REGIONAL #148:  This group was another draw where I didn’t recognize any of the contestants as being a particularly great team.    There were entries from the Braves, Brewers, Padres, Tigers and Angels that I thought were all a number of years past having been very good teams.  I had a feeling that the Pirates probably weren’t competitive, as I don’t remember any such Pirate teams from recent years, and as for the 2013 Cubs, I had picked the 2012 version to win the previous regional, and as Pete Townsend put it, we won’t get fooled again.  Having no clue who might emerge here, I went with the 2000 Padres, who had won a pennant only two years earlier and would get that peak steroid-era boost, over the Braves in the final.  The ELO ranks suggest that I undersold a number of teams, including the Pirates and the Brewers, with the latter actually pegged as the best team in the AL that season.   Those ranks predicted the Braves over the ‘73 Tigers in the final.   On an irrelevant note, I will say that I was pleased to see the Brewers housed in the AL, the Astros in the NL, and the Angels in “California” in this bracket, which in my opinion is the way it should be.

First round action

The 92-win 1992 Brewers were the second best team in the regional and the best AL team that season according to the ELO ranks, but I wasn’t very impressed; although they had some memorable names like Yount, Molitor, and Greg Vaughn in the lineup, their stars didn’t have particularly great years and Molitor (12) and Vaughn (23) were the only ones in the lineup with double digit homers.  However, they had a solid starting rotation and a couple of stellar relievers, so they were looking to win low-scoring games, giving the first round start to the very tough Cal Eldred (11-2, 1.79).   They faced the another team I seemed to have underestimated, the 2013 Pirates, who were seeded #3 and won 94 games with a postseason appearance.  As I figured they had Andrew McCutcheon as a weapon, but they also had Starling Marte, Marlon Byrd, and Pedro Alvarez with strong seasons and a good rotation with Francisco Liriano (16-8, 3.02).  The Brewers open the tap in the top of the 1st when Yount doubles and scores on a hard single by Vaughn, but Byrd nails a solo homer in the bottom of the inning to quickly tie it back up.  When Scott Fletcher doubles home speedy Darryl Hamilton in the 2nd, it’s beginning to look like this game may live up to its billing as the one to watch in the first round.  From there, both aces turn off the tap, and nobody can mount a threat until the top of the 8th, when a single and a walk push the Pirates to move to Mark Melancon out of the pen to keep it close.  He ends the threat, and the Bucs have six more outs to get to Eldred and try to make up the one-run deficit.  In the bottom of the 8th, Pittsburgh gets a single and two walks to load the bases with two away, and after a conference at the mound the Brewers decide to let Eldred pitch to Neal Walker.  It’s a sharp grounder to 2B-2 Fletcher, who fields it cleanly and Milwaukee takes their one run lead into the 9th.  Melancon shuts down the Brewers in order, so it's now the bottom of the Pirates order standing between Eldred and the win.  With one out, DH Gary Sanchez converts a split single and Alex Presley comes in to pinch run, representing the tying run.  But Russell Martin rolls a gbA to seal the deal for Eldred and the Brewers squeak by with the 2-1 win.

I had been surprised to find that the 2004 Braves were the top ranked team in the regional, as my recollection of great Braves teams was in the 90s and I figured there had to have been decline from those.  But these Braves won 96 games and the NL East with a different type of team, one where every starter in the lineup had a SLG% over .400 but with a starting rotation that was past the glory days of Maddux and Glavine; Smoltz was still around but in the pen and Jaret Wright (15-8, 3.28) would get the first round start.  They were solid favorites over the 76-86 1987 Astros, a team built for the Astrodome around pitching and speed, with Nolan Ryan (8-16, 2.76) insisting on starting even though teammate Mike Scott had won the Cy Young in the prior season.  Nobody can muster a hit until Adam LaRoche leads off the top of the 5th with a fly that Houston LF-2 Billy Hatcher turns into a single and then misplays, and that seems to unsettle Ryan as Johnny Estrada then rips a double to score LaRoche.  A couple of walks then loads the bases, Rafael Furcal singles, JD Drew walks and the Braves move out to a 3-0 lead.  In the bottom of the inning Denny Walling breaks up Wrights no-hitter with a 2-out double, but he gets stranded, and in the 7th Furcal converts a HR 1-7/flyB for a 2-run shot that chases an angry Ryan for Dave Smith.  Meanwhile Wright is on cruise control until the 9th, when a single and a couple of walks loads the bases for the Astros.  A sac fly by Walling gives Houston their first run, and then another walk loads the bases again for Craig Reynolds as the tying run with two out,  It’s a fly to left, defensive replacement Charles Thomas is under it, and game over as Wright finishes out a 3-hitter and the Braves move on, winning 5-1 while only managing 5 hits themselves.

I had blindly selected the 2000 Padres to win the regional, but after actually looking at the team and setting the lineup, I thought that they looked even worse than the 76-86 squad that they were–largely terrible fielding, not much punch for the height of the steroid era, and a lousy rotation fronted by an okay Woody Williams (10-8, 3.75).  Still, they were ELO favorites against the 1993 Angels, who had slightly worse offensive numbers but better pitching and defense, with Mark Langston (16-11, 3.20) having a minutely better card than Williams.  In the top of the 4th, Phil Nevin rolls a HR 1-5 but the split die is a 6 and Nevin gets stranded at second; in the bottom of the inning Tim Salmon leaves no doubt about it, leading off with a solid HR and the Angels take a 1-0 lead.  The Padres threaten in the 7th when an error by Angels SS-2 Gary Disarcina and a walk put the tying run in scoring position, but 3B-2 Rene Gonzales turns a DP to end the inning, and then Torey Lovullo leads off the bottom of the inning by converting a HR 1-2 and Williams hits the showers in favor of closer Trevor Hoffman.  He does his job, but it doesn’t matter as Langston is in control; in the 9th 40-year old DH Tony Gwynn gets only the third hit of the game for the Padres, but Langston quickly retires Nevin and Ryan Klesko and the Angels move on with a 2-0 win in which they only “outhit” the Padres 4 hits to 3-both runs coming on leadoff homers.  

The 1973 Tigers went 85-77, largely on the remnants of their championship 1968 team, but much of their lineup was getting old; still, they had a great year from Joe Coleman (23-15, 3.53) and were big favorites over the 2013 Cubs.  The Cubs were actually chronologically closer to their championship than the Tigers were to theirs, but this team lost 96 games although they were beginning to get key piece in place and Travis Wood (9-12, 3.11) was a solid starter for round one.  However, Wood has a rough start when Dick McAuliffe wraps a leadoff HR just around the foul post in the top of the 1st, but in the bottom of the inning Nate Schierholtz converts a HR 1-12 off Coleman’s card for a two run shot that puts the Cubs on top.   That doesn’t last long, as in the top of the 2nd Aurelio Rodriguez goes ARod and nails the HR split on Wood’s card for a three-run blast, and in the 4th big Frank Howard leads off with a homer that extends the Detroit lead to 5-2.   In the 7th, Cubs PH Donnie Murphy crushes a 2-out solo shot to narrow the lead to two, which is only the second hit allowed by Coleman–both of them longballs.  However, when Coleman drops the ball for a leadoff error in the 8th, the Tigers move to closer John Hiller, and he finishes out the inning with no issues.   However, he makes it exciting in the 9th, as Anthony Rizzo singles and then Starlin Castro rolls his HR 1-2/DO, and the split roll of 13 puts the tying run at second with two outs.  The Cubs bring in Darnell McDonald to pinch hit, and Hiller strikes him out to earn the save in the Tigers 5-3 win.  

The survivors

According to the ELO ranks, this semifinal between the #1 seeded 2004 Braves and the #2 seed 1992 Brewers constituted the premier matchup of the regional.  Given the great Braves rotation of the 90s, it was surprising to note that the Brewers Jaime Navarro (17-11, 3.33) looked to have the advantage over Braves starter John Thomson (14-8, 3.72), although Atlanta did have one of those 90s starters, John Smoltz, in the pen ready to go if Thomson should falter.  And some faltering is evident immediately, as Brewer Pat Listach leads off the top of the 1st with a single, steals second, and then he scores on a Robin Yount single, but Thomson escapes the inning without further damage.  However, in the 2nd Dante Bichette singles, Darryl Hamilton singles him to third, Hamilton steals second and Kevin Seitzer brings them both home with a single; the Brewers continue to threaten but Listach gets caught stealing to end the inning with the Brewers lead at 3-0.  That lead dissipates immediately, as in the bottom of the inning Andruw Jones hits a 2-run homer and then with two out, CF-2 Yount can’t get to a Marcus Giles single and the Braves take a 4-3 lead.  Giles continues his heroics in the 5th, leading off with a double and eventually scoring on a pitch that gets past Brewer C BJ Surhoff.  A one out double in the 6th by Chipper Jones and the Brewers pull Navarro for Mike Fetters to try to keep things close, and he gets the job done, striking out Giles for the third out.  Meanwhile, Thomson is holding his own, but when Yount singles to lead off the 8th the Braves decide to take no chances and summon Smoltz from the pen to close things out.  But Smoltz allows a double off his card to Greg Vaughn, Yount scores on a Bichette fielder’s choice and the tying run is on 3rd with two out, but Smoltz retires Hamilton on a deep fly and the Braves cling to a one run lead.  But in the bottom of the inning Fetters walks two, Surhoff drops a popup for an error to load the bases with two out, and Braves defensive replacement Charles Thomas rolls a DO 1-12/flyB on Fetters–the split roll is 11, two runs score, but 1-16 JD Drew is gunned down at the plate for the final out.  Still, the Braves head into the 9th with a padded lead, and Smoltz sets down the bottom of the Brewers lineup in order to send Atlanta into the final with the 7-4 win.  

The 1973 Tigers and the 1993 Angels were starting a couple of workhorses in their semifinal matchup, with Mickey Lolich (16-15, 3.82) and Chuck Finley (16-14, 3.15) accounting for 61 decisions between them.  The game is knotted in a scoreless tie until the top of the 5th, when Angels’ #9 hitter Gary Disarcina knocks a 2-out RBI double, and they extend the lead to 3-0 in the 6th on a JT Snow RBI single.  Two Angels singles to start the 7th and Lolich is pulled for John Hiller, who comes in to both end the threat and, in a bad omen, California DH Damion Easley is injured for the rest of the tournament.  But the Angels retaliate by torching Hiller in the 8th, with defensive replacement Stan Javier nailing a 2-out, 2-run triple and Rene Gonzales knocking in Javier with a single to blow the game open.  Tim Salmon drives in another run against Tigers mop up man Lerrin Lagrow, and Finley closes things out with a 1-2-3 ninth to finish out the nifty 4-hit shutout and send the Angels to the finals with a 7-0 win.  Finley’s gem is a nice reward for a guy who has had multiple tough-luck losses in this tournament; and even here three of the four hits he allowed were fielding lapses by his defense.

The regional final looked like a mismatch, featuring the #1 seeded 2004 Braves against the #7 seed upstart 1993 Angels, who had the added disadvantage of an injured DH.  Neither team could send out a very good #3 starter, with the Braves’ Russ Ortiz (15-9, 4.13) and the Angels’ Scott Sanderson (7-11, 4.46) both having quite hittable cards.  In the bottom of the first, Tim Salmon goes upstream on Ortiz for a solo shot and a 1-0 California lead, but it’s a different picture when JD Drew nails a 2-out 2-run homer in the 3rd to put the Braves ahead.  But in the bottom of the inning, two straight walks are followed by a double from injury replacement Stan Javier, Salmon fishes out an RBI single, and the Angels regain a 4-2 lead after three.  When JT Snow leads off the 6th with a single off Ortiz’s card, the Braves move to their pen and bring in Juan Cruz, who spins a quick end to the inning.  When Drew draws a leadoff walk in the 8th, the Angels look at their bullpen and there is no relief there, so Sanderson is on his own–and with two out Andruw Jones finds and converts Sanderson’s HR result for a two-run shot that ties the game.  Atlanta then summons Smoltz from the pen to hold the line for his two remaining innings, and he does exactly that, and the game heads to extra innings.  In his last inning of eligibility, Sanderson allows two straight long singles off his card to begin the 10th, but the infield comes in to nail the potential go-ahead run at the plate, and Sanderson escapes with the game still tied.  With Smoltz burnt, the Braves have to go deeper into their pen and Horatio Ramirez gets the call; he retires the side and we head to the 11th with the Angels forced to go to the pen for the ominously named Mike Butcher.  But he shuts down the top of the Braves order, and in the bottom of the 11th Salmon grills the first pitch from Ramirez into the cheap seats for a walkoff 5-4 win and the unlikely regional win, the 5th for the Halos joining 1977, 1983, 1989, and 2004.  Salmon gets the regional MVP ribbon with his big performance in the final and driving in key runs in all three games.

Interesting card of Regional #148:  This edition’s official Strat card may not look particularly interesting, other than being one of the nice classic die-cut cards from the 70’s.   However, on closer inspection it might seem a bit weird that the backup catcher for the 1973 Tigers, Bob Didier, actually has 1971 printed on his card–and no, it’s not a misprint, those are his 1971 stats.   See, the real backup catcher for those Tigers, Duke Sims, was traded to the Yankees for a whole four games at the end of the season, but game company policy dictated that when a player was traded to a team within the league, the player was carded with the team he played for at the end of the season.   Thus, the Tigers would have had no backup at catcher without Didier, so he was included on the core 20-player Tigers team set.  Thing is, Didier only had 22 at-bats, and 22 very good at bats they were.  The game company, being no fun and apparently having no inkling of the situation they would face in 2020, decided that no, Bob wouldn’t be permitted to get his rightfully-earned killer card and go down in Strat history as one of the great low-AB wonders.  So, as the note on the original roster sheet (seen below the cards) indicates, they used his far worse 1971 stats to produce a 1971 card and included THAT with the Tigers.  Furthermore, when they reproduced 1973 in SADV format in 2014, the game company doubled down and DID THE SAME THING!   According to Baseball Reference, Bob is still with us at age 73, and I believe that this injustice should receive a long overdue correction during his lifetime.  As such, as one of my homemade efforts, I present to you:  the REAL 1973 Bob Didier.

REGIONAL #147:  This group featured an eclectic mix of teams spanning nearly 100 years.  Although I didn’t recognize any pennant winners, the squad that caught my eye was the 1969 Cardinals, who had won the NL the past two seasons before having their streak miraculously broken by the Mets.  There were also two different versions of the Giants that were both a few years past a pennant, and Twins and Cubs teams from the 00’s that I thought might be pretty good.  I figured Bob Gibson would plunk me in the ribs if I didn’t pick the Cards to win, so I guess them over the 2017 Giants in the finals.   The ELO ranks pegged those Giants as the worst team in the regional, instead picking the other SF team, the ‘93 Giants, in the finals over the ‘67 Phillies, another squad I had apparently underestimated.

First round action

When initially looking at the draw for this regional, the ELO ranks suggested that I had dramatically overestimated the 2006 Cubs and undersold the 1967 Phillies.  The 96-loss Cubs had some power from Aramis Ramirez and I thought that they had some decent pitchers in that era, but I was badly wrong–they only had two eligible starters, and one of the “good” pitchers I thought I remembered, Mark Prior, had a 7.21 ERA in 44 innings, so they went with their only decent eligible starter, Carlos Zambrano (16-7, 3.41).   For the 82-80 Phillies, their offense was pretty much what I expected–Richie Allen and little else.  However, I underestimated their starting rotation, figuring that Steve Carlton was still with the Cards, but turns out they had plenty of good arms including Jim Bunning (17-15, 2.29) who would get the first round start.  The Cubs get a lead in the top of the 1st when Michael Barrett nails an RBI double off Bunning’s card, but the Phils get it back in the 2nd when Gene Oliver converts a TR 1-3/flyB off Zambrano’s card and Cookie Rojas singles him home.  The Cubs respond by loading the bases with nobody out in the 3rd, but they only get one run on a Ramirez groundout, so it’s 2-1 Cubs.  However, in the bottom of the 6th Cookie Rojas converts a HR 1-8 off Zambrano’s card, and Tony Taylor follows with a triple that forces the Cubs to look long and hard at their terrible bullpen.   Not seeing much there better than Zambrano, they stick with their ace a while longer, and he strands Taylor at third but the Phils now hold the one run lead.  In the 8th, Gene Oliver converts that same HR 1-8 off Zambrano, putting Oliver one single short of a cycle and giving the Phils’ lead a bit of padding.  They quickly need it, as Ramirez leads off the 9th with a homer to put the Cubs within one; with two out, Matt Murton singles to get the tying run aboard but Bunning bears down and whiffs PH Tony Womack, and the Phils survive with a 4-3 win.  However, nearly all their offense in the game came off the pitcher’s card, a trend they will need to remedy if they hope to get much further.

I was quite surprised when I discovered that the 2017 Giants had a terrible ELO rating, worse than their opponents, the 1941 Senators.  After researching the team and setting the lineups, I found that they lost 98 games, taking a nosedive after making the postseason the prior year.  At least in this tournament they could start Madison Bumgarner (4-9, 3.32), who missed a good chunk of the season with a “dirt-biking” injury.  I still thought they looked better than the 70-84 Senators, whose top HR hitter only hit 10 and whose defense had serious holes, although Dutch Leonard (18-13, 3.45) was a capable starter.   That defense comes into play quickly, as a 2-base error by Senators SS Cecil Travis in the top of the 1st sets up two unearned runs for the Giants courtesy of a Jarrett Parker double.   However, the Nats get one back in the bottom of the inning when Jake Early drives in 1-16 George Archie with a two-out double, missing a HR split on Bumgarner.   Another Washington two-base error, this one by 3B-4 Archie, scores another in the 2nd, and in the 3rd a 2-out Brandon Crawford RBI double makes it 4-1 Giants.  Again the Nats strike back in the bottom of the inning, with a 2-run single from Travis making it close, and then C Al Evans nails Bumgarner’s solid 5-5 HR result for a 3-run shot and Washington takes the lead.  Two more hits and the Giants have to yank Bumgarner, moving to Steven Okert who gets the 3rd out, on a 5-5 roll no less.  A two-out RBI single from Brandon Belt in the 6th makes it a one-run game, and when Denard Span doubles to lead off the 7th the Senators bring in 21-year-old rookie phenom Early Wynn to try to keep the lead.  He can’t do it, as Parker singles home 1-14 Span and the game is tied.  The Giants turn to Cory Gearrin out of the pen to counter Wynn, and both of them get it done to keep it tied through nine and sending the game to extra innings.  The top of the 10th is Wynn’s last inning, but he’s tiring, and a Posey single sends 1-15 Gorkys Hernandez home, and later Parker adds to his RBI total with a 2-run single and when the dust clears the Giants take a four-run lead into the bottom of the 10th.  With Gearrin burnt for the regional, it’s Hunter Strickland’s game to preserve, and he sets down the Senators in order to send the Giants to the semis with the see-saw 10-6 win, but with a depleted bullpen and a suspect rotation as big challenges to continued success.

Quite a few things in baseball changed in 1969, but one that didn't change much was the 1969 Cardinals, who still had pretty much the same lineup as their pennant winning squads from the prior season, and still had Bob Gibson (20-13, 2.18) as a formidable staff ace.  However, unfortunately for them they still sported a 1968-style offense which led to an 87-75 record only good for 4th place in the NL East, and they had perhaps the worst DH options I’ve seen in this tournament, ultimately going with .194-hitting Steve Huntz.  Despite the ELO ratings, after setting the lineups I didn’t think the Cards would have a chance against the 2004 Twins, winners of 92 games and the AL Central.  The Twins had four guys with more homers than the leading “slugger” for the Cards, and although Gibson was a force to reckon with, so was Johan Santana (20-6, 2.61), the AL Cy Young Award winner who had no complete hits on his card.  Vada Pinson hands Gibby a lead in the top of the 2nd with a 2-out solo HR, but Torii Hunter evens the score in the bottom of the 5th with a leadoff shot.  In the 8th, Lou Brock strokes a 2-out single and 1-14 Tim McCarver races in from second as the Cards regain the lead, and Gibson takes a 2-hitter into the bottom of the 9th.  But PH Augie Ojeda singles to lead off the inning, and then Lew Ford rolls a 2-4 HR 1-11/DO, split roll is a 1 and the Twins walk off with a 3-2 win, Santana ending up with a 5-hitter in the duel.  

The 1993 Giants were the ELO favorites for the regional, and after setting their lineup it made good sense; the team won 103 games and lost the NL West to the Braves by one game.  With newly acquired Barry Bonds winning the NL MVP, Matt Williams and Will Clark contributing to a deadly heart of the order, and two 20 game winners that included Cy Young runner-up Bill Swift (21-8, 2.82), I had trouble envisioning anyone in this bracket defeating them.   I certainly didn’t think that they would have much trouble with the 62-90 1920 Braves, a team that as a group hit half as many homers as Bonds did that season, and who sported two 20-game losers, although their “ace” Joe Oeschger (15-13, 3.46) was not one of them.  Sure enough, the Giants take a 3-0 lead in the 2nd on RBI singles from Royce Clayton and Darren Lewis, coupled with a 2-base error by Braves CF-3 Ray Powell.  In the 6th, Robby Thompson doubles and a 2-out single by Kirt Manwaring gives the Giants an insurance run, but Braves reliever Leo Townsend comes in to prevent further damage.  In the 7th, Mark Carreon hits a flyball that wayward son Powell drops for his second two-base error, allowing two more Giant runs to plate, and Thompson doubles Carreon home to pile on some more.  That is far more than Swift needs, who swiftly dispatches the Braves with a 3-hit shutout to send the Giants on with an easy 7-0 win.

The survivors

The 1967 Phillies were favored in this semifinal game, and it didn’t hurt that Chris Short (9-11, 2.40) was a strong second starter for the Phils.  The underdog 2017 Giants had burnt a chunk of their bullpen after their top starter didn’t make it out of the 3rd inning in the first round, and their next starter, Jeff Samardzija (9-15, 4.42), had some frightening aspects to his card in addition to being quite difficult to spell.  Neither team can muster much offense at first, and in the 6th the Phils decide to PH Don Lock with two on and two out, and that proves to be a clever move as Lock slams a 3-run shot to give them the lead.  A Tony Taylor leadoff single in the 7th and the Giants bring in Kyle Crick from their depleted bullpen, but in the 8th Lock races home on a Gene Oliver double to extend the Philly lead.  Meanwhile, every time Short gets into a jam, a ball is hit to short, and Bobby Wine is flawless in converting those grounders into DPs.  Short ends with a 6-hit shutout and the Phillies are heading to the finals with the 4-0 victory.   

The 1993 Giants had their second 20-game winner, John Burkett (22-7, 3.65), ready to go in this semifinal against the 2004 Twins and Brad Radke (11-8, 3.48), with this being the marquee matchup of the regional featuring the #1 and #3 seeds.  The Giants get things going in the bottom of the 3rd with Will Clark rapping a 2-run single, but both squads struggle to generate much offense.  When Radke allows a 2-out single to Kirt Manwaring in the 7th, the Twins take no chances and summon star closer Joe Nathan to keep it close, and he promptly ends the threat.   In the 8th, Twins LF Lew Ford comes through with a clutch 2-out single to score 1-19 Cristian Guzman, and then Corey Koskie doubles off Burkett’s card and 1-16 Ford races home and it’s a tie game and the Giants move to closer Rod Beck out of the pen.  Beck whiffs Joe Mauer and after Nathan sets down the Giants in order, the game heads to the 9th deadlocked at two apiece.  Beck retires the Twins in order in the top of the 9th, and in the bottom of the frame Nathan issues a leadoff walk to Matt Williams, and Mark Carreon follows with a single, and 1-12 Williams chances it successfully and takes third.  The infield comes in, and 2B-2 Luis Rivas handles a grounder for the first out, Williams holding while Carreon takes second.  Nathan then retires Clayton and Manwaring on grounders, and the game heads to extra innings.  The 10th passes uneventfully, but in the 11th Beck walks Mauer and then Justin Morneau rolls a HR 1-6/flyB split on Beck, the split die comes up with a 6, and the Cardiac Twins take a 2-run lead.  However, in the bottom of the inning, Nathan, who has ⅓ of an inning of eligibility left in the regional, doesn’t complete it as Bonds and Matt Williams both single to put the winning run at the plate in the form of Mark Carreon.  The Twins decide to carry on without Nathan, and bring in Juan Rincon to try to earn the save.  Rincon walks Carreon to load the bases with nobody out, bringing up Robby Thompson, who misses a SI* 1-8 split and there’s one out.  The Twins are playing for the DP, Royce Clayton rolls the gbA, and it’s game over as the Twins pull off the 4-2 win with more late inning heroics and earn a trip to the finals.  

The #4 seeded 1967 Phillies had reached the final on the arms of their strong starting rotation, and they had another good one, Larry Jackson (13-15, 3.09) ready to go in this one.  They were hoping that their main offensive weapon, Richie Allen, would shake off the slump that saw him rendered useless in the first two rounds, and the 2004 Twins’ Carlos Silva (14-8, 3.21) looked like just the guy to do it against.  The Twins were into a truly scary part of their rotation and with closer Joe Nathan burnt, they were also hoping that their offense would generate more runs than they had done up to this point.  They do get things rolling quickly in the bottom of the first when Lew Ford nails a leadoff double then scores on a Joe Mauer single for a 1-0 lead.  The Phils tie it immediately in the top of the 2nd in true Philly Phashion, with two singles off Silva’s card and then a perfectly executed squeeze by Cookie Rojas brings in the run.  A Bobby Wine leadoff double in the 3rd leads to a Phils lead when Wine (1-12) races home on a Tony Gonzalez base hit, but then in the bottom of the inning Larry Jackson gets injured facing the first batter and for the first time in the tournament the Phils will need to draw upon their bullpen, with Dick Hall getting the call.  Hall gets one out, then yields two consecutive singles off his own card to bring up Twins 1B Justin Morneau.  Morneau gets a roll on his own card, a 1-8 solid HR, and the Twins lead and Hall is trying to get traded before the return flight to Philadelphia.  However, the Phils aren’t giving up, as Silva allows a few more hits including an Oliver RBI double, and then Silva commits an error, loading the bases for Gonzalez who again delivers, this time a two-out two-run single and Philadelphia has regained the lead.  A leadoff single by Tony Taylor in the 6th and the Twins yank Silva for JC Romero, who ends the threat but in the meantime Hall has settled down and completes his remaining eligibility without incident, yielding to Dick Farrell in the 7th (worthy of note:  nearly everyone in the Philadelphia bullpen is a Dick, perhaps leaving Richie Allen feeling left out?).  Farrell provides some excitement on his first pitch, a 5-5 roll that’s a HR 1-6/flyB for PH Augie Ojeda, but the split roll is a 13 and the Phils maintain their lead after seven.   In the top of the 8th, Romero walks Bill White and then Gonzalez hits yet another hard single that sends White to 3rd; the Twins then bring in Juan Rincon to face hitless Allen and keep the infield looking for the DP.  Allen makes contact for a shallow flyball but Twins RF Jacque Jones fields it and keeps White frozen on 3rd.  With two out, Rincon now delivers to John Callison, and it’s a Philly Special:  a roll on Rincon’s 5-5 TR 1-4/SI with a split roll of 3 and two runs score to pad the lead.  However, these Twins have proven their mettle in the late innings, and in the bottom of the 8th Corey Koskie leads off with a double, Mauer singles him home, and then Morneau nails a double off Farrell’s card, putting the tying run in scoring position with nobody out.  Torii Hunter walks to load the bases, and Luis Rivas delivers a sac fly and it’s a one-run game.  But Farrell bears down to record two more outs and the game heads to the 9th with the Phils still clinging to a slim lead.  Rincon sets the Phils down quietly, so it’s up to Farrell against the Cardiac Twins in the bottom of the 9th.  Farrell fans Ojeda for one out, but speedy Lew Ford singles and he’s held.  Koskie misses a SI* 1-4 split with a 6, and so there are two outs and 21-year old rookie Joe Mauer is at the plate in the high-pressure situation.  The pitch:  a 5-6 on Farrell, TR 1-10/DO, split is a 7 and the game is tied and the winning run is 90 feet away and red-hot Justin Morneau is up.  But Farrell fans him, and we head to extra innings.  

Heading into the 10th, Rincon is now burnt for the Twins, so the best they can must is Grant Balfour, which from his card looks like a contraction of BallFour.  But he does his job, bringing up the Twins in the bottom of the 10th.  Torii Hunter leads off with a walk, steals second, and Luis Rivas comes to the plate.  Farrell delivers, another 5-6 roll, and game over; the Twins win the game 8-7 and the regional with their second walkoff win, their second extra-inning win, and their third game in a row won in the bottom of the 9th or later.  All of that may sound like luck, but make no mistake, this was a good team, winning the AL Central by 9 games, with a solid offense (191 team HR), excellent fielding (7 of the 8 starting position players were 1 or 2 fielders), a top-flight closer in Joe Nathan, and a staff ace in Johan Santana who was as good as it gets.  Although the staff did lead the AL in ERA, the back end of the rotation was pretty sorry; if the Twins had a couple more decent starting pitchers, they might have ranked among the all-time greats.  Regardless, they proved repeatedly in this regional that they could never be counted out.

Interesting card(s) of Regional #147:  The 1967 Phillies reached the regional final but there they fell short, and throughout they had absolutely no help from this guy, who should have been by far their largest offensive weapon but went 0-for-the regional.  Upon brief reflection, I decided that the problem must lie with those ugly newer card patterns.   See, tournament policy dictates that I use the re-done versions of my original 1960s Basic-only cards because the more modern versions provide greater team depth beyond those 20-card squads of yesteryear.  Regardless, those original 1967 cards, with their look, feel, and typical patterns, occupy a special place for me because they were my first Strat teams, acquired as a kid, and I continue to wish that the Basic sides of the cards would look like them.  Allen’s original ‘67 card had that classic “2-10” pattern that I will forever associate with oldtimers’ 1927 Babe Ruth; as I send the Phils back into storage after their loss in the finals, I’m left with the lingering feeling that if I’d just used the originals instead, Allen would have come through and it would be them moving on.  

REGIONAL #146:  In this batch of teams, the ‘47 Braves were the closest squad to winning a pennant, which they would do the next year, although there were also a couple of entries that were building up to one, such as the Giants from the same year or the Cubs working their way to their first championship in forever.  The ‘63 Pirates had won one at the beginning of the decade, and there was also a pandemic Twins team whose prior year version had powered their way to a win in Regional #54.  I had no inkling of any clear favorite and it seemed that anyone except maybe the Senators could win here; when in doubt it seems that modern era teams have an edge and so I guessed it would be the Cubs over the Twins in the finals.  The ELO ranks laughed at my pick of the Cubs, indicating that they were barely better than the Senators, and had the Braves and the Twins (based on their season ending ELO score, which was the exact same as the composite score of the Braves) in a tie for the top seed that would be settled in the first round.

First round action

The 1947 Braves were one year away from their first pennant in ages, and their 86-68 record was good for third place in the NL.  They were in the midst of their “Spahn and Sain and a day of rain” rotation, with both winning 20 games and Spahn (21-10, 2.33) getting the call to face what should be the toughest opponent in the regional.  That opponent was the 2020 Twins, a team loaded with pandemic-year weirdness whose 36-24 record won the AL Central.  Because of innings issues and tournament rules, they had no flexibility at all in their rotation but fortunately for them their highest IP pitcher was also their best, Kenta Maeda (6-1, 2.70).  With the two teams sporting identical ELO scores that were the best in the regional, there was no favorite here but the winner would be the team to beat.  The first hit of the game is a solo HR by Twins LF Eddie Rosario in the bottom of the 2nd, to recorded applause piped into pandemic-emptied Target Field.  However, the cardboard cutouts of fans in the stands can only look on stoically as Bob Elliott immediately ties it with a 2-out RBI single in the top of the 3rd, and when Bama Rowell finds Maeda’s solid 5-9 HR result in the 4th the Braves take the lead.  In the 6th, the Twins have license to bring in their low-AB wonders, and one of them, Josh Donaldson, drives an RBI single past bad-fielding P-4 Spahn and the game is tied again.  The Braves respond in the 7th as SS Dick Cullers finds Maeda’s 5-9 for a solo shot, and the Twins have seen enough of that roll and move to Tyler Duffey and his 1.88 ERA out of the pen.  It then comes down to Spahn against the Twins in the bottom of the 9th; PH Brent Rooker singles off Spahn’s card, Max Kepler hits into a fielder choice, but when Jorge Polanco singles the 1-14 Kepler is nailed at third, so it’s two outs, Polanco at 2nd, and the Ruthian card of Nelson Cruz is up as the winning run.  Spahn delivers, and Cruz singles, 1-16 Polanco scores and the game is tied.  Spahn then retires Byron Buxton but the game is headed to extra innings.  The Twins bring in Caleb Thielbar to begin the 10th, and both he and Spahn work through the 10th with no damage.  The Braves load the bases with one out in the 11th, but Thielbar works his way out of the jam, and in the bottom of the inning with Spahn exhausted the Braves are forced to move to Walt Lafranconi.  Walt gets two outs quickly, but then allows consecutive doubles to Max Kepler and Polanco–both off Lafranconi’s card–and the Twins walk off with the 4-3 extra-inning victory.

The second ‘47 team in the regional, the 81-73 1947 Giants, had a powerful lineup led by Johnny Mize’s 51 round-trippers, but their starting rotation after Larry Jansen (21-5, 3.16) got bad quickly.  They were hoping Jansen would be enough to get past the 1995 Rockies, who went 77-67 and made a brief postseason appearance as a wild card; they were a modern equivalent of the Giants having four guys with 30+ homers but a terrible rotation with Kevin Ritz (11-11, 4.21) representing the best option.  The Giants self-destruct in the bottom of the 3rd, beginning the inning with an error by 3B-3 Jack Lohrke and then watching two errors in a row by SS-2 Buddy Kerr, and a Larry Walker double then insures that all three mistakes will score.  Meanwhile, Ritz has a one-hitter going until the 8th, when with two out he suddenly allows three doubles in a row to Bill Rigney, Lohrke and Kerr, and with it a one-run game the Rockies bring in Bruce Ruffin to try to close it out.   He gets out of the 8th, and then faces the heart of the Giants order in the 9th; he gets two quick outs but then walks Willard Marshall, and to the plate steps Bobby Thomson.  Thomson nails a TR 1-4/DO, gets the double, and Marshall (1-15) races home to tie the game.  Ruffin then walks Lombardi and Rigney to load the bases, and the Rockies have seen enough of Ruffin, turning to Steve Reed to try to get the last out.  Reed gets a grounder back to him, fields it cleanly, and the side is retired and the game enters the bottom of the 9th with things tied up.  Galarraga grounds to Mize for the first out, so Jansen then faces #8 hitter Mike Kingery–who finds Jansen’s 6-5 HR 1-16 split and converts it for the walk off homer that propels the Rockies into the semifinals with a 4-3 win.  Reed gets an economical win with one-third of an inning’s worth of work, while the Giants make as many errors (5) as they do hits.   

The 1994 Brewers, who went 53-62 in that strike-shortened season, were seeking redemption for the loss of the ‘96 team in the finals of Regional #144, and although they were ranked as slightly worse than that team, here they faced the worst-ranked team in the regional, the 93-loss last place 1958 Senators.  The Senators did get 39 homers from Roy Sievers and Camilo Pascual (8-12, 3.15) deserved better as the ace of their rotation, while Ricky Bones (10-9, 3.43) headed up the Brewers’ staff.  The Senators take a lead in the bottom of the 2nd on a sac fly by Clint Courtney, and the Brewers’ effort to strike back quickly in the 3rd comes to an abrupt end when BJ Surhoff lines into a triple play.  The Nats then add another in the bottom of the inning on an Eddie Yost fielder’s choice, but the Brewers tie it in the top of the 4th with the alliterative duo of Matt Mieske and John Jaha driving in runs before Turner Ward ends the rally grounding into a double play.  In the 5th, Yost draws a two-out walk to set up a 2-run blast from Sievers, and the sparse crowd at Griffith Stadium is beginning to wonder if they have a team of destiny here.  However, in the 7th the Brewers tie the game by staging a two-out rally with three straight hits, including an RBI double from Kevin Seitzer, but when Bones drops a Yost grounder to lead off the 8th the Brewers summon closer Mike Fetters.  Fetters creates excitement by walking the bases full but manages to escape the inning with no runs scoring and the game is still tied.   Pascual and Fetters both retire the opposition quietly in the 9th, and we head to extra innings.  The 10th passes quietly, and an exhausted Pascual is relieved by Dick Hyde and his 1.75 ERA in the 11th, but he can’t Hyde from leadoff batter Jose Valentin, who crushes a fastball to give the Brewers the lead.  It’s now up to Fetters, in his last inning of eligibility in the regional, to try to hang onto the game against the bottom of the Senators order; he makes it exciting by allowing a single and a walk but manages to escape the jam once again to earn the 5-4 extra-inning win.

In picking the 2012 Cubs to win the regional in my usual unresearched style, I mistakenly assumed that they were starting to emerge as the squad that would in a few years finally capture a World Series for the long-suffering franchise.  Turns out that the Cubs lost 101 games and had few of the parts in place for their later success.  The best eligible starting pitcher card I could find was that of 35 year old Ryan Dempster (5-5, 2.25), who the Cubs dumped on the Rangers at midseason.   The Cubs would be saying hello to Bob Friend (17-16, 2.34) of the 1963 Pirates, who went 74-88 with Clemente being really their only star to have a good year.  And writing those words seems anger the dice gods, as Clemente is injured in the bottom of the 1st and Manny Mota will get some unexpected playing time.  Both teams threaten but cannot convert the two-out hits they need to score, and the game enters the 9th inning in a scoreless tie.  Friend sets the Cubs down in order in the top of the 9th, Dempster just allows a harmless single to Mota in the bottom, and the game goes to extra innings still tied 0-0.  Friend tosses another 1-2-3 frame in his final inning of eligibility, and so it’s up to Dempster for his final set.  He stares down the first batter, 23 year old rookie Willie Stargell, and the future Pops pops it into the bleachers to send the Forbes Field crowd into a frenzy, with the walkoff homer (only the 4th hit of the game off Dempster) securing the 1-0 win.  

The survivors

The 2020 Twins taxed their bullpen in surviving round one, and with the pandemic season strictly dictating their pitching rotation, they were hoping that Jose Berrios (5-4, 4.00) would be able to go deep in the game.  The 1995 Rockies were also limited in the rotation, here due to a strike, and Bret Saberhagen (7-6, 4.18) would attempt to reclaim past glories.  However, the Twins start off the top of the 1st rattling hits off Saberhagen, and he wouldn’t record an out until Jorge Polanco (1-14) got cut down trying to score; Bret then settled down to limit the damage to a 2-0 deficit.  A Vinny Castilla solo shot in the bottom of the 2nd makes it a one-run game, and in the 3rd a 2-out 2-run blast from Larry Walker gives the Rockies the lead.  In the 5th John Vanderwahl misses a HR 1-14 split and gets stranded at second, and in the 7th Saberhagen gets touched for two single and the Rockies waste no time in calling in Steve Reed, who won game one with 1/3rd of an inning pitched.  He loads the bases up with a walk, and with one out the Rockies bring the infield in.  It’s a grounder to 2B-4 Eric Young, whom they had contemplated replacing with a defensive specialist at the top of the inning…..but Young cuts the runner down at the plate and Reed retires slugger Nelson Cruz with the bases loaded and Colorado escapes the inning still clinging to the lead.  Walker then doubles in Young in the bottom of the inning to provide an insurance run and the Twins go to Thielbar out of the pen.  In the 9th, Twins PH Ryan Jeffers doubles but Ehire Adrianza is cut down on an ill-advised attempt to score, and Reed is burnt for the regional so it is Curtis Leskanic’s game to preserve.  Max Kepler promptly singles in Jeffers and it’s a one run game; Polanco pops out and it’s up to slugger Nelson Cruz with the Twins having their back to the wall.  Leskanic delivers and strikes out Cruz to save the game, earning the Rockies a trip to the finals with their second 4-3 win in a row.  

The 1963 Pirates were still without their best player, Roberto Clemente, coming into their semifinal matchup, but were hoping that Don Cardwell (13-15, 3.07) could duplicate Bob Friend’s outstanding pitching performance in the first round.   The 1994 Brewers had their own issues, having burnt their best reliever in the prior game meaning that Cal Eldred’s (11-11, 4.68) tendencies to allow long balls could be a concern.  However, Eldred issues two walks to start off the bottom of the 1st, and then Brewers CF-3 Turner Ward misplays a Jerry Lynch single, and then two batters later Ward turns a Smokey Burgess flyball into a double, and it’s quickly 3-0 Pirates.  Milwaukee gets one back on a Jose Valentin sac fly in the 2nd, but in the 4th Bill Virdon finds Eldred’s solid HR result at 6-5 for a solo shot that makes it 4-1.  Clendenon hits the 6-5 again in the 5th, and Cardwell is cruising.  The Brewers can’t do anything until the top of the 9th, when Cardwell gets two quick outs but then things start coming apart.  Mieske draws a walk, Valentin doubles, and Cardwell then walks Jaha to load the bases, putting the tying run at the plate in the form of substitute CF Darryl Hamilton.  The Brewers call upon Dave Valle to pinch hit, and Caldwell strikes him out to preserve the 5-1 win as he completes the 4-hitter to send the Bucs to the regional final.

The regional finalists were very closely matched according to the ELO ranks, but the #4 seed 1963 Pirates were feeling pretty good about their chances against the #5 seed 1995 Rockies.   The Pirates were getting their HOFer Roberto Clemente back from injury, and their starting pitching had only allowed 1 run in 19 innings thus far in the tournament, with two complete games allowing them to pull Tommie Sisk (1-3, 2.92) from the bullpen to face Colorado’s only remaining starting option, the sometimes frightening Bill Swift (9-3, 4.94).  The Rockies strike first with a 2-out triple by Larry Walker bringing Dante Bichette home, but Donn Clendenon leads off the 2nd with a triple of his own and scores on a Bill Virdon single to tie the game.  The Pirates then load the bases with nobody out in the 4th, and although then Swift gets Dick Schofield to hit into a DP, he can’t get that last out, and finally a 2-run homer from Clemente breaks things open and the Pirates lead 5-1.  Swift hangs on for a little bit, but after a single off his card in the 7th the Rockies try Bruce Ruffin, who pitched one rough inning in the first game of the regional.  A walk and then a single by Stargell provides an insurance run, and in the 8th Jerry Lynch delivers a bases loaded single with two out, although 1-14 Schofield is cut down at the plate for the third out.  The Rockies lead off the 9th with back to back homers by Vinny Castilla and Andres Galarraga to demonstrate that they don’t intend to go down without a fight, but Sisk recovers, fielding a grounder by Eric Young for the last play of the game and the Pirates secure the 7-3 win and the regional crown, riding excellent starting pitching and timely hitting to give the franchise their 6th regional and cementing an early 60’s Pirates mini-dynasty in joining the 1960 and 1964 teams as bracket victors.

Interesting card(s) of Regional #146:  The two teams in the regional finals each boasted a pretty fair right fielder, and looking at their cards side-by-side underscores a number of similarities between the two.  Fielding, speed, extra base potential, and for those clamoring for the ugly side of the cards, I’ll just say that Clemente had a -6 arm while Walker’s was -5.  Of course, Walker had a bit more power, but that was in part due to the rarefied air of Coors Field (in his years with the Expos, his HR totals were much more Clemente-like) and also the general shortage of longballs during the 60s impacting Clemente.  Most are probably familiar with the Baseball Reference “Similarity Score” where they identify players with similar records; I found it interesting that neither of these two appeared in the other’s top ten most similar players.  However, one similarity that is not recorded in that metric:  they both led their teams to the regional finals in this tournament; another is that I’d be happy to have either one playing RF for me.  Worthy of note:  Walker rolled that 2-7 hole twice in the loss to the Pirates in the final.  

REGIONAL #145:  Although there was one official pennant winner in this draw, the 2012 Tigers, many felt that the 1994 Expos were deprived of one by a strike year, and they would have their chance for redemption here.  They would face a tough challenge in the first round from the Tigers, but I didn’t see a lot else here that I thought would mount a challenge–I was pretty sure, for example, that one wouldn’t be coming from the ‘63 Mets.  I guessed that the Expos would prevail over a 21st century Reds team in the finals.  The ELO ranks agreed that the Expos were the team to beat, and that their most serious challenges would come from their bottom half of the regional; the best ranking of a generally terrible top half was the ‘92 Rangers.

First round action

The 90-loss 2007 Reds looked like the late steroid-era team that they were, having numerous HR threats in the lineup but a gory starting rotation with Aaron Harang (16-6, 3.73) being their only decent option as staff ace.   They faced the last place, 59-95 1947 Browns, who somewhat miraculously had won a pennant only three years before but given the shifting landscape in baseball during those three years, it might as well have been a century.  The Browns started Sam Zoldak (9-10, 3.47), who had been a rookie on their ‘44 team, but he is greeted in the top of the 1st by a Reds barrage with an RBI double from Josh Hamilton and a 2-run single from Brandon Phillips, and it could have been worse as Cincinnati leaves the bases loaded.  Zoldak then settles down, and in the 5th Al Zarilla finds Harang’s solid 5-5 HR result for a 2-run shot to pull the Browns within one.  The Reds keep that lead heading into the 8th, and unnerved by Harang’s gopher ball tendencies they summon Jared Burton from the pen to try to keep the ball in the park, although perhaps not over the plate.   A Johnny Berardino double and a walk to Zarilla gives the Reds a scare, but an inning-ending DP removes those threats and the Browns go down quietly in the 9th, with the Reds taking a 3-2 win to move on.

The 77-85 1992 Rangers featured a big season from Juan Gonzalez, whose two MVP seasons in Regionals #108 and #110 pushed the Rangers to the finals and semifinals but fell short of taking a regional crown.  They faced the terrible 111-loss 1963 Mets, who according to the ELO rankings were the 6th worst team of all time, and because the Mets were so bad on paper the Rangers decided to live dangerously and send maybe their fourth best starter, the still-decent Jose Guzman (16-11, 3.66), to the mound to match up against Roger Craig (5-22, 3.78), the respected pitching coach who pointed out from experience that you have to be pretty good to lose 20 games.   Craig shows how in the top of the first, with two Mets errors leading to a run, but the Rangers come by runs more honestly in the 2nd with two 2-run homers from Ivan Rodriguez and Gonzalez, and the few fans sticking around the Polo Grounds are mostly waiting for the polo match to start.  However, the Mets load the bases in the bottom of the inning with nobody out, and Ron Hunt drives in two with a double, although Guzman responds by striking out the next three batters to avoid further damage.  The Rangers pad their lead in the 5th when Gonzalez smacks his second HR of the game leading off, and Rodriguez adds an RBI single although SS Jeff Huson ends the inning getting injured and leaving the bases loaded.  It looks like they will need that padding, as the Mets storm back in the 6th loading the bases with nobody out, and they turn that into four runs including a 2-run single from 36 year old Duke Snider, and the score is now 9-6, with both teams hesitant to go to their unimpressive bullpens.  In the 8th, Juan Gone hits his third round-tripper of the game, a solo shot that puts the Rangers in double figures, but when Hunt leads off the bottom of the inning with a sharp single Texas finally moves to the pen to bring in their only decent reliever, Matt Whiteside.  He does his job, and the Rangers hang on for a 10-6 victory, assisted by 5 errors from the hapless Mets.

The 2007 Blue Jays went 83-79, and seemed to be a team with power but limited ability to get on base, and a starting rotation whose cards seemed worse than their stats, including that of Roy Halladay (16-7, 3.71).   That was not a problem for the 1964 Indians, who had a mirror image 79-83 record but for some reason a much worse ELO ranking; they sported a good rotation headed by Luis Tiant (10-4, 2.83) with a decent lineup anchored by Leon Wagner, but their defense would make any use of the X-chart into an adventure.  The Jays’ chances aren’t helped when 2B Aaron Hill ends the 3rd inning with a tournament-ending injury, and in the bottom of the inning the Indians take the lead when Vic Davalillo doubles and then scores on a Dick Howser single.  That lead proves short-lived when Troy Glaus finds Tiant’s HR result for a game-tying solo shot in the top of the 4th, but in the 6th Max Alvis nails a 2-run shot and after Halladay allows another hit to DH Bob Chance, the Jays bring in Scott Downs for his chance.  However, injury replacement 2B-4 Russ Adams can’t get to a Davalillo grounder, Howser then raps and RBI single, and the Indians lead 5-1.  Two more Cleveland hits in the 8th and the desperate Jays try their closer, Jeremy Accardo, and he ends the inning without any scoring.  That proves key in the top of the 9th, as the Jays load the bases with one out and the Indians summon Don McMahon to try to close out the game, but Glaus singles in a run, Gregg Zaun drives in another with a fielder’s choice, and Vernon Wells converts a SI 1-9 off McMahon’s card with two out to drive in a third, and it’s now a one-run game with the tying run 90 feet away and Adam Lind at the plate.  It’s a groundball X to 2B-3 defensive replacement Billy Moran, and he makes the play as the Indians survive a scare to move on to the semis with the 5-4 win.

The last matchup of the first round paired the #1 and #2 ELO seeds for the regional.  The top seeded 1994 Expos went 74-40 in the strike year, equaling 105 wins in a regular season, and the ELO rankings placed them as the best Expos team of all time by a considerable margin.  Although slightly impacted by fewer AB/IP due to the short season, Les Expos could still count on Pedro Martinez (11-5, 3.42) as their top starter.  They faced the AL pennant winning 2012 Tigers, who went 88-74 and were ranked as only the 27th best Tiger team, but they still sported the AL MVP in Miguel Cabrera and were starting the Cy Young runner-up, Justin Verlander (17-8, 2.64), so it really seemed that the winner of this game should cruise over the rest of the opposition in this bracket.  Both pitchers start off strong, but Moises Alou breaks the ice in the bottom of the 4th with a leadoff homer, and then Tigers RF Brennan Boesch responds with a 2-run blast in the top of the 5th.  In the 6th, Martinez is hurt and has to be pulled, so the Expos go with Tim Scott, and he holds the fort until they bring in closer John Wetteland for the 8th.  However, in the 9th, Wetteland allows a leadoff triple to Jhonny Peralta, who scores on an Andy Dirks single, Prince Fielder drives in another with a fielder’s choice, and the Tigers take a three run lead into the bottom of the 9th with Verlander looking to finish things out.  However, two straight singles and a walk load the bases with nobody out, and Detroit is warming up closer Jose Valverde but decide to allow their ace a chance to get out of his jam.  Verlander whiffs Rondell White, but a Cliff Floyd single and it’s a two-run game, bases are still loaded, and it’s time for Valverde.  However, Valverde walks #9 hitter Mike Lansing and it’s a one-run game, bases still loaded, and top of the order is up in the form of Marquis Grissom.   The Tigers bring the infield in for the speedy Grissom, and it pays off as a gbC off Valverde turns into an out at the plate for the second out.  It’s now between Valverde and Montreal SS Wil Cordero with the game on the line; Cordero grounds out and the Tigers escape with the 4-3 win.

The survivors

The first semifinal of the regional matches two bad teams that both won in the first round as favorites over two really wretched teams.  The 2007 Reds were entering the more frightening part of their rotation, and the prospects of Bronson Arroyo (9-16, 4.23) pitching to the 1992 Rangers’ Juan Gonzalez, who hit three homers in the round one game, added to the fear factor. Meanwhile, the Rangers had saved their better starters for these rounds, and Kevin Brown (21-11, 3.32), who led the AL in wins for a sub-.500 team, gave them a distinct advantage.  However, the Reds solve Brown quickly, with two singles and a walk loading the bases in the top of the 1st with nobody out, and after Rangers CF-4 Gonzalez turns a Brandon Phillips flyball into a 2-run single the Reds lead 3-0 before the Rangers swing a bat.  The Reds add another in the 2nd when Scott Hatteberg knocks an RBI single past injury replacement SS-4 Dickie Thon, but then the Rangers come alive in the bottom of the inning, loading the bases, and after a walk to Pudge Rodriguez, Texas gets two-run singles from both Al Newman and Rafael Palmiero and take a 5-4 lead.  The Reds immediately tie it in the 3rd with a solo homer from Edwin Encarnacion, but in the 4th Brian Downing and Palmiero go back-to-back to send Arroyo to the showers, and David Weathers manages to end the inning but with the Rangers up 8-5.  Jose Canseco adds an insurance run in the 7th with a solo blast, which is a good thing as Brown loses it in the 8th, and the Reds pile on four runs (two on a Josh Hamilton 2-out single) to tie it up, and game one savior Matt Whiteside is brought in.  The Reds respond in the bottom of the inning by bringing in their first round save artist, Jared Burton, meaning that whichever team survives this will go into the finals with a badly depleted bullpen.  In the top of the 9th, the Reds get started with an Encarnacion single and a double by Alex Gonzalez, bringing up backup catcher Javier Valentin with one out and the go-ahead run on 3rd.  Valentin rips it to Rangers backup 2B Jeff Frye, who can’t get to it and two runs score and the Reds regain the lead.  It’s thus up to Burton against the meat of the Rangers order in the bottom of the 9th, and he sets them down in order, fanning Canseco for the final out and the Reds head to the finals with an 11-9 come from behind victory.  Burton is now burnt for the regional, but with a win and a save to show for his four innings of work.   

This semifinal features two teams that both survived 9th inning rallies in the first round, and it’s a good pitching matchup with the 2012 Tigers and Max Scherzer (16-7, 3.74) against the 1964 Indians and Sam McDowell (11-6, 2.71).   The Tigers grab a run in the bottom of the 1st when Indians LF-4 Leon Wagner kicks a Prince Fielder single into the corner, allowing Dirks to score.  However, Tigers 2B-2 Omar Infante returns the favor with an error in the 4th that sets up a 2-run homer by John Romano, and the Indians briefly claim the lead until Delmon Young scores on a DP ball in the bottom of the inning to tie it at 2-2.  Both pitchers are in control from there, but when Indians DH Bob Chance leads off the 9th with a single and Al Luplow pinch runs, the Tigers relieve Scherzer and Al Alburquerque, with no hits but five walks on his card, gets his chance.  Chico Salmon promptly doubles, and the go-ahead run is now on 3rd with nobody out and the infield comes in for Woodie Held.  It’s a ground ball to Infante, and he drops it once again and the Indians take the lead.  It’s now up to McDowell in the bottom of the 9th, but Prince Fielder suddenly crushes Sam’s first pitch of the inning into the far reaches of Comerica Park and it’s now tied once again.  Romano then misplays a Young dribbler and the winning run is aboard with nobody out, but McDowell is insisting that he’s still got his stuff.  But Infante continues to earn goat horns by grounding into a DP and we head to extra innings, where the Indians regain the lead in the top of the 10th on a long solo shot from Max Alvis.  So once again it’s McDowell’s game to win in his last inning of eligibility, and he faces the top of the Tigers order.  Austin Jackson whiffs, Dick Howser handles an Andy Dirks grounder, and the game is up to MVP Miguel Cabrera, who has done nothing all tournament in several opportunities.   And Miggy flies out to send the upstart Indians to the finals with a 4-3 win.

The regional final was a Battle of Ohio matching the #4 seed 1964 Indians against the #6 seeded 2007 Reds, and the advantage for the Indians was even larger than ELO rating might suggest, as their Sonny Siebert (7-9, 3.23) was miles better than the Reds’ only option, Matt Belisle (8-9, 5.32), and to make matters worse anyone decent in the Reds bullpen was burnt.  Regardless, the Reds take the lead in the top of the 3rd when Scott “he gets on base” Hatteberg draws a 2-out walk and Adam Dunn follows by crushing a moonshot into Lake Erie, but that lead is erased in the bottom of the inning on doubles from Held, Howser, and Francona, and it’s tied 2-2 after three.   The Indians keep going in the 4th, as a 2-base error by Reds 3B-4 Edwin Encarnacion opens the door for three more runs, with another Howser double being the big blow.  When the Indians load the bases in the 5th with nobody out, the Reds look desperately at the bullpen but there is nothing there except batting practice pitchers, so they stick with Belisle and he only allows one run on a Chico Salmon sac fly, but the game is getting out of hand.  The Reds load the bases in the 7th but only convert one run on a Josh Hamilton sac fly, but that’s all they can scrape up against Siebert, who notches 10 strikeouts in a 4-hitter as the Indians win their 12th regional, cementing an unexpected dynasty of regional winners as the 1964 team joins 1960, 1961, and 1967 as bracket victors.

Interesting card of Regional #145:   For the first time in 45 years, in 2012 someone won a triple crown as Miguel Cabrera led the AL in batting average, homers, and RBI.  Last time it was done by a third baseman?  Answer:  Heinie Zimmerman, in 1912; although, in fairness it should be noted that Miggy had only moved back to third in 2012 because the Tigers had acquired Prince Fielder, who could only (and barely) play first.  Strat’s 3B-3 rating for Miggy might have been generous, considering he began the transition in spring training by taking a ground ball to the face during a game with the Phillies, resulting in a small fracture in the orbital bone beneath his eye.  It didn’t seem to affect his hitting much, given the Triple Crown; another worthwhile trivia note is that he was also the only player to have won all three Triple Crown categories in separate seasons prior to actually winning the Triple Crown.   Unfortunately for the Tigers, Miggy was wholly useless during their regional games and they were knocked out in the semifinals, with Cabrera looking more like his 2022 self in this tournament than the season represented by this card.