REGIONAL #71:   The draw for Regional #71 didn't include any pennant winners, but it did have a nice collection of old school teams.  The 1951 Dodgers, of course, missed a pennant by a Bobby Thomson homer, and given that the '51 Giants won Regional #67, the Dodgers could get another shot at the Giants soon if both teams can keep winning.   The '88 Brewers try to win the first regional for that franchise, the '63 White Sox feature the pitching/defense combo of that era as well as Dave Nicholson's strikeout artistry, and the Phillies get two representatives separated by 50 years, a 1955 team a few years after a pennant, and a 2005 team a few years before one.   I guessed a White Sox/Dodgers final, but thought that the 2005 Phils might be able to outgun any of these older squads.

First round action:

The 77-win 1955 Phillies got off to a quick 3-0 start in the 1st inning against Pedro Ramos and the 73-win 1960 Senators, courtesy of a Jim Greengrass homer.  To keep with the color scheme, the leadoff hitter for Washington, Lenny Green, homered off Robin Roberts, and the game remained 3-1 until the 5th.  At that point, the Senators figured out Roberts in a big way, scoring four runs on four hits to move out to a 5-3 lead.  Things got worse for the Phillies in the top of the 6th, when key weapon Del Ennis went down to injury.  In the 8th, Lopata singled in Ashburn, bringing Ennis's replacement, Glen Gorbous, to the plate.  A roll of 2-4, and Gorbous hits into a double play to end the inning.  A quick glance at Ennis's card confirms my suspicion--2-4 is a solid home run that would have put the Phils up.  Instead, Ramos sets the Phils down in the 9th and the Senators move on with the 5-4 win.

The 94-win 1963 White Sox did finish in second place in the AL, but their defense wasn't as good as I remembered it (Pete Ward 3b-5, ouch!) and despite a few great starting pitchers, the offense was the "hitless wonders" approach typical of that era Sox teams.  However, their opponent, the 78-win 1948 Tigers, wasn't exactly a powerhouse either, and things got worse when one of the Tigers' main weapons, rf Pat Mullins, when down to injury in the first inning.  The Sox squeaked out a run in the 3rd on a walk, stolen base, and Floyd Robinson single, and the game stayed at 1-0 until the 7th.  At that point, Detroit starter Hal Newhouser suddenly forgot how to get anyone out, and the Sox put up 5 runs, 3 on a Dave Nicholson homer.  Gary Peters was money for the Sox, tossing a 6-hit shutout, and they move on with a 6-0 first round win.

The 1934 Pirates were a sub-.500 74-win team that included SEVEN Hall of Fame players on the roster, with nearly all of them having pretty good years.  Their opponents, the 87-win 1988 Brewers, had only two (Yount and Molitor) but was a more competitive team in their season.  In the end, it was two Hall of Forgotten Brewers, starter Ted Higuera and SS Dale Sveum, who made the difference, with Sveum going 3-4 with a homer and 3 RBI and Higuera spinning a 4-hit shutout to best HOFer Waite Hoyt and the Pirates by a 4-0 margin.  Worthy of note:  Pirates catcher Earl Grace (a 4, remember this is Basic) threw out AA stealer Paul Molitor THREE TIMES attempting to steal second, although other Brewers stole four bases on Grace.

The 97-win 1951 Dodgers looked like a team built for a single elimination tournament, with offense top to bottom, a strong rotation, and excellent defense.  However, the 88-win 2005 Phillies asserted themselves early, greeting Don Newcombe with a hit, three walks, and a Jackie Robinson error that put the Phils up 2-0 before the Dodgers even batted.  Gil Hodges blasted a solo HR in the 2nd, and the game stayed tight until the 5th, when a bases loaded double by Pat Burrell and an Abreu single put the Phils up 5-1.  And that's how it ended, as Brett Myers finished what he started, scattering 7 hits for the win.  The Phils also only garnered 7 hits (three by Chase Utley), but Newcombe also walked 7 and that was the nail in the coffin for the Dodgers; unlike the '51 Giants (in reality and in this tournament), the Dodgers did not come through in a game they had to win to stay alive.

The survivors:

The 1963 White Sox squeezed out a run in the 1st and 2nd against the Camilo Pascual and the 1960 Senators, but Washington had played from behind in the first round and was not showing signs of worry.   However, they looked a lot more worried in the 5th when Billy Gardner (2b-2) booted a grounder that loaded the bases for Chicago catcher Cam Carreon, who promptly put it into the grandstands of Old Comiskey and when the dust cleared, the Sox had a 7-0 lead.  The Senators, true to form, did fight back, scoring 2 in the 6th and 2 in the 9th, but it was 2 late, and Juan Pizarro and the Sox head to the regional finals with a 7-4 win.

With the 1988 Brewers in the semis, there was hope for the franchise to get its first regional win, and they got off to a quick start in the 1st when Joey Meyer doubled home Yount (missing a HR 1-15 in doing so) for a run.  In the 4th, Jeff Leonard hit a solo HR off 2005 Phillies starter Jon Lieber's card, but in the bottom of the inning Chase Utley answered with a 2-run shot (on HIS card) to tie the game.  The Phils score another pair in the 5th with timely hitting by Michaels and Rollins, but Rob Deer answers with a run-scoring double in the 6th (on another missed HR split), chasing Lieber in favor of Urbina.  Urbina ends the inning, but in the 7th loads the bases with a single and two walks, forcing the Phils to turn to their relief ace, Billy Wagner.  Wagner strikes out Yount with the bases loaded, and the Brewers never mount another threat, giving the Phillies a 4-3 win and a berth in the finals--but with Wagner forced to rest it out.

Rookie of the Year and the regional

The 1963 White Sox against the 2005 Phillies matched an old school pitching/defense style against a modern power-minded offense, and the result was apparently quickly when the Phils scored 3 runs in the bottom of the 1st off Sox starter John Buzhardt, led by homers from Ryan Howard and Pat Burrell.  Phils rookie phenom Howard homered again in the 3rd, putting the Phils up 5-0 and allowing their starter, Cory Lidle, to go on cruise control.  Lidle hamstrung the Sox until the 9th, when Nicholson hit a triple and McCraw drove him in with a double, but that was the last gasp.  Lidle ended with a 5-hitter and the Phillies capture an easy 5-1 win, and the franchise's second regional title in this tournament in 27 tries.  Worthy of note:  Phils starting CF Kenny Lofton was injured in the first round and was out for the entire regional, but another advantage of the modern era squads, aside from team power, seems to be team depth.