REGIONAL #28:  Three pennant winners were included in this group, including two from the same dynasty:  the 1973 and 1974 A’s of Charlie Finley.  The third member of the pennant club was the 1963 Dodgers, who had a bit of a dynasty of their own going on as they began three NL pennants in four years on the backs of Koufax and Drysdale.   In addition to the A’s, there were two more 1974 teams with decent entries from the Red Sox and Twins.  The ELO ranks predicted an all-A’s final, with the ‘74 team supposedly riding a slight edge to claim the regional.  

The 1974 A’s were the top seed in the regional, but the #8 seed 1956 Orioles were not intimidated, carrying a 3-2 lead into the 8th inning with starter Connie Johnson keeping the A’s in check.  That ended in the 8th, with an RBI single from Reggie Jackson and a 2-run double from Dick Green pushing the A’s on top; the O’s try a rally in the bottom of the 9th and get one run on an RBI double from Dick Williams–the same guy who had just quit as manager of the A’s after winning the 1973 World Series because he couldn’t work with Charlie Finley.  However, Williams isn’t enough and Rollie Fingers seals the 5-4 win for the A’s.  Meanwhile, the 1967 Senators’ Phil Ortega tosses a 3-hit shutout against the 1974 Red Sox for a 5-0 win; the 1973 A’s (managed by Williams) survive a four-run 5th inning from the 1974 Twins, mainly because Sal Bando hits three homers en route to an 8-6 win; and the overconfident 1963 Dodgers discover that underestimating the 1977 Padres and holding their two best starting pitchers in reserve was not a good idea, as the Dodgers only muster two hits against Bob Shirley and the Padres beat Podres, 4-2.

In the semifinals, the 1967 Senators jump out to a 3-0 lead over the regional favorite 1974 A’s, but a Mike Epstein homer and key hits from Bill North and Bert Campaneris tie things up in the 7th.  However, when the Nats threaten in the bottom of the 8th, the A’s summon Paul Lindblad from the pen, but he delivers a run-scoring double to Fred Valentine and Washington stuns the A’s with the 4-3 upset win.  With prospects for an all-A’s final dashed, the 1973 A’s take advantage of three errors in the first two innings by the 1977 Padres on the way to a 4-1 win, Catfish Hunter tossing a 3-hit complete game marred only by a Dave Roberts RBI double.

Ass kicked

The finals come down to the #2 seed 1973 A’s against a #7 seed 1967 Senators team that had already eliminated one pennant winning A’s team and were ready to do it again.  The Nat’s take a 3-0 lead in the top of the 1st with four singles against A’s starter Darold Knowles (who also happens to be Washington’s closer), but Joe Rudi knocks an RBI double to narrow it to 3-1 in the bottom of the inning.  Another two runs from the Nats in the 7th and the A’s summon Rollie Fingers to try to keep it close, and they get two runs on RBI singles from North and Reggie! in the 8th to chase Bob Priddy, but Casey Cox comes in to lock things down and the Senators win 5-3 to take the regional, in doing so soundly kicking Charlie Finley’s ass.