REGIONAL #39:  This group had one pennant-winning squad, the 1964 Cardinals, with the next best rated teams involving a Cubs squad from the early 1970s and a Phillies group from the early 1980s.  There were also a couple of White Sox teams from their pajama-uniform era, and a couple of undistinguished entrants from the Brewers and the Expos.   Of course, the ELO favorites were those Cards, picked to best the Cubs in the finals, with both franchises having had some previous successes in the tournament.

However, the first round is often cruel to favorites, and this time it was the #1 seed 1964 Cardinals who learned that lesson, as they get 3-hit by Steve Carlton of the 1982 Phillies with a 2-run double from Gary Maddox providing all the needed runs in a 4-1 victory.  That victory provides some redemption for a Phillies franchise that crumbled in the final weeks of the 1964 season to hand the Cards the NL crown.  Another of their squads, the 1971 Phillies, engaged in a life or death struggle with the 1985 Expos between Joe Hesketh and Woodie Fryman, with the game knotted 1-1 after 9 innings.  The scoring drought continued into extra innings, when Montreal reliever Jeff Reardon issues a one-out walk in the bottom of the 13th and then Deron Johnson nails a walk-off double to give the Phils a 2-1 extra inning win and an all-Phillies semifinal.   In a matchup of bitter crosstown rivals, the 1978 White Sox build up a 6-0 lead on the #2 seeded 1972 Cubs, but the Cubs score four in the bottom of the 8th against Steve Stone to narrow the gap.  However, Stone hangs on in the 9th and the Sox move on with a 6-4 upset.  They will face a group of familiar faces in the semifinal, as the 1975 White Sox squeeze out a 3-2 victory over the 1985 Brewers, with Goose Gossage saving the game for Jim Kaat who combine for a 5-hitter.

Thus, both semifinal games are franchise matchups.  The 1982 Phillies are favored over the 1971 Phillies, but the ‘71s move to a 7-1 lead by the 4th inning with blows by Tim McCarver and 20-year old Greg Luzinski leading the way.  Meanwhile, Rick Wise is controlling the bats of the ‘82 team until they put up three in the 8th, but by then it is too late and the 1971 squad heads to the finals with an 8-4 win.  The South Side Semifinal pits the 1975 White Sox against the 1978 White Sox, where two homers by the ‘78’s Jorge Orta puts the ‘78s up 5-1 after three, and from there Francisco Barrios manages to hold on for a 6-4 win.

As a result, it’s an all-underdog finals with the #7 seed 1978 White Sox and the #8 seed 1971 Phillies meeting in a most unanticipated pairing.  Orta continues his hot hand with a solo homer in the bottom of the 1st to give the Sox an early lead, but RBI singles from Roger Freed and John Vuckovich immediately move the Phils on top 2-1 in the top of the 2nd.   The Sox respond in the bottom of the inning with three runs that chase Chris Short, the Phils cut the margin to one in the top of the 3rd with a Don Money sac fly, but from there Rich Hinton hangs on and Lamar Johnson provides some insurance RBI and the Sox take the regional with the 6-3 win.  Jorge Orta gets regional MVP recognition, becoming the first player in tournament memory to have multiple RBI games for two different teams in one regional.