REGIONAL #10:  This was another loaded group of teams, with WS champion ‘67 Cardinals, pennant winners from the Big Red Machine and Yankees dynasties, an Old Timer team from the Tigers that was the AL runner-up, and a strong Dodger team from 1971 that finished 1 game out of the postseason.  The 1961 Tigers jumped out to a 5-0 lead on the 1979 Cubs in the 3rd inning, Al Kaline later added a 2-run homer, and Don Mossi was adequate to put the Cubs away with an 8-4 win, with most of the Cubs offense coming from a 3-run homer by Ivan Dejesus in the 7th.  The pennant-winning 1967 Cardinals get ambushed by the 1975 Twins, with Steve Carlton getting knocked out in a three-run 6th inning and Bert Blyleven holding the Cards to three hits in a 4-1 upset win.   Another pennant winner, the 1970 Reds, get stretched by the 1971 Dodgers, who lose starter Al Downing to injury in the 2nd inning but a succession of relievers shut out the powerful Reds until the 9th inning, when a Johnny Bench solo shot ties the game at 1-1 and sends things into extra innings.  In the 11th, Tony Perez raps an RBI single off Jim Brewer to give the Reds a 2-1 lead that reliever Don Gullett preserves, and the Reds survive a scare to move on.   They prove to be the only pennant winner in the bracket to do so, as the 1964 Yankees take a 3-1 lead into the 9th on the arm of Jim Bouton, but he falters and reliever Hal Reniff can’t hang on as the 1973 Cardinals score two to send it to extra innings.  The Cards again pound Reniff in the 10th, Ted Simmons drives in a run, and the Yanks can’t answer against the Mad Hungarian Al Hrabosky as the Cards move on with the 4-3 come from behind win.

Continuing a trend of pitched battles, the first semifinal game continues the trend of extra-inning clashes when the 1961 Tigers and the 1975 Twins trade blows.  The Twins jump out to a 3-1 lead, then the Tigers score 5 in the top of the 4th to move on top, and the Twins answer with three runs in the bottom of the inning to tie things up at 6-6.  It stays that way after nine, and in the 12th the Tigers let down Hank Aguirre with two costly errors that give the Twin a walk-off unearned run, the 7-6 win, and a spot in the finals.  The other semifinal between the the 1970 Reds and 1973 Cardinals is also a see-saw affair.  The Reds jump to a 1-0 lead in the top of the 1st, the Cards tie it in the bottom of the inning, the Reds answer with a run in the 2nd to retake the lead, and the Cards score two on a Lou Brock homer in the bottom of the inning to move on top.  The Reds answer with two in the 4th to retake the lead again, and add a run in the 6th to lead 5-3, but in the bottom of the inning injury replacement Tommy Agee hits a bases-loaded double to give the Cards a 6-5 lead.  The Reds immediately respond with two more runs in the 7th on a 2-run shot by Bench, the Reds lead 7-6 going into the bottom of the 9th, but Reds reliever Wayne Granger can’t hold serve as a Bernie Carbo (who was playing for both teams) double  tied things up and SS Mike Tyson punched his ticket home for the walk-off 8-7 win.

A puncher's chance

Thus, with all this talent in the regional, the final comes down to the #6 seed 1973 Cardinals against the #7 seed 1975 Twins, and for all the hard-fought games in the bracket, this one proves to be a blowout.  Cards starter Rick Wise is in control, Mike Tyson again comes up with some unexpected punch with a three-run homer, and St. Louis waltzes to a 7-0 win, with Wise scattering 8 hits in a complete game win.  The regional MVP has to go to Tyson, although the two Teds of Simmons and Sizemore also make major contributions.