REGIONAL #1:  When I first began this tournament in (I think) fall 1980, my Strat cards were somewhat scattered to the winds, with the teams from my childhood mainly at my parents house, a few with me where I was doing a one-year internship, and some in storage back where I had been living.  So I think it all began with the teams I had handy, which were the Old-Timer teams and the 1979 season that I had just purchased.  Figuring that I would soon consolidate my collection, I got some paper, drew up what I considered to be a huge bracket (which I still have and have added considerably to, little knowing how large that bracket would eventually be), and started randomly selecting pairings from the teams on hand, distributing them throughout this bracket knowing that I would fill in the holes later when I assembled my other teams.  Thus, those initial games heavily oversampled Old Timer and 1979 teams, meaning that the early regionals had a high density of those squads.

Given that situation, it’s not surprising to look back and discover that the first game in this tournament was between two of the Old-Timer squads, the 1905 Giants and the 1936 Yanks.  The remainder of the teams in the regional were obviously filled in after I reclaimed my old cards, as they are all teams from the 60’s and 70’s (of course, these were all the original versions, as I don’t think Strat had updated any sets to Advanced at that point).  Of the remaining teams, the best rated according to ELO rankings (described later in this blog) was the 1967 Tigers, who missed the pennant by one game but would win the AL and the Series the following year.

The marquee first round matchup was of course that between the 1905 Giants and the 1936 Yankees, but it proved to be a rather one-sided affair as Christy Mathewson held the Yanks to three hits, Lou Gehrig of all people got injured, and the Giants cruised to a 5-1 win over Red Ruffing.  The other first round games were actually more interesting.  The 1967 Tigers were quickly eliminated by a 92-loss 1971 Brewers squad with Bill Parsons tossing a 3-hit shutout to win 2-0.  The 1971 Mets and Nolan Ryan took a 9-3 lead into the bottom of the 9th against the 1968 Pirates, but Pittsburgh battered Ryan relentlessly and eventually NY summoned closer Danny Frisella to try to stop the bleeding, but it was to no avail as Gene Alley hits a walk-off RBI single to give the Pirates the unlikely 10-9 win.  Finally, the 1974 Tigers and the 1975 Indians put on an impressive fireworks display, with the Tigers leading 6-0 after three innings but Cleveland responds with 8 runs in the bottom of the 3rd, and they continue to pound Detroit relievers to record a 15-8 smackdown win, with 6 RBI from C Alan Ashby.

Regional overachiever

The semifinal games were both tightly contested, setting a precedent that has continued throughout the tournament.  The 1905 Giants and 1968 Pirates were deadlocked 2-2 after 9, with Hooks Wiltse and Bob Veale locked in a duel.  Ultimately, it’s a walk and a 2-base error in the 12th that does in the Pirates as the Giants take the 3-2 win, but lose both Roger Bresnahan and Mike Donlin to injury for the finals.  The other semifinal between the 1975 Indians and the 1971 Brewers also proves to be a low-scoring affair, with Tom Buskey coming in to pitch four scoreless relief innings for the Indians to preserve a 2-1 win–with Alan Ashby again contributing with a key homer.  

Thus, the final boils down to a confrontation between the 1905 Giants, ELO-ranked as the 13th best team of all time but suffering from key injuries, and the 1975 Indians, in 1,397th place.  And, another precedent is set in the first regional, which is that the “best” team often doesn’t win.  Beginning in the 4th, the Indians put up single runs for five consecutive innings against Luther Taylor, with solo HRs from George Hendrick and Boog Powell, and Jim Bibby keeps stranding Giants on the basepaths, with Dave Laroche coming in to earn the save in the 5-2 upset win, giving the Indians the honor of capturing the first regional of the tournament.