REGIONAL #59:    This regional included no pennant winners, but three teams that won at least 90 games, making it hard to identify a clear favorite.  As it turned out, none of those teams had what it took to win.

The first round 1 game takes 13 innings to resolve, with the 2003 Rockies pulling a mild upset over the 1982 Tigers, 2-1. Dan Petry gets injured in the 4th, but a host of Tiger relievers and Colorado starter Shawn Chacon cruise through regulation. In the top of the 13th, Lance Parrish misses a HR 1-19 and gets stranded at second; in the bottom of the 13th, Todd Helton gets a HR 1-19 off Elias Sosa's card, but he converts it for the walk off HR win.  And in a bigger upset, a 60 win 1982 Reds team beats a 90 win 1980 Expos squad in another pitchers' duel, 3-1, with Mario Soto outpitching Captain America (in Canada, no less) Steve Rogers. The Expos also got hurt by the split dice, with Andre Dawson (1-17) nailed at the plate and Ron Leflore (yes, a AAA) getting thrown out by Alex Trevino attempting to steal second. Yes, an aging Johnny Bench is on this Reds team but was playing 3rd; he may be a shadow of his former self, but he seems to have aged a bit better than teammate Tom Seaver.

The 90-win 1930 Cubs barely squeeze by the 100-loss 1964 Senators 2-1, as Claude Osteen holds the remarkable Cubs lineup (team BAVG of .309) to 5 hits. In setting up the Cubs team, I found myself wondering why they had 2 guys playing 1b with lots of ABs; research indicated that they traded for George Kelly late in the season. It's a good thing they did, as both Cubs runs resulted from a bases-loaded single by Kelly. The big bats--Hack Wilson, Gabby Hartnett, Kiki Cuyler--were silent all game, but the Cubs survive and advance.

The first round set of pitching duels is completed with the 90-win 2013 Reds topping the 1983 Rangers 1-0. Both teams can only scratch out 3 hits; Charlie Hough gets touched for an RBI single by Brandon Phillips in the 8th and that's the game. Mat Latos allows 2 baserunners with no outs in the 7th, but relief ace Aroldis Chapman comes in to shut down the Rangers and earn the win.

The regional semifinals featured a pair of hard fought games.  The 2003 Rockies scored 6 runs in the first inning to chase 1982 Reds starter Bob Shirley, but a series of Reds relievers cool down the Rockies while the Reds batters chip away at the lead for the entire game, with a 3 run 8th inning bringing the score to 7-6.  However, Rockies reliever Steve Reed retires the Reds in order to earn the save.

The second matchup involved a pitching duel between 2013 Reds Homer Bailey and 1930 Cubs and Charlie Root.   Bailey was the better pitcher this evening, tossing a two-hit shutout against the formidable Cubs lineup.   In the 9th, the Cubs managed to load the bases on two walks and an error by the normally sure-handed Zack Cozart, and with two outs the call went to pinch-hitter Rogers Hornsby.  However, Bailey struck out the Hall of Famer and the Reds head to the regional finals.

After a spate of close games, the regional finals is an old fashioned blowout as the 2003 Rockies thump the 2013 Reds 12-2.   The Reds pitching scoreless streak ends quickly as Jay Payton hits a grand slam in the 1st off Bronson Arroyo, and Greg Norton adds another grand slam in the 8th, while the Reds defense makes 5 errors, with two 2-base errors by Zack Cozart.  The Reds even trotted out supercard reliever Sean Marshall, but even he gave up 3 hits, 3 walks, and 3 runs in 4 innings.  Meanwhile, Rockies starter Jason Jennings took a shutout into the 9th, but fell apart with 2 out requiring Justin Speier to come in and record the final out.  Although this regional boasted better teams on cardstock, it was the 74-win Rockies who refused to lose.