REGIONAL #139:  This draw looked like a lot of fun with a bunch of interesting teams.  For the second bracket in a row, there was a pennant winning Braves team of the 90s, with this one seeking to better the limited success of the version that lost in the second round in the prior regional.  There was also a 2009 Rangers team that would win two pennants in a row beginning the following year, and some teams from the 60s that would include names like Mays, McCovey, Stargell and Clemente.  I had unsuccessfully picked the Braves to win the last regional, but I figured I’d stick to my guns and pick them again, guessing that they would best the Rangers in the final.  The ELO ranks portrayed this as a strong group, with six of the eight teams in the top 1000 and the Braves as favorites in the top 100; however, those ranks identified the Rangers as actually the weakest team in the loaded upper half of the bracket, forecasting that the 2013 Rays would be the Braves’ victim in the finals.

First round action

The first game of the regional looked like a fun one with two good teams from the 60s NL, the 2nd place 91-win 1967 Giants against the 92-win, 3rd place 1966 Pirates:  Mays, McCovey and Hart against Clemente, Stargell, and Clendenon, with SF’s Cy Young Award winning Mike McCormick (22-10, 2.85) against Pittsburgh’s Bob Veale (16-12, 3.02).   However, the Giants look on in horror as McCormick is injured for 8 games upon recording the last out of a perfect 1st inning, and Ron Herbel is called from a shallow Giants bullpen to provide innings.  The Giants give Herbel a lead in the 5th when Jim Davenport misses Veale’s HR 1-5/DO split, but Hal Lanier (1-12) sneaks under the tag at the plate to score…although Davenport is then erased on a Mays lomax.  The Pirates immediately tie things up in the bottom of the inning on a 2-out Stargell single, but Clemente makes the last out by getting injured for 6 games and league officials have to summon more ambulances.  The Giants come alive in the 6th when McCovey leads off with a tape-measure blast and Ollie Brown contributes an RBI single to give SF a 3-1 lead; with Herbel now burnt for the regional the Giants call for their best reliever, Frank Linzy, to replace him.  In the 7th, the unbelievable injury barrage continues, with McCovey knocked out of the game although he could return for the finals if the Giants can make it that far.  With the game tight, they have to stick with Linzy and he enters the 9th in his last inning of eligibility for the regional; he gets two quick outs but then a Mota single and a walk, and the winning run is at the plate in the form of Matty Alou…with his brother Jesus staring at him from left field.  Matty flies out, albeit not to his brother, and the Giants limp on with the 3-1 win, with their best pitcher and hitter injured and their best reliever burnt for the bracket.

The only two 21st century teams in the regional were matched in the first round, with the 2009 Rangers facing the 2013 Rays.  The Rangers won 87 games to finish 2nd in the AL West, but had many of the pieces in place that would lead to pennants in their next two seasons–although as was typical for those teams they were lacking in starting pitching, with Scott Feldman (17-8, 4.08) their top option.  Still, the ELO ranks favored the Rays, who won 92 games to finish 2nd in the AL East, and who were excellent defensively in support of a good rotation with Alex Cobb (11-3, 2.76) getting the round one start.  The Rays open the scoring in the bottom of the 1st on a Wil Myers RBI double, and Myers comes through again in the 3rd with an RBI single that makes it 2-0.  However, in the top of the 5th aging Rangers DH Andruw Jones deposits a 2-run homer into the dim reaches of the Trop, and the game is tied.  When Desmond Jennings rockets a liner past Rangers 1B-4 Hank Blalock for a double to put runners on 2nd and 3rd with one out, the Rangers need a strikeout and bring in reliever Neftali Felix as that is his specialty. Sure enough, he whiffs Evan Longoria to bring up Wil Myers, who dribbles a grounder to 2B-2 Ian Kinsler, but Kinsler muffs it and the Rays retake the lead.  A rattled Feliz then walks James Loney to load the bases, and Matt Joyce converts a HR 1-7 for a grand slam and suddenly it’s Tampa 7, Texas 2.  With that lead, Cobb asserts himself to close out the complete game 4-hitter and the Rays head to the semis with the 7-2 win.

In the last regional, I tried to take advantage of the rotation depth of the ‘96 Braves by starting Greg Maddux in the first round to save an awesome John Smoltz for a tough round two matchup.  Although Maddux did his job, Smoltz was defeated in the second round; even so, with the 90-54 WS Champion 1995 Braves now up in this regional, I thought I’d try the same thing, this time saving Maddux by starting Tom Glavine (16-7, 3.08) in the first round.  The Braves faced another NL team impacted by the same work stoppage, the 1994 Pirates, who were probably glad that the season ended early given their 53-61 record–although former Brave Zane Smith (10-8, 3.27) was a solid #1 starter.  The Braves strategy is looking like it’s backfiring right away when an Al Martin double in the top of the 1st sets up a 2-out, 2-run single from Orlando Merced to give the Pirates a lead.  The Pirates get two more in the 4th with a two out rally involving a Don Slaught RBI single followed by Andy Van Slyke’s double that scores one, with Slaught nailed at the plate to end the inning, and the 5th inning also ends for the Pirates in a similar fashion, with Al Martin (1-16) cut down to keep the score at 4-0.  When Glavine allows a double to Dave Clark in the 7th, his 10th hit allowed, the Braves turn to closer Mark Wohlers and he strikes out two straight Pirates to do his job.  Still, Atlanta can’t muster anything against Smith, and Pittsburgh brings in the defensive replacements in the 8th to try to close out the upset.  Finally, with 2 out in the bottom of the 9th, Fred McGriff finds Smith’s HR result for a solo shot, but that is far too little and far too late as Chipper Jones flies out and the Pirates win 4-1 and send yet another pennant winner back into storage with a first round loss.  And, once again I find that attempting to “save” a team’s ace starter for later rounds is usually ill-advised.

The 1987 Brewers won 91 games assisted by their Hall of Famers Yount and Molitor, and with the possibility of facing Greg Maddux in the semis eliminated they could start their ace Ted Higuera (18-10, 3.85) with no misgivings.  That is probably fortunate, because they would be facing an imposing Mike Cuellar (12-10, 2.22) of the 1966 Astros, a team that lost 90 games and were discovering that it was very hard to hit homers in their new domed stadium.   Both pitchers begin the game strong, but the long-term hopes of the Brewers take a crushing blow in the 3rd when Yount gets injured for 8 games in his second AB of the tournament.  In the 4th, Jim Gentile manages to reach the stands in the Astrodome for a solo shot that is the Astros’ first hit of the game.  However, in the 6th Mike Felder, in for Yount, singles, steals second, and scores on a 2-out hit by Greg Brock to tie the game, and in the bottom of the inning the injury bug hits Astros C John Bateman, out for 2 games.  The dice leave no doubt in the 8th that it is open season on all-stars in this regional, as Molitor goes down for 2 games, and to add injury to injury Bateman’s replacement, Bill Heath, gets knocked out for the rest of the game in the bottom of the inning.  To recap, entering the 9th inning, the score is 1-1, there have been 5 total hits in the game, and 4 total injuries.  To lead off the top of the 9th, Bill Schoeder singles for the Brewers and Jimmy Wynn misplays it, sending Schroeder to second where he scores on a Brock single to give Milwaukee their first lead.  That means it’s Higuera’s game to clinch, but after getting one out in the bottom of the 9th Wynn singles and 1B-3 Brock mishandles a Lee Maye grounder, so the tying and winning run are now aboard for Rusty Staub.  Higuera walks Staub to load the bases and the Brewers summon Dan Plesac from the pen to try to bail things out.  With grounder-prone Chuck Harrison at the plate, the Brewers play for the game-ending double play, but Plesac whiffs him and there are two out, and Bob Aspromonte is up.  It’s a sharp grounder to injury replacement Jim Gantner; he fields it cleanly and the battered but unbowed Brewers head to the semis with a 2-1 win on a combined 3-hitter from Higuera and Plesac.   

The survivors

The 2013 Rays were feeling pretty good about their chances in this regional, with their main competitors either eliminated or wracked by injuries while the Rays were at full strength with a fully rested bullpen to support Chris Archer (9-7, 3.22) if that should be necessary.  Meanwhile, with their bullpen depleted after their first round game, the 1967 Giants were relying on a complete game from workhorse Gaylord Perry (15-17, 2.61) and were hoping to survive this semifinal game and get McCovey back for the finals.  But things just keep getting worser for the Giants, and their now-leading HR hitter with McCovey out, Jim Hart, goes down with a 10 game injury in the top of the 1st.  An irate Giants team comes out charging in the 2nd, loading the bases for a 2-out double from .213 hitting Hal Lanier, but what should happen in the bottom of the 2nd but Rays DH Kelly Johnson rolling the 6-12 for a 2-game injury to Perry.  The Giants seem to take it in stride, rallying for two more runs in the 3rd on a Willie Mays single and a Jack Hiatt fielder’s choice, and SF leads 4-0.  A double by Hart’s replacement Bob Schroeder sets up a sac fly by Mays in the 5th, and meanwhile Lindy McDaniel tosses four innings of no-hit relief.  In the 7th Jim Davenport homers off Archer’s card, and he’s sent to the showers for Fernando Rodney, while Joe Gibbon has to come in to relieve the depleted McDaniel in the bottom of the inning.   Gibbon starts out great guns, but with two out in the 8th he allows three straight hits, the last an RBI single for Ben Zobrist, and the Giants lead is 5 heading into the 9th.  Rodney puts the Giants down in order, so it’s up to Gibbon, who retires the side to preserve the 6-1 Giants win and a berth in the finals, with McCovey returning but Hart, Perry, McCormick injured and an empty bullpen with four relievers burnt.

The #7 seeded 1994 Pirates managed to eliminate the regional favorite in the first round, although the strike-shortened season made for a limited pitching staff with Jon Lieber (6-7, 3.73) their best remaining option.  Fortunately for them, they faced a depleted 1987 Brewers team whose primary claim to fame was two Hall of Famers–both of whom would miss this game due to injury.   The Brewers opted to go with swingman Chuck Crim (6-8, 3.67) as their best bet to get to the finals, but the Pirates greet him with back to back doubles from Andy Van Slyke and Al Martin to begin the game, and a Jay Bell RBI single makes it 2-0 before the Brewers can bat.  A Greg Brock sac fly in the bottom of the 1st narrows the gap to 2-1, but in the 3rd Martin singles, steals second and scores once again on a Bell single to restore the two run lead.  That lead evaporates when a Don Slaught error opens the door to 2-out RBI singles from BJ Surhoff and Jim Gantner, and we enter the 5th inning with the game reset to even and both teams leading off with the top of their orders.  That works best for the Brewers, as Glenn Braggs hits a solo HR in the bottom of the 5th to give Milwaukee their first lead, and Gantner (in for the injured Molitor) continues to prove his mettle by doubling home Surhoff with two out in the 6th.  The Pirates look at a bullpen, vainly hoping to see someone who isn’t terrible, but there’s nobody home and they decide to stick for a while longer with Lieber, who does end the inning without further damage but with the Pirates now down by two.  When Brock adds an RBI single in the 7th, the Pirates can take no more and try Randy Tomlin in relief, but SS-2 Jay Bell boots a grounder for the Pirates’ second error of the inning and the Brewers take a 7-3 lead into the 8th hoping that Crim can hang on and rest closer Plesac for the final.  That isn’t looking promising when Al Martin leads off the 8th with a homer, and then Crim loads the bases setting up a 2-out single by Carlos Garcia that scores one, but lumbering Lance Parrish is nailed at the plate and it’s now a 2-run game.  But Crim recovers and sets down the Pirates in order in the 9th to preserve the 7-5 win and push the Brewers into the finals.

One might think that a single elimination tournament would minimize the importance of team depth, but the finals of this regional demonstrate otherwise, as two injury-wracked teams manage to survive with clutch performances by players like Jim Gantner and Bob Schroder off the bench.  The 1987 Brewers had to reach the finals without any contribution from their two Hall of Famers, Yount and Molitor, while the 1967 Giants were an even sadder story:  they lost their two top HR hitters, McCovey and Hart, and ALSO managed to lose their #1 and #2 starting pitchers, McCormick and Perry, before the second inning of each game was over–totally depleting their bullpen for the final.   Fortunately for the Giants, starter Juan Marichal (14-10, 2.76) seemed perfectly capable of going nine if he could avoid injury, and they were also bolstered by the return of McCovey.  Similarly, the Brewers were getting Molitor back, and although Bill Wegman (12-11, 4.24) was not an inspiring starter, they did have a fully rested Dan Plesac ready to go out of the pen.  The Brewers start things off in the bottom of the 1st when DH Bill Schroeder finds Marichal’s HR split for a solo shot, and then of course in the second their 3B Ernest Riles goes down with a 2 game injury, meaning that Jim Gantner only missed one AB on the bench before he’s back in the game.  Meanwhile, Wegman takes a perfect game into the 6th but finally allows a double to Tito Fuentes with one out, and Plesac starts warming up in the pen.  Wegman gets one more out but then allows another double to Jim Davenport, and the game is tied and Plesac is summoned to try to keep it that way.  But he allows a single to Tom Haller, Davenport is running with the pitch, and he scores to give the Giants their first lead.  That lasts until the bottom of the 8th when Schroeder clouts a long solo shot, this time off his own card, and then Marichal absolutely disintegrates, allowing a walk and 5 straight hits as the Brew Crew bats around and Schroeder finally flies out to end the inning with Milwaukee having put up seven runs in the inning.  For the 9th, the Brewers take a risk and pull Plesac to try to preserve his innings for future rounds, even though the rest of their pen is terrible with Mark Clear given the job of getting three outs.  Clear comes in and strikes out Haller, McCovey, and Mays and the Brewers win 8-2 to capture only their second regional crown (joining the 2003 team) and doing so without the services of arguably their best player, Robin Yount, who was knocked out of the tournament almost immediately.

Interesting card of Regional #139:  He may have been injured for most of the regional, and his fielding was a source of concern (he was a 2b-4 e11 in advanced, which helps a little), but I still  quite like this Paul Molitor card, based on a season in which he finished 5th in the MVP vote.  To me, this is an ideal #2 batter.  He gets on base, he has plenty of extra base potential, he doesn’t hit into a lot of DPs, and he’s a serious base stealing threat that can cause additional disruption for the heart of the order.  Aside from the fact that the injury-plagued Brewers won the regional, I also wanted to show the card to commemorate the 35th anniversary of the least-legible cards ever printed by the game company.   These things were such a challenge to read at the time that the company, not known for their eagerness to change, immediately altered the appearance of the cards the next year to make them more easy to read.  This was also the first season of the perforated cards, of which I’ve never been a fan, but after three and a half decades I guess I’m used to it.  I’m just happy that the blue-print-on-blue-background experiment was a brief one.