REGIONAL #69:   The draw for Regional #69 didn't include any pennant winners, although we could look forward to appearances by Clemente, Killebrew, Carew, Beltran, and the Wizard of Oz, and Jim Edmonds, Bill Virdon, and Willie McGee can argue over who was the better CF.  The Twins and the Rangers both had two entries in the regional; the Mets have another chance to get lucky; the Angels will make a try for their first regional title; and the 1957 Pirates attempt to follow-up on the regional win by their '56 version.  Although I saw no clear favorite here, my bold prediction was an all-Twins final...a prediction which was only made before looking closely at those two teams.

First round action
 
The 99-win 2007 Mets had erratic luck in their 1st round matchup against the 62-win 1957 Pirates.  Mets starter Tom Glavine had a rough 3rd inning, but was lucky to escape with only 2 runs allowed as the Pirates left the bases loaded.  RBIs by Beltran and Alou tied things up 2-2 in the 4th, but the Pirates moved out to a 4-2 lead in the 6th, courtesy of a 3-base error by Moises Alou on a Clemente fly ball.  Alou atoned somewhat in the bottom of the 6th, driving in David Wright, who has been gold this entire tournament.  The Mets had another big chance in the 7th with runners on 2nd and 3rd with only one out, but Castillo hit the dreaded LOmax to end that rally.  Finally, in the bottom of the 9th, with Bob Friend needing just one out for the complete game win, Lo Duca doubles, Gomez pinch runs, and Easley pinch hits a single to send it to extra innings.  The Mets turn to Billy Wagner in the 10th, and when Mazeroski nails a 2-out single with Frank Thomas on 2nd it looks bleak but the luck of the Mets persists with a 13 roll on Thomas's 1-12 chances of going home.  However, Roy Face comes in and shackles the Mets, and in the 13th Thomas leaves no room for doubt with his 2-8 solid HR, and the Pirates claim the 5-4 upset.

I had picked the 1968 Twins to reach the finals based upon a vague memory of the Twins of that era (obviously thinking of 69-70) and a thought that 1968 pitching might be formidable in a single elimination format.  However, I didn't realize that they had an injured Killebrew, terrible fielding, and typical 1968 hitting--i.e., none, which is probably why they were an under .500 team.  The 85-win 1998 Angels had much more offense, and Chuck Finley was on the mound seeking redress for a 2-0 loss to Hideo Nomo in Regional #62.  And, Finley was sharp, tossing a complete game 4-hitter with the only run coming off a Uhlaender sac fly.  Unfortunately for Finley, once again, Dean Chance was sharper, throwing a 6-hit shutout and giving the Twins a classic 1968-style 1-0 victory.

Upon further review, the 81-81 1973 Twins unfortunately looked a lot like their 1968 counterparts--bad defense, little offense besides Carew, Killebrew of little help--but without the 1968 pitching to make up for these weaknesses.  However, they were fortunate to draw the 95-loss 2018 Rangers, a team primarily notable for their remarkable ability to strike out.  And that's how the game went; the Twins mounted a few threats but couldn't score off Mike Minor, while Bert Blyleven struck out 14 while allowing only 3 hits--in 10 innings.  Yes, the game was a scoreless tie after 9, and Texas summoned Leclerc out of the bullpen (with no hits on his card at all) to try to pull things out in extra innings.  Blyleven was relieved by Campbell in the 11th, and things remained scoreless until the 13th, when with one out Carew doubled with 1-11 Joe Lis on 1st.  Thinking long and hard about the decision to send him, I did, and Lis scored the go-ahead (and only) run with Campbell closing out the 13th to give the Twins their second 1-0 win in a row.

Although only five years separated the teams and some of the names remained the same, the 91-win 2013 Rangers bore little resemblance to the 2018 version that just got shut out by the Twins in the previous first round game.  The 2013 team had a nice combination of speed, power, and defense, but it was Yu Darvish that sunk their opponents, the 76-win 1988 Cardinals.  Holding the Cardinals to two hits (one of them a Brunansky solo HR), Darvish turned in an impressive complete game performance to secure a 3-1 win for the Rangers.  The '88 Cards thus suffer the same fate as their pennant-winning '87 team did in Regional #64--first round elimination.  Of note:  Lefty Joe Magrane started both of those losses for the Cards and pitched well in both, to no avail.

The survivors

The 1968 Twins are the type of team that can get more competitive in later rounds, as the depth of their 1968-fueled starting rotation (Chance, Perry, Kaat, Boswell) is difficult for other teams to match.  However, it didn't look that way in this semifinal as Jim Perry got knocked around by the 1957 Pirates for 4 runs in the top of the 4th on triples by Baker and Clemente.  Nonetheless, the Twins quickly retaliated in the bottom of the inning with 3 runs on homers by Killebrew and Reese, and Minnesota tied things up in the 5th when Cesar Tovar added a solo HR off Vern Law's card.  Things remained that way through the 9th, sending the game into extra innings--the third such game in this regional so far.   Both Perry and Law wanted to continue in the 10th; Perry did his job, but Law was rattled when, with one out, Clemente dropped a fly for a two-base error.  Law then grooved one to the next hitter, and Killebrew put it into the far reaches of Metropolitan Stadium to give the Twins the 6-4 walkoff win and a trip to the finals.

The underdog 1973 Twins proved they had plenty of bite against 2013 Rangers starter Derek Holland, chasing him in the 2nd after racing out to a 5-0 lead.  Two Rangers relievers with sub 2.00 ERAs, Nathan and Cotts, weren't able to lock down the Twins either, but it mattered little as Twins starter Ray Corbin held the Rangers to 5 hits (two of them solo HRs by Pierzynski and Nelson Cruz) and Minnesota coasts to an 8-2 win, setting up an all-Twins regional final that I foolishly (but apparently accurately) predicted only because I hadn't actually looked at the mediocrity of the two teams.

1973 Rod was even better than his younger self

The Twins were thus a lock to take their 3rd regional title, although it was uncertain whether 1968 or 1973 would be the standard-bearer.  The two teams shared leadoff (Carew) and #3 (Oliva) hitters, and both versions of both players ended up driving in runs, causing some confusion for the official scorer.  The game started off nip and tuck, with the 1973 Twins putting up a run in both the 1st and 2nd innings, but Allison and Killebrew responding with timely hits for the 1968 Twins to tie it in the 3rd.  A '68 Carew single put that squad up in the 4th, matched by a Lis homer in the bottom of the inning to tie it again.  In the 5th, '68 again reclaimed the lead with an Oliva HR, but in the bottom of the 5th the '73s rocked '68 starter Jim Kaat for five hits and five runs, and Kaat didn't make it 5 innings, yielding to Al Worthington who came in to an 8-4 deficit.  '73 starter Dick Woodson then stabilized, helped by four replacements to shore up a leaky defense, and a 2-run homer by Jim Holt added some insurance for the 10-4 win for the '73s, and the regional title.