REGIONAL #73:   This regional boasts three Tigers teams from three different decades, a fairly recent Royals team trying to win its first regional for that franchise, a couple of undistinguished Pennsylvania representatives, but only one pennant winner:  the 1960 Yankees.  Boasting the M&M boys, the Yanks seem the odds-on favorite, but Yankees teams have horribly underperformed in this tournament, winning only one regional in 31 tries (the 1979 team).   The famous sibling for this Yankee team, the 1961 version, was eliminated in Regional #27 in the first round by the lowly 1971 Expos, by the score of 7-6.   So, although I might point to the '60 Yanks as a favorite, I'd easily bet the field of seven other teams against them.            

First round action: 

 The 1960 Yankees won 97 games in capturing the AL pennant, and their opponent was somewhat familiar in the 79-win 1963 Tigers, a team that finished 25 games behind a Yankee squad that featured many of the same players from 1960.  The Tigers didn't fare any better against these Yankees; Detroit starter Hank Aguirre staked the Yanks to a 3-0 before leaving the game with an injury in the 4th, and then three Tiger relievers combined to allow three multi-run homers by Maris, Mantle, and Cerv.  Meanwhile, Whitey Ford had a no-hitter going that was broken up with 2 out in the 8th, and he ended with a 2-hit shutout and an easy 10-0 Yankee win--meaning they've already proceeded further in this tournament than the '61 Yanks could manage.

Two slightly under-.500 teams facing off in the first round; the 79-win 2000 Tigers, like most teams that year, had lots of scoring threats but frightening pitching; the 75-win 1954 Phillies had much better pitching, including 23 game winner Robin Roberts, plus some decent offense that led me to believe they were better than their record suggested.  They were certainly better than the Tigers this day, with homers by Willie Jones and Stan Lopata, a couple of RBI doubles from Smokey Burgess, and Roberts in control on the mound.   Final score:  Phils win 8-2, with Roberts really make just one mistake, a 2-run homer to Bobby Higginson.  Strat error trivia:  Strat incorrectly listed Del Ennis's primary position in 1954 as RF but he played slightly more games in LF.  Just noticed this because there wasn't a plausible primary LF on the team when I tried to set the lineups.

Another set of slightly under-.500 teams, the 75-win 1992 Tigers and the 78-win 1999 Pirates, looked closely matched on paper; both teams with some offensive muscle but without much of a rotation.  The Pirates built a 6-0 lead with homers from Al Martin and Ed Sprague before Cecil Fielder got the first hit for the Tigers in the 5th, and from there starter Jason Schmidt just had to be adequate to earn the win for Pittsburgh.  Schmidt did manage to load the bases in the 9th with two walks and a Warren Morris error, but Scott Sauerbeck came in to retire Mickey Tettleton and save the 7-3 win for the Pirates.  Note:  The three Tigers team in this bracket all managed to get blown out in the first round...Motown or Woetown?

The 2001 Rockies had a heart of the order featuring three guys with OPS over 1.000, but also had a starting rotation loaded with landmines and could only win 73 games in that steroid-filled season.  Their opponents, the 2010 Royals, won even less--67 games--but did have one solid starting pitcher, Zack Greinke, which can be all it takes to survive the first round in this tournament.   However, Larry Walker and Jeff Cirillo got to Greinke with homers, and Colorado starter Denny Neagle allowed only 5 hits (three of them extra-base hits off his card) and the Rockies move on with a 5-3 win.  The Royals will have to wait once again for a regional win for this franchise.

The survivors:

A regional semi pitting 1960 Yankees and Art Ditmar against the 1954 Phillies and Curt Simmons proved to be a tight one.  The Yankees scored three in the 2nd inning, with a 2-run shot from Clete Boyer providing the big blow, but Simmons held the Yanks scoreless after that rough patch.  The Phils score two in the 4th with RBI singles from Burgess and Ennis, and in the 7th Ditmar gets into trouble with two consecutive walks, but Bill Stafford comes in to squelch the rally.  In the bottom of the 9th, the Yanks hand the ball to Arroyo and he retires the side in order to save the 3-2 win for New York and send them to the regional final.

A wild one in the other regional semifinal.  The 1999 Pirates jump out to a 4-0 lead in the top of the 1st off gopher-prone Mike Hampton, Jason Kendall providing a 3-run HR.  The 2001 Rockies manage to lose two of their Big Three, Walker and Hollandsworth, to injury early in the game but manage to put up a run in the 3rd; however, Hampton allows two more blasts to Kevin Young and Ed Sprague and the Pirates lead 6-1 going into the 8th.  A solo shot from Alex Ochoa, and a 2-run homer by the sole surviving member of the Rockies Big Three, Todd Helton, makes it 6-4, and the Pirates bring in Jason Christiansen to relieve starter Todd Ritchie.  The Pirates go down in order in the top of the 9th, and in the bottom of the frame with one out Ed Sprague makes the 3rd Pirate error of the game.  Christiansen then walks two consecutive batters, and Pittsburgh turns to Scott Sauerbeck to pitch to Todd Helton with the bases loaded.  Helton fans, and the Rockies final chance rests with injury replacement Brooks Kieschnick.  The roll is a 4-6: DOUBLE 1-4, flyB 5-20.  The split die:  a 2, 1-15 Jeff Cirillo is on first, and he beats the throw....ROCKIES WIN on an improbable bases loaded double by an injury substitute.

Big game with bat and glove

The 2001 Rockies thus went into the regional final without injured HOF RF Larry Walker (1.111 OPS) and DH Todd Hollandsworth (1.075 OPS), with their best reliever Mike Myers burnt after earning the win in their come-from-behind semifinal win, and having to start Shawn Chacon and his 5.06 ERA against the powerful (and healthy) 1960 Yankees.  But when Roger Maris hit a solo shot in the top of the 1st, the Rockies showed that they weren't going down easily, quickly matching the run with an RBI double from replacement RF Mark Little.  Solo blasts from Boyer and Skowron put the Yanks back on top, but the Rockies narrowed the gap to 3-2 when 2B Jose Ortiz doubled in a run on a missed HR 1-12 split on Yankee starter Ralph Terry's card.  When little Bobby Richardson opens the 8th with a HR off Chacon's card, Chacon is pulled (having allowed 6 hits, 4 of them solo HRs), but Jay Powell is no better and the Yanks stretch their lead to 6-2.  To save Arroyo with a 4-run lead, the Yanks give Ryne Duren the ball in the 9th, and although he walks two (of course), he manages to retire the side without incident, and the Yankees take the regional title--only their second in the tournament, and a rare win by a pennant winner.