REGIONAL #17:  For the first time in the history of the tournament, this bracket did not feature any pennant winners.  However, one team came close–the 1971 A’s, who won 101 games and the AL West but lost the ALCS to the Orioles, which they avenged by winning the pennant the next three seasons in a row.  They were ELO favorites among this group, favored to beat the ‘67 Orioles in the title game.  The remainder of the bracket were rated in the decent to mediocre range, with no really terrible teams, which in this tournament usually means that anything could happen.

The first round begins with a see-saw battle between the 1979 Rangers and the 1979 Royals, which is appropriate given that they finished within two games of each other, in 2nd and 3rd place in the AL West.  For some reason the ELO rankings put the Rangers as slightly better than the Royals, but it was the Royals who finished ahead in 1979 and who finished on top in this tournament with a 5-4 win.  Larry Gura managed to hang on for the win despite some sloppy fielding by his teammates, but he was assisted by timely hits from George Brett, Willie Wilson, and Frank White.  The favored 1971 A’s get pressed by the 1980 Padres after building an 8-1 by the 4th inning, but then Diego Segui gets racked for four runs in the 6th and Bob Locker struggles to hang on, but the A’s finally come out on top by a 9-8 margin.   The 1956 Pirates have a similar experience with the 1967 Orioles, with the Bucs holding a 5-1 margin going into the 8th inning, but Ron Kline surrenders a blast to Frank Robinson and reliever Fred Waters has to come in and save the 5-4 Pittsburgh win.  Finally, the fourth straight one-run game of the first round ends with a Bruce Benedict RBI single in the 8th that breaks a 5-5 tie and gives Larry Bradford and the 1980 Braves the win in relief over the 1980 Giants.

DH rule works for him

After all the close games in round one, the semifinal round had its first solid win, but it wasn’t the one expect as AL Cy Young and MVP winner Vida Blue gets racked and Jim Busby tosses a two-hitter as the 1979 Royals trounce the bracket favorite 1971 A’s by a 7-1 score.  Willie Wilson continues his hot regional with a homer and 3 RBI, and Frank White adds another pair of RBI to pace the attack; a solo HR by Joe Rudi was the lone run for the A’s, who committed more errors (3) than they had hits.  The other semifinal was also a blowout, with the 1956 Pirates jumping out to a 7-0 lead after two innings and cruising to a 9-2 win over the 1980 Braves.  Roberto Clemente and DH Danny Kravitz each contributed three RBI in support of a 6-hit CG from Roy Face.

The final matchup between the #4 seeded 1979 Royals and the #8 seed 1956 Pirates turns out to be tightly contested, with both Paul Splittorf and Bob Friend in good form.  The Pirates jump to a 1-0 lead in the 1st courtesy of a Kravitz RBI double, but Frank White singles home Wilson in the top of the 6th to tie it up.  Kravitz again puts the Bucs up in the bottom of the inning with an RBI single, but Al Cowens immediately ties it back up with a sac fly in the 7th.  Finally, in the bottom of the 8th, Dale Long hits a solo shot for PIttsburgh, Friend holds serve in the 9th, and the Pirates win 3-2 and join their 1960 brethren as regional winners.  Danny Kravitz is selected as the unlikely regional MVP, which is only fitting as the underdog Pirates are the first #8 seed to win a regional in the tournament.