REGIONAL #42:   This was one of the weakest draws in the tournament up to this point, with only one team rated among the 1,000 best of all time–that being the 1988 A’s of “Bash Brothers”, who won 104 games and the AL pennant.  As a result, the A’s were substantial favorites to take the bracket, with their primary competition seeming to be Angels and Red Sox teams from the 80s.  

The 1988 A’s were thus huge favorites over the #8 seed 1927 Browns, but they weren’t taking the Browns lightly as they started talented swingman Todd Burns as their game one starter against the Browns’ Lefty Stewart.  But Burns was burnt in the 1st inning by wildness that loaded the bases for a bag-clearing double by Harry Rice, and that was all that Stewart needed as he tossed a 6-hit shutout; an early injury to McGwire and there would be no Bashing in the Browns’ 7-0 upset of the bracket favorite.  The 90-loss 1961 Twins similarly rode a 4-hitter from Camilo Pascual in defeating the 1975 Expos and Steve Rogers, 5-2, with a Lenny Green homer providing the difference.  The wildest first round game was between two mediocre Cleveland squads separated by more than 50 years, the 1927 Indians and the 1980 Indians.  A Lew Fonseca RBI single in the top of the 2nd puts the ‘27s up 1-0, but Mike Hargrove and Joe Charbonneau drive in runs that give the ‘80s a 2-1 lead in the 3rd.   A two run double from Joe Sewell gives the lead back to the ‘27s in the 4th, but Rick Manning ties it in the bottom of the inning.  A George Burns triple leads to four runs from the ‘27s in the 5th and they now lead 7-3, but Tom Veryzer gets one back in the ‘80s half of the inning; a two run double from Homer Summa in the 6th and it’s 9-4, but Ron Hassey matches that in bottom of the frame to narrow the gap to 9-6.  Sewell gives the ‘27s two more runs in the 8th, but that is again matched by the 80s thanks to Toby Harrah, and in the 9th the battered starter for the ‘27s, Willis Hudlin, desperately tries to hang on with nothing in the pen to help.  Jorge Orta and Hassey drive in runs to close to 11-10, but Hudlin somehow gets the third out and the 1927 team escapes to live another day.   The last game of the first round goes to the 1983 Red Sox, led by a Jim Rice grand slam in the 5th inning that carries them past the 1987 Angels, despite two homers from Wally Joyner.

In the semifinals, the Cinderella clock struck midnight on the 1927 Browns as Jim Kaat of the 1961 Twins allows no hits past the 4th inning and Harmon Killebrew hits a homer and drives in four to lead Minnesota to a 7-1 win.   They will face the 1983 Red Sox in the final, as Jim Rice hits a 3-run homer and Tony Armas adds a solo shot in support of Bob Ojeda, who scatters seven hits in the 5-2 win over the 1927 Indians.

The final between the #3 seeded 1983 Red Sox and the #7 seed, 90-loss 1961 Twins features Boston’s Bruce Hurst against the Twins’ Jack Kralick.  The Twins move on top in the 2nd on a Billy Martin RBI single, and a solo shot from Killebrew makes it 2-0 in the top of the 3rd.  However, a Wade Boggs single gets Boston on the board in the bottom of the inning, and things stay status quo as both pitchers are in fine form.  However, in the 6th, Hurst gets injured and the Sox are force to go to closer Bob Stanley out of the pen to try to keep things close.  That he does, and in the 7th it pays off when Dwight Evans homers to tie the game.  That tie lasts until the end of regulation, and so the game proceeds to extra innings, with the Twins unable to score in the top of the 10th, so Kralick begins his final inning of eligibility….by allowing a walkoff homer to Jerry Remy and the Red Sox win 3-2 and capture the third regional for the franchise.