REGIONAL #46:   This bracket boasted two pennant winners from the West Coast, and the luck of the draw was such that they would have to face each other in the first round.   The survivor of that matchup would have good squads from the Yankees, Twins, and Red Sox to contend with.  The ELO rankings predicted that the Bash Brothers A’s would triumph, besting the 2008 Yanks in the finals, but according to the rankings there really wasn’t a bad team in this bunch, so anything could happen.

The marquee matchup of the first round between the two pennant winners, the 1978 Dodgers and the 1989 A’s, started off strong for Oakland with a 2-run double from McGwire in the bottom of the 1st, and the other Bash Brother, Jose Canseco, added a solo shot in the 3rd against Don Sutton to make it 3-0.  In the top of the 5th, a two-run homer from Dusty Baker narrowed the score to 3-2, but the A’s responded in the bottom of the inning with a hit barrage to reassert their lead, and Mike Moore handles LA from there for a 6-3 win.  In other action, Jim Lonborg and the 1971 Red Sox handle the 1951 White Sox 8-3, with Reggie Smith driving in four; the 1924 Cardinals and Jesse Haines down the 1981 Braves 5-2, with a two-run blast from Bob Horner being Haines’ only real mistake; and the 2008 Yankees and the 2008 Twins play the longest game of the tournament, a 31-inning marathon that saw the Yankees tie the game in the top of the 9th with a Bobby Abreu 3-run homer, and then nobody could score until injury replacement wunderkind Cody Ransom hit a 3-run homer in the 31st to give NY the 7-4 win in a game that saw three injuries and countless pitchers.

In the semifinals, double from Tony Phillips and Rickey Henderson spot Dave Stewart and the 1989 A’s a 4-run lead in the 2nd, but the 1971 Red Sox rally back with a three-run homer from George Scott and a Yaz RBI single in the 7th tie things up.  Rickey then knocks a 2-run homer in the top of the 9th, and although the Red Sox put up a run against Gene Nelson in the bottom of the 9th, Eckersley comes in to notch the save and push the A’s in to the finals with the hard fought 6-5 win.  Meanwhile, Jim Bottomley leads the 1924 Cardinals over the 2008 Yankees and their exhausted bullpen and injury stricken lineup for a 5-2 win.

That sets up a final between the #1 seed 1989 A’s and the #7 seeded 1924 Cardinals, with Bob Welch pitching for Goliath against David’s Leo Dickerman.  It’s hardly a pitcher’s duel, as the A’s lead 10-0 after three innings, and even though McGwire gets injured for three games, the onslaught doesn’t stop there.  By the 7th the A’s lead 15-4,  but Bottomley rallies the Cards for a 5-run inning which is a nice gesture but too little, too late and the A’s glide to the regional title with the 16-9 win–although the injury to McGwire is going to be costly for them in their superregional matchups.