REGIONAL #142:  No pennant winners in this batch, although there were a couple that were close.  For example, the ‘85 Tigers had captured the flag as a great team the season before, although that team had been upset in the finals of Regional #50.  Among the rest, I knew that the 2000 Mariners would have a record-setting season the following year, although even the 2001 team couldn’t win the pennant.  There was the second 2021 team to enter the tournament, but I didn’t think it would be a very good one; I thought that maybe ‘24 Browns or the ‘51 Red Sox would emerge from the lower half of the bracket.  Ultimately my prediction was for the Tigers to take the Red Sox in the final;  the ELO rankings suggested that my short term memory may be shot (or perhaps I simply wasn’t paying much attention last season), as it picked the 2021 Blue Jays as the best team in the group, forecasting a win for them over the Tigers in the final.

First round action

In the years since the 1924 White Sox played, the franchise has seen exactly one Series winner, and that team got embarrassed in the first round in the previous regional, so perhaps this 1924 Sox team can make up for it.  Unfortunately for them, they were busy atoning for the Black Sox scandal that resulted in many of their best players having recently been banned from baseball, and they went 66-87 to finish last in the AL, but they had some good players and a 20-game winner in Sloppy Thurston (20-14, 3.80) ready to go on the mound.  However, they were marked underdogs to the 2000 Mariners, a 91-win team that came within two ALCS games of the AL pennant–and the next season they would win 116.   The Mariners had a frightening core of the order anchored by ARod and Edgar Martinez, but their starting rotation was as expected from a steroid-era team, with Paul Abbott (9-7, 4.22) handed the first round start.  The Sox draw first blood with a run in the top of the 1st on a Bibb Falk sac fly, and in the 3rd the M’s lose 3B David Bell for four games to injury; although Bell isn’t a prominent part of the Seattle offense, he’s the only third baseman on the team that isn’t a 5 so that would likely come back to haunt them.  In the 5th Falk come up for the Sox with 2 out and 2 on, and he rolls Abbott’s HR 1-16/DO result, misses the split with an 18, and then Buck Crouse (1-12) is nailed at the plate with a 17 split, so the Sox get one but the split die costs them two more.  The Mariners then respond in the bottom of the inning with a two-out rally keyed by a Mark McLemore RBI double, and the game is tied.  When Willie Kamm leads off the 7th with a double off Abbott’s card, the Mariners decide it’s time for the pen and Arthur Rhodes comes in, but Sox PH Roy Elsh singles and Kamm races home to give the Sox the lead.  The next batter, DH Maurice Archdeacon, lofts a fly ball to RF that Jay Buhner turns into a double, and that brings up Eddie Collins, who rips a grounder to injury replacement 3B-5 Carlos Guillen.  Of course, Guillen drops it, another run comes in, Collins steals second, and Bibb Falk doubles to pick up RBI numbers three and four and Rhodes is a goner after recording just one out and the Sox end the inning leading 7-2.  Trying to get back into the game, EMart leads off the 8th with a double and ARod walks to bring up Buhner–who promptly hits a LOMAX for the triple play and the remaining fans at Safeco head for the exits.  However, they should have stayed put, as in the bottom of the 9th Thurston gets two straight outs, but then Widger and Guillen hit back to back doubles, McLemore walks, and Mike Cameron blasts a three-run homer to make it a one run game.  EMart then singles to bring up ARod as the winning run, and the Sox have no bullpen so it’s up to Sloppy.  And he lives up to his name as ARod flies out and the Sox record a Sloppy 7-6 win to move to the second round.

The 1985 Tigers were a year removed from a World Series championship, but although they fielded essentially the same team  as those victors, they only managed an 84-77 performance.  Still, they were light years better on paper than the 98-loss 1993 Marlins, as about the best that could be said about them was that they had some good arms in the bullpen.  Still, to avoid being overconfident, the Tigers tapped their ace Jack Morris (16-11, 3.33) to start against knuckleballer Charlie Hough (9-16, 4.27).  The Tigers take a quick 1-0 lead in the bottom of the first with a long solo shot from their second batter, Lou Whitaker, and Darrell Evans leads off the 4th with another blast to make it a two run lead.  Meanwhile, the Marlins hit into three DPs in their first five innings to make Morris’ job easier, but in the 6th they lead off with two straight hits and, after Gary Sheffield whiffs, DH Orestes Destrade doubles to score one, but the Marlins put the brakes on 1-9 Dave Madagan and then he gets stranded as Morris strikes out two in a row and it’s a one-run game.  When Chet Lemon leads off the bottom of the 6th with a single, the Marlins figure that it’s time to take advantage of their strong bullpen and summon Chris Carpenter to the mound, but he allows a few hits including an RBI single to Alan Trammell, and the Marlins are lucky to escape with just that as 1B-3 Jeff Conine converts a tough play to end the inning with the bases loaded.   When Carpenter puts two more on in the bottom of the 7th it’s time for closer Bryan Harvey, who not only gets the third out but makes the play himself.  However, it’s for naught as Morris closes out the 7-hitter and the Tigers move on with a 3-1 win.

The 1951 Red Sox had some imposing offensive weapons, led by the Splendid Splinter, that pushed them to an 87-67 record, but the rotation was mediocre, the team was slow and their defense was porous.  Deciding to save swingman Ellis Kinder for their shallow bullpen, the Sox went with the capable Mel Parnell (18-11, 3.26) against a 74-78 1924 Browns team that had George Sisler, Ken Williams, and Baby Doll Jacobson but a similarly unimpressive rotation fronted by Ernie Wingard (13-12, 3.51).  The Browns grab the lead in the 3rd when Jack Tobin hits a 2-out double and Marty McManus singles him home with the clutch hit, but in the bottom of the 4th Ted Williams, Vern Stephens, and Lou Boudreau all rap doubles and the Red Sox take a 3-1 lead.  That only lasts until the 6th, when Baby Doll hits a 2-run double that is followed by a 2-run homer from Gene Robertson and the Browns now lead 5-3.  In the bottom of the 7th, Buddy Rosar, who had been brought in for his defense back when Boston had a lead, smacks a leadoff triple, and he scores when Bobby Doerr raps a single through a drawn-in infield that makes it a one-run game, although the rally ends when Williams hits into Boston’s fourth DP of the game.  When Hank Severeid leads off the top of the 9th with a double, the Sox finally move to Kinder out of the pen, but although he gets two quick outs McManus delivers once again with a 2-out RBI single to give the Browns a little padding. That leaves it up to Wingard, and he records two outs but then Rosar singles and C-4 Pat Collins drops a popup to bring up Doerr as the winning run, with Williams on deck.  But Doerr flies out and the Browns notch a 6-4 win, the second upset of the regional for these gritty 1924 teams.  

I apparently overlooked the 2021 Blue Jays in predicting the bracket, perhaps because although they were a 4th place team in their division, they still won 91 games.  I could see how they would get the top ELO ranking in the regional–a very good rotation led by Cy Young winner Robbie Ray (13-7, 2.84), strong arms in the pen, and a power packed lineup led by famous offspring with names such as Biggio, Guerrero, and Bichette.  However, they had their weaknesses; Ray had a tendency to throw gopher balls and the three aforementioned kids apparently never learned how to field from their fathers, as all three were “4”s at their position.  However, the 1963 Cubs were also better than I had given them credit for, going 82-80 with a solid core in Santo/Williams/Banks and I was surprised to find an outstanding starter, Dick Ellsworth (22-10, 2.10), who received some MVP votes and who I thought had a better card than Ray’s.   The Jays grab the lead in the 2nd when Teoscar Hernandez leads off by crushing one onto Waveland Avenue, but Billy Williams blasts his own leadoff shot in the bottom of the 4th to tie it up.    Randal Grichuk drives in Hernandez with a sac fly in the 7th to give the Jays the edge and the defensive replacements start coming in, and Ray is dominant until the bottom of the 9th, when with one out Ken Hubbs finds one of Ray’s HR results to tie the game.  When Andre Rogers follows with a single that’s it for Ray, and Adam Cimber (with no HR chances on his card) comes in with the winning run on board.  Nevertheless, his first pitch to pinch hitter Jimmie Schaffer gets deposited in the bleachers and Wrigley erupts as Cubs win, Cubs win, 4-2 in walkoff style, as Ellsworth gets his win with a nifty 4-hitter.

The survivors

The first round of the regional involved four games with clear favorites, but only one of those four actually survived:  the 1985 Tigers, who were counting on Dan Petry (15-13, 3.36) to lead them past the upstart 1924 White Sox and Hall of Famer Red Faber (9-11, 3.85).  The Sox scrape up a run in the top of the 1st on a Harry Hooper fielder’s choice, but an error by Sox 2b-2 Eddie Collins allows the Tigers to plate a similar run in the 2nd without recording a hit.  The Sox run themselves out of a run when Collins is caught stealing in the 6th and Bibb Falk follows with a double that almost certainly would have scored Collins from first, with Falk getting stranded at second.  Lance Parrish, pumped after nailing AA Collins in the top half of the inning, leads off the bottom half with a long blast to give Detroit a lead.  And from there Petry is in control, finishing off the 5-hitter for the 2-1 win to send the Tigers to the final, despite a line score for the game that reads 2 hits, 2 runs, and 2 errors.

Two upset winners from the first round pair off in this semifinal game, the 1924 Browns and the 1963 Cubs, with the Cubs tapping swingman Paul Toth (5-9, 3.09) to go against the Browns and   Dixie Davis (11-13, 4.10).  Both teams are starting a very good Williams in LF, and it’s the Browns version, Ken Williams, who makes the first impact, crushing a 3-run homer into the Wrigley bleachers in the top of the 1st, and that’s only the beginning as the Browns bat around with 6 hits leading to a 6-0 lead before the Cubs can bat.  Toth settles down after that, but when Baby Doll Jacobson leads off the 5th with a solid double and Gene Robertson singles to drive him home, Toth is out and Lindy McDaniel tries his hand, but the hits keep coming and the Browns lead expands to 9-0 and they starting putting in replacements as insurance against injuries.  Those subs don’t let up and they score another two in the 6th, although the Cubs finally get on the board in the bottom of the inning on a solo homer from soon-to-be-traded Lou Brock.  Two straight hits to lead off the Browns’ 7th and McDaniel is gone for Don Elston, but that doesn’t help much as Marty McManus’s RBI on a fielder’s choice makes him the 9th Brown in the starting lineup to drive in a run.  In the 8th, the hero of the Cubs round one game, Jimmie Schaeffer, does it again and hits a PH solo homer to give the few remaining Cubs fans something to cheer, but he comes up again in the bottom of the 9th with the bases loaded and runs out of heroics as the Browns seal the 13-2 blowout (outhitting the Cubs 20 to 6) and a berth in the finals.

In ten previous chances, no Browns team had ever captured a regional, and they had only made the finals once before, with the 1930 team crushed in the final of Regional #40.  Thus, the 1924 Browns, the #5 seed in this regional, carry the hopes of the brand against the #3 seeded 1985 Tigers.   For a final, it was a pretty good pitching matchup with Walt Terrell (15-10, 3.85) facing Urban Shocker (18-13, 4.20), and it would be particularly interesting to see how the Browns bats, who had 33 hits and 19 runs in their first two games, would fare against the Tigers pitching and defense, which had allowed only 2 runs total in their games.  The answer seems to come quickly in the bottom of the 2nd when the Browns lead off with four straight hits and end the rally holding a 3-0 lead.  The Tigers waste no time in chipping away at that lead as Chet Lemon leads off the 3rd with a homer, but Ken Williams retaliates with a solo blast of his own in the bottom of the inning and it’s 4-1 Browns.  In the 4th, Browns RF-2 Jack Tobin muffs a Lou Whitaker flyball and Lance Parrish doubles Lou home to narrow the gap, but George Sisler leads off the bottom of the inning with a double on a missed HR split and scores on a Norm McMillan single…but Browns SS Wally Gerber ends the inning by getting injured and the only replacements available are SS-5.  A leadoff walk in the 7th chases Terrell, but Willie Hernandez comes in only to be greeted by Marty McManus rolling a 4-4, solid homer on Willie, Gene Robertson later adds an RBI single, and there is dancing in the streets in St. Louis.  However, the mood gets more subdued when Darrell Evans crushes one with Trammell and Whitaker aboard, and it’s now 8-5 entering the 9th, Shocker showing signs of tiring, and nobody in the Browns pen worth mentioning.  But Urban sets the Tigers down in order with two of them being strikeouts, and the St. Louis Browns capture their first regional with the 8-5 win.

Interesting card of Regional #142:  It seemed only fitting to feature the primary weapon of the Browns given that they won their first (and probably last) regional, especially because Ken Williams is among the most overlooked players in baseball history.  Why is that?  Perhaps it’s because he might only be the third best Williams to play left field; perhaps it’s because people confuse him with the guy who made all those bad decisions as White Sox GM.  But he was relatively anonymous even at the time; apparently a St. Louis photographer was sent to the park to get a picture of Williams after he had a three-homer game, and the photographer mistakenly took a shot of Baby Doll Jacobson instead.  Williams was one of only two guys not named Babe Ruth to lead the American League in homers during the 1920s, and any Strat fan who loved the Old Timer teams should celebrate the 100th anniversary of his great card for the 1922 Browns.  In an era where the game was transitioning from one of speed to one of power, Williams was one of the few who could offer both; ending with a career batting average of .319, he was one of the greats of his time and unlike many other greats in this tournament, he came through to lead his team to the regional win.