with Bryce Harper homering in all three regional games.  Unlike most super-regional teams in round four, they had multiple good options for a #4 starter with Doug Fister (16-6, 2.41) stronger than the top of most teams’ rotations.  They now faced the 1924 Browns, and although their 74-78 record was unimpressive their penchant for getting on base pushed them through their regional, although SS Wally Gerber was still nursing an injury and starter Dave Danforth (15-12, 4.51) had a tendency to yield extra-base hits.  Danforth runs into trouble quickly as the P-5 commits a two-base error in the top of the 2nd that sets up a 2-run single for Ryan Zimmerman, and then after a Harper single it’s Wilson Ramos with a 3-run homer and a big Washington lead.  The Browns try to begin the long road back with a 2-out 2-run double from Baby Doll Jacobson in the 3rd, but Jayson Werth adds an RBI single in the 4th and the Browns bullpen offers no potential for assistance.  A Ken Williams solo shot in the bottom of the 5th makes it 6-2, but an error from injury replacement SS-4 Norm McMillan gives the Nats another run in the 8th.  From there Fister is clenched, limiting the Browns to five hits for a complete game 7-3 victory and a trip to round five.  

Two of the best teams in the super-regional face off in this round four game between the pennant-winning 1974 Dodgers and the 96-win 1949 Cardinals, who finished in second place one game out.  For the Dodgers, Doug Rau (13-11, 3.73) was not bad for a #4 starter but certainly not of the quality of the rest of the rotation, while the Cards had a few solid options and went with Red Munger (15-8, 3.87) on the hill.  Things start off a little auspiciously for the Dodgers in the top of the 1st as NL MVP and 1B-1 Steve Garvey drops the first batted ball for an error, but Rau escapes the inning unscathed.  They then show how it’s done in the bottom of the 1st, as Davey Lopes leads off with a single, steals second, and slides under the tag at home on a Jimmy Wynn single.  Garvey then atones with a long 2-run homer; Chuck Diering tries to respond by rolling Rau’s HR 1-13 split, but a 14 roll just gets him stranded at second.  However, the Cards come alive in the top of the 3rd, as a Stan Musial RBI sac fly precedes a 2-run homer from Enos Slaughter that ties the game, while in the bottom of the inning Lopes and Wynn both miss HR splits and the Dodgers come away empty.  However, in the 4th an error by Cards 1B-4 Nippy Jones and two walks load things up for Steve Yeager, who raps an RBI single and Bill Russell follows with another hit that scores two more, spelling the end for Munger as Fred Martin comes in and manages to stop the bleeding, but it’s 6-3 LA.   Yeager adds a 2-out RBI single in the 5th, but Musial matches that with one of his own in the 6th.  Wynn then converts the same split he missed earlier in the game for a solo homer in the bottom of the 6th, and the Dodgers are hoping to ride out a shaky Rau and preserve the pen.  Unfortunately for them, they can’t preserve Yeager, who’s injured and out until round six, and forcing the Dodgers to use Manny Mota as an emergency backstop, and he actually makes a play in the 8th to end the inning.  Rau then retires the Cards in order in the 9th and the Dodgers march on to round five with a comfortable 8-4 win.  

The survivors:  round five

Two prior round four Zoom games set up a grudge match between Chuck’s 1987 Brewers, who had crushed out nine runs in the first three innings against the Mariners, and Eaglesfly’s 1992 Expos, who had bested Chuck in round four with five first-inning runs.  This time it might go differently as the teams returned to the top of their rotations, with Dennis Martinez (16-11, 2.47) for Les Expos and Teddy Higuera (18-10, 3.85) on the mound for Milwaukee.  Based upon previous games, getting off to a quick start could be critical, and Chuck wastes no time with  Mike Felder rolling his solid 1-9 triple to lead off the bottom of the 1st.  Paul Molitor doubles to score Felder, and after a few outs it’s Rob Deer with a 2-out single for a quick 2-0 Brewers lead.  But that’s just a warm-up for inning number two, as Bill Schroeder adds to his super-regional RBI total with a run-scoring single, and he scores on a Greg Brock hit; another Molitor RBI single and then it’s Deer time as Rob crushes a two-run homer.  After a mound chat Eaglesfly decides to stick with his ace Martinez, and he responds by holding the Brewers to two hits and no runs the rest of the way.  However, by then it’s far too late because Higuera is in control, assisted when Delino Deshields joins Tim Wallach on the DL, and although injury replacement Sean Berry records an RBI single in the 5th the Expos manage only four other hits against Higuera as the Brewers cruise to the super-regional finals with a 7-1 victory.

A high profile round five Zoom matchup between the pennant-winning 1974 Dodgers, helmed by StratFan Rick, and the NL-East winning 2014 Nationals led by brother Chuck had both teams going with their top starters: Andy Messersmith (20-6, 2.59) for the Dodgers and Tanner Roark (15-10, 2.85) on the mound for the Nats.  LA gets on the board quickly in the bottom of the 1st with a Davey Lopes walk and stolen base followed by a Willie Crawford RBI single, but Washington #9 hitter Danny Espinosa rolls three ones for a solo homer in the top of the 3rd that ties the game.  The Dodgers respond immediately with a 2-run double from Crawford in the bottom of the inning, but an Ian Desmond RBI single narrows the gap to 3-2 in the top of the 5th.  In the bottom of the 5th Roark feels a twinge in his arm and he has to leave the game, so closer Drew Storen comes in and he holds off LA while RBI singles from Ryan Zimmerman and Wilson Ramos in the 6th chase Messersmith and give the Nationals a 4-3 lead.  Storen tosses two hitless innings, but 1B-3 Adam LaRoche commits an error to keep the Dodgers alive in the 7th, and seeking to preserve Storen for later rounds Chuck motions for Tyler Clippard from the pen.  That does not go well, and ultimately Clippard has men on 2nd and 3rd with two out and the red hot Crawford at the plate; once again, he delivers a single, the speedy Lopes races home easily and the Dodgers get the runs they need for the lead.  In comes 200+ inning megareliever Mike Marshall to wrap up the 5-4 victory for the Dodgers, one that saw five lead changes in the game.

Super-Regional final:  round six

The super-regional final between the pennant-winning 1974 Dodgers and the persistent 1987 Brewers was the featured Zoom game of the week, with brother Chuck seeking to complete his trifecta in leading the injury-plagued Brewers against EaglesFly and the Dodgers.  LA’s Tommy John (13-3, 2.59) was the possessor of an imposing card, while swingman Chuck Crim (6-8, 3.67) was taken out of the pen as the best starting option for the Brewers.  Oft-maligned Bill Buckner begins a big night for him with a solo homer in the bottom of the 2nd, but the Dodgers then leave the bases loaded as a rattled Crim regains his form in the nick of time to prevent further damage.  Meanwhile, presurgical Tommy John is in control, as the Brewers, still without their Hall of Fame centerfielder Robin Yount due to injury, cannot muster a serious threat.  The game thus enters the top of the 9th with the Dodgers leading 1-0, but then an unthinkable error by C-1 Steve Yeager sets up a 2-out single by the immortal Rob Deer, and the game is tied heading into the bottom of the 9th.  The game then falls to Dan Plesac to try to stave off the walkoff from the heart of the Dodger order, and he is masterful and sends the game into extra innings.  John holds out for 10 innings but then has to be pulled for uber-reliever Mike Marshall in the 11th, while Plesac finishes a great 4-inning stint that leaves him burnt for the foreseeable future.  The game moves to the 12th, and Dale Sveum takes Marshall’s first pitch of the inning deep into the pavilions at Dodger Stadium, and the upstart Brewers now lead heading into the bottom of the 12th but needing to go deeper into a very shallow bullpen.  Mark Clear gets the assignment, and although he yields a hit, he hangs on for the save and with a 2-1 win the Brewers will move on as one of the final 32 survivors in the project.  If they can hold on for two more wins and reach the Elite Eight, they’ll even get Yount back in the lineup!

Interesting card of Super-Regional R:  The 1974 Dodgers fell short, losing the super-regional final in extra innings, but they managed to reach the sixth round of this tournament courtesy of strong pitching and this guy, the 1974 NL MVP.  Prior to this season, the 25 year old Garvey was nothing remarkable, a decent average hitter who never broke double digits in homers, and in 1974 he wasn’t even listed on the All-Star ballot for first base.  However, his strong start to the season attracted the attention of the fans and he became only the second player in the history of All-Star fan voting to win the starting position as a write-in candidate (trivia question:  who was the first?).  Although I love the die cut card and the old school card pattern, I have to say that compared to more modern MVP winners, this is a somewhat underwhelming offensive performance; his .811 OPS is solid but many recent MVPs bested this by more than 200 points.  Of course, 1974 was a different era, and his selection was somewhat controversial at the time, as Lou Brock broke the single season stolen base record that year but lost the ballot to Garvey.  Garvey remained a controversial figure for much of his career, establishing a reputation as a clean-cut, conservative icon who was not particularly popular with teammates, and this reputation was later tarnished by paternity suits.  A 10-time All-Star who was named on MVP ballots in nine different seasons, he nonetheless attracted little support for the Hall of Fame, attracting a high of 43% of the vote in the 15 years he was listed on the ballot.  Perhaps if he had a better performance in the super-regional final (1 for 5, unlike the much maligned Bill Buckner who went 4 for 4) and the Dodgers had moved on in this project, I’d be more inclined to argue his case.