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?