REGIONAL #88:  This regional has some decent teams after a few brackets full of also-rans; it features a slew of Dodgers teams, including one from the year before their 2017 pennant winners and two steroid-era variants.  Also included was an Orioles team the year after their 1983 pennant (who were eliminated in the semifinals of Regional #56), an Indians team midway between their great 1948 and 1954 pennant winners, and a Tigers team featuring a 37-year old Ty Cobb.  My guess is that it will be a Dodgers vs. Dodgers final, with the 2016 team winning with a probably deeper rotation. The ELO rankings see this regional as far stronger than recent brackets, with 6 of the 8 teams in the best 1000 of all time--and those rankings pick the Indians over the Orioles in the finale.  

First round action:

After a run of regionals populated by mostly bad teams, it was nice to experience two really good teams facing off in the first round--the 86-win 1924 Tigers, 3rd place in the AL, against the 93-win 1951 Indians, runner-up to the Yankees.  The Tigers boasted a HOF outfield of Cobb, Manush and Heilmann and had five .300 hitters in the lineup and three more on the bench; the Indians boasted a HOF rotation of Feller, Wynn and Lemon, with Garcia winning 20 games and players like Doby, Avila, Rosen, and Luke Easter in their prime.  Tigers starter Rip Collins soon discovered the Indians potential, as after walking two batters in the 1st Al Rosen jacked a 3-run homer to put Cleveland up.   In the 2nd, the teams traded injuries--Larry Doby out for the game, Tigers DH Del Pratt out for the tournament.  The Indians add a run in the 4th on a Kennedy sac fly, and in the 6th the Tigers finally score on Early Wynn on a Topper Rigney fielder's choice.  And that was all the Tigers could muster against Wynn, who was tagged for 8 hits by the high-average Detroit lineup (one more than the Indians managed) but largely prevented them from being turned into runs.  The 4-1 win for the Indians is the first time in the past 5 regionals that the ELO bracket favorite survived the first round!

LA fans were excited to see a 1st round face off between two Dodgers teams: the 2016 Dodgers won 91 games and the NL West, only getting knocked out in the NLCS, while the 1999 Dodgers only won 77 games but boasted a steroid-era lineup where their #9 hitter still had a SLG% over .400.  The most anticipated aspect of the matchup, though, was the pitching showdown between Clayton Kershaw and Kevin Brown, two of the best of the Dodgers modern-day starters.  And that is exactly what it turned out to be, perhaps the best pitching duel in the history of this tournament, as both starters took 2-hit shutouts into the 9th inning.  Finally, with 2 outs in the top of the 9th, the 2016s finally decoded Brown, with 2 consecutive hits bringing up Yasmani Grandal, who slaps a hard single off Brown's card to give the 2016s a 1-0 lead.  In the bottom of the 9th, Mondesi leads off with a single (1-6 split) off Kershaw's card, but then Utley converts the GBX double-play and Kershaw fans Todd Hollandsworth to preserve the shutout and the 1-0 victory.  Unfortunately, since most of the LA fans had left by the 6th inning, they missed all the scoring.

The 2003 Dodgers won 85 games to finish 2nd in the NL West, and although the 1999 Dodgers had just lost the preceding matchup, there was only one player in common in the two starting lineups:  Adrian Beltre.  The 1989 Brewers went 81-81 with solid years from their aging HOF duo of Yount and Molitor but not too much else to brag about.  From the outset, it was apparent that this would be no pitching duel; in the top of the 1st Dodger DH David Ross put LA ahead with a 2-run HR, but in the bottom of the inning LA's Hideo Nomo retired the first two batters, and then was blasted for 5 runs courtesy of HRs by Greg Brock, Greg Vaughn, and Glenn Braggs.  The Dodgers evened it up 5-5 in the 3rd when Jeromy Burnitz lofted a 3-run shot into the far reaches of County Stadium.  Then, it DID turn into a pitching duel, as both Nomo and Chris Bosio settled down and allowed no further scoring through regulation and through the 10th, when both teams had to turn things over to the bullpen--an area where the Dodgers had the decided advantage.  Sure enough, in the 12th Brewers reliever Tony Fossas put runners on 1st and 3rd with one out, and Dan Plesac was summoned in hopes of the strikeout, but #9 LA hitter Cesar Izturis banged a single to score LoDuca.  In the bottom of the 12th, the Dodgers put in killer closer Eric Gagne, and the Brewers went down quietly to give LA the 6-5 win.  Bad luck/good luck department:  the Dodgers lost starting CF Dave Roberts to injury for the remainder of the tournament, although remarkably three OTHER Dodgers also had injury rolls but each remained in the game.

After winning the pennant in 1983, the '84 Orioles won 85 games which was only good for 5th place in the powerful AL East, with their once-mighty pitching staff in decline although Mike Boddicker still won 20 games.  Even so, it was easy to see why the ELO rankings had them as big favorites over a 77-77 '57 Phillies team whose lineup after leadoff hitter Richie Ashburn went downhill rapidly.  Still, it was Boddicker who provided the top of the Phillies order with offense in the 1st inning, with 2 walks and a single loading the bases and then walking in a run to make it 1-0 Phils. A couple of hits and the Phils load the bases on Boddicker again in the 5th, and again he walks in a run.  The Orioles finally get on the board when Ripken leads off the 6th with a solo shot, and so the score is 2-1 Phillies going into the 9th.  Ripken, again leading off the top of the inning, triples and becomes the tying run on 3rd.  Phils starter Jack Sanford, who has allowed only 4 hits, then walks three consecutive batters to return the favor and tie the game.  Sanford is yanked after recording no outs and Turk Farrell tries to prevent further damage, but a John Shelby sac fly puts the O's up 3-2.  In the bottom of the 9th, Boddicker allows a leadoff single to Chico Fernandez but Ashburn grounds into a double play, and Baltimore pulls out the come-from behind 3-2 win while mustering only four hits.

The survivors

The first semifinal matched my pick for the regional, the 2016 Dodgers, against the ELO rankings favorite, the 1951 Indians, who were at full strength with Larry Doby recovered from a first round injury.  The Indians had another 20-game winner, Mike Garcia, on the mound, while the Dodgers' Kenta Maeda may not have been another Kershaw but won 16 games himself.  A 1st inning solo HR by Dodgers DH Andrew Toles provided an early lead, and in the 4th Toles doubled in another, although Puig was cut down at the plate to limit the score to 2-0, LA.  In the meantime, Maeda was cruising and through 8 innings the Indians could only muster 4 hits and no runs against him.  However, with one out in the 9th Maeda issued a walk, and I decided it was time for closer Kenley Jansen with his 0.670 WHIP and no complete hits on his card.  Jansen records a strikeout, so with two out the Indians are down to their last batter, Al Rosen--who deposits it in the Chavez Ravine grandstands to tie the game.  The Dodgers can't answer against Garcia in the 9th, and it goes to extra innings where, in the 10th, an RBI double by Jim Hegan is followed by triples from Avila and Doby, and suddenly it's 5-2 Indians as a baffled Jansen looks on.  Garcia demands to pitch the bottom of the 10th, and although he allows two hits, he strands both baserunners and the Indians win and move to the finals with an epic come-from-behind effort.

The semifinal between the 2003 Dodgers and the 1984 Orioles matched two pretty fair pitchers, Kevin Brown against Storm Davis, but both ended up having their problems.  A David Ross single put the Dodgers up 1-0 in the 3rd, but in the 4th Brown watches Izturis drop a grounder with 2 outs, and then the next batter, John Lowenstein, put it into the stands for a 2-1 O's lead.  Davis was constantly pitching out of the stretch as the Dodgers were having an uncanny ability to find the hits on his (quite good) card, and in the 6th the Dodgers erupted for 4 runs, with a McGriff bases-loaded double being the big blow.  The Orioles refused to knuckle under, and in the bottom of the 6th answered by batting around, with a Wayne Gross homer and a Mike Young bases-loaded single leading the way to 5 runs; the Dodgers had to summon Eric Gagne to record the last out of the inning as there was no sign that Brown was ever going to achieve it.  With a second comeback lead, Davis finally settles in somewhat and holds the Dodgers scoreless for the last three innings, managing a complete game 7-5 win despite allowing 17 hits!  The victorious Orioles themselves only managed 7 hits, but Brown's control problems and three Dodger errors (two of them by "2" fielders) sunk the last of the trio of Dodger squads in this regional.

Mr. Clutch

It had been a few regionals since there had been a finals pairing two good teams (i.e., ELO rankings among the 1000 best of all time), and so the matchup between the 1984 Orioles and the 1951 Indians promised to be a good one.  Both teams were at full strength and with rested bullpens, and both had strong #3 starters on the mound, 22-win Bob Feller for the Indians and Mike Flanagan for the O's.   Baltimore gets on the board in the bottom of the 2nd when Ripken doubles and Dempsey singles him home, but the Indians respond immediately in the 3rd to take the lead on a Harry "Suitcase" Simpson 2-run homer (who made a key error in Regional #87, of course for a different team).  Ray Boone singles another home in the 4th, while Feller has settled in and the O's go hitless in innings 4 through 6.  Flanagan has pitched well, but in the 8th he walks two and the O's look carefully at their bullpen, but decide to stick with him.  Al Rosen then sends a blast that hits the top of the wall (HR 1-5, I roll a 6) and the resulting double makes it 5-1 Indians.  The Orioles have no answer against Feller, and the Indians capture their second consecutive regional with a 5-1 victory; 3B Al Rosen is the regional MVP with multiple RBI in all three games.  Feller allowed 7 hits and struck out only 5; I found his card interestingly lacking in K's, and a little research indicated that this was really his last great season (5th in the MVP voting)--his K/9 had been declining appreciably with 1951 being the lowest of his career to that point, and he also led the AL in home runs allowed.  Worthy of note:  the ELO rankings PERFECTLY predicted the outcome of all games in this regional, the first time that has happened since I began investigating those rankings.

Game over

Interesting card of Regional #88:  The 2003 Dodgers didn't make it past the semifinals, but it wasn't for a lack of effort from this guy.  Gagne won the Cy Young award as a reliever, leading the league in saves and games finished, averaging 15 strikeouts per 9 innings, and a WHIP of 0.692.  With 700 teams having played in this tournament, I've looked at a lot of closer cards but I can't think of any better than this one.  Unfortunately, like many other stars in that era his remarkable season was likely pharmacologically enhanced, and he was specifically named in the Mitchell Report on steroid use which probably hastened his departure from MLB in 2008.

 REGIONAL #87:  Certainly no pennant winners in this regional, and only a few teams were close, with the 2014 Rangers having won the AL twice a few years previously, and the 1948 Phillies two years away from Whizzing.  The 1968 Astros drew encouragement from their 1969 team that won Regional #75 and it was likely that they would have the best pitching in the bracket, but my guess was that there was enough remaining pop in the Rangers lineup that it would carry them through the regional.  However, the ELO rankings had their first round opponents, the '38 Pirates, as by far the best team in a lackluster field.  That ranking didn't make me too concerned about my selection, as the ELO favorite had only survived the 1st round in one of the previous four regionals!

First round action

The 2012 Indians lost 94 games, but they still seemed to me to be miles better than their opponents, the 91-loss 1955 A's, who had a horrid rotation, poor defense, and fewer offensive weapons than Cleveland--although the A's did boast .364-hitting Elmer Valo eligible to play DH.  Things didn't start off well for the A's, as Choo led off the game with a double followed by an RBI single from Michael Brantley, and it was 1-0 Cleveland before KC recorded an out.  To make matters worse, KC's secret weapon Valo was injured for the remainder of the regional in the bottom of the 3rd, and A's fans were ready to chase the team back to Philadephia.  In the 5th, the A's managed to load the bases with their big weapon Gus Zernial up against Indians starter Justin Masterson, but 1B Casey Kotchman makes a stellar play on a line drive headed towards RF to retire the side.  When the A's get runners on 1st and 3rd in the 6th, the Indians yank Masterson in the hopes that strikeout artist Vinnie Pestano can escape the inning without damage, and he does, recording a K and a popout to end the inning.  In the 7th, A's starter Bobby Shantz records two quick outs, and then falls apart, allowing a blast to Travis Hafner and Cleveland extends their lead to 4-0.  With that padding, the Indians elect to pull Pestano after he records an out to preserve him for later rounds, but his replacement Joe Smith (probably an alias) promptly allows back-to-back HRs to Vic Power and Zernial, and the score is now 4-3.  The Indians add 2 insurance runs in the top of the 9th when A's CF Harry "Suitcase" Simpson misplays a fly ball into a double, but they also lose their own CF Brantley to injury for the remainder of the regional.  Indians closer Chris Perez retires the side quietly in the 9th, and the Indians move on with the 6-3 win.

I had picked the 2014 Rangers to win the regional without actually looking at the team at all, which is my pre-regional tradition, and didn't realize that this team deservedly lost 95 games and finally got Ron Washington fired.  Consistent with the ELO rankings, the 86-win 1938 Pirates had a much better starting rotation, much better defense, and as good if not better offense than the Rangers, with 4 Hall of Famers (the Waner brothers, Arky Vaughan, and Heinie Manush) leading Pittsburgh to a 2nd place finish in the NL.  RBI singles in the 1st for Vaughan and Bill Brubaker put the Pirates up 2-0 quickly, although the Rangers' one good starter, Yu Darvish, then settled down and rattled off four straight scoreless innings.  In the 6th, the Rangers score 4 runs, aided by two terrible fielding plays by Pirates starter Russ Bauers (p-5), although Pirates LF Johnny Rizzo's solo shot in the bottom of the inning narrows the Ranger lead to 4-3.   However, in the 8th a rare Vaughan error helps load the bases, and Ranger DH Prince Fielder's double makes it 6-3.  The Pirates had no answer against Darvish, giving the Rangers a 6-3 win and yet another elimination of a regional favorite in the first round.  Unfortunately, Rangers SS Elvis Andrus will miss the semifinal with an injury, and with nothing but pain remaining in the Rangers rotation after Darvish, this team faces an uphill climb.

Between the season of the pitcher and the influence of the Astrodome, I wasn't surprised to find that the 1968 Astros boasted a solid starting rotation and dismal offense, with only two guys in the starting lineup hitting over .250--helping them lose 90 games and finish last in the NL.  The 89-loss '53 Cubs were a pretty familiar team given that the '51 version had overachieved in reaching the finals of the previous regional, but there were two important additions to the '53 squad--LF Ralph Kiner, and 22-year old September call-up SS Ernie Banks, who had a .956 OPS in 35 ABs and was eager to see action after the 5th inning.   The Cubs draw first blood in the 3rd on a Randy Jackson sac fly, and in the 4th Eddie Miksis tripled in Joe Garagiola and then scores on a Hector Torres error, and it's 3-0 Chicago after four.  In the meantime, Cubs starter Warren Hacker was having no trouble with the Astros, and he ends up with a 3-hit shutout as the Cubs move on with a 3-0 win.  Mike Cuellar only allows six hits but, true to team form, didn't get any run support.  Sadly, 1/3 of the Astros starting lineup passed in 2020--Denis Menke, Jimmy Wynn, and Bob Watson--and the team's heart just didn't seem to be in the game.

No Seattle team has yet won a regional in this tournament, but even though they lost 91 games the 2013 Mariners had a real opportunity with no good teams remaining alive after the first round.  They faced a 66-win 1948 Phillies team that had many of the same names, but not the performances, of their 1950 pennant winners--for example, their two Hall of Famers (Richie Ashburn and Robin Roberts) were both 21 year old rookies.  The Mariners went hitless until the 4th, when with two out they ripped off 3 straight hits including back-to-back doubles by Dustin Ackley and Kendrys Morales, and moved out to a 2-0 lead.  Meanwhile, after a double by Ashburn to lead off the game, Seattle starter Hisashi Iwakuma held the Phillies hitless until the 8th, when Andy Seminick found Iwakuma's HR result with 2 out to make it 2-1, and the Mariners summon Farquhar from the pen to cut down on the HRA chances.  Farhquhar sustained the two-hitter, and the Mariners win 2-1 despite themselves only managing 4 hits off Dutch Leonard.  Playing this game, I had to imagine that the '48 Phils, many of whom probably saw action in World War II, were surprised to learn that they would be facing Iwakuma, a former star of the Japanese leagues.

The survivors

His defense stinks

The semifinal between the 2012 Indians and 2014 Rangers matched two very similar teams:  both lost 90+ games, both had no remaining decent starting pitchers, both were missing a key player due to injury (Brantley for Cleveland, Andrus for Texas), both won their first round game by a 6-3 score...and both had the same guy leading off:  Shin-Soo Choo!  The Indians started the scoring with two solo HRs (both off Texas starter Nick Tepesch's card) by Carlos Santana and Shelley Duncan, but Cleveland starter Zach McAllister is equally inept, issuing consecutive walks to Prince Fielder and Mitch Moreland with the bases loaded, and the score is 2-2 after 5, with both teams getting all available hands up in the bullpen.  Leading off the 5th, Odor commits the Rangers' 3rd error of the game, and Santana doubles the runner home to chase Tepesch in favor of Shawn Tolleson, who loads up the bases and then Odor turns a Choo grounder into an RBI single to make the score 4-2 Indians.  Tolleson is then pounded some more in the 7th, including an Adsdrubal Cabrera HR off Tolleson's solid 5-5 HR result, and Tolleson leaves with the score 8-2.  A Prince Fielder solo shot off McAllister's solid HR reading at 6-9 is too little too late, and the Indians move to the finals with an 8-3 win; the Rangers end up with as many errors (4) as they managed hits.

Neither the 1953 Cubs nor the 2013 Mariners displayed much offense in their 1st round wins, but the Cubs got off to a quick start in this semifinal, scoring 2 in the top of the 1st on RBI singles from Sauer and Fondy, and adding another pair on a dawg double from Randy Jackson in the 2nd.  Unfortunately, as the Cubs were celebrating Jackson's hit, they watched in horror as the next batter, Cubs big bat Ralph Kiner, injured himself--most likely for the remainder of the tournament.  The Mariners get two solo HRs in the 4th by Morales and Gutierrez--both off Cubs starter Bob Rush's card--while a Hal Jeffcoat sac fly in the 6th makes it 5-2.  When Felix Hernandez allows the first 2 Cubs to get on base in the 7th, the Mariners have seen enough and summon Farquhar, who strikes out the side to end the threat.  In similar fashion, Bob Rush allows three straight hits to start the bottom of the 7th and the Cubs turn to their only decent reliever, Jim Willis, but he allows an untimely hit to Morales and the score is narrowed to 5-4 after 7.  However, after allowing the first two Mariners to reach base in the 8th, Willis retires five in a row to preserve the 5-4 win.  The Cubs limp into the finals with their best hitter injured, their best reliever burnt, and only frightening options remaining in their starting rotation.

His defense doesn't stink

The regional final between the 2012 Indians and the 1953 Cubs matched two seriously flawed teams that each had a key player injured and a pitching matchup between 17-loss Ubaldo Jimenez and 15-loss Paul Minner that suggested lots of fireworks.   Cleveland provided some of those early when Asdrubal Cabrera hit a solo HR and Jack Hannahan laced a 2-run double that moved the Indians out to a 3-0 lead.  However, in the 4th Indians DH Travis Hafner went down to injury, and the already depleted squad was unable to muster any more offense against Minner.  However, Jimenez was in fine form, aided repeatedly by the Indians all "2" infield defense, and other than an RBI double from Fondy in the 4th, the Cubs were also shackled.  Although Jimenez was pitching great, the Indians turned the ball over to reliever Joe Smith for the 9th, who walked the first batter and then pinch hitter Ernie Banks doubled to become the tying run on 2nd with no outs.  However, Smith retired the next 3 Cubs in order, and the Indians win the unexpected pitching duel and the regional by a 3-1 score.  Indians SS Cabrera is named regional MVP, hitting two homers in addition to providing numerous clutch defensive plays.  This is the 8th regional win for the Indians, one of which was the 2013 squad which won Regional #78 with many of these same players--with Jimenez being the winning pitcher in the regional finals for both teams.  And, this is the second consecutive loss in the regional finals for seemingly bad 50's Cubs teams.

Interesting card of Regional #87:  With the 2012 Indians winning the regional despite having such a bad starting rotation, I spent a lot of time looking at their bullpen trying to figure out how to avoid disaster, and I ran across this guy--Nick Hagadone.  Looking at his card, I found it jarring, and not just because of his terrible ERA and 1.618 WHIP.  Can anyone else spot the feature of this card that perplexed me?

REGIONAL #86:   This regional didn't seem to include any great teams but had a number of bad ones, although the 1983 Dodgers won their division, had won a "pennant" in the 1981 strike season and they would add another later in the decade.  It does feature the first season of the Brewers, a 1920 A's team that had only recently seen their dynasty rapidly disassembled, a Giants team with remnants from their great 1962 team, and two probably lackluster squads from the 1951 National League.  If the Dodgers could survive the 2000 Twins (those teams from the peak steroid years always are tough), I predicted that they'd edge past the 1999 Tigers in the finals.  The ELO rankings (shown in parentheses) gave the Dodgers a slight edge over the Giants in the lower bracket to be regional favorites, but they also rated the '51 Braves as a better team than I had guessed.

First round action

Setting the lineup for the '51 Braves, I discovered that I underestimated their competitiveness; although they only won 76 games and finished last in attendance in the NL, their Pythagorean projection was much better (83 wins) and at the top of the rotation they had 22-game winner Warren Spahn in his prime.  The 1970 Brewers had just moved to Milwaukee (as their opponents were about to do) one year after having been founded as the Seattle Pilots, and they lost 97 games although Tommy Harper had a big year and Marty Pattin was a decent option to face Spahn.  Even so, the 1,500 or so Braves fans in attendance were shocked when Spahn walked 5, allowed 2 hits, and a 2-base error by SS Kerr staked the Brewers to a 6-0 lead in the 2nd inning, and to prove it wasn't a fluke they added 3 more in the 3rd.  Harper leads off the 6th with a solo shot, and the Braves have nobody in the pen nearly as good as Spahn, so they're leaving him and his 311 innings in for the duration despite the 10-0 deficit.  In the 7th, Pattin starts to lose control, walking the bases loaded but only allowing 1 run on a Sibby Sisty fielder's choice.  However in the 8th Pattin continues to come unraveled, allowing 4 more runs including a Sid Gordon homer, but the Brewers are trying to preserve closer Ken Sanders with the big lead.  The Brewers add an insurance run in the top of the 9th, but when Sam Jethroe leads off the bottom of the 9th with a HR, Pattin is pulled in favor of Sanders, who does his job and seals the 11-6 upset for the Brewers.  Four errors for the Braves and 7 walks issued by Spahn sealed their fate and earned them a trip back to storage.

Although I may have underestimated the Braves from that year in the previous first round matchup, my assumptions about the 1951 Cubs were pretty accurate--they only won 62 games and simply weren't good.  Their opponents, the 69-win 1999 Tigers, weren't much better, with a truly dreadful starting rotation offset somewhat by a typical steroid-era lineup:  8 of their hitters had double-digit HRs, compared to 2 for the Cubs.  However, it was the Cubs who looked juiced early in the game, with solo homers by Baumholtz and Sauer in the top of the 1st and back to back doubles in the 2nd running the Cubs to a quick 4-0 lead.  The Cubs then gift the Tigers with unearned runs in the 3rd and 4th courtesy of their atrocious defense, but in the 5th Miksis has his 2nd RBI double of the game and the Cubs score 3 to chase Dave Mlicki after only 4 innings.  The Tigers hand the ball to their best reliever by far, Doug Brocail, and he shuts down the Cubs, but Chicago starter Bob Rush is similarly shackling the Tigers.  Finally, the juice kicks in for Detroit and Dean Palmer hits a solo shot to lead off the bottom of the 9th, but Rush recovers to end the threat and give the Cubs the 7-3 victory.

Shoulda stayed with the Celtics

The 1983 Dodgers won 91 games and the NL West behind strong pitching (including an excellent bullpen) and some pop in the lineup, led by a big year from Pedro Guerrero, but with an Achilles heel of porous defense.  They faced a 2000 Twins that lost 93 games via a bad rotation and a lineup with remarkably little power for guys in the peak of the steroid era--even 24 year old DH David Ortiz only hit 10 homers, perhaps leading the Twins to unwisely release him 2 years later.   The Twins took advantage of LA fielding in the 3rd, when SS-4 Bill Russell followed an error with another ball that he played into a single, and the Twins led 2-0.  In the 6th, RBI singles from Hunter and Lawton chased Bob Welch in favor of Snortin' Steve Howe and his 1.44 ERA, but the Twins responded with two more hits off Howe's imposing card and now led 6-0.  The Dodgers finally get on the board against Eric Milton when DH Rick Monday lofted a 3-run homer in the top of the 7th, although an RBI single from Ron Coomer extends the Minnesota lead to 7-3 in the bottom of the inning.  And that's how it ends: a 7-3 upset win for the Twins with Milton only allowing 5 hits in the complete game.

The 1968 Giants, by winning 88 games, finished 2nd in the final year of the no-division NL, and tapped 26-game winner Juan Marichal to start their round 1 game, although card-wise he may not have been their best starter.  However, he faced the 48-win 1920 A's, last place in AL, although I mercifully didn't start 23-loss Rollie Naylor, instead opting for 22-year old Eddie Rommel who would help lead the A's to glory by the end of the decade.  Although the matchup looked very one-sided, the A's were unafraid given that every other first round game in this regional had been won by the underdog, and sure enough in the 2nd a Tilly Walker triple and a Whitey Witt single, both off Marichal's card, gave the A's a 1-0 lead.  That lead lasted until the next inning, when Mays doubled in Hunt and was then singled in by McCovey, and the Giants led 2-1 after three.  Dick Dietz then leads off the 4th with a HR off Rommels HR 1-4/flyB split, and RBI singles from Alou and Hunt make it 5-1 Giants, but the A's strike back with a 3-run HR by Lena Styles, off Marichal's card, in the 5th and a 2-run double by Griffin, also off Marichal's card, in the 6th, and the Giants have seen enough of Marichal as he hands the ball to Joe Gibbon, behind 6-5.  However, in the bottom of the 6th Alou hits a shot to tie the game, again off Rommel's HR 1-4 split, and they move ahead in the 7th when a Mays single is followed by a McCovey triple.  The Giants then summon Frank Linzy from the pen to try to keep the pesky A's at bay, and he does the job to earn the save for the 7-6 come-from-behind (twice) victory--the first for a favorite in this regional.

The survivors

With two bad teams in the first semifinal between the 1970 Brewers and the 1951 Cubs, it didn't take long for both teams' weaknesses to be exposed.  In the top of the first, the Brewers score on Cubs SS-4 Roy Smalley's first of two two-base errors, but in the bottom of the inning Brewers starter Al Downing walked four batters to even the score at 1-1.  In the 2nd, the Brewers raked Cubs starter Paul Minner for 4 hits, Smalley added another error, and Milwaukee led 5-1, although a Hermanski RBI single in the bottom of the inning made it 5-2.  A Phil Roof double in the 3rd pushed the lead to 6-2, but the Cubs continued to maul Downing, scoring 4 in the bottom of the inning on RBI doubles from Miksis and Burgess.  In the top of the 4th, after allowing 2 more hits Minner was mercifully injured (he may have been faking), and Cubs ace reliever Dutch Leonard came in and ended the threat.  Smalley and Miksis singles scored two more and chased Downing in the 6th, but Ken Sanders was unable to stop Cubs supersub Bill Serena from driving in another.  Meanwhile, things weren't breaking well for the Brewers, who had two runners (1-17 and 1-19) cut down at the plate.  By the 9th inning the Cubs had a 10-6 lead but were on their 5th pitcher, being forced to put in an erratic Turk Lown to try to finish things.  The Brewers did manage a run, but that was not enough as the Cubs move to the finals with a 10-7 win and a seriously depleted bullpen.

With every other surviving team in the regional being bad squads who pulled off upsets, the 1968 Giants saw a smooth road ahead given their strong rotation and weapons like Mays, McCovey, and Bonds.  They faced the 2000 Twins, who knocked out the regional favorites but were now going deeper into a dreadful collection of starting pitching, and their #2 starter Brad Radke had an ERA nearly double that of the Giants' Gaylord Perry.  However, this tournament shows time and again that prematurely counting your chickens is not a worthwhile effort, and Radke is in fine form, going 7 innings and only allowing one run on a McCovey solo blast.  However, in those 7 innings Perry also limits the Twins to a single run on a Jacgue Jones sac fly, but the Twins add another in the 8th when Jones hits a solo HR, and the Twins turn it over to closer Latroy Hawkins to try to preserve the save.  In the 9th, Perry disintegrates with 2 outs, allowing four runs (3 on a Matt Lawton HR) and Hawkins now has a five-run pad entering the bottom of the 9th.  However, Koskie's 2nd error of the game followed by McCovey's 2nd HR of the game narrows the gap, and then the Giants put two men on with two out, and the tying run at the plate in the form of SS Hal Lanier and his .206 average.  The Giants turn to the bench for a pinch hitter, and I discover that there is not a single hitter there with a HR chance of any type on his card.  I go with .264 hitting Dave Marshall, Hawkins strikes him out, and the Twins win 6-3 and move on to an improbable regional final matching two 60-win teams.

Twins pen pal

I certainly did not expect the 2000 Twins and the 1951 Cubs to be the finalists in this regional, although a bad Senators team winning the previous bracket served as a reminder that anything was possible.  Going to the #3 starters on two 60-win teams was frightening, and the scares began in the 2nd inning when Twins starter Mark Redman welcomed Smokey Burgess to the steroid era with the former's solid 6-9 HR result, putting the Cubs up 2-0.  To return the favor, Cubs starter Cal McLish loaded the bases in the 4th with one out, but Torii Hunter missed a SI 1-18 to frustrate the fans in the Metrodome.  However, the next batter, Ron Coomer, took advantage of McLish's 5-9 HR 1-16 reading for a grand slam, and the Twins were up 4-2, and both teams were wishing their bullpens were at full strength.  With the lead, the Twins were trying to make it to the 8th inning as reliever Hawkins had 2 innings of eligibility left, but with 2 out in the 7th Frankie Baumholtz found Redman's 6-9 again for a solo HR, and the Twins put in Travis Miller as the only other reliever without a card littered with HR bombs.  After a Cavaretta single, Miller managed to get cleanup hitter Hank Sauer to ground out, and the Twins led 4-3.  In the 8th, the Twins summoned Hawkins, and he pitched two perfect innings to seal the win and the regional title for the Twins, who managed only 6 hits in the win.  Regional MVP goes to Hawkins, who earned two saves in relief of the Twins' HR-riddled starting rotation; as a team with steroid-era pitching but 1950's-style offense, the Twins 4th regional win (joining 1973, 1977, and 2019) was an unlikely one.

Interesting card of Regional #86:  If you follow this feature, you'll know that I'm a sucker for these low-use wundercards, and this one made some contribution in propelling the bad 1951 Cubs to the regional final.  Under tournament rules, Serena could not make an appearance before the 6th inning, so he would come in for the 6th replacing Randy Jackson at 3rd, who got so sick of the practice that he retired to become an American Idol judge.  Besides his admirable .333 average, Serena obviously knew how to draw a walk and also kept away from the double play ball--this is just the kind of hitter I like batting second in the lineup.  Of course, the whole 6th inning replacement strategy could blow up with that 2-7 result; apparently Serena broke his wrist sliding into second in early May of 1951 and was out for the remainder of the season.  He had been a full-time player as a rookie in 1951, finishing 5th in the Rookie of the Year voting, but he was out of the majors by 1954--making me wonder if he had lingering effects from that injury that shortened his career.