REGIONAL #22:  Nary a pennant winner in this bunch, although the ELO favorite 1980 Yankees won the AL East and would nab a pennant the next year; there was also a Red Sox team that had captured the AL two years earlier.  The ELO rankings actually predicted an all-Yankees final, with the 1974 Yanks portrayed as the sole “good” (top 1000) team in the top of the bracket. 

The 1970 Braves had backtracked a bit after winning the NL West in 1969, but you wouldn’t know it by the hammering they delivered to Milt Wilcox and the 1978 Tigers in the first inning of their first round matchup.  Wilcox was pulled after recording just one out against six runs, with two 3-run homers by Hank Aaron and Mike Lum being the big blows, and Ron Reed gets the complete game 7-2 win for the Braves.  The 1974 Yankees and Doc Medich engaged in a pitchers duel with Dan Schatzeder and the 1978 Expos, and the game was knotted 1-1 after 9 innings.  After that it was the battle of the bullpens, and things stayed that way until the bottom of the 14th when Dave Cash knocks a walk-off RBI single off Sparky Lyle to give the Expos the 2-1 and a chance to redeem their loss in the previous regional final.  Things don’t go any better for the other Bronx squad, the 1980 Yankees, who watch Rudy May get scorched by the 1971 Padres behind homers from Nate Colbert and Cito Gaston to take a 7-1 lead.  Clay Kirby is cruising along nicely until the 9th inning, when an Oscar Gamble grand slam immediately changes the tone of the game, but the Padres hang on to eliminate the regional favorite by an 8-6 score.  Finally, the 1977 Red Sox take an early 2-0 lead on the 1970 Cubs, but the Cubs fight back against Sox starter (and longtime Cub star) Fergie Jenkins, and a 2-run double from Jim Hickman proves the deciding blow as the Cubs and Ken Holtzman prevail with a 3-2 win.  

For the second regional in a row, an underdog Montreal team reaches the regional finals as the 1978 Expos come back against the 1970 Braves to win 5-4.  The Braves jumped out to a lead in the top of the 1st on a 2-run homer from Orlando Cepeda, but Andre Dawson does him one better by swatting TWO such homers to give Ross Grimsley the win with his 6-hit complete game.  Meanwhile, the underdog 1971 Padres continue their surprising run with a 5-3 win over the 1970 Cubs, with homers by Gaston and Dave Campbell providing the muscle in support of Dave Roberts’ 5-hitter.  

The finals thus are an unlikely pairing of the #7 seeded 1978 Expos against the #8 seed 1971 Padres.   The Expos are in their second straight regional final as a 7 seed, but this time they are the favorite against the Padres, portrayed in the rankings as a bottom 100 team of all time.  However, the Padres are hardly intimidated and come roaring out of the gate to take a 3-1 lead, courtesy of a Gaston 2-run double, after the 1st inning.  Another 2-run double, this time by Downtown Ollie Brown in the 4th, pushes the Padres lead to 6-3, and from there SD starter Steve Arlin is good enough.  The Padres lock down the 7-4 victory for the first regional win for the franchise, and the first regional win for a 100-loss team.  Cito Gaston is named the regional MVP with two homers and five RBI to pace the upstart Padres throughout the bracket.