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.