REGIONAL #104:  For this regional, my random team selector pulled out a bunch of squads that were unfamiliar to me.  The 2002 Marlins would win the NL pennant the following season, but I remembered that team being disassembled and rebuilt so quickly during those years that I wasn't sure whether they were Dr. Jekyll or Mr. Hyde that season.  For the 1997 Blue Jays, I knew they were quite good earlier in the decade but suspected that they had begun a dropoff by 1997.   There were also a couple of Cubs teams, one probably with a great Ernie Banks and little else, a Mariners team close to the one I had overestimated in Regional #99, and some modern squads about whom I knew little.  I ultimately picked the Marlins to win, because of their subsequent pennant and also because they represented the maximum dose of the steroid era, guessing that they would top the Blue Jays in the final.  The ELO rankings disagreed but they did confirm my suspicion that this was a rather undistinguished group of teams, with the ELO favorite, the 2008 Cubs, being the only squad ranked among the top 1000 teams of all time.

First round action

I was interested to see the lineup for the 2008 Cubs, as they were the only “good” team in the regional according to the ELO ranks, and good they were--a 97-win team that won the NL Central and boasted Alfonso Soriano and Aramis Ramirez at the heart of the order, a deep bullpen, and 17-game winner Ryan Dempster on the mound.   They faced the 79-75 1955 Tigers, ranked as the second-best team in the regional, whose main weapon was a 20-year old named Al Kaline, with 16-game winner Billy Hoeft as the starter.   That Kaline kid singles in a run in the bottom of the 3rd to put the Tigers up early, while the Cubs are getting baserunners but no runs--including Fukudome being cut down (1-16) at the plate trying to score on a Soriano single in the 5th.   A Kaline double drives in another run in the bottom of the 5th, but the Cubs finally respond with a DeRosa RBI double and a sac fly from low-AB pinch hitter Micah Hoffpauir that ties the game at 2-2.  When Ray Boone doubles to lead off the bottom of the 6th, the Cubs decide to try out that bullpen, replacing Dempster with Carlos Marmol, but Marmol allows a single and three walks and the Tigers move back in front, 4-2.   Hoeft continues to allow baserunners, but the Tigers have little in the pen and they let Hoeft try to gut it out, but a Theriot sac fly in the 8th narrows the margin to 4-3.   A leadoff single by Jim Delsing in the bottom of the 8th and Marmol yields to Kerry Wood, who quickly dispatches the Tigers to give the Cubs a shot in the 9th.  But Hoeft, facing the meat of the Cubs order, sets them down in order and yet another ELO favorite exits in the first round.  The win is sweet redemption for the Tigers, who had two squads from a similar vintage eliminated in round one of the previous regional.

Not enough juice

With their more contemporary version having already been eliminated as the regional favorite, it was up to the 1964 Cubs to carry the banner for the franchise; with Ernie Banks, Ron Santo, and Billy Williams as the nucleus of an emerging good team and 24-game winner Larry Jackson on the mound, they looked like they might be somewhat better than their 76 wins would suggest.   Even so, they were still slight ELO underdogs to the 1997 Blue Jays, who also won 76 games, probably because the Jays were starting 21- game winner and AL Cy Young award recipient Roger Clemens, whose ERA was nearly a full point less than Jackson’s and who had roughly 100 more strikeouts to his credit.  However, Banks welcomes Clemens to Wrigley by crushing a 2-run HR in the bottom of the 1st, although Benito Santiago narrows the gap to 2-1 with a solo shot to lead off the top of the 3rd.  Jays LF Jose Cruz Jr. gives the run right back with a 3-base error in the bottom of the inning, and Len Gabrielson adds another Cub run in the 4th with an RBI double to make it 4-1.  Meanwhile, Jackson is cruising until the 9th, when Carlos Delgado leads off the inning with a HR, and after two quick outs a Joe Carter single brings up Santiago as the potential tying run.  However,  Banks makes a fine play on Santiago's rip towards first and it’s Cubs win, Cubs win, 4-2, sending Clemens and the Jays back into the storage drawers.

Although I had blindly picked the 2002 Marlins to win the regional, in setting their lineup it was certainly not obvious that this 79-83 team would win the pennant in the following season--although in A.J. Burnett the Marlins were at least sending out a capable #1 starter.  Their opposition, the 99-loss 2011 Twins, was a motley crew with little starting pitching and few real offensive weapons, and the ELO ranks concurred with my view that the Marlins had the advantage in this matchup.  However, Burnett’s Achilles heel, his control issues, show early as three walks off Burnett’s card in the top of the 1st followed by a Danny Valencia double gives the Twins a quick 2-0 lead.  The Marlins don’t get a hit off Twins starter Scott Baker until the 4th, when they then load the bases but fail to score, and they bungle another opportunity when slow-footed Mike Redmond is cut down at the plate to end the 5th.  Baker continues to thwart the Marlins until the bottom of the 9th, but when Florida leads off with two straight hits the Twins bring in Glen Perkins to try to close things out.   First pitch by Perkins to Juan Encarnacion---LOMAX, triple play to end the game as Perkins gets the most efficient save in history and the Twins survive and move on with the 2-0 win.

The 76-85 1998 Mariners were not without flaws--how about two “5” fielders in the starting lineup?--but with ARod and Griffey Jr. contributing nearly 100 homers between them, and Randy Johnson still throwing bullets on the mound, they certainly looked a lot better than the opposing 2018 Reds.  The 95-loss Reds were ranked as the worst team in this generally unimpressive regional, a team that lost 15 of their first 18 games to get manager Brian Price fired; there weren’t a lot of bright spots to describe on that squad, although they did have a couple of strong relievers ready to bail out starter Luis Castillo if he faltered.   However, the Reds got to Johnson quickly in the top of the 1st with 3 hits, although only one run scored on a Votto single when Casali was nailed trying to score to end the inning.  Another three hits in the 3rd, including a Jose Peraza RBI single, and the Reds lead is 2-0, but Glenallen Hill leads off the 5th inning with a long homer that narrows the gap to 2-1.  The Reds are warming up a couple of strong relievers in the hopes of preserving the lead, but some additional relief comes in the 6th in the form of a Billy Hamilton RBI triple followed by a Casali single that expands the margin to 4-1.  ARod’s second error of the game opens the door for a two-run double by Jesse Winker, and the M’s can’t take any more of Johnson, who exits the game with 7 IP and 12 hits allowed.   Seattle then opens the 8th with a David Bell double and a Dan Wilson walk, and the Reds summon David Hernandez from the pen to try to quell the threat, but that proves disastrous as Hernandez allows both baserunners to score, and adds two more of his own courtesy of a Griffey Jr. 2-run HR, and it’s now 6-5 with just one away--so the Reds call on Jared Hughes and his 1.94 ERA to try to save the day.   Hughes allows two straight hits and the Seattle fans are roaring, but Hill hits into a DP to quiet the crowd and send the game into the 9th.  Mike Timlin sets the Reds down in the top of the inning to keep things close, and the Cincinnati defensive replacements come in for the Mariners’ last chance in the bottom of the 9th.  However, Reds SS Jose Peraza boots a Bell grounder to put the tying run on base, but Hughes keeps his cool and dispatches the Mariners to give Cincinnati the 6-5 win and an unexpected trip to the semis.

The survivors

The 1955 Tigers finished barely above .500, but they were the only team still surviving in this regional that had a winning record, having defeated the only other such squad in their first round game.  They sent Frank Lary against the 1964 Cubs and Bob Buhl, two solid starters from that era although neither had one of their best seasons.   The Tigers started the scoring with a 2-run homer from Earl Torgeson in the top of the 3rd, but the Cubs get one of those runs back in the bottom of the inning when Lary walks the bases full and a run scores on a Billy Williams fielder’s choice.  However, the Tigers don’t let up, as Ray Boone and Jim Delsing both smack solo HRs in the 4th to make the Detroit advantage 4-1, and the 5th inning is similar with solo shots from Charlie Maxwell and Torgeson’s second blast making it 6-1.   Buhl heads to the showers having allowed 7 hits in 5 innings, 5 of them homers, and the Cubs try Lindy McDaniel on the mound.  He does his job, but the Cubs can’t sustain any sort of a rally against Lary, and the game ends with that 6-1 score;  Lary allows as many walks (6) as he did hits in the CG win.

This Scooter does the driving

Teams that lost 95+ games typically don’t make it to the regional final, but that outcome was guaranteed this time around as both contestants in this semifinal matchup, the 2011 Twins and the 2018 Reds, had achieved that dubious loss total.  With Minnesota’s Francisco Liriano starting against the Reds’ Matt Harvey, and both teams having some serious fielding flaws, this one did not have the making of a pitchers duel.   Sure enough, the game started in the top of the 1st with the Twins leading off with a double allowed by Reds’ LF-4 Winker, followed by a triple by Joe Mauer off Harvey’s card, and then a single from Cuddyer that gives the Twins a rapid 2-0 lead.  They extend it to 4-0 in the 3rd when punchless Ben Revere punches Harvey’s solid 6-9 HR result, and Jason Kubel later adds a sac fly.  The Reds load the bases in the bottom of the 3rd, but their best hitter, Eugenio Suarez, hits into an inning-ending DP that includes an injury result that puts him out for the rest of the tournament--which looks like it will end pretty soon for the Reds.   Two more RBI singles from Mauer and Alexi Casilla in the 4th makes it 6-0 and sends Harvey to the bench, and when reliever Michael Lorenzen holds the Twins scoreless in the 5th the Reds take heart and score two in the bottom of the inning, keyed by a Casili RBI double.   Lorenzen continues to hold the fort, and the Reds roar back to score five in the 7th to take a 7-6 lead, keyed by a bases-loaded double by Scooter Gennett (a missed HR split for a grand slam).  Liriano is out and Glen Perkins comes in to try to salvage the game for the Twins; he holds the Reds but Cincy counters with Jared Hughes, who sets down the Twins to record his second straight save and preserves the Reds 7-6 comeback win to earn them a trip to the finals.

The 67-95 2018 Reds were a longshot to be in this regional final, let alone win it; the worst ELO ranking in the regional (and in the bottom 10% of teams all-time), their best hitter injured and out for the tournament, two of their best relievers burnt, and their remaining starting pitchers all had more home run chances on their cards than did most any of the hitters on the opposing 1955 Tigers.  The Reds tapped Sal Romano and his 5.31 ERA as the least bad starting option, while the Tigers went with 13-10 Steve Gromek.  Things start out ugly in the top of the 1st for Romano, as Charlie Maxwell misses a HR split on Romano’s card but Kaline scores on the resulting double; Romano then issues three straight walks to score another run and the Tigers jump to a quick 2-0 lead.   However, this was a Reds team that clawed back from a 6-0 deficit in their semifinal game, and they waste no time here, ripping four straight singles to start the bottom of the 1st that quickly tie things up.   A Ray Boone solo shot in the 3rd makes it 3-2 Tigers, but once again the Reds come back in the bottom of the inning in a big way:  THREE rolls on Gromek’s solid 5-9 HR result and the score is now Reds 7, Tigers 3, and Gromek is yanked for Cristante.   The shell-shocked Tigers had never been behind in this regional, and they can only watch stunned as the Reds add two more in the 4th on a bases-loaded double by Jose Peraza.  Another RBI double from Scooter Gennett in the 5th makes it 10-3, and Cincy adds yet another run on a Winker RBI single in the 7th--but in the process they lose SS Peraza to injury for the remainder of the tournament.   That’s how it ends, with the unlikely Reds capturing the regional with an 11-3 blowout, becoming the 8th (and certainly the worst) Reds team to do so.  Although their chances in their super-regional don’t seem good with two key regulars injured, at this point it should be obvious that it is unwise to count them out--it isn’t often where the worst team in the regional according to the ELO rankings came out on top, as I only remember it happening once before.

Interesting card of Regional #104:  So his team got blown out in the regional final, but I still wanted to take the opportunity to honor one of the many great players we lost in 2020.  The past two regionals have included Tiger teams from 1955, 1960, and 1964, and there was one constant:  Al Kaline was arguably the best player on all three teams.   One of my favorites when I was a kid, Kaline combined hitting prowess (in this 1955 season he won the AL batting title) with great defense, as he won 10 Gold Gloves over the course of his career.  For you non-Basic buffs, his throwing arm for this card was -4, underscoring the fact that opponents didn’t want to see him either at the plate or out in the field.   Finally, let’s not overlook that 1-16 running rating; although not much of a base stealer, he could stretch hits with the best of them, despite the fact that he suffered from a chronic bone disease that forced the removal of diseased bone from his left foot as a child--forcing him to run on the side of his foot for the rest of his life.  None of the three aforementioned Tigers teams got very far in this project, but give me eight more Al Kalines and I think I’d go a long way.

REGIONAL #103:   This grouping was headlined by a high-profile WS champion, the 1953 Yankees, accompanied by two Tigers teams from the early 60’s who tended to be very good, a division-winning Pirates squad, as well as a collection of 21st century teams that were likely to be competitive.   I had to go with the Yankees as the obvious choice, with a guess that the 1960 Tigers would survive a tough matchup with a contemporary team in the semis, only to run into many of the same pinstripers that outpaced them in 1960.   The ELO ranks list the ‘53 Yanks as the 29th greatest team in baseball history making them substantial favorites, although those rankings selected the 2019 A’s, who were a wild-card playoff team, as the best squad in the bottom half of the bracket.

First round action

The 1964 Tigers won 85 games as a decent mixture of their 1961 AL runner-up squad and their 1968 championship team, and they had 18-game winner Mickey Lolich on the mound.  Still, they were ELO underdogs to the 95-win, NL East winner 1990 Pirates, with 22-game winner Doug Drabek starting and Bonds and Bonilla anchoring the lineup.  The Tigers jump to the lead in the 2nd when Dick McAuliffe finds Drabek’s HR result for a 2-run shot, but Bonds launches a 3-run homer in the 3rd to give the Pirates the 3-2 lead.  Both pitchers then pitch like the aces of the staff that they were, and neither offense can generate any action.  The Tigers come within 90 feet of tying the game in the 7th when Don Wert misses a SI* 1-8 split with McAuliffe on 3rd, and Drabek hangs on to clinch the 3-2 win and a berth in the semifinals.  Lolich only allows 5 hits in the loss, but the one hit by Bonds was enough to sink the Tigers.

The ELO ranks put the 1953 Yankees as the 29th best team of all time, although other sources put them even higher, with Rob Neyer and Eddie Epstein listing them as 15th and 9th, respectively, in their book _Baseball Dynasties_.  These Yanks won 99 games and defeated a great Dodger team in the World Series--and those Dodgers won Super-Regional E (a 64-team bracket) in this tournament, meaning that expectations were high for the Bronx Bombers to surpass that feat.   They faced an undistinguished 80-82 2010 Angels team that had enough team power to have a puncher’s chance, but the Yanks were taking no chances and sent HOF Whitey Ford to the mound against the Angels and Jered Weaver.  However, it’s the Angels who get out to the early lead in the bottom of the 3rd when the unlikely Jeff Mathis and his .195 average laces an RBI triple, and Hideki Matsui drives in Mathis with a single off Ford’s card that makes it 2-0, and the Yanks have to learn quickly if they can play from behind.   When Mathis contributes another RBI single in the 4th and Howie Kendrick adds a sac fly, things are beginning to look bleak for the favorites, and it doesn’t get better in the 5th with a Kendrys Morales sac fly that makes it 5-0; Ford is struggling, and Weaver is mowing down the vaunted Yankee lineup with impunity.   In the 7th, the Yanks try to get something going by replacing the ineffective Billy Martin with supersub Andy Carey, and Carey responds with a 2-run double that narrows the gap to 5-2.   Yankee DH Don Bollweg launches a solo shot in the 8th that makes it 5-3, but although New York puts the tying run on base in the 9th, Weaver guts it out, retiring Rizzuto for the final out as the Angels send the storied Yankees back into storage with the 5-3 upset.

The 2019 A’s won 97 games to finish 2nd in the AL West, losing the wild card game but ending up with a strong ELO ranking that was the best in the regional now that the Yankees had been eliminated in the prior first round game.  With 7 players in the lineup hitting more that 20 HRs, the A’s looked capable of scoring runs, although their starting pitching was suspect.  The 2017 Cardinals only won 83 games, but their Pythagorean projection suggested that they underperformed and I felt that the Cards were more evenly matched with the A’s than their records indicated--both teams even had Stephen Piscotty playing right field for them.  The Cards move to a 1-0 lead in the 2nd when A’s 2b-4 Jurickson Profar can’t get to a Matt Carpenter grounder, and then A’s starter Chris Bassitt walks four straight batters to begin the 4th and the St. Louis lead moves to 3-0.   A solo shot by Yadier Molina in the 6th makes it 4-0, and Oakland sends in some low AB wonders to try to generate offense against Cards starter Carlos Martinez, but when Jedd Gyorko contributes a sac fly in the 7th that makes it 5-0, Bassitt is yanked in favor of Sean Manaea.   Manaea does his job, but the A’s simply can’t solve Martinez, who ends up with a CG 2-hitter (both by Mark Canha) and the 5-0 shutout.

More success here as player than manager

Setting up the lineup for the 71-win 1960 Tigers, I was struck by how different (and not in a good way) this team was from the 101-win 1961 AL runner-up squad that was a fixture in the Strat Old-Timer teams I knew so well.  Some of the stalwarts were there-Kaline, Cash, Colavito-but not at the same level as they would show during the next (expansion) year, and most other lineup positions were populated by replacement-level players.   Still, those stalwarts looked to be good enough to handle the 53-100 last place 1924 Braves, a dreadful collection of “talent” that couldn’t hit, pitch, or catch, and whose main claim to fame was that Casey Stengel was playing RF for them.  It was Jim Bunning against 20-game loser Jesse Barnes on the mound, but two hits off Bunning’s card in the top of the 1st coupled with a Frank Bolling error gives the Braves the quick 1-0 lead.  Stengel drives in a run on a fielder’s choice in the 2nd, and the Tigers try to strike back in the bottom of the inning, getting runners on 2nd and 3rd with nobody out but they fail to plate any runs.  The Braves lose catcher Mickey O’Neil to injury in the 4th, but the Tigers are having trouble getting baserunners and the Braves go wholesale with the defensive replacements in the 6th trying to hold the slender 2-0 lead.  Backup catcher Frank Gibson converts a solo HR off Bunning’s card in the 8th to provide some insurance, and when two straight hits off Bunning’s card begins the 9th with another Braves run, Hank Aguirre makes an appearance, but by that point it’s academic as Barnes completes the CG shutout to earn the 4-0 victory.  There is no joy in Motown in this regional, as the two 60’s Tiger teams both make a quick exit from the tournament.

The survivors

After knocking off the favored Yankees, the 2010 Angels were confident against the NL West-winning 1990 Pirates in a semifinal matching Zane Smith with Ervin Santana as the starters.  However, Sid Bream hit a solo shot in the 2nd off his own card to give the Pirates the lead, and he adds a 3-run blast off Santana’s card in the 4th, and it’s 4-0 Pirates.   When Bonds leads off the 6th with another HR courtesy of Santana’s card, the Angels try Dan Haren in long relief, but Van Slyke rips an RBI triple in the 7th to give Pittsburgh a 6-0 lead.  Bream narrowly misses his third HR in the 8th, getting a “3” split on a HR 1-2, but by that time it doesn’t matter as Zane Smith holds the Angels to 4-hits and no runs, and the Pirates cruise to the regional final with the 6-0 win.

I’ve mentioned that it is very rare that a truly bad team gets very far in this tournament, and the 100-loss 1924 Braves entered this semifinal matchup against the 2017 Cardinals hoping to prove me wrong (it certainly wouldn’t be the first time).   It was the Braves’ Johnny Cooney against Lance Lynn for the Cards, and the Cards get to Cooney first when some sloppy fielding opens the door to a Dexter Fowler 3-run HR to give St. Louis the lead in the 3rd.  The Braves load the bases in the 5th with three singles against Lynn, but they can’t convert any runs, and Fowler pushes the Cards further ahead with an RBI triple in the 7th to make it 4-0.  The Braves finally get on the board in the bottom of the 8th with a Bill Cunningham RBI triple of his own, but the Cards stick with Lynn to conserve the bullpen and he finishes out the 4-1 win.  However, Cards 1B Matt Carpenter gets injured in the top of the 9th and he will miss the regional final against the Pirates.

The regional final between the 1990 Pirates and 2017 Cards matched two 12-9 #3 starters, Neal Heaton and Michael Wacha, but the division winning Pirates were at full strength and felt good about their chances.   That good feeling didn’t last long, as the first Pirate batter, Kolten Wong, found Heaton’s solid 5-10 HR result, and later in the inning replacement 1B Jose Martinez added a 2-run shot off his own card, and it was 3-0 Cards after inning number one.   Two walks from Heaton and two Pirate errors in the 3rd make it 6-0, and Heaton is gone, replaced by Bill Landrum.  A solo blast from Bonds in the 4th gets the Pirates on the scoreboard, and in the 6th Bobby Bonilla pushes a bases-loaded single past the poor fielding Martinez to narrow the lead to 6-3.   A couple of St. Louis hits and the Pirates put Bob Kipper on the mound, and he ends the threat to keep the Pirates within range.  When the Pirates get a couple of runners on in the 7th, Wacha exits in favor of Trevor Rosenthal, who is rescued by a strong defensive play at third by Jedd Gyorko to end the inning.   However, in the top of the 9th Sid Bream and Jeff King begin the inning with back-to-back doubles to make it 6-4; the Cards nervously eye their “closer” Oh, but his gopher ball issues are too frightening and they stick with Rosenthal as the best they’ve got.   Rosenthal retires two, then walks PH Carmelo Martinez to face Van Slyke as the go-ahead run.  But Van Slyke whiffs, Rosenthal earns the save, and the Cardinals earn the 5th  regional win for the franchise--their first for a 21st century St. Louis team.

Interesting card of Regional #103:   The Pirates fell just short of the regional title, but it wasn’t for lack of effort from this guy, who hit a homer in each of the three games.  Although there is perhaps no more controversial player in baseball, this card serves to remind us that Bonds was a pretty fair ballplayer even before the serious juicing probably began--an impressive combination of speed, defense, average, batting eye, and of course power, for which he was awarded the NL MVP award for this 1990 season.   Looking at pictures of the 1990 Bonds shows a slender, athletic guy whom I suspect would have been a lock for the Hall of Fame without any pharmacological assistance.   This year will be Bonds’ 10th and final year of eligibility for the HOF; he was named on 62% of the ballots last year, but his total has been increasing in recent years and I’m guessing it will be very close this year.

REGIONAL #102:   This group of eight included no pennant winners, although two teams--the 1960 Reds and the 1911 Red Sox--did win a flag in their next season.  I figured that the Reds would fare better than the deadball Red Sox and picked them over the ‘82 Twins in the finals, although the Reds would need to get past what I figured might be a tough ‘64 Braves squad in the first round.  The ELO ranks basically laughed at my selections, tapping the 1941 Pirates to win out over the ‘64 Braves in the final.

First round action

The 67-win 1960 Reds team were not a terrible team, but their 6th place finish clearly fell short of the NL pennant winners they would become in the following year.  In contrast, the 1964 Braves won 88 games and boasted a formidable lineup that included big years from Hank Aaron, Joe Torre, Rico Carty, and Eddie Mathews; with the starters of Tony Cloninger for the Braves and Jim O’Toole for the Reds being essentially a push, that imposing Braves lineup was sufficient to make Milwaukee the comfortable favorite.  However, it was the Reds who jumped out to the lead in the bottom of the 1st on a 2-run double by Wally Post.  Another Post double scores a run in the 3rd that makes it 3-0, although Post himself is cut down trying to score on a Gus Bell single.  The Braves get on the board in the 5th, when Frank Bolling beats out a sac bunt and then Ty Cline and Denis Menke keep the rally going to narrow the lead to 3-2.  The Braves are dealt a big blow when Joe Torre has to leave the game with an injury in the 6th; he is replaced by Ed Bailey, who happened to also be the starting catcher for the Reds.  Both starting pitchers then hold the fort until Cloninger walks two straight to lead off the 8th, and the Braves turn to their closer Bob Tiefenauer to try to keep the game within reach, but Post eventually scores on a fielder’s choice to make it 4-2 Reds entering the 9th.  O’Toole then sets down the Braves to secure the complete game win, scattering 8 hits to propel the Reds into the semis.

The 1949 White Sox won only 63 games, as although they had a decent starting rotation, they had absolutely no power as they didn’t have a single hitter in their lineup that was in double digits in homers. They faced their polar opposite in the 83-win 2007 Brewers, who had every position player in HR double digits (including Prince Fielder’s 50) but basically one good starter--Ben Sheets, who looked plenty good enough to handle the Sox offense.  But it was those Sox who broke the game open in the 4th on two bad Brewer fielding plays, a gbA++ with a held runner, and a bases-clearing double by Luke Appling that gave Chicago the 5-0 lead, and it’s up to Randy Gumpert to try to hang onto it.  The Brewers immediately begin whittling at the lead when Prince Fielder leads off the bottom of the inning with a blast, but that doesn’t rattle Gumpert as he finishes out the game allowing only two more hits, completing a 5-hitter and sending the Sox to the semis with the upset 5-1 win.   And, for the second game in a row, a favored team from Milwaukee goes back into storage.

My initial, solely from memory, take on this first round game was that I thought the Twins of the 80’s were pretty good and the Pirates of the 40’s were pretty bad.  Turns out I was incorrect on both counts, with the 1941 Pirates (who went 81-73...and 2 ties!) having a solid all-around lineup keyed by Arky Vaughn, Elbie Fletcher, and the third Dimaggio brother, Vince, a CF-1 with 21 HR.   On the other hand, the 1982 Twins lost 102 games and, although Kent Hrbek and Tom Brunansky provided some pop, their pitching staff was a minefield and swing starter Jack O’Connor seemed to be their best option against Pittsburgh’s Rip Sewell.   Two walks and a single off O’Connor and the Pirates quickly jump to a 1-0 lead in the top of the 1st, and a solo shot from Dimaggio pushes the lead to 2-0 in the 3rd.  A Fletcher triple in the 5th leads to two more runs, but the Twins finally get on the board in the bottom of the inning with a Tim Laudner solo shot--only the second Minnesota hit of the game.   When O’Connor loads up the bases in the top of the 6th, the Twins hand the ball to Ron Davis, and Elbie Fletcher immediately nails a grand slam off Davis’s card that sends the few fans in the Metrodome streaming for the exits.   The Twins scratch out another run on a Gary Ward fielders’ choice but that’s all, folks, for the Twins, as the Pirates move on to the semis with the easy 8-2 victory.

The 78-75 1911 Red Sox were led by Tris Speaker and Harry Hooper, and they sent 23-game winner Joe Wood to the mound to face a team from nearly a century later:  the 89-win 2007 Padres, who countered with 19-game winner Jake Peavy and a lineup where 2/3rds of the hitters out-homered Speaker, the top Boston slugger.  But it was the Red Sox who displayed some punch when cleanup hitter Duffy Lewis smacked a 2-run homer in the bottom of the 1st to give Boston the quick lead, and a Les Nunamaker sac fly made it 3-0 in the 2nd.  RBI singles from Milton Bradley and Adrian Gonzalez narrow the lead to 3-2 in the 3rd, and in the 5th Mike Cameron doubles in Marcus Giles and he later scores on a Gonzalez sac fly, and the Padres take a 4-3 lead.  The Red Sox roar back in the bottom of the inning, loading the bases with no outs against Peavy, but only convert one run on a Lewis sac fly and the game is tied at 4 apiece after five.  When Boston gets two squib singles against Peavy in the 6th, the Padres eye their deep bullpen but decide to stick with their staff ace, and the next batter Larry Garder nails the only complete hit on Peavy’s card to put the Red Sox ahead.  Not to be outdone, the Padres load the bases against Wood with no out in the 7th, and Gonzalez rips a single that scores Brian Giles but Cameron (1-16) is nailed at the plate.  Khalil Greene adds a sac fly, and the Padres retake the lead, 6-5, with neither team showing any signs of giving up.  Sure enough, Boston ties the game in the 8th when Peavy commits a 2-base error and Gardner singles him home, but Milton Bradley responds with a solo shot in the top of the 9th that puts the Padres up 7-6.  So, it’s up to Peavy, and he fans Harry Hooper but Speaker doubles into the LF corner, and the Padres summon Heath Bell to try to close things out--but the first batter he faces, Duffy Lewis, singles for his 4th RBI of the game and it’s tied once again.  Bell tries to recover his form, but the next two batters both single, with Steve Yerkes’s hit scoring Lewis for the walk-off 8-7 win.  Bell earns the loss by failing to retire a single batter, with Wood completing a sloppy win in which he allows 12 hits.

The survivors

It was 17-game winner Bob Purkey for the 1960 Reds against 15-game loser Billy Pierce for the 1949 White Sox in a semifinal matchup of first round upset victors.  And it was the White Sox looking to continue the trend of success for the underdogs, as they strike for 5 runs in the 1st courtesy of some sloppy Reds fielding and a 3-run HR by Chuck Kress off Purkey’s card.  The Reds get on the board in the 3rd when a Roy McMillan single is followed by 3 straight walks from Pierce, but the Sox get the run back when Kress again rolls Purkey’s HR split, misses it for the double, but scores on a Metkovich single that makes it 6-1.  Two straight hits for the Sox to lead off the 5th and the Reds aren’t going to let Purkey pitch to Kress; Jim Brosnan comes in and induces a DP ball to 3rd that Kasko boots, and after the dust settles it’s now 8-1 Sox.  The Reds come back with 2 runs in the 7th with a Pinson RBI double, but Don Wheeler drives in a run in the 8th to provide the Sox with additional insurance and the 9-3 lead.  The Reds get a couple of runners on in the 9th, but Pierce retires Wally Post to end the threat and the game, and the 91-loss White Sox earn an improbable berth in the regional final.

Lanning owns Boston

As the only ELO favorite to have won a game thus far in the regional, the 1941 Pirates were not taking the 1911 Red Sox lightly given Boston’s tenacity in coming from behind multiple times in their first round win.  The Bucs start off hot with a solo HR from their second batter, Arky Vaughn, and they were on their way to score more when Elbie Fletcher was cut down at the plate to record the final out of the 1st inning.  The Red Sox promptly load the bases in the bottom of the 1st, but Pirates starter Johnny Lanning artfully gets out of the jam unscathed.  A Bob Elliott sac fly in the 2nd makes it 2-0 Pirates, but after that Boston starter Larry Pape settles down, getting out of a bases loaded jam himself in the 7th to keep the score within reach.  A Stu Martin sac fly in the 8th does provide the Pirates with an insurance run, and the Red Sox never can solve Lanning as he completes the 5-hit shutout to send the Pirates to the regional finals with the 3-0 win.

The 1949 White Sox got to the regional final by winning every game as an underdog, while the 1941 Pirates did so by winning every game as a favorite, so something would have to give in this game that matched Pittsburgh’s Max Butcher against Chicago’s Bill Wight.   The Pirates began the game in the bottom of the 1st with a single, a triple, and an Elbie Fletcher HR and it was 3-0 before Wight recorded an out.  Wight then walks the bases full in the 3rd and the Pirates punish him for it, pushing across five more runs to make it 8-0 after three innings and the rout is on.  Two more walks by Wight in the 4th and the Sox finally throw in the towel on Wight and try Max Surkont and his 4.78 ERA, and although he immediately issues a walk to load the bases, the Sox turn a DP to get out of the inning without further damage.  The Sox finally push across a run in the 8th on a Bud Souchock triple, but Pirate 3b Lee Handley homers and that’s more than Butcher needs as he closes out the 10-1 blowout with a 6-hitter as the Pirates claim only their third regional title, with 1941 joining 1956 and 1960 as regional winners.

Interesting card of Regional #102:  With two homers and 7 RBI in the three games of the regional, Elbie Fletcher was the offensive catalyst for the regional-winning Pirates, but he is hardly a household name in baseball lore after a career as a solid player on losing teams, so I thought he was deserving of this feature.  A “Moneyball” player before such a thing was contemplated, he led the NL in OBP three years in a row, including the 1941 season represented here, and he coupled this with a nice collection of extra base hits that made him a threat to hit for the cycle in every game.    Fletcher’s season did get him votes for NL MVP in 1941, finishing in 14th place in that vote, but his performance in this tournament earned him the distinction as MVP of Regional #102.

REGIONAL #101:   This group featured the pennant-winning 2008 Phillies as well a pair of teams from the Reds and the A’s, with the 1938 version of the Reds one year away from winning the NL twice in a row.  With those Reds and Phillies matched up in the first round, my hunch was that the winner of that game would take the regional, with the Phillies being my pick.  The ELO ranks also tapped the Phillies as the favorite, with the 2010 Rockies ranked as the best of a mediocre group of teams in the bottom half of the bracket.

First round action

In perhaps the best matchup of the 1st round of the regional, the 92-win World Series champion 2008 Phillies faced off against the 82-68 1938 Reds, who sent 21-game winner Paul Derringer to the mound against Cole Hamels.  The Phils moved out to a 2-0 lead in the 3rd on a Pat Burrell 2-run HR, and they add another run from a Shane Victorino RBI single in the 5th.  Jayson Werth’s solo shot in the 6th makes it 4-0, and although the Reds are getting plenty of baserunners on against Hamels, he seemed to pitch best from the stretch as he keeps the Reds scoreless until the 8th, when a 2-run double by Harry Craft makes it 4-2 and the Phils summon Brad Lidge to close things out.   Lidge is indeed “lights out”, striking out 3 of the 4 batters he faces, and the Phils move on to the semis with a 4-2 win despite getting outhit 10 to 6 by the Reds.

The 68-win 1953 Reds and the 53-win, last place 1934 White Sox took similar paths to mediocrity, with both teams boasting a couple of big hitters (Ted Kluszewski and Gus Bell for the Reds, Al Simmons, Luke Appling and Zeke Bonura for the Sox) but questionable pitching staffs.  The Reds find Sox starter George Earnshaw’s hits quickly, with Grady Hatton smacking a 2-run homer off Earnshaw’s card in the top of the 1st to give Cincy a quick lead.  Earnshaw does settle down, but Andy Seminick nails him for a 3-run HR in the 6th, and Earnshaw is injured on the following at bat and leaves the game with a 5-0 deficit.  Hatton drives in another run with an RBI single in the 8th, and obscure Reds starter Fred Baczewski has a shutout going until the bottom of the 9th, when an error by ss-1 Roy McMillan allows an unearned run as a minor blemish on the Reds’ 6-1 win.

Given the season they came from, the makeup of the 86-win 1968 Indians was not surprising--an outstanding pitching staff coupled with anemic offense.  With 21-game winner Luis Tiant and his 1.60 ERA on the mound, the Indians looked like solid favorites over a 96-loss last place 1960 A’s team with Ray Herbert starting.  This one had all the markers of a low-scoring game, and it was a scoreless tie until the 6th, when Jose Cardenal hit his 2nd double of the game off Herbert’s card and Lee Maye singled to score Cardenal and give the Indians the 1-0 lead.  Tony Horton then misses a HR 1-13 split with a 14, and Maye is cut down at the plate trying to score on the resulting double to end the rally.  Tiant keeps the A’s under wraps until the bottom of the 9th, when pinch hitter Hank Bauer doubles to lead off the inning, and then Tony Horton drops a Bill Tuttle grounder to put the tying run on 3rd with nobody out.   Indians LF Lou Johnson then misplays a Dick Williams single and the game is tied, with the winning run on 3rd in the form of Tuttle.  Tiant insists on remaining in the game, and escapes the jam to send the game to extra innings tied 1-1.   The Indians score in the top of the 10th when Maye doubles home Max Alvis, and Tiant retires the side in order in the 10th to preserve the 2-1 win, completing his 10 innings having allowed only 5 hits.

The final first-round game of the regional matched two squads with similar .500+ records. As the second team from the Year of the Pitcher to play in this regional, the 82-80 1968 A’s lived up to the billing offensively, with little else aside from Reggie Jackson to stir the drink, but Blue Moon Odom (16-10, 2.45) was a very solid #1 starter. Their opponents, the 83-79 2010 Rockies, boasted a mile high offense with numerous weapons, and 19 game winner Ubaldo Jimenez looked plenty capable of handling the A’s hitters.   The Rockies took a 3-0 lead in the 4th on back to back homers by Miguel Olivo and Ian Stewart, and Jimenez is cruising until he’s hurt making the final out of the 6th inning and has to leave the game, forcing the Rockies to turn to some rather frightening bullpen options.  The A’s promptly score in the 7th on a fielders choice from Mike Hershberger to narrow the lead to 3-1, but the Rockies turn to closer Huston Street who retires the A’s in order in the 9th, and the Rockies move on with the 3-1 win.

The survivors

Having survived a late challenge in the first round, the 2008 Phillies tapped veteran Jamie Moyer to start against Joe Nuxhall and the 1953 Reds, who had won comfortably despite little production from the bigger bats in their lineup.   One of those bats, Big Ted Kluszewski, remedies that state of affairs with a 2-run homer in the bottom of the first, but Reds RF Willard Marshall ends the inning coming up lame on a groundout and needs to leave the game.  That lead proves to be short-lived when Ryan Howard smacks a 3-run homer in the top of the 2nd and Pedro Feliz adds a solo shot that makes it 4-2 Philly.  The Phils add another 4 runs in the 3rd, including Howard’s second 3-run blast of the game, and it looks like the rout is on as the Reds have no good options in the bullpen to replace Nuxhall.  Unfortunately for the Phils, disaster strikes in the 4th when their all-star 2b Chase Utley is injured, like for the tournament, leaving them with a hole they can do little to fill.   Greg Dobbs doubles in a run in the 5th to make it 9-2, and the Phils score another in the 6th when Utley’s replacement, Eric Bruntlett, hits into a DP with a runner on 3rd.  The Reds nick Moyer for a run in the bottom of the 6th on a Greengrass RBI single, but Dobbs gets that back and more with a 3-run shot in the 7th and it’s now 13-3.  The Reds continue to fight, with a Grady Hatton homer making it 13-5, but with the huge lead Moyer coasts through the final innings and the Phils waltz into the regional finals--minus one of their most valuable players.

The semifinal between the 1968 Indians and the 2010 Rockies matched the best rotation in the regional--with Sam McDowell and his 1.81 ERA as the number #2 starter-- with an offensive-minded squad that struggles to field starting pitching with an ERA under 5.00.   The teams trade goose eggs until the top of the 6th, when Lou Johnson nails a split double off Jhoulys Chacin’s card and the Indians take a 2-0 lead.  That seems to wake up the Rockies offense, and a Todd Helton RBI single with a Dexter Fowler triple ties the game in the bottom of the inning.  The Indians defense fails McDowell in the bottom of the 8th as a Tony Horton error and a single past SS Larry Brown leads to Fowler’s second RBI of the game, and the Indians enter the 9th down 3-2.  However, in the top of the 9th Max Alvis singles off Chacin’s card, Brown beats out a sacrifice bunt, and the Rockies turn to Huston Street for the second consecutive game to try to secure the win in the 9th.  Street strikes out the side, and the Rockies move to the finals with a tight 3-2 win in which they only mustered 6 hits against Sudden Sam.

Down for the count

The only two 21st century teams in this regional were to meet in the finals, although this might have been expected because every game in the regional to this point had turned out consistent with the ELO rankings  As such, the favored 2008 Phillies had to feel good about their chances against the 2010 Rockies despite losing Chase Utley for another 6 games, but with neither starting pitcher--PHN’s Brett Myers and COL’s Jorge de la Rosa--inspiring much confidence some offensive fireworks were anticipated.  Three walks by de la Rosa and a Clint Barmes error give the Phils a 1-0 lead in the top of the 1st, but Jayson Werth returns the favor with a 2-base error in the bottom of the 1st and Brett Myers allows a 2-run single to Seth Smith to provide the Rockies with a 2-1 lead.  Werth then atones in the top of the 2nd with a 3-run homer to give the Phils a 4-2 advantage, but after recording 2 outs in the bottom of the inning Myers comes up with a sore arm and the Phils bullpen will need some long relief to hold their lead.  The Phillies add to the margin when Jimmy Rollins leads off the 4th with a triple and Shane Victorino singles him home, but the Rockies narrow it to 5-4 in the bottom of the inning with an Ian Stewart 2-run blast.  An RBI double by Rollins in the 5th finally chases de la Rosa, with Rafael Betancourt called upon to try to keep the game within reach, but Betancourt immediately turns a Victorino grounder into a 2-base error and two more runs, and it’s 8-4 Philadelphia after 5.  Meanwhile, the Phillies bullpen is holding its own, and they turn to Lidge for the 9th inning, but a walk, a single, and a Dexter Fowler triple and it’s suddenly 8-6 with the tying run at the plate in the form of Todd Helton.  But Lidge fans Helton to secure the win and the regional title for the Phillies to go along with their real-life World Series championship.  Worthy of note--the ELO favorite won every game in this regional.

Interesting card of Regional #101:   I really struggled trying to decide on a selection for this regional, as the two finalists were 21st century teams and I favor older layouts of Strat cards.  However, I eventually went with Rockies outfielder Carlos Gonzalez; he pretty much had it all in 2010, average, power, speed, and defense.  Unfortunately, he didn’t really do much for the Rockies in the regional, with only one hit in the three games, and not a single RBI.  What strikes me as interesting about Gonzalez was that in setting the lineup for the Rockies, I noticed that Baseball Reference listed him as a bench player--one who led the NL in hitting and came in 3rd in the MVP voting.  I found it remarkable that although Gonzalez played all three outfield positions (and obviously pretty well, given his three “1” defensive ratings), the Rockies played somebody more than Gonzalez at every OF position--even though Gonzalez ended up with far more plate appearances than any other outfielder.  I started Carlos in LF all three games, but given his lack of productivity in this regional, maybe Baseball Reference was on to something.