REGIONAL #58:  After a few distractions, I was finally able to get to the next regional in my endless single C&D elimination tournament of every team I own.  Mostly mediocrities and no pennant winners in this batch, although the 1958 White Sox were a 2nd place team that won the pennant the following year, and the 1981 Dodgers "half-won" a division in that weird strike-shortened season.  And both those teams won comfortably in the first round:  The 1981 Dodgers pummeled the 1990 Phillies 11-5, with DH Rick Monday blasting 2 homers after the Dodgers had fallen behind 4-0.  Meanwhile, the 1958 White Sox and Dick Donovan beat the 1934 Browns 6-2, even though 38 year old manager Rogers Hornsby stuck himself in the lineup at DH.  The Go-Go Sox did it in their classic fashion with speed and defense, never scoring more than one run in an inning.   In the other games, the 1983 Twins relied on homers from Gaetti and Brunansky to beat the 1950 Cubs, while the 2010 Mets survived injuries to Jason Bay and starter Johan Santana to top the 1998 Brewers in a comeback 5-4 win.  All of the Mets offense was provided by 2 homers from David Wright; Francisco Rodriquez gave Mets fans a scare by allowing two hits to open the bottom of the 9th but then struck out the side to earn the save.

In the first semifinal, the 1981 Dodgers rolled on with a 5-2 win over the 1983 Twins led by homers from Garvey and Scioscia.  Burt Hooton had his knuckle-curve working, and Twins SS Ron Washington contributed two errors and a GBX hit to the Dodgers offense, establishing himself as a triple threat who couldn't field, hit, or manage.

Semifinal game 2 goes to the 2010 Mets with a tight 2-1 duel over the 1958 Sox.  Billy Pierce and Barry Latman combine to hold the Mets to 4 hits, but two of them were back to back homers by Reyes and Wright. In the 7th, RA Dickey lost control of his knuckler and loaded the bases with no outs, but Rodriguez came in early and retired the side with no damage.  The Sox efforts at small ball didn't work this time, with rallies killed by a failed squeeze play and an Aparicio caught stealing.   The Mets move on to face the Dodgers in the finals, but a depleted Rodriguez will have to sit this next one out.

And the Regional #58 title goes to the 2010 Mets, who climb back from an early 2-0 deficit to best the 1981 Dodgers 4-3.  Dodger starter Jerry Reuss hit a rough patch in the 4th inning, while Mike Pelfrey did a solid job for the Mets before being lifted for Acosta in the 7th.  Acosta then notched the save despite allowing a solo HR to Garvey in the 8th.  David Wright gets the nod as the regional MVP with 3 HR and 7 RBI across the three games.  The 2010 Mets have a decent build for this single elimination tournament--three non-terrible starters, a couple of good relievers (with Rodriguez having a killer card), decent defense, and a lineup that has the potential generate runs from top to bottom.  A 79-83 team in real life, their apparent underachieving got GM Omar Minaya fired at the end of the season, but their success this regional suggests to me that the blame was more on manager Jerry Manuel.