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.