REGIONAL #85:  This regional includes one of the most infamous pennant winner/World Series loser since the one that preceded it by exactly 100 years:  the trash can-banging 2019 Astros, eager to follow up on the 2004 team's win in the preceding regional.   Interestingly, they must face another infamous baseball figure in round one:  Mark McGwire, in the very year he broke Maris's home run record.  Like McGwire's '98 Cardinals, a number of other included teams were 4 to 6 years away from pennants, such as the '59 Indians, '83 Pirates, and the 2006 Diamondbacks, with the latter trying to win the first regional for that expansion franchise.  I'm guessing the Astros will breeze through this competition unless McGwire unloads on them; although the ELO rankings only go through 2015, the Astros 2019 season-end numbers would put them tied for 22nd best of all time, far and away the best ranking in this bracket with the 1959 Indians being the only other entry ranked in the top 1000 teams.

First round action

The 2019 Astros won 107 games and had a trashcan-enhanced lineup where the #9 hitter could have DH'ed for many of the teams in this tournament; the 1998 Cardinals only won 83 but had a steroid-enhanced lineup with McGwire hitting 70 homers and a low-AB wonder sitting on the bench with a SLG% even better than Mac's, itching to come in after the 5th inning.  Even with 20-game winner Justin Verlander and capable Todd Stottlemyre on the mound, this matchup promised lots of fireworks.  However, things stayed quiet until the bottom of the 3rd, when the Astros loaded the bases with nobody out, but they could only convert one run on a Yordan Alvarez sac fly.  The Cards responded in the 4th with three unearned runs courtesy of a Correa 2-base error, although a Reddick sac fly in the bottom of the frame narrowed it to 3-2 Cards.  However, in the 6th, McGwire led off the inning with a solo blast and Verlander began to unravel.  Two consecutive hits later and the Cards summoned their low-AB wunderkind, J.D. Drew, to move into the DH slot, and Drew hit a monumental blast that smacked a Minute Maid trash can located about 450 feet from home plate.  The Astros tried to counter with their own low-use wonder, reliever Joe Smith and his 1.80 ERA, but Smith couldn't stop the barrage, and after batting around and letting McGwire score his second run of the inning, the score stood at 9-2 after six.  The Cards added two more in the 7th on a Clayton double, but Bregman matched those with a 2-run HR in the bottom of the inning.  In the 9th, a tired Stottlemyre was determined to finish things out and preserve the bullpen with a big lead, and although he allowed a run on a Brantley double, that was it for the Astros as the Cards upset the regional favorite with the 11-5 blowout.

Assembling the lineups for the 70-win 1951 A's and the 81-win 1989 Expos, I found that the A's had better hitting than I thought they might have and that the Expos had less hitting than I thought.   The A's had the AL "triple crown", with Ferris Fain leading the league in batting average and Gus Zernial leading in both HR and RBI; meanwhile, the Expos had some of the names I was expecting but not the performance, such as Galarraga (.257) and Larry Walker (.170).  Regardless, it was the two starting pitchers, Dennis Martinez and Bobby Shantz, who had things in control.  Shantz was dominating, while Martinez was working himself into jams but managing to pitch out of them unscathed.  Neither team could score until the 7th, when Shantz walked Dave Martinez and then Tim Wallach blasted one into the nearly empty reaches of the Stade Olympique, and it was Montreal up 2-0.  The A's loaded the bases against Martinez in the 8th but couldn't score, and in the 9th they had runners on 1st and 3rd, go ahead run at the plate, and Fain on deck, but Martinez struck out Eddie Joost to preserve the shutout and the 2-0 Expo win.  Shantz allows only 3 hits in defeat, but that was one too many as the A's go back into storage, while the Expos will probably need far more hits in their semifinal matchup against the '98 Cards.

The 1959 Indians won 89 games to finish 2nd in the AL, and boasted a strong rotation and a solid lineup featuring Colavito and Minoso.  They faced the 84-win 1983 Pirates, who were no slouch as they finished 2nd in the NL East and featured four .300 hitters in their lineup, and as might be expected the game proved to be hard-fought.  Jim Morrison would light the Pirates' fire in the 1st with a 2-run HR, but Cleveland countered with a solo shot from 2b Jim Baxes in the 3rd and another from Woodie Held in the 5th that tied it up.  The Pirates lost .300 hitter Mike Easler to a tournament-ending injury in the bottom of the 5th, but they were able to replace him with Lee Lacy, another .300 hitter who was a better fielder and a AA stealer to boot.  In the top of the 7th, the Indians loaded the bases with one out and Larry McWilliams would turn the ball over to relief ace Kent Tekulve, who induced the double-play grounder from PH Billy Martin to end the threat.  Meanwhile, Cleveland's Jim Perry was hanging on, but in the bottom of the 9th Jason Thompson hit a 2-out squib single past Baxes, Lee Mazilli pinch ran and advanced to 2nd on a walk to Marvell Wynne, and poor old Johnny Ray smacked a deep single to score Mazilli and give the Pirates the 3-2 upset win.

The 1911 Senators only won 64 games; Walter Johnson won 25 of them, but he got little run support from a lineup that was the deadest of deadball era, with cleanup hitter Doc Gessler leading the team with 4 homers.  The 2006 Diamondbacks won 76, and in addition to considerably more offense than the Senators, their starter Brandon Webb sported a card that was surprisingly (to me) similar to Johnson's.  However, the Nats were far more effective in finding the hits on Webb's card, but had difficulty converting those hits into runs, managing one run on a Lelivelt single from 7 hits in the first 3 innings.  Things remained at 1-0 until the 7th, when .213-hitting injury replacement Ray Morgan smacked a hard single off Webb's card to score another, and in the 9th a Gessler sac fly made it 3-0.  And that was how it ended, with the Big Train recording the shutout and holding Arizona to 5 hits.  The Dbacks only had one inning, the 8th, where they managed more than one baserunner, and that rally was killed by a Davanon DP.  The Senators may wish to enjoy their celebration while they can, because their starting rotation after Johnson is a calamity waiting to happen.

The survivors:

The first semifinal pit the HR attack of the '98 Cards (223 team HRs) against the deep rotation of the '89 Expos--I could put up a good starter for Montreal choosing solely from Smiths (Bryn and Zane).  Bryn got the nod, and Ron Gant greeted him in the 2nd inning with a 2-run homer off Smith's card to put the Cards up quickly.  In the 4th, back-to-back doubles by Hubie Brooks and Nelson Santovenia tied it up; in the 6th Brian Jordan hit a 2-run shot to put the Cards back up, but it was matched in the bottom of the inning on a 2-run double from Tom Foley.  In the 8th, Lankford walked, stole second, and was singled home by Jordan, and the Expos turned to their relief ace Tim Burke to try to prevent more damage.  Cards starter Matt Morris was still going strong and retired the Expos in order in the bottom of the 8th, and then in the 9th Burke was mangled, allowing 5 runs on 4 hits, largely from the bottom of the order for St. Louis.   Morris set the Expos down in order in the 9th, and for the second game in a row the Cards ride a big inning to double digit runs in the 10-4 victory, Morris ending with a complete game 6-hitter.

The 1983 Pirates and the 1911 Senators each faced their challenges for this semifinal matchup:  Pittsburgh had Easler injured and Tekulve burnt, while Washington faced the dire prospects of finding a starting pitcher after Walter Johnson.  Their choice, Dixie Walker (father of the Dodgers outfielder of the same name), looked to have a long day ahead of him when Johnny Ray walked, Lee Lacy singled Ray to 3rd and stole second, and Bill Madlock singled them both home for a 2-0 lead before Walker recorded an out.  However, the Senators struck back in the bottom of the 1st, tying the game on RBI singles from Doc Gessler and Tilly Walker, and then in both the 3rd and 4th Washington pounded Pirates starter Jose Deleon for four runs in each inning, with reliever Manny Sarmiento having limited success in stopping the bleeding.  Washington adds another run in the 5th, but then the Pirates erupt for 5 runs in the 6th on doubles by Berra, Wynne, and Morrison.  A leadoff double in the 8th and the Senators are desperately searching their bullpen for any help; there is nothing there but certain disaster, so Walker had to ride it out with all possible defensive replacements in attempting to lend a glove.  The strategy succeeds, and the Senators head to the finals with the 11-7 victory--an unusual success for any deadball era squad, as they are the first 1911 squad to reach the finals in 7 previous tries.

McGwire who?

 The regional finals had the unlikely pairing of an iconic steroid-era team (1998 Cards) and an obscure, punchless deadball-era squad (1911 Senators).  The Cards had scored in double digits in the first two rounds, a feat only accomplished twice before in this tournament ('76 Reds, not surprisingly, and the '94 Tigers), and with the Senators down to the #3 starter in their one-man rotation, 17-loss Long Tom Hughes, fans were wondering if the Cards might score in triple digits for the final.  However, the Senators struck in the bottom of the first, loading the bases on a single and two walks, and Cards starter Kent Bottenfield then walked in one run and another scored on a fielders choice.   In the top of the 3rd, Lankford squibbed a two-out single, bringing up McGwire, who took Long Tom long to tie the game at 2-2.  However, the Senators show the pluck that got them this far, as an RBI double by Kid Elberfeld puts Washington back up 3-2 in the bottom of the inning.  The Cards tie it immediately when Ron Gant leads off the 4th with a solo shot, but Washington again reclaims the lead in the 5th when Lelivelt triples, Gessler singles him home and steals second, then scores on an Elberfeld single to make it 5-3.  In the top of the 7th, McGwire comes up with runners on 1st and 3rd and one out, but Hughes fans him, although Brian Jordan follows with a single that narrows the score to 5-4.  Once again, Washington strikes back, scoring one on a Wid Conroy double, and it's 6-4 Nats.  Finally, the Cards are down to their last chance in the 9th, and after 2 quick outs Lankford is at the plate with McGwire on deck as the tying run.  Lankford lofts a deep fly to right, but the Nats have a defensive replacement out there who makes the stellar play, and the Senators--the worst team in the regional by the ELO rankings--are the unlikely champs.  RF Doc Gessler is the regional MVP, consistently providing timely hits and driving in key runs in all three games. He was the leading HR hitter for the Senators in 1911, although surprisingly he retired after the season. He was an actual physician, and graduated from the Johns Hopkins Medical School.

Interesting card of Regional #85:  So your teammate hits 70 homers, breaks Roger Maris's record, and has a SLG% of .752--what are you going to do to top that?  Well, McGwire, hold J.D.'s nutritional supplements; Mac's imposing 1.222 OPS was appreciably bested by Drew's 1.436.  By tournament rules, Drew was ineligible to start and all starters must play at least 5 complete innings, so he would come in for the 6th.  Although this strategy turned out well in the first round, Drew fanned twice in the regional final that saw the Senators--a team whose top HR hitter hit FOUR homers, one fewer than Drew hit in 36 AB!--beat the powerful Cards in an epic upset.

 IN MEMORIAM: As the ordeal known as the year 2020 draws to a close, I wish to offer tribute to this formidable squad of players, who have all made appearances in my tournament and have provided me with countless baseball memories. It is some solace that their abilities live on in the form of cardstock and dice rolls.

 

 REGIONAL #84:  The draw for this regional is the kind of bracket I love--a real hodgepodge of teams from very different eras, boasting some of the greatest names in baseball history.  What Strat fan could resist watching Honus Wagner, Hank Aaron, Mickey Mantle, Mike Schmidt, and Jeff Bagwell try to duke it out for regional MVP?  The '58 Braves were the only pennant winners in this bunch (their second pennant in a row), but the two Astros teams bracketed their 2005 pennant winner, the 1965 Yankees followed a string of 5 straight NY pennants, the 1911 Pirates were two years removed from their great 1909 NL winners, and the 1988 Phillies were in a low spot exactly halfway between pennants in 1983 and 1993.  Although I think there is a good chance of an all-Astros final, I'm guessing that the '58 Braves will beat Astros teams twice in a row to win the regional.  The ELO rankings agree with that selection, but predict that the 1911 Pirates will reach the finals, which I think would require a big tournament from Wagner.

First round action

The 1965 Yankees won 77 games after five straight AL pennants and were the onset of a decline that wouldn't see them contend again for more than a decade; most of the famous names were there, but as evidenced by their injury rolls, their bodies were breaking down.  Their opponents, the 1911 Pirates, actually had twice as many Hall of Famers as the Yanks (Honus Wagner, joined by Max Carey, Fred Clarke, and Bill McKechnie, the latter mainly as a manager but playing 2b here) and won 85 games to finish in 3rd place in the NL.   Both teams sent 20-game winners to the mound, Mel Stottlemyre vs. Babe Adams, and Forbes Field was packed to the rafters to see this interesting matchup.  The Yanks struck first in the 3rd with an RBI double from Maris and a 2-run HR by Clete Boyer, and they added another run in the 6th with an RBI single from Elston Howard.   Stottlemyre was in fine form, but in the bottom of the 6th 38-year old Fred Clarke tripled, and a rattled Stottlemyre then grooved one to Chief Wilson, who put it into the stands for a 4-2 game.  And that was how it ended; Wagner was up twice as the potential game tying/winning run, but he couldn't reach base the entire game, and the Pirates head back into storage.

The 92-win 2004 Astros were one game away from the NL pennant and would capture the flag in the next season; the "Killer B's" of Bagwell, Biggio, Berkman and Beltran pollinated the offense while Oswalt and Clemens provided two dominating starters.  Their opponents, 104-loss 1949 Washington, was (as they say) first in war and peace, and last in the American League, as was typical, and I gave them zero chance against the powerful Astros.  So I wasn't surprised when the second batter of the game, Carlos Beltran, hit a solo shot to quickly put the Astros up 1-0.  But, I was surprised when the Senators responded in the 2nd with three squib hits off Oswalt and moved to a 2-1 lead.  That stood until the 5th inning, when the Astros batted around to score five, including a 3-run HR by Bagwell, and that was it for the Senators as Oswalt was in control for the remainder of the game.  The Astros move on with the 8-2 win, but in the process they managed to lose both Brad Ausmus and Morgan Ensberg to tournament-ending injuries.  In the process, I discovered that Houston had remarkably little bench depth, although a ton of relief pitching, and those injuries will pose a serious problem against an opponent more capable than these Senators.

Only two years after the team that won the previous first-round game, the 82-win 2006 Astros won 10 fewer games but were still dangerous; although Jeff Bagwell had retired and Beltran was gone, Lance Berkman had a monster year.  Although I had initially discounted their opponent, the 1934 Braves, they went 78-73 for a slightly better winning percentage than Houston, and Wally Berger's 34 HR was among the best in the NL that year.  However, it was the starting pitchers who dominated this game--Fred Frankhouse for the Braves, Roger Clemens for Houston.  Boston's Hal Lee hit a solo shot in the 1st for a quick lead, but Biggio matched with one of his own in the 2nd and it was 1-1 until the 6th, when Berkman misplayed a Marty McManus grounder to put the Braves up 2-1.  Berkman had a chance to atone in the 8th, with 2 out and one on, but Frankhouse whiffed him; the Astros only managed 5 hits against Frankhouse and the Braves eliminate Houston with the tight 2-1 victory.

The '58 Braves won 92 games and the NL with lots of offensive firepower from Aaron, Mathews, Adcock and Covington, and two 20-game winners in Spahn and Burdette.   They faced the '88 Phillies, who lost 96 games and finished last in the NL East, with a 38-year old Mike Schmidt in his last year as a full-time player.  The Braves thus looked like big favorites, and they went up 1-0 quickly when a Covington grounder scored Bruton in the top of the 1st.  However, the Phillies were not at all fooled by Warren Spahn, as they demonstrated a knack for finding Spahn's hits, including a Juan Samuel HR off Spahn' card in the 2nd that made it 2-1.  RBI singles from Covington and Crandall made it 3-2 in the top of the 4th, but in the bottom of the inning Philly DH Ron Jones doubled in two and it was 4-3, Phils.  An Eddie Mathews 2-run shot in the 7th gave the Braves the lead once again, and sent Kevin Gross to the showers, but a Mike Schmidt solo shot in the bottom of the inning tied it up and sent Spahn packing, with both starters recording identically bad pitching lines:  6.3 IP, 11 HA, 5 RA.  In the top of the 8th, a walk and a single off Philly reliever Greg Harris put runners on 1st and 3rd with one out and Schoendienst up; I brought in the infield to guard against the squeeze, and Schoendienst nails the gbA++ to put the Braves up 6-5.  Joey Jay and Humberto Robinson in relief prove more effective than Spahn, and the favored Braves escape with a hard-fought 6-5 win.

The survivors

The semifinal between the '65 Yankees and 2004 Astros featured a marquee pitching matchup of Whitey Ford vs. Roger Clemens, but it quickly became evident that this was not going to be a pitching duel when the Yanks rocked Clemens for 4 straight hits and 3 runs to lead off the top of the 1st.  In the bottom of the 1st, Berkman sent a solo shot into the Crawford boxes to narrow the gap, and then Clemens reeled off four straight perfect innings, while Mike Lamb (3b-5, playing for injured Morgan Ensberg) hit a three-run blast in the 3rd and the Astros had the 4-3 lead.  Doubles by Lamb and Kent in the 5th made it 6-3, and Ford was yanked in favor of Steve Hamilton, who the Astros never could touch.  Meanwhile, Mantle nailed a 2-run HR in the 6th and the Houston lead was down to 1, but Clemens finished things out with 3 hitless innings and the Astros head to the finals with a 6-5 win.  However, Houston loses SS-1 Adam Everett to a tournament-ending injury, joining Ensberg and Ausmus in that category and leaving the team wondering if they are karmically paying for the sins of a later Astros squad.

For this matchup, it was a certainty that the Braves were going to make the regional finals, but it remained to be seen if it would be the 1958 powerhouse or the 1934 upstarts.  A Joe Adcock HR put the '58s up 2-0 in the 2nd, but in the 4th Adcock misplays a Shanty Hogan flyball into a triple and the score is knotted at 2-2.  In the 6th, '34 starter Ed Brandt walks two in a row, then allows a long single to Schoendienst and the '58s regain a 3-2 lead.  The '34s lead off the 7th with a single, and the '58s eye Joey Jay in the bullpen, but decide to give 20-game winner Lew Burdette another batter to work himself out of the inning.  A tough grounder to Johnny Logan is converted into a DP, and that would be it for the '34s.  With two out in the 9th, the '34s big weapon Wally Berger was the last hope, but a suspect pitch from Burdette fooled Berger and the popout ended the 3-2 game and send the '58 Braves into the finals, even though they could only muster 6 hits against Brandt.

He didn't get injured!

The finals for Regional #84 matching the '58 Braves against the 2004 Astros were a rarity--a matchup that I accurately predicted, involving what I figured to be the two best teams in the regional.  As a pennant winner, the '58 Braves would be favored regardless, but the fact that the Astros had lost one-third of their starting lineup to injury and that they had almost no starting pitching beyond their already used "big 2" of Oswalt and Clemens compounded their challenge.  However, as he had in the semifinals, Lance Berkman hit a solo HR in the 1st inning to put the Astros up quickly, and in the 2nd .210 hitting injury replacement catcher Raul Chavez doubled home injury replacement Vizcaino to make it 2-0.  A 2-run shot by Biggio in the 7th chased Milwaukee starter Carl Willey, and the Astros were getting the champagne ready, but then Jeff Bagwell went down to injury and the Astros were down to the dregs on the bench to try to finish out the game.  An Eddie Mathews triple in the bottom of the 7th narrowed it to 4-2 and Astros starter Pete Munro gave way to closer Brad Lidge.  Hank Aaron hit a solo shot in the 8th to make it 4-3 and, true to form, Lidge was making Astros fans mighty nervous, but Lidge retired the Braves in order in the 9th and the Astros claimed the regional with the 4-3 upset win.   I am fairly confident that this is the first time in this tournament that a team had won a regional with four members of its starting lineup lost to injury.

Interesting card of Regional #84:  When you need that strikeout in the late innings with the tying run on 3rd, this card is a pretty good option to select.  In 2004, Lidge truly was "lights out"; in the 7-game 2004 NLCS that Houston lost to the Cardinals, Lidge pitched in 4 games with 1 win and 2 saves, an 0.00 ERA with a 0.375 WHIP, and 14 K's in 8 innings pitched.  That all changed the next year in Game 5 of the NLCS rematch against the Cardinals--and I was there, deep in the right-center grandstands.  Thus, I got to witness Lidge entering the game to try to record the save in the 9th and send the Astros to the Series for the first time in their history.  Lidge struck out the first two batters, then allowed a single and a walk to bring up Albert Pujols.  Pujols, of course, then hit a shot over everything in LF that I still don't think has come down; the blow shattered Lidge's confidence and he was never the same after it.

 REGIONAL #83: No pennant winners in the draw for this regional, although the 2013 Giants were in between NL pennants in 2012 and 2014 and it seemed like they should be contenders.  I vaguely remember the early 70s Twins as being pretty good, and on the basis of that memory I had picked the '73 Twins to do well in Regional #69, but when I actually assembled their lineup it was unimpressive--yet they went on to win that regional, so maybe the '72 version of the team in this bracket might also do well.  The White Sox, Indians, and Mets teams in this regional were all climbing towards pennants in a few years, while the Astros were declining from one, and the A's of the 60s were mainly operating as a Yankees farm team.  My sentimental favorite was clearly the White Sox, although they drew a tough 1st round draw against the Giants, who I thought would win the regional.  The ELO rankings appraise this as a motley collection of teams and favored my White Sox by a comfortable margin, with only the Sox and the 2007 Twins (whom I have absolutely no memory of) rated among the top 1000 teams of all time.

First round action

The 1957 White Sox won 90 games and were the runner-up in the AL, while the 2013 Giants only won 76 games despite featuring many of the same players as their 2012 and 2014 pennant-winners, as well as the 2015 team that reached the finals of regional #81.  The matchup of Madison Bumgarner (9th in the Cy Young voting) and Billy Pierce (11th in the MVP voting) suggested a tight pitching duel, but both teams immediately scored a run in the 1st:  a Hunter Pence solo HR off Pierce's HR 1-8/DO split (located at a 5-5 roll), and a Minoso single after Pablo Sandoval booted an Aparicio grounder--Pablo's first of three errors in the game.   In the 4th, Bubba Phillips hit a HR off Bumgarner's own HR 1-8 split, and the Sox led 3-1, but Brandon Belt tied it up in the 6th with a 2-run shot, again off Pierce's 1-8 split.  Then, in the 8th, Pierce issued 3 walks to load the bases against Buster Posey, and....yep, a grand slam off Pierce's 1-8 split.  After retrieving my split die following an epic toss into the next room, I brought in Gerry Staley but he was not much of an improvement, populating the bases and allowing a 2-run single to Blanco.  In the 9th, Pence hit his second HR of the game, finally off his own card, and Bumgarner retires the side in the 9th, striking out Nellie Fox (13 SO in 619 AB, no less) to add injury to the insulting 11-3 Giants win.

The 77-win 1972 Twins and the 79-win 2007 Twins, in addition to team name and mediocrity, had something else in common:  each team only had one .300 hitter, who played 2nd base and led off.  Other than that, the teams were fairly different, with the 1972 team having an excellent, deep starting rotation but limited punch (a down year for Killebrew), while the 2007 team had more offensive weapons but only one good starting pitcher:  Johan Santana.  Santana and his opponent, Jim Kaat, were both in fine form in the early game and there was no scoring until the 5th, when Jason Bartlett got on with a fielder's choice, stolen second on weak-armed Glenn Borgmann, and was singled home by Torii Hunter, although the Twins squandered the opportunity to score more when Joe Mauer popped out to end the inning with the bases loaded.   Mauer atoned in the 8th with a timely triple (not bad for a catcher), and the 2007 team entered the 9th with a more comfortable 3-0 lead.  That pad allowed them to leave Santana in despite his frightening HRs allowed at 5-9 solid and 5-8 split (a split that was missed by Rod Carew) and preserve Joe Nathan for later rounds.  Santana retired the 1972s in order in the 9th, preserving the 3-0 shutout on a 3-hitter.  The 2007s did suffer a tournament-ending injury to Jason Tyner, a part-time LF, but that does not figure to be a significant loss.

The 74-win 2009 Astros still had a few pieces left from their 2005 pennant winners, but not many; the 71-win 1996 Mets had some steroid-era juice in their lineup, good up the middle defense, but a lackluster starting rotation that involved praying that they would last long enough to put in closer John Franco.  The Astros tapped veteran Roy Oswalt to start, but Todd Hundley smacked a 2-run HR in the 1st inning and another 2-run shot in the 3rd and Houston quickly had a problem.   The Astros finally mounted a threat against NY's Mark Clark in the 8th, when a Michael Bourn double made it 4-2 with nobody out, but the Mets summoned Franco and he retired the side without further damage.  The Mets then responded with three runs from back-to-back doubles by Ochoa and defensive replacement Brogna, and with that padding brought in Mlicki from the pen to preserve Franco for later rounds.  Mlicki walked the first batter he faced, but then retired three in a row and the Mets move on with a 7-2 victory.

The 76-win 1992 Indians and the 73-win '63 A's were the 6th and 7th 70-win mediocrities to play in this 8 team regional, and the pitching matchup of staff aces Charles Nagy and Moe Drabowsky wasn't exactly one for the ages.   Nonetheless, it turned into a pitching duel, although a Carlos Baerga double gave the Indians a 1-0 lead in the first.   In the 3rd, Albert Belle contributed an RBI single, and Nagy was dominating the A's through eight.  In the bottom of the 9th, Nagy got two quick outs then allowed a single to KC catcher Doc Edwards, Doc's 3rd hit of the game, then a walk and an error by ss defensive replacement Felix Fermin loaded the bases.  With no stellar bullpen options, the Indians stuck with Nagy to face PH Manny Jimenez, who flied out to CF and the Indians move on with the 2-0 shutout, Nagy tossing a 5-hit gem.

The survivors

The semifinal matchup between the 2013 Giants and the 2007 Twins featured two mediocre teams that won in the first round by virtue of a strong #1 starter; another feature they had in common was that the quality dropoff to their #2 starters was massive.  The Twins' starter, Carlos Silva, lived up to his dubious reputation, spotting the Giants to a 6-0 lead before the Twins got their first hit in the 3rd--Hunter Pence providing a 2-run homer.  The Twins turned it over to their bullpen in the 4th, but it was far too late, as SF's Matt Cain had a shutout going until 2 out in the 9th, when Lew Ford found Cain's solid 5-9 HR.   But that was it for the Twins, and the Giants move easily into the finals with an 8-1 win.  However, their leadoff hitter, Angel Pagan, will miss the finals after incurring an injury in the 6th inning.

The 1996 Mets and 1992 Indians comprised another semifinal matchup of mediocrities with many parallels; both lineups had a cf-2 leading off who was a AA stealer, both teams had few good options in their rotation for a #2 starter, but both featured some strong relievers if the starters could survive their requisite five innings.  The Mets quickly took advantage of Indians starter Jose Mesa, jumping to a 6-0 lead with homers from Vizcaino and Gilkey off Mesa's card, but the Indians narrowed the gap in the bottom of the 4th with 3 runs, two from a HR by DH Glenallen Hill whose 2001 card I had maligned in Regional #81.  Mesa took heart and retired the Mets in order in the 5th, but when he allowed a single to start the 6th he was quickly yanked for Derek Lilliquist and his 1.75 ERA.   Lilliquist slowed but could not stop the bleeding, and the Indians would get no more runs against Pete Harnisch, who ended up with a 7-hitter and the CG win in the 8-3 Mets victory.

Blasting backstop

Although the regional final between the 2013 Giants and the 1996 Mets featured two sub-.500 teams, both had run through the first two rounds of the tournament easily, outscoring their opponents 19-4 and 15-5, respectively.  Down to their #3 starters, the Giants' Tim Lincecum might have had the edge against the Mets' Jason Isringhausen, but the Giants were without their starting DH due to injury.  The Mets got to Lincecum quickly when Jeff Kent hit a 3-run HR in the bottom of the 1st; the Giants scored in the 3rd on a Pence double but a solo shot by Todd Hundley in the bottom of the inning made it 4-1.  In the 5th, the Giants lost Andres Torres to injury, but they mounted 2-out rallies in the 5th and 6th to narrow the gap to 4-3, and the Mets turned early to their closer John Franco as Isringhausen had allowed 10 hits in only 5.3 innings.  The Mets blasted back with 3 runs of their own in the bottom of the 6th, rocking Lincecum and reliever Casilla for 5 hits, one a homer by the unlikely Jose Vizcaino.  The Giants struck back against Franco with another 2-out rally in the 7th, scoring three with a Marco Scutaro double being the key blow, and once again its a 1-run game at 7-6.  However, in the bottom of the 7th Hundley hits his second solo shot of the game, again responding to a Giants rally, and Franco holds on as the Mets capture the regional with a hard-fought 8-6 win.  Hundley's four homers in 3 games captures regional MVP honors, leading the Mets to their 5th regional win (along with 1975, 1993, 2010, and 2019).

Interesting card of Regional #83:   When the 2013 Giants blew out the 1957 White Sox--my personal favorite--in the first round by mauling Billy Pierce's card, I had the nearly irresistible temptation to replay the game and put this guy on the mound as the Giants' starter.  The Giants actually had quite a deep bullpen with several capable relief arms, but the appropriately named Kickham was not one of them.  Remarkably, his 2014 season for the Giants was even worse, as his ERA more than doubled from 10.16 to 22.50 (WHIP of 4.50), but Strat mercifully did not give him a card based upon his two dreadful innings that year.  Afterwards he bounced around the minors, but he resurfaced to pitch for the Red Sox in 2020, having a career year with a 7.71 ERA and recording his first (and only) MLB win.

REGIONAL #82:  The bracket for this regional featured a rather undistinguished collection of squads, none of which were pennant winners or even within five years of being one.  The regional did include Rogers Hornsby and Mike Piazza in their prime, and the 1982 Rangers would try to duplicate the amazing run of the 1980 Rangers team, who won Regional #6 and defeated three all-time great teams in a row (1921 Yanks, 1934 Cards, 1909 Tigers) before finally losing in the finals of Sectional A, a grouping that covered 64 teams.  The 2016 Rays represented a chance for the first regional title for that franchise, but I guessed that Piazza would carry the Dodgers for the win.  The ELO rankings (shown parenthetically) agreed, with the Dodgers being the best ranked team here by a considerable margin, although the Rays were an x-factor as those composite rankings only included teams through 2015 and so theirs had to be estimated from their season-ending ELO score.   

First round action

The 2016 Rays lost 94 games to finish last in the AL East, 21 games behind the 4th place team; the 1991 Tigers won 84 games and finished 2nd in a larger version of that division, boasting a lineup with free swingers like Cecil Fielder, Pete Incaviglia, and Rob Deer, and led the AL in batter strikeouts by more than 100 K's over the runner-up.  With bruisers like that in the lineup, each swing was going to be feast or famine, and famine prevailed as the Tigers could only muster 3 hits against Rays starter Jake Odorizzi--one a Rob Deer solo shot.  In the meantime, Detroit starter Frank Tanana allowed 2 unearned runs in the 1st and 2 more unearned runs in the 3rd--in both cases resulting from error HE made--and although Mike Henneman came out of the pen to do a better job of fielding, the Rays kept rolling with a HR from Longoria and 3 RBI from Cory Dickerson to secure an easy 7-2 upset win.

Setting the lineup for the 86-win 1974 Cardinals, I very much wanted to start Bob Gibson to watch him pitch to the 1920 Cards' Rogers Hornsby, but the 38-year old Gibby was no longer the best starter on the team, and I had to start swingman Bob Forsch to give them the best chance of winning against the 75-win 1920 team and 20-game winner Bill Doak.  The two teams matched a pair of runs in the 3rd, with hits from Reggie Smith and Torre balanced by those from Fournier and 1920's own Smith, Jack.  From there, both Forsch and Doak were masterful; the 20's threatened in the 7th when a 2-base error by Bake McBride (cf-2) put men on 2nd and 3rd and Hornsby up, but Forsch set the Rajah down quietly.  In the bottom of the 8th, the '20s managed to take the lead on a Clemons sac fly, but a hit by the following batter resulted in Doc Lavan (1-15) cut down at the plate to end the inning.  Down 3-2 in the top of the 9th, the '74s were down to their last out when Sizemore walked; Jim Dwyer pinch hit for punchless SS Mike Tyson and singled, bringing Lou Brock (AAA stealer that year) to the plate.  Brock rolls a 4-5 on Doak:  HR 1-4/flyB, and the split roll is a 5.  The 1920s win 3-2; Hornsby is quiet with one single, but Doak's 6-hitter was the key.

The 88-win 1997 Dodgers were runnerup in the NL West, but with a monster year from Piazza and a strong rotation they looked like the class of this division.  I was surprised to see that the ELO rankings had their opponent, the 1953 Senators, as the 3rd best team in this regional; the Nats finished at exactly .500 but had a Pythagorean record of 84-68, and they had 22-game winner Bob Porterfield going as their #1 starter.  The Dodgers moved out to a lead in the 4th on a 2-run HR by Raul Mondesi, while LA starter Chan Ho Park was cruising with a no-hitter after 6 innings.  In the 7th, with two out Clyde Vollmer woke up the fans in Griffith Stadium with a solo HR to make it 2-1, and the Dodgers moved immediately to their sturdy bullpen as Park's longball propensity was worrisome in a tight game.  In the top of the 9th defensive replacement Darren Lewis hit a 2-run HR for the Dodgers to provide some padding, and in the bottom of the 9th LA brought in reliever Darren Dreifort with one out to close things out.  Dreifort immediately committed an error and then walked the next batter to face Vollmer, representing the tying run.  However, Vollmer hits into the double play and the Dodgers move on with a 4-1 victory; the Senators end the game with only three hits.

According to the ELO ranks, the matchup between the 54-100 1954 Orioles and the 98-loss '82 Rangers involved the two worst teams of the regional.  The O's, who had just moved to Baltimore after years of ineptitude in St. Louis, were tagged in the ELO ranks as one of the 100 worst teams of all time.   It wasn't hard to see how they might qualify for that distinction, as nobody on the team managed to hit double-digits in home runs, and one of their better starters, Bob Turley, managed to walk more batters (181) than he allowed hits (176).  An RBI single by Jim Sundberg put the Rangers up 1-0 in the 1st, but timely hits from Gil Coan and Chuck Diering off Texas knuckleballer Charlie Hough put the Orioles up 2-1, and going in to the bottom of the 8th inning O's manager Jimmy Dykes turned to his bench coach and asked "who do we have for defensive replacements" and got the response:  "I don't know, we've never been ahead before."  They did find one for RF, but that didn't stop the Rangers from hitting 2 triples that inning, one by Sundberg and the other by Johnny Grubb (hero of Regional #65), and the Rangers take the 3-2 lead.   Worried about a knuckler that doesn't, the Rangers summon Dave Schmidt to close out the game and he sets the O's down in the 9th to secure the win for the Rangers.

The survivors

The main offensive weapons of the semifinal between the 1920 Cardinals and 2016 Rays were Rogers Hornsby and Evan Longoria, respectively, and when those guys are held in check it promises to be a low-scoring game.  And so, after 9 innings, the teams were tied 2-2 as starters Jesse Haines and Matt Moore had both pitched well.  As might be expected, the Rays had the far deeper bullpen and they felt good about heading into extra innings, but Jakie May came out of the Cards pen to relieve Haines for the 11th and he was also effective, while Rays Colome and Cedeno kept the Cards off the basepaths.  Finally, in the top of the 14th Tampa DH Cory Dickerson nailed his solid 2-6 HR, the Cards had no answer against Cedeno, and the Rays move to the finals with a 3-2 win.  This is the first trip to a regional final for the Tampa franchise, but being a 94-loss team and with their best relievers burned in the 14 inning marathon, capturing the regional is a tall order.

The underdog 1982 Rangers tapped Frank Tanana to face Ismael Valdez and the 1997 Dodgers, and the Rangers hoped that Tanana would do better than he did for the 1991 Tigers in the first round of this regional when he was at the other end of his career.  Unfortunately, he didn't; the Dodgers rocked him for 11 hits in 4.3 innings, including a Mondesi 3-run HR and a solo shot from Piazza, and the Dodgers would then coast to an easy 6-2 win over the Rangers.  Valdez tossed a CG 4-hitter, with rookie Dave Hostetler's HR being his only real mistake, and the Dodgers head to the regional final as favorites with a fully rested bullpen and a healthy lineup.

The difference maker

Although the 2016 Rays were clear underdogs against the '97 Dodgers in the regional finals, both teams had already demonstrated their ability to win, and so it was not surprising that the game was tightly contested.  Somewhat more of a surprise was that it turned out to be an outstanding pitching duel, given that both teams had to send out their #3 starter.  The Rays managed to get a few hits from batters leading off innings against Ramon Martinez, but double plays and an unexpectedly good throw from Piazza on a SB attempt kept the Rays from capitalizing.  For his part, the Rays' Chris Archer threw four perfect innings, but in the 5th Greg Gagne managed to find Archer's solid HR at 6-5 to put LA up 1-0, but that was all the offense the Dodgers could muster.  The game then hinged upon two manager moves; first, I pinch hit Tim Beckham for .237 hitting Rays catcher Bobby Wilson in the top of the 8th with 2 out and a runner on first.  Roll:  2-9, a whiff on Beckham, a HR 1-15/flyB on Wilson.  Then, fearing Martinez's possibility of allowing the longball, I brought in Darren Dreifort for the Dodgers, with no HR chances on his card.  First batter of the inning roll:  5-9, whiff on Dreifort, HR 1-11/DO on Martinez.  Dreifort then retires the Rays without incident, and the Dodgers win the game and the regional despite managing only 3 hits against Archer.

Interesting card of Regional #82:  Although I'd go with Josh Gibson if we include special sets, in terms of plain old stock MLB Strat teams this Mike Piazza card merits consideration among the best purely offensive cards ever for a full-time catcher.  Remarkably, Piazza's season wasn't good enough to win the MVP award as Larry Walker had an even more monstrous year, and perhaps Piazza's limited defensive skills as a backstop counted against him.  Also worthy of note is that the Dodgers won this regional without much help from Piazza, making you wonder just how far this team might get if he gets hot.