REGIONAL #130:  I always dread it when one of my favorite teams comes up in this tournament, because they invariably lose early, typically to a worse team, and then they’re out of this project forever.   My fears this time centered on the “winning ugly” 1983 White Sox, for whom I witnessed in person their real-life win-or-go-home moment when they lost to the Orioles in game 4 of the ALCS in an extra-inning game that was scoreless after nine innings.  Although they wouldn’t be facing any pennant winners, my initial scan of the competition suggested a number of teams that could knock them off, including a Royals team from the same season that was between pennants, a Twins team that would win the World Series the following season, a Hank Aaron-led Braves squad, and what I suspected would be competitive outfits from the Red Sox and the Angels.  Figuring that with my luck the Sox would lose in round one, I guessed that the Angels would make the finals but lose there to the Twins.  The ELO rankings added to the kiss-of-death tally by naming the Sox as the bracket favorites over the Royals in the finals, although by the rankings their first round opponent Angels should be their biggest challenge.  

First round action

For the first game of the regional I’m having to hope that the 99-win 1983 White Sox can survive the consistently bad luck that befalls any of my favorite teams that play in this tournament.  Of course, their first misfortune is in drawing the 2007 Angels, the second best team in the regional and every bit as good as the Sox on paper, as their opponent in the first round.  With solid hitting, good defense, and a couple of very strong starters, it was easy to see why the Angels won 94 games and, as did the Sox, won the AL West.  For the starting pitcher, despite some misgivings I had to go with LaMarr Hoyt (24-10, 3.66 ), the AL Cy Young winner that we lost in the past year, as I felt Dewey deserved his shot.  For the Angels, John Lackey (19-9, 3.01) finished 3rd in the Cy Young balloting and was a bit less prone to the longball than Hoyt.  In the 3rd, Reggie Willitts doubles off Hoyt’s card and Orlando Cabrera scores to give the Halos a 1-0 lead, but Willitts gets injured on his next AB and will be out for one more game.  Meanwhile, in both the 4th and 6th inning, Greg Luzinski comes up with two runners on and two out–and he whiffs both times, highly reminiscent of his performance in Game 4 of the 1983 ALCS (I’m guessing they were both called third strikes).  It finally comes to the Sox last chance in the top of the 9th, down by a run but with the heart of the order up:  Fisk, Baines, Luzinski.  And down they go, in order, with Luzinski whiffing for the 3rd time of the game as the last out, and as I feared the Sox lose ugly and head back to storage while the Angels move on with a 1-0 win in which they only get 5 hits, while the Sox only manage 6.  

After watching one of my favorite teams get eliminated immediately in the prior game, I was worried about the prospects for one of my favorite players, Hank Aaron, as the 1967 Braves took the field against the 88-win, AL East division winning 1990 Red Sox.  The Braves went 77-85 even though Hammering Hank finished 5th in the MVP voting, and starter Phil Niekro (11-9, 1.87) was imposing, but after that the supporting cast had big holes.   Plus, they had the challenge of going against Roger Clemens (21-6, 1.93), who like Niekro also led his league in ERA while finishing 2nd in the Cy Young vote.  Not surprisingly, the game develops into a hell of a pitchers’ duel:  Clemens has a perfect game going until 1 out in the 8th, when Clete Boyer drills a hard single, and a rattled Clemens then allows another single to Felipe Alou and a double to Rico Carty and the Braves score the first run of the game.  Woody Woodward then squibs a single past SS-3 Luis Rivera to score another, and Clemens loses it, walking two in a row to score another run.  At that point, Boston has to get their roid-raged ace out of the game, and they send Larry Andersen in to face Aaron with the based loaded.  Aaron whiffs, so the inning that started with a possible perfect game finally ends with the Braves up 3-0.  Just to be safe, Boyer adds a solo homer in the top of the 9th, but it turns out to be unnecessary as Niekro finishes out the 5-hit shutout for the 4-0 win.  The Braves only muster 5 hits themselves, but they were nicely bunched after seven innings of helplessness against Clemens.

The 1985 Mariners only went 74-88 but they had a core of good players like Alvin Davis, Phil Bradley, and Jim Presley that I remember being quite useful in my draft leagues back in the day, plus they had a very solid #1 starter in Mike Moore (17-10, 3.46).  They faced the 2004 Rays (who were still Deviled at the time), who lost 91 games, which was actually the best season in the history of the franchise at that point, and the best pitcher they could muster was Rob Bell (8-8, 4.46).  The Rays score in the top of the 2nd on a couple of walks and a couple of squib singles, but leave the bases loaded and only take a 1-0 lead.  However, in the 3rd the Mariners move on top 2-1 courtesy of a Jack Perconte RBI triple followed by a Davis sac fly.  The Rays strike back in the 5th when Rocco Baldelli hits a 2-out double with two men on, but Tino Martinez is cut down at the plate and the score is knotted at 2-2 temporarily, until Bob Kearney finds Bell’s HR result for a solo shot in the bottom of the inning and the M’s regain a 3-2 lead.  Bell loads up the bases in the 6th and Al Cowens converts a SI* 1-6 to give Seattle another run, but Tampa closer Danys Baez comes in and retires the side without further damage.   However, Baez gets wild in the 8th, loading up the bases and the M’s bring in Ivan Calderon to pinch hit.  He misses a HR 1-9 split for the grand slam, but the resulting double clears the bases and the M’s have a commanding lead.  Moore sets the Rays down in order in the 9th for the 5-hit complete game 7-2 win; the M’s do lose DH Gorman Thomas to a serious injury but he will be replaced by his doppleganger, Ken Phelps.  

The 1983 Royals had to be a little nervous given that the winner of their division had just been eliminated from the tourney without scoring a run; KC did finish second to the White Sox but had a losing 79-83 record.  However, they faced the 1990 Twins, who had a worse record at 74-88 and finished last in their division.  On the mound were KC’s Paul Splittorf (13-8, 3.63) against the Twins’ Scott Erickson (8-4, 2.87), and Willie Wilson wakes up Erickson in the top of the 1st with a leadoff triple–but fails to score as Erickson fans the heart of the Royals lineup.  Trying to show the Royals how its done, Shane Mack leads off the bottom of the inning with a triple of his own, but Splittorf records two quick outs before a CATCH X ends up in a passed ball charged to John Wathan, and the Twins lead 1-0.  Doubles by Gary Gaetti and Gene Larkin in the 4th make it a two-run lead, although Wathan strokes an RBI single in the 5th to atone for his mistake and narrow the score to 2-1.  Hal McRae’s sac fly in the 6th scores Frank White to tie the game, but when Splittorf allows 2 hits to start the bottom of the 7th, the Royals elect to go to closer Dan Quisenberry.  That doesn’t go too well as Quiz allows 2 more hits, but the Twins only get one run out of it as Kirby Puckett (1-15) is nailed trying to score.  The Royals waste no time in retaliating as George Brett and Willie Aikens go back-to-back in leading off the 8th, and it’s the Twins turn to summon their closer, Rick Aguilera.  The closers hold court until the bottom of the 9th, when Quisenberry fails to lock up the game as a Dan Gladden single scores a lumbering Kent Hrbek (1-9) from second, which ties the game and sends it to extra innings.  The 10th passes uneventfully, but in the top of the 11th pinch hitter Butch Davis starts a 2-out rally with UL Washington doubling, Willie Wilson driving them both in with a single; Wilson then steals second and White knocks him in and the Royals take a three-run lead into the bottom of the 11th.  However, at this point Quisenberry is burned for the regional and the remaining KC bullpen options are frightening, with Mike Armstrong seeming to be the best of the lot.  Junior Ortiz immediately finds Armstrong’s solid 6-4 HR result to lead off the inning; he gets two outs and then Dan Gladden rips a triple, but Gene Larkin pops out and Quisenberry gets the sloppy win, Armstrong gets the sloppy save, and the Royals move on with a 7-5 win.

The survivors

Having shut out the regional favorite in the first round, the #2 seed 2007 Angels now get to assume the mantle of favorite, and they face the 1967 Braves, who came within 5 outs of having a perfect game thrown against them.  The Braves were not pleased that the Angels had yet another very good starting pitcher, Kelvim Escobar (18-7, 3.40), available to go against Atlanta’s Ken Johnson (13-9, 2.74).  In the 2nd, the Angels lose 2B Howie Kendrick to injury, and with LF Reggie Willetts already out from a first round sprain their team depth is being tested.  In the bottom of the 3rd, Willetts’ replacement in LF, Garrett Anderson, can’t get to a two-out Denis Menke flyball and it falls for a double, scoring Carty; that opens the door for an onslaught that includes two more doubles from Mack Jones and Clete Boyer, and an RBI single from Aaron, and by the time Escobar gets Alou for out number three, it’s 5-0 Braves.  The Braves threaten again in the 4th but Felix Millan (1-16) is nailed trying to score for the third out.  As the game heads to the 7th, the Braves bring in Bob Costas’ favorite Strat card, Gary Geiger, as a defensive replacement in CF.  In the 8th, Braves 2B Woody Woodward comes up with two on and two out, and not only does he make the third out, he gets injured and will miss the regional final–meaning that for the remainder of this game at least, the Braves now have an all-”4” DP combo because Millan started at DH. But at least Johnson assures that the Braves will get to that final, as he wraps up a 3-hit shutout (making two in a row for Atlanta) and they advance with the 5-0 win.

It was 80s night for this semifinal with two sub-.500 squads, the 1983 Royals and Bud Black (10-7, 3.79) against the 1985 Mariners and Matt Young (12-19, 4.91), with the underdog Mariners hoping to stay alive and maybe win the first regional for the franchise.  The Royals strike with speed in the bottom of the 1st when Willie Wilson singles, steals second against a hapless Seattle C-4 Bob Kearney, and scores on a George Brett single.  It gets worse for the Mariners when Jim Presley gets injured leading off the top of the 2nd, and with Gorman Thomas already laid up the M’s have no decent bench to cover.  A 2-run Wilson double and a fielder's choice score three more in the 2nd, and when Pat Sheridan whacks a 3-run homer in the 3rd the rout is on and Young exits with a 31.50 ERA for his efforts.  An Al Cowens RBI double in the 5th gets Seattle on the board to make it 8-1, and Jack Perconte adds another in the 8th with a 2-out RBI single, but the Royals aren’t worried–yet.  However, in the 9th Black muffs a Kearney grounder and throws it into the dugout on what would have been the 3rd out, allowing 2 runs to score and opening the door for the Mariners with no real help in the pen.  Ultimately, however, Black gets out number three, and the Royals escape with an 8-5 win and a date with the Braves in the finals.

The finals matched the #4 seeded 1967 Braves, who had been underdogs in every game they won, with the #5 seed 1983 Royals, who despite being ranked lower than the Braves had nonetheless been favorites in both of their prior games.  That wasn’t the case here, especially with a dropoff in the Royals’ rotation that meant a start for Steve Renko (6-11, 4.30) against Atlanta’s Denny Lemaster (9-9, 3.35).  Both teams were shorthanded, with Royals closer Quisenberry burnt for the regional and Braves 2B Woody Woodward injured, the latter hole filled by Bob Costas’s hero, Gary Geiger and his .162 average (Millan to 2nd, Carty to DH, Jones to LF, Geiger to CF).  Geiger gets a clutch 2-out single in the 2nd, but is robbed of an RBI when Alou (1-16) is out at the plate to end the inning.  The Royals show them how it’s done in the bottom of the inning, as they load the bases with two-out for their #9 hitter, U.L. Washington, and he delivers a clutch single and Hal McRae takes the extra base so KC leads 2-0.  Denis Menke responds for the Braves with a homer to lead off the 3rd to narrow the gap to one run, but the Royals get it back in the bottom of the inning with a Willie Aikens solo shot.  That lead dissipates in the 3rd as Rico Carty’s two-run blast ties things up, and then the Braves move in front when KC SS-2 Washington drops a Millan grounder and Menke singles Millan home.  Both pitchers ride it out from there but Lemaster is the master, completing a 4-hitter and the 4-3 victory that gives the Braves the regional, completing a nice little dynasty of 1967, 1968, and 1969 Braves teams that have done so.  However, on their last at-bat of the game, Felipe Alou is injured and he will miss the first game of their eventual (if I last that long) super-regional appearance. 

Interesting card of Regional #130:  In 1983, Butch Davis was a 25-year-old making his first MLB appearance for the Royals, and as you can see it went pretty well.  By tournament rules, Davis was eligible to DH because he had at least 100 ABs, but because KC already had Hal McRae serving effectively in that role, he was relegated to pinch-hit duties, and he did deliver an important one to help get his Royals to the regional finals.   But notice his stat line–how many modern-era players can you think of that had more triples than doubles AND homers combined, with at least 100 AB?  That stat line lends itself to an interesting card, and that solid 3-7 TRIPLE is a nice feature, but what I find particularly eye-catching is that 3-4:  HR 1-6/fly B.  Why did they give him an out as the second part of the split?  He had plenty of triple points to spare that could have been used to complete the split–my impression was that Strat would always complete a HR split with an extra base hit if the player merited sufficient points to do so.  If you’re thinking that the game company never has a HR/TR split, any classic Strat C&D player should remember the Old Timer 1927 Yanks and Earle Combs, with his 1-10 HR 1-5/TR split outcome.  At any rate, Butch never had much of a shot at another card like this, as he never hit above .245 again and the most ABs in a season he would ever get was 159–10 years after the card represented here.