REGIONAL #7:   

The first game of the first round in this bracket featured the two pennant winners that were selected–the 1911 A’s, ranked as the 7th best team of all time according to ELO rankings, and the 1978 Yankees, who made the postseason courtesy of one Bucky Dent.  With Chief Bender facing off against Ron Guidry, you knew it was going to be a low scoring game, and it was, with the Yanks prevailing 2-1 when a Willie Randolph RBI single breaks the tie in the 7th inning.  In remaining action, the 1980 Astros put away the 1972 Braves 5-2 on homers by Art Howe and Cesar Cedeno.  Also, the 1977 Mariners, a first-year expansion squad that suffered through a 98 loss season, managed to defeat the 1974 Phillies 4-3, although it took extra innings to do so, with Craig Reynolds knocking in the go-ahead run off Gene Garber in the top of the 11th.  However, the next year’s version, the 1975 Phillies, managed to come back from a 4-0 deficit against the 1977 Astros to take an 8-4 victory, with a 5-run 7th inning capped by a 3-run homer from Jay Johnstone–whose 1974 version had been knocked out with an injury in the previous game.  

In second round action, the 1978 Yankees continued to have difficulty scoring runs, this time against Nolan Ryan, while the 1980 Astros weren’t fooled by Ed Figueroa and Houston cruises to a 6-1 upset win, with a 2-run double by Cedeno figuring in a 4-run 6th inning.   The second semifinal game was also an upset, with the expansion 1977 Mariners coming out on top over the 1975 Phillies 5-3, with RF Leroy Stanton’s 3-run homer against Tom Underwood in the 7th putting the game out of reach.   That pushes the 1977 Mariners unexpectedly into the finals against the 1980 Astros, but the clock strikes midnight and the Mariners turn back into pumpkins as Howe and Cedeno continue their offensive dominance to lead Houston to the 6-2 victory.  Joe Niekro, whose 1977 self absorbed a loss in the first round, gets the win to give the Astros, who won their first division title in 1980, their first regional title in this tournament.