REGIONAL #16:   There were five pretty good (i.e., ELO top 1000) teams in this bracket, although only one pennant winner:  the 1977 Yankees, who were making their first trip to the Series since their great teams of the early 60s.  Also included in the group was a sentimental favorite of mine, the 1967 White Sox, who couldn’t hit worth a lick but almost managed to sneak away with a pennant.  Then there were 70s squads from the Pirates, Reds, and A’s who were all a few years past pennant-winning years but still might have enough talent to take the regional.   And then there was the #8 seeded 1979 White Sox, who were trying to climb back to respectability but had a long way to go before they got there.  

In round one, a grand slam by Champ Summers put the 1979 Tigers up 5-1 in the 3rd inning over the 1979 Reds, but the Reds clawed back for three runs in the bottom of the inning, and then the two squads traded blows until Milt Wilcox failed to get an out in the 9th and the Reds come back for an 8-6 walk off win courtesy of a Dave Collins double.  The 1977 A’s pummeled the 1974 Pirates’ Bruce Kison and Dave Giusti, running away with a 9-3 win in which two-timing Manny Sanguillen managed to drive in runs for both teams.  My sentimental favorite 1967 White Sox actually managed to score 3 runs, but Graig Nettles knocked a walk-off RBI single off Hoyt Wilhelm to break the tie and give the bracket favorite 1977 Yankees a 4-3 win.  However, the Pale Hose strike back in the final game, with the 1979 White Sox breaking a 2-2 tie in the 8th on a 2-run Greg Pryor double and they dispose of the 1971 Astros 5-2.

Tom is too terrific for the Yanks

In the semifinal games, the 1979 Reds marched on, taking down Vida Blue and the 1977 A’s 5-2, with Fred Norman tossing a 5-hit complete game.  In the other game, a two-run homer by Reggie Jackson in the 3rd is all the 1977 Yankees need to best the 1979 White Sox, as Mike Torrez tosses a 4-hitter in the 5-0 shutout.  That sets up a final matchup between the #1 and #2 seeds, with the 90-win, NL East division winning 1979 Reds underdogs against the 100-win, World Series champion 1977 Yankees.   The pitching matchup was one for the ages, with Ron Guidry facing Tom Seaver, but only one of them lived up to their billing.  And that one was Seaver, who fires a 2-hit shutout while a Dan Driessen homer and timely hits by Griffey, Collins, and Cesar Geronimo make short work of the Yankees.  The Reds coast to the 5-0 victory which gives the franchise their first regional win, doing what five previous Reds teams–four of them pennant winners–could not.