REGIONAL #155:  This bracket featured the pennant winning, mustachioed 1972 A’s who looked to me to be the class of a rather undistinguished-looking collection of teams.  The only other squad that caught my eye was the ‘85 Cubs, who I knew had been a contender in their previous season, although I wasn’t certain how much of a dropoff they experienced following that success.  I didn’t think the elder statesmen in this group, the deadball Browns and post-war Senators, would stand a chance, although any of the remaining more modern era squads could be dark horse candidates.  Regardless, I picked the A’s over the Cubs in the final; the ELO ranks agreed, backing up my impressions by characterizing the A’s as a big favorite over a group of largely bad teams–but that is a designation that has often proved to be the kiss of death in this tournament.

First round action

The 2011 Mets were a mediocre 77-85 team who had some speed at the top of the lineup but an uninspiring pitching staff, fronted by R.A. Dickey (9-13., 3.28) who was hoping that his newly mastered knuckleball would be working.   Still, the Mets were considerable ELO favorites over the 2016 Twins, a 103-loss team with a very good second baseman in Brian Dozier and little else to support a pitching staff with one good starter, Erwin Santana (7-11, 3.38).  The Twins grab the lead in the top of the 2nd when Eddie Rosario rolls and misses Dickey’s HR split, but fleet Byron Buxton scores from 1st on the resulting double.  The Mets retaliate with a Jason Bay 2-out, 2-run homer in the bottom of the frame that puts NY ahead, but they suffer a setback in the 4th when David Wright, who has been killer for the Mets in this tournament, has to leave the game with an injury.  The Mets don’t get another hit until Daniel Murphy doubles in the 7th, but he’s tossed out at the plate (1-13) trying to score on a single by injury replacement Ruben Tejada and Santana escapes with no damage.  Meanwhile, Dickey has been getting out of jams all game, but in the 9th he gets the first two outs with no issues; however, Eduardo Nunez then rolls and misses Dickey’s HR split, and then Joe Mauer does the exact same, and the game is tied.  That brings up Dozier, who has been quiet all game, and the Mets stick with Dickey, but it wouldn’t have mattered as the 1-8 rolled is a solid HR for Dozier and a two-run lead for the Twins.  That is it for Dickey, and Miguel Batista comes in to get the last out, so now it’s Santana against a bunch of Mets defensive replacements.  The Mets scrape out a couple of singles but Santana strands those runners to complete a 5-hitter and propel the underdog Twins on to the semifinals with a 4-2 win.

The 1972 A’s went 93-62 and won the AL and the World Series, largely on the strength of a great pitching staff because the lineup had some holes offensively (e.g. Ted Kubiak, .205 average) and defensively (e.g. Angel Mangual, CF-4).  Still, with 20 game winner Catfish Hunter (21-7, 2.04), the A’s were odds on favorites against a 95-loss 2002 Orioles team that had a bit of steroid-era power but little ability to get on base, although starter Rodrigo Lopez (15-9, 3.57) did finish second in the Rookie of the Year voting, which also proved to be his best season.  Lopez lucks out in the top of the 1st when Joe Rudi misses a HR 1-10/DO split and gets stranded at second, and then in the 3rd Mangual leads off by missing his HR split also.  However, #9 hitter Kubiak rolls Lopez’s HR result and this time they don’t miss the split, giving the A’s the lead, but Geronimo Gil returns the favor in the bottom of the inning by converting Hunter’s HR split for a solo shot that makes it 2-1 A’s.  In the 5th Rudi blasts a 2-out RBI double past 3B-4 Tony Batista to extend the Oakland lead, and the A’s decide to go to defensive replacements in the 6th to support Hunter in a tight game.  However, in the bottom of the 6th Gil singles and then Gary Matthews Jr. rolls Hunter’s HR 1-12 and misses with a 13 split, but that puts runners on 2nd and 3rd with nobody out.  With Rollie Fingers already up in the pen, Hunter delivers to Melvin Mora, who smacks a hard single that scores both runners and the game is tied.  But the A’s respond in the 7th, when defensive replacement Mike Hegan triples to lead off the inning; the O’s bring the infield in and another defensive rep, .182 hitter George Hendrick, rips a ball through the drawn-in infield and the A’s retake the lead.  Then, the third defensive specialist of the inning, Tim Cullen, smacks a double but the 1-15 Hendrick is cut down at the plate and the A’s take a one-run lead into the bottom of the 9th.   Then, Batista atones for his fielding problems in a big way, leading off the inning with a homer that ties things up and chases Hunter for Bob Locker, with no extra base chances on his card, out of the pen.  The next batter, Jeff Conine, rolls what would have been Hunter’s HR result but it’s an out on Locker, who retires three in a row and the game heads to extra innings.  Lopez and Locker both do their jobs in the 10th, and with Lopez now toast the Orioles bring in Jorge Julio, who blows through the A’s in the 11th including a classic strikeout from Reggie Jackson.  But Locker is also in fine form, and he shuts down the O’s for his four innings, but is then burnt for the regional and he has to turn the ball over to Darold Knowles in the 13th.  Julio is similarly used up after the 14th, during which he adds another epic strikeout of Jackson to his total, and when Knowles sets the O’s down in order in the bottom of the inning Baltimore moves to yet another strong reliever, Buddy Groom, to begin the 15th.  Groom picks up where Julio left off, fanning Jackson again in the 16th, but Knowles is perfect in his final inning of eligibility for the regional and the game moves to the 17th inning.  The A’s do nothing in the top of the inning, and Rollie Fingers finally comes in for the bottom of the inning and holds off the O’s so the game goes to inning 18.  Groom is perfect in his final inning of regional use, and Fingers does his job so it’s on to the 19th and new Baltimore reliever Yorkis Perez, who allows the first Oakland hit in 12 innings but the A’s still can’t score, and neither can the Orioles so we head to inning 20.  Perez walks Hendrick and Cullen to lead things off, bringing up the top of the A’s order; he then also walks Campaneris and the bases are load, nobody out, infield is in, and Joe Rudi is at bat.  Rudi lines out, but then Mike Epstein rips a grounder to 3B-4 Batista, who throws the ball into right field for a 2-base error; Perez then walks Jackson and Bando to drive in another and the Orioles drag Perez off the mound and see if Willis Roberts can end the inning.  That answer is no, as Hegan smacks a 2-run single and by the time that Hendrick makes the final out, the A’s lead 9-4 and they bring in Dave Hamilton for the bottom of the inning to try to save Fingers’ eligibility.  Hamilton allows three singles to the first four batters of the inning, but is bailed out when Mike Bordick hits into a double play and the 20 inning marathon finally comes to an end with the A’s surviving their 9-4 win, but with a good portion of their bullpen burnt for the regional.  

The 1985 Cubs were a mediocre 77-84 that dropped off considerably after winning 96 games and the NL East in the prior season, but they had still a decent lineup headed up by nice years from Ryne Sandberg and Keith Moreland, and Dennis Eckersley (11-7, 3.08) was a solid anchor for the staff.  They faced a 45-107 1911 Browns team that had an ELO rank that placed them among the 20 worst teams of all time, a squad whose leading home run hitter had 3 and five of their nine starting hitters had zero, although Barney Pelty (7-15, 2.83) wasn’t a bad pitcher, certainly by comparison to the rest of their staff.   In the bottom of the 3rd, Browns RF Al Schweitzer takes a break from his humanitarian work in Africa to deliver an RBI double, but that seems to wake up the Cubs who begin the 4th with three straight hits, and a Thad Bosley RBI single and a Moreland sac fly put the Cubs up 2-1.  But the Browns show some grit when their DH and leading HR hitter (with 3) Joe Kutina leads off the bottom of the inning by sending this newfangled lively baseball into the far reaches of Sportsman's Park to tie it back up, and then Jimmy Austin finds and converts Eckersley’s HR split with two out in the 5th for a solo shot and the lead.  However, a two-out error by Browns 2B-4 Frank Laporte puts the tying run in scoring position for Bob Dernier, and pinch runner Billy Hatcher races home on Dernier’s clutch single to tie the game once again.  The Browns try to respond in the bottom of the frame, but their lone Hall of Famer, 37-year-old Bobby Wallace, is cut down at the plate trying to score on a single by PH Dave Rowan.  Pelty then loads up the bases with Cubs in the top of the 8th; the Browns play for the DP from Keith Moreland and get it but a run scores and the Cubs regain the lead.  However, with two out in the bottom of the 8th the Browns record back to back triples from Kutina and Willie Hogan to tie it back up; with Lee Smith warming up in the pen the Cubs let Eckersley pitch to PH Dode Criss, and that proves to be a mistake as Criss kisses it goodbye, rolling and converting Eck’s HR result for a 2-run shot and the lead, with the Cubs finally summoning Smith who fans Wallace for the third out.  That brings up the Cubs down two entering the top of the 9th, and Ron Cey draws a walk and then Dernier singles with two out to put the go-ahead run at the plate in the form of Gary Matthews.  But Pelty whiffs Sarge and it’s game over, Cubs lose as the Browns, who hit 17 HR all year, smack three in this 6-4 win to advance to the semis.

The 1996 Pirates lost 89 games and their carded team was even worse than that, as they traded away most of their starting rotation mid-season which left them with Jon Lieber (9-5, 3.99) as their only option for round one–although he was by far the best alternative regardless.  Even so, they were still ELO favorites over the 64-90 1947 Senators, who had only one batter in their punchless lineup with double digit homers (Stan Spence, with 16) but they did have some low AB wonders on the bench and Walt Masterson (12-16, 3.13) heading up an okay rotation.  In the top of the 2nd, Lieber walks two and then Eddie Yost rolls up Lieber’s solid 6-5 HR result, and the Nats jump to a quick 3-0 lead.  Lieber commits a 2-base error on a Sherry Robertson grounder in the 4th, and then Pirate CF-4 Mike Kingery waves his arms futilely at a Yost liner and the Pittsburgh defense hands Washington another run.  In the 6th the Nats turn to their bench for some further ammunition, and a leadoff single pushes the Pirates to bring in Dan Plesac and he gets out of the inning with no damage.  In the bottom of the 7th the Pirates finally get to Masterson, who had only allowed two hits to that point, and they smack four hits including RBI singles from Carlos Garcia and Charlie Hayes to narrow the score to 4-2.  Plesac comes up big in the 8th, whiffing superscrub PH Gil Coan with two runners on to keep the Pirates in the game.  That brings it up to Masterson to hold on in the bottom of the 9th, but a walk and 3b-2 Yost’s second error of the game brings up Jay Bell as the winning run with one out.  The Nats eye their bullpen but decide to stick with Masterson; the Pirates eye a nameless pinch-hitter (aka Keith Osik) but don’t want to lose Bell’s glove if the game gets tied.  The roll is a 3-6, gbA on Bell (and a solid DO on Osik), and it’s game over, the Senators win 4-2 and become the third team in this regional in the bottom 300 teams of all time to advance to the semifinals.  

The survivors

The first round survivors in this bracket included three seemingly terrible teams, all with at least 90 losses, and one World Series winner that was fortunate to have survived a 20 inning marathon in round one that burned most of its bullpen.  The latter team, the 1972 A’s, was matched against the 2016 Twins, and as might be expected from a pennant winner the rotation of the A’s offered far better options, like Blue Moon Odom (15-6, 2.51), than the Twins and Hector Santiago (13-10, 4.70).  In the bottom of the 1st, a two base error by Twins SS-4 Eduardo Nunez sets up an RBI single for Reggie Jackson, and Dave Duncan leads off the 2nd with a long blast that makes it 2-0.  The Twins respond with three straight singles in the top of the 3rd, the last an RBI poke for Brian Dozier, but Odom bears down to strike out two in a row to maintain a one run edge for the A’s.  However, in the bottom of the inning Santiago walks two and then the Twins defense falters again as CF-2 Byron Buxton makes a two-base error on a Bando fly to score one, bringing up Duncan with two out and two on–and he crushes his second of the game for a 3-run shot that puts the A’s comfortably ahead.  Reliever Taylor Rogers comes in to get the third out but Oakland leads, 6-1.  A solo shot from Eddie Rosario in the 4th narrows the lead a bit, but the A’s get it back on a 2-out RBI single from Mike Epstein.  In the 6th, Reggie lets loose a prodigious blast for a 2-out, 3-run homer that sends the crowd into a frenzy and sends Rogers to the showers in favor of Brandon Kintzler.  Buxton responds with a 2-run homer in the top of the 7th to make it 10-4, and in the 8th the Twins load the bases and it’s clear that Odom is struggling, but with the A’s bullpen shot it will be a blue moon before they pull him; Odom is bailed out by the highlight film DP from defensive replacement Tim Cullen to keep any runs from scoring.  Odom hangs on in the 9th to get the complete game, despite allowing 14 hits, and the 10-4 win sends the top seeded A’s swaggering into the finals.

Two unlikely semifinalists face off with the #6 seed 1947 Senators against the #8 seeded 1911 Browns, and the “favored” Senators were sending out a Hall of Famer in Early Wynn (17-15, 3.64) while the Browns brought out Roy Mitchell (4-8, 3.84).  The Browns squander a chance in the top of the 2nd when Burt Shotton doubles but Joe Kutina (1-10) is cut down trying to score, but Al Schweitzer donates a sac fly in the 3rd and the Browns then grab a 1-0 lead.  That lead holds as Mitchell is dominating, but in the bottom of the 8th the Nats’ supersubs come off the bench and Rick Ferrell’s leadoff single is followed by a Gil Coan triple, but Mitchell keeps Coan from scoring and we enter the 9th with the game tied.  Wynn does his job in the top of the 9th; in the bottom of the inning Stan Spence rolls Mitchell’s HR 1-5/DO but misses the split and gets stranded, and the game heads to extra innings.  Wynn allows two singles in his final inning for the top of the 10th, but escapes with no damage, and Mitchell similarly gets through his half of the inning and both starters must leave after tremendous efforts.  It’s now up to the bullpen, and Washington’s Tom Ferrick is a nice option who dispatches the Brown in the 11th.  St. Louis brings in Ed Hawk, who gets through the 11th, but when he has to face the Nats supersubs in the 12th Hawk is greeted by a leadoff double by Ferrell.  That brings up the remarkable Coan, and the Browns elect to pitch to him; Coan raps a single and the lumbering 1-8 Ferrell ignores the stop sign and heads for home.  The split roll:  4, Ferrell is safe and the Senators move on to the regional final winning the 2-1 extra inning battle in walk off style. 

It’s a David v Goliath regional final, with the world champion, top seed 1972 A’s and Ken Holtzman (19-11, 2.51) looking like overwhelming favorites against the 90-loss 1947 Senators and Ray Scarborough (6-13, 3.41).  The Nats quickly show that they aren’t intimidated, as in the bottom of the 1st Mickey Vernon doubles and then scores on a Stan Spence single, and the A’s are now behind for the first time in the regional–but not for long, as a Dave Duncan sac fly immediately ties it in the 2nd.  The Senators are unfazed, as Al Evans leads off the bottom of the inning by lofting a flyball that A’s CF-4 Angel Mangual manages to turn into a triple, and then Sherry Robertson doubles to put Washington back on top.  The hits continue, and when SS-2 Campaneris lets a double play ball through the infield for a single, Mickey Vernon make the A’s pay with a 4-10 roll that’s a solid HR on Holtzman, and when the dust finally settles the Senators lead 6-1 after two innings, and the A’s pen, depleted by their 20 inning marathon in the first round, is scrambling to find an option.  In the bottom of the 5th Vernon converts his own HR 1-3 split for a solo shot and that’s it for Holtzman, with Joel Horlen coming in on the wrong end of a big lead.  He makes that worse, as the Senators open the 6th with a remarkable SEVEN straight singles, and Dave Hamilton replaces Horlen who fails to retire a single batter in the inning, and the Nats now lead 12-1.  The A’s finally decide to try to mount a comeback with two out in the 9th, as PH Mike Hegan hits a 2-run triple followed by a Tim Cullen double, but Scarborough finally strikes out Campaneris and the Senators win 12-4 and capture only the third regional for a Senators team, joining 1911 and 1967.   Mickey Vernon’s two homers and two doubles wins him player of the game recognition, but it was the Senators’ pitching staff that really proved most valuable in this regional.  

Interesting card of Regional #155:  When your team doesn’t have much offense, it’s nice to have a guy like this who, under tournament rules, can come in after the 5th inning for some late game heroics.  Unlike most of these low AB wonders in my tournament who have been non-factors (we’re looking at you, Rudy Pemberton), Coan played an important role in helping his underdog Senators win the regional, as he provided most of their offense in their second-round extra-inning win.  It’s easy to dismiss this card as a flash in the pan, but Coan was a promising player–he was the Sporting News Minor League Player of the Year in 1945 and after his 1946 rookie season, none other than Ted Williams called Coan “the most promising prospective big league star.”  However, Coan developed appendicitis in the spring of 1947 and spent much of the season recovering with extended rehab in the minors, where he batted .340 with 22 homers; recalled in September, he put together the impressive 42 at-bats represented by this card.  Coan did have a couple of .300 seasons once he became a regular, even getting some MVP votes in 1951, but he never became the star that the Splendid Splinter predicted.  Even so, this offering from the recently introduced 1947 season has my vote for entry into the Strat Card Hall of Fame.

REGIONAL #154:  No pennant winners in this group, but there were a variety of pairs:  two Orioles teams, two 1990 teams, and the last two squads from 1962 to take their shot in this tournament.  My first glance at this collection suggested that many of them might be decent but that none would be great; I knew that the Cardinals would take the NL a few years after this ‘62 squad so I picked them to win; from memory I had no rational basis for selecting any of the teams from the top half of the bracket who would face them, but I figured the most recent team, the 2018 Orioles, would do so simply because of the typical power and depth advantages of modern squads.   The ELO ranks did think that my selected Cards team was the second best in the group, but they would face the top ranked team in round one in the ‘95 Orioles–with my prediction of the 2018 Orioles in the finals as comical being by far the worst rated team in the bracket.  So, in the final those ranks forecast the elder Orioles over a Padres team seeking to become the second straight San Diego regional winner.  

First round action

Little did I know when I blindly picked the 2018 Orioles to reach the finals that they had 115 losses and their season-ending ELO rating placed them among the 50 worst teams of all time, nicely symbolized by Chris Davis and his .168 average with 192 strikeouts.  Picking a starting pitcher presented no decent options, with swingman David Hess (3-10, 4.88) getting the nod mainly because he had the fewest innings pitched in which to be terrible.  They faced the 74-88 1990 Brewers, who had some remnants from the Harvey’s Wallbangers era as well as an aged Dave Parker, but it was a team with too many DH’s and not enough fielding in support of Ted Higuera (11-10, 3.76) and the rest of the staff.  In the bottom of the 1st a 39-year old Parker shows that he’s still dangerous, crushing one into the far reaches of County Stadium for a solo shot, and Greg Vaughn adds a 2-run blast in the 2nd to make it 3-0 Brewers.  However, in the 4th a 2-out rally by the Orioles, featuring RBI singles from Trey Mancini and Tim Beckham, makes it a one-run game, and Adam Jones then doubles in Jonathan Villar in the 5th to tie the game.  When Parker doubles to lead off the 6th, followed by a squib single by Gary Sheffied, the Orioles figure that they aren’t going to get many shots at a win so they bring in Mychael Givens to relieve Hess; unfortunately, Givens isn’t much of a fielder as a P-4 and he turns a Rob Deer grounder into a 2-base error to relinquish the lead.  That is followed by a Paul Molitor RBI single and then a Greg Vaughn DP scores Deer, so it’s 6-3 Brewers heading into the 7th.  The Orioles try a rally in the 9th as Danny Valencia leads off with a HR on Higuera’s card; Caleb Joseph adds a double but gets no further as Higuera strikes out Davis and Villar to close out the 6-4 win.

The 1962 Indians went 80-82, with eight guys in the starting lineup in double digit homers and 20-game winner Dick Donovan (20-10, 3.59) a nice option on the mound.  They faced a 75-87 1990 Padres team with two Hall of Famers in Tony Gwynn and Roberto Alomar whose Pythagorean record suggested that they should have been a .500 team, and they had a good staff ace in Ed Whitson (14-9, 2.60), so it looked to me like the two teams were pretty closely matched.   The Indians break the ice in the top of the 3rd when DH Gene Green singles in Ty Cline, but the Padres get three squib singles in the 4th to load the bases, although they only convert one run on a Benito Santiago fielder’s choice that ties the game.  When the Indians get runners on 1st and 3rd with one out in the 6th, the Padres opt to use their advantage in the pen and bring in Greg Harris, but he walks Willie Kirkland to load the bases and then Tito Francona raps a hard single that scores two and the Indians lead, 3-1.  SD gets one back in the bottom of the inning when Gwynn leads off with a triple and, after two failed efforts to get him home, Santiato singles to make it a one-run game.   Harris and then Craig Lefferts hold the fort, and then in the bottom of the 9th the Padres get singles from Santiago and Mike Pagliarulo and the tying run is 90 feet away with one out.   The Indians elect to stick with their ace Donovan and play for the DP from Garry Templeton, and he cooperates, hitting the game-ending gbA on his own card and sending the Indians to the semifinals winning the 3-2 nailbiter.

This first round game between the 1995 Orioles and the 1962 Cardinals matched the best two teams in the regional, according to the ELO ranks.   The Orioles were the top seed despite being an under .500 team, going 71-73 in that strike year but having some big bats in Palmiero, Baines and Ripken, and a couple of very good starting pitchers including Mike Mussina (19-9, 3.29), who led the AL in wins and was 5th in the Cy Young vote.  The Cards finished over .500 at 84-78, and were led by an elder Stan Musial, with a .924 OPS at age 41, and a young Bob Gibson (15-13, 2.85) who was already beginning to frighten the National League.  In the bottom of the 2nd, Charlie James finds and converts Mussina’s HR split for a 2-run shot, and in the 4th an error by 1B-2 Rafael Palmiero sets up a Julian Javier RBI double that makes it 3-0.  Gibson stymies the O’s until the 8th, when a 2-base error by defensive replacement SS-3 Dal Maxvill is followed by a Palmeiro flyball that LF-4 Musial turns into a 2-run triple, and so the tying run is on 3rd with one out.  Gibson lets one fly at batter Jeff Manto’s head, but he hangs in there and smacks a HR 1-7, and although he misses the split it’s a sac fly and the game is tied.  However, in the bottom of the inning Curt Flood and Bill White lead off with singles and the O’s call upon Jesse Orosco to try to get out of the jam, facing a Musial intent upon atoning for his fielding mishap.  Musial squibs a split single to bring in Flood, and then Ken Boyer converts another split single to load the bases, and there’s still nobody out.  A whiff and then a gbB that gets the runner at home and it’s looking like Orosco might get out of the inning, but then defensive rep Bobby Gene Smith pokes another split single and then Javier and Maxvill both draw bases loaded walks and the Cards enter the 9th with a four run lead.   Gibson shuts the Orioles down in the 9th, striking out two of three to complete his 5-hitter and the Cards take the battle of the top seeds by a 7-3 margin.  

I thought the 83-79 1989 Rangers looked pretty familiar, with Palmiero and Baines anchoring the lineup, and wondered if I had recently played a Rangers squad from that era, and no–they were both on the Orioles in the preceding game.   But unlike Baltimore, these Rangers had one Nolan Ryan (16-10, 3.20) on their side, which apparently helped make them slight ELO favorites over the 2012 Mariners, who had a pretty decent Felix Hernandez (13-9, 3.06) anchoring their staff but had almost nobody who could get on base, having traded Ichiro to the Yankees in midseason.  In the top of the 3rd, Baines does something he couldn’t do in the previous game, knocking a 3-run blast with two out to put the Rangers in front.  However, in the bottom of the 4th Casper Wells converts a strange 5-2 DO 1-18/flyB off Ryan’s card, and a flustered Ryan then allows a single to Jesus Montero that makes it 3-1.  The Rangers promptly get that run back in the 5th on a fielder’s choice by Ruben Sierra, and as the game progresses both squads suffer injuries, Rangers SS Fred Manrique for the regional, and Mariners C John Jaso for two games; more pile up in the 8th as Rangers C Geno Petralli is out for the tournament (15 games) and M’s CF Michael Saunders is knocked out for the remainder of the game.  But Ryan stays healthy, and cruises until there are two out in the bottom of the 9th, when Wells finds and converts Nolan’s HR split for a solo shot; that’s the last gasp for Seattle, however, and the battered Rangers limp on with a 4-2 win and Ryan wins the strikeout battle against Hernandez, 12 to 9.   

The survivors

In this semifinal, the 1962 Indians for the second game in a row find themselves to be a slight ELO underdog to a team with a worse record than they had, this time the 1990 Brewers, and Milwaukee’s Ron Robinson (12-5, 2.91) was better at keeping the ball in the park than the Indians’ Pedro Ramos (10-12, 3.72).  Ramos suffers from some shoddy Cleveland fielding in the top of the 2nd when SS-3 Woodie Held commits a 2-base error that sets up a Robin Yount flyball that CF-2 Ty Cline turns into a two-run double.  In the 3rd, Ramos has nobody to blame but himself as Paul Molitor hits Ramos’ solid 4-10 homer for another two runs, and in the 4th a double and two walks loads the bases full of Brewers for Gary Sheffield, who finds and converts Ramos’ 4-9 HR 1-8 for a grand slam that sends Ramos to the showers for Bill Dailey from the pen.  But the Brewers aren’t done, as Indians 3B-2 Bubba Phillips drops a grounder to set up a 2-run blast from Greg Vaughn, so by the time Dailey records the third out it’s Brewers 10, Indians 0.  In the 6th, the Brewers start bringing in the scrubs for safekeeping, and that doesn’t stop the bleeding as backup 1B Greg Brock leads off the inning with a homer.  The Indians finally try to make some noise in the 9th, getting runners on 1st and 3rd with nobody out, but the Brewers bring the infield in to try to preserve Robinson’s shutout, and it works like a charm; Robinson closes out the 6-hit gem and the Brewers move on to the finals with the 11-0 blowout, where they will attempt to be only the 3rd team in the franchise to take a regional.

Both the 1962 Cardinals and the 1989 Rangers reached the semifinals with the assistance of Hall of Fame starting pitchers, and their #2 starters weren’t bad but were nonetheless a bit of a dropoff, with the Rangers’ Kevin Brown (12-9, 3.35) going against the Cards’ Ernie Broglio (12-9, 3.00).   The Cards were the highest remaining seed in the bracket and the Rangers had the added disadvantage of having their starting catcher and shortstop both out for the regional.   However, it’s the Rangers who start off the scoring in the bottom of the 1st when Rafael Palmiero finds Broglio’s homer result for a solo shot and a one run lead.  That lead is short lived as Brown can’t seem to get anyone out in the 2nd, as the Cards rip off four straight singles and take a 3-1 lead.  The Rangers try to mount a threat in the 3rd but Cards C-3 Gene Oliver throws out A stealers Cecil Espy and Julio Franco to bail out Broglio, and they squander another opportunity in the 6th when Pete Incaviglia grounds out with the bases load–and gets injured in the process, adding to the Texas hospital bills.  Meanwhile, Brown has settled in, but so has Broglio, who suffers from a bit of wildness but only allows 3 hits until the 9th, when injury replacements Rick Lead and Jeff Kunkel both hit singles to put the winning run at the plate with two out.  But Broglio retires PH Jack Daugherty to cement the 3-1 win and propel the Cards into the finals.

The regional finals pit the #2 seed 1962 Cardinals, the team that I picked to win the group, against the #4 seeded 1990 Brewers, a franchise that had won only two such brackets in this tournament (as compared to 8 previous wins for the Cards).   Larry Jackson (16-11, 3.75) had been a workhorse for the Cards, while Chris Bosio (4-9, 4.00) had been more of a spot starter for Milwaukee but looked better than the alternatives.  Regardless, both start out the game in good form, and things remain scoreless until the bottom of the 4th, when Ken Boyer finds Bosio’s solid 4-10 HR result for a solo shot.  That one run holds up as Jackson is lights out until the top of the 9th, when Yount leads off the inning with only the 3rd hit of the game for the Brewers, and then the unbelievable occurs as CF-1 Curt Flood makes a two base error on a Dave Parker fly, and the tying and go-ahead runs are in scoring position with nobody out.  The infield comes in as does reliever Bobby Shantz, the first call to the bullpen the Cards have made in the regional.  Shantz delivers to Gary Sheffield, who pokes a grounder past defensive replacement SS-3 Dal Maxvill and the game is tied, with still nobody out.  The Cards keep the infield in, so Sheffield steals second, and then Paul Molitor hits a DO 1-5/flyB on Shantz’s card; he misses the split but it’s a sac fly and the Brewers lead for the first time in the game.  In come the defensive replacements for Milwaukee for the bottom of the 9th to try to support Bosio against the bottom of the Cards lineup.  Bosio gets two quick outs, but then PH Fred Whitfield hits Bosio’s 4-9 HR 1-4/DO result, misses the split, but puts the tying run in scoring position in the form of pinch runner Minnie Minoso, with Julian Javier at the plate.  The Brewers consider walking Javier to get to the even weaker-hitting Maxvill, but decide to pitch to him and he flies out harmlessly to give the Brewers the 2-1 come from behind win and the regional crown, only the third for their franchise–joining 1987 and 2003.

Interesting card of Regional #154:  His team got knocked out in the regional final, but a 26-year old Bob Gibson got them past the first round even though 1962 was certainly not his finest season (as anyone who owns the 1968 Cardinals can attest).   Still, it was a significant season for him, as he was named as an All-Star for the first time while beginning to master the control problems that he had early in his career.  It’s interesting to me that as his BB/9 rate started to decline, his HBP/BF rate began to increase–making me think that with his increasing control was an increasing willingness to use the chin music he was famous for, but which he probably hesitated to use when he wasn’t sure where the pitch would end up.  Now, for us Strat players, his 1962 season was significant because it was his FIRST Strat card, shown here along with the Advanced version that was released in the late 1980s (which was the version I used here in the tournament).  For trivia buffs, I believe the 1962 Advanced set was the first time that the game company issued a season that they had already printed, but with updated features, and of course in 2019 the company decided we needed yet another version with SADV features (instead of a new golden-era season that we haven’t seen before, for example).  Note that the original 1962 Gibson card is not only bigger, but it’s a little bit better; anyone who has the SADV version can compare to further see how the tinkering with the formulas has evolved, but I’m happy with my old-school versions.

REGIONAL #153:  After a bracket with three pennant winners, this regional looked far less competitive, although there was one pennant winner, the 2016 Indians.   The rest of the groups didn’t look like much to me at first glance; there was a Tigers team from the 90s that I thought might be decent and there were two other teams from the 2016 AL, with the Angels possibly breaking through after two straight losses in regional finals.  I predicted that the Indians would live up to their billing and handle this collection, and for karma’s sake I picked them to beat the Cubs (to whom they lost in the 2016 Series) in the final.  The ELO ranks had the three 2016 AL squads as the three top seeds and really the only decent teams in the group, predicting the Indians to best the Mariners in the final.  

First round action

The 75-87 2010 Cubs were sufficiently bad to get manager Lou Piniella fired midseason, although somehow interim skipper Mike Quade got them to go 24-13, for which he was rewarded with the job “permanently”, at least until he was replaced after the following unsuccessful season.  Still, they were ELO favorites against the 73-79 1976 Padres, who had a major power outage with Dave Winfield’s 13 HR being the only bat in the lineup with double digit power.  Still, somehow Randy Jones (22-14, 2.74) managed to win 20 games with that offense behind him, an achievement that earned him Cy Young honors and a seeming edge over the Cubs’ Ryan Dempster (15-12, 3.85).  With two out in the bottom of the 1st, Winfield and Mike Ivie hit back-to-back doubles to give the Padres an early edge, and when Dempster walks the first two batters of the 3rd that sets up RBI singles from Winfield and Dave Rader that make it 3-0.  That lead dissipates quickly, as the Cubs reel off four straight hits with two out in the 4th, the last one a 2-run double by Blake Dewitt on a missed HR split that gives the Cubs a 4-3 lead.  The Padres tie it back up on a clutch 2-out single by Rader that scores John Grubb, but the Cubs reassert themselves in the 7th with a Starlin Castro RBI triple followed by Kosuke Fukudome’s sac fly.   However, when Winfield doubles in Jerry Turner with one out in the bottom of the inning, the Cubs decide to try closer Carlos Marmol despite his propensity for wildness.  Marmol gets one close enough to the strike zone for Ivie to rip a single that scores Winfield and ties the game once again heading into the 8th.  And once again in the top of the 8th the Cubs respond, as Marlon Byrd smacks a 2-out RBI single past Padres SS-3 Enzo Hernandez.  The Cubs thus take a one run lead into the bottom of the 9th, where they bring in defensive replacements and decide to let Marmol get one out before pulling him to preserve his innings.  However, he walks Turner and then Grubb singles Turner to 3rd, so the tying run is 90 feet away and the winning run is on first in the form of pinch runner Luis Melendez with Winfield up.  Marmol still is the best option given his strikeout pitch, so he stays in to face Winfield, who laces a hard single to tie the game and now the winning run is on 3rd with nobody out.  Marmol remains in to face Ivie, and Ivie rips a single off his own card (as were all previous singles this inning, because Marmol has none on his card) and it’s ballgame; Marmol never does get that last out and the Padres move on with the wild 8-7 comeback win.  

The 2016 Mariners were the #2 seed in this bracket, winning 86 games and featured three 30+ HR guys in Nelson Cruz, Robinson Cano, and Kyle Seager.  Although they had a solid bullpen, their rotation left something to be desired, with Felix Hernandez (11-8, 3.82) still the best option although hitting the downside of his career.  Their opponent, the 2012 Marlins, lost 93 games with their main weapon coming in the form of Giancarlo Stanton and his .969 OPS; top starter Mark Buehrle (13-13, 3.74) boasted good control but had an uncomfortable tendency to allow the longball.  That tendency becomes apparent, albeit with some luck, in the bottom of the 1st when Cano converts a HR 1/DO off Buerhle’s card for a 2-run shot and an early Mariners lead.  However, Mariners RF-3 Franklin Gutierrez, playing right in place of the even worse fielding Nelson Cruz, commits two errors and allows a 2-run double to John Buck in the top of the 2nd to single-handedly provide the Marlins with a 3-2 lead.  A two-out single by Omar Infante scores Stanton in the 3rd and Miami extends their lead, but then their own poor fielding shows up in the bottom of the inning as 3B-5 Greg Dobbs commits two errors and then Cano laces a single through a drawn-in infield that scores two more that puts Seattle back into the lead, 5-4.  Then it’s Miami’s turn as they lead off the 4th with three straight hits and retake a 6-5 lead before Hernandez can get the third out, and when Infante leads off the 5th with a homer the Mariner’s have seen enough of Hernandez and fetch Mike Montgomery from the pen, who survives another double allowed by Gutierrez’s fielding without further damage.  When Buerhle allows a leadoff single to Leonys Martin in the 6th, the Marlins move to Steve Cishek to try to retain their lead, and he quickly retires the side.  Seeing how well that worked for Miami, the Mariners then bring in their own version of Steve Cishek to begin the 7th, and he survives an error by 1B-3 Adam Lind to keep it a 2-run game.  Miami then brings in some defensive replacements to get their two “5” fielders out of the lineup, and although they’d like to preserve their version of Cishek, the rest of the bullpen is a disaster and so they elect to burn him to try to assure the win.  However, Martin leads off the bottom of the 8th with a single and then PH Mike Zunino converts a DO 1-8/flyB and the speedy Martin races home to make it a one-run game, and Nori Aoki ties it with a double off Cishek’s card.  Gutierrez atones for some of his fielding miscues with a single, and Aoki scores on a Cruz grounder and the Mariners take the one run lead into the 9th.  Having watched Cishek blow a save for the Marlins, the Mariners decide to avoid having him have two blown saves in one game and turn the game over to Edwin Diaz to pitch the 9th.  The Marlins get singles from Infante and Stanton, but then they get down into their defensive replacements and without any viable pinch-hitters remaining, Emilio Bonifacio hits into a double play and the Mariners, courtesy of their bullpen, pull out the 8-7 win.  In an unusual turn, Steve Cishek manages to be both the winning and the losing pitcher.  

Although they would become famous in a few years as the Whiz Kids, the 1947 Phillies were ranked as the worst team in the regional, with a 62-92 record and Andy Seminick leading a punchless squad with 13 homers.  However, they did have Harry the Hat Walker, who led the NL with a .363 average that included 16 triples, and Dutch Leonard (17-12, 2.68) was a solid staff ace.  The 79-83 1990 Tigers had Cecil Fielder, whose 51 homers were nearly as many as the team total for the Phils, but the supporting cast wasn’t that strong and Jack Morris (15-18, 4.51) had his usual problems with the gopher ball.  Both pitchers start the game in control, and scoreless innings go by as any threat is usually erased by the double play for both teams.  In the top of the 7th, Emil Verban singles for the Phils and then Morris issues a 2-out walk to Lee Handley, so the Phillies bring in PH Ralph Lapointe.  Fearing those homer results on Morris, the Tigers elect to go to the pen for Jerry Don Gleaton, even though Morris is pitching a shutout and is not happy about being pulled.  He is even unhappier when Lapointe hits a single, but Verban (1-15) is nailed at home for the final out and the game remains scoreless.  Tiger Stadium continues to roar when Travis Fryman leads off the bottom of the inning with a homer off Leonard’s HR 1-5 split to take the lead.   Gleaton walks two Phils in the 8th but whiffs Del Ennis to end that threat with no damage, and Alan Trammell doubles in Tony Phillips for an insurance run in the bottom of the inning–but the Tigers lose CF Lloyd Moseby for the tournament to a 10-game injury.  The Tigers summon Mike Henneman to close out the game in the 9th, and he puts the Phils down in order to preserve the 2-0 shutout, with both teams being limited to five hits apiece.  

The 2016 Indians won 94 games and the American League, losing the Series in 7 games; they were stocked with power up and down the lineup (excepting catcher, which was the one big hole in the offense) and Cory Kluber (18-9, 3.14) came in third in the Cy Young voting.  The 2016 Angels won 20 games fewer in the same league, and although they had Mike Trout as the AL MVP, their starting rotation fronted by Matt Shoemaker (9-13, 3.88) was uninspiring and they had one of the most impressive collections of gbAs on their cards that I remembered seeing in a team; I checked and they only came in 2nd in the AL in GIDP with 147, but perhaps that’s because as a team their OBP wasn’t that great.   Even so, it’s the Angels who start out strong, as Kluber allows four hits and makes a 2-base error in the bottom of the 2nd to spot LA a 3-0 lead.  The Indians respond in the 3rd when Tyler Naquin smacks a 2-out solo homer; Angels LF-5 Jefry Marte then allows a triple to Carlos Santana and Jason Kipnis singles the guitarist home to make it a one run game.  A Jose Ramirez double in the 4th scores Coco Crisp to tie the game, and Francisco Lindor follows that with a 2-run single to give the Indians the lead.  A leadoff single to Kipnis in the 5th and the Angels have to turn to their best reliever, Cam Bedrosian and his 1.12 ERA, to try to keep the game in reach.  He quickly dispatches the Indians, and in the 7th the Angels mount a threat when Andrelton Simmons singles, is held on first, and then Carlos Perez knocks a single from a gbA++ that sends Simmons to third.  After a long conference on the mound, the Indians decide to go to their relief ace, Andrew Miller, hoping to get the strikeout to strand Simmons or get the DP to end the inning.  Miller gets Kole Calhoun to pop out, and then whiffs Yunel Escobar to prevent any runs from scoring.  Another threat materializes in the top of the 8th when 2b-2 Kipnis drops a Trout grounder, and then Marte singles Trout to 3rd with nobody out.  However, Miller then records three straight strikeouts, and again the threat is averted.  By the 9th, Bedrosian, who has been near-perfect, is now toast for the regional and Joe Smith (apparently not an alias) comes in and sets down the Indians; the Tribe wishes to preserve Miller for later rounds and brings in Dan Otero to close things out in the bottom of the 9th.  And so he does, retiring the Angels in order and sending the Indians on to the semifinals with a 5-3 victory, courtesy of some gutsy relief pitching from Miller.  

The survivors

One might expect that when a 73-win team that has one pitcher win 22 of those, the rotation for the 1976 Padres would drop off pretty fast, but Brent Strom (12-16, 3.28) was not a bad #2 starter, and the SD bullpen, such as it was, was still at full strength after their round one win.  The same could not be said for the 2016 Mariners, who used four pitchers to survive their first round battle, although each retained some eligibility if needed to support James Paxton (6-7, 3.79), selected because he had better control and fewer longball issues than the alternatives.  The M’s put up a run quickly when Padres 3B-2 Doug Rader drops a grounder from leadoff hitter Nori Aoki in the bottom of the 1st, and he eventually scores when Nelson Cruz grounds into a DP.  Given that both of these teams came from behind multiple times in their round one wins, it is no surprise that the Padres respond, with an RBI triple from Jerry Turner followed by a John Grubb sac fly in the top of the 3rd putting SD in the lead.  Seattle evens it back up with a sac fly from Franklin Gutierrez in the bottom of the inning,  In the 5th, Grubb misses a HR 1-5 split but Turner races home on the resulting double, and then Willie Davis, who had narrowly missed an injury his previous at bat, singles home Grubb and the Padres claim a two run lead.  Having pitched his requisite 5 innings, Paxton is on a very short leash and when Enzo Hernandez pokes a one out double in the 6th, he’s gone and the Mariners start to turn to the trio of relievers that got them through round one, starting with Mike Montgomery who ends the inning without any damage.  Strom gets in trouble in the bottom of the frame, putting men on 2nd and 3rd with two away but retiring Adam Lind on a flyball to retain the 4-2 lead, and then SS-3 Enzo Hernandez converts a key DP in the 7th to squelch another Seattle rally effort.  However, in the bottom of the 8th Gutierrez finds and converts Strom’s HR result for a solo shot, and the Padres bring in Bruce Metzger to try to preserve the now one-run lead.  It’s a good thing, too, as Nelson Cruz rolls the same 5-10 result as Gutierrez but on Metzger it’s a flyout to surehanded Willie Davis, and the game proceeds to the 9th.  Steve Cishek sets the Padres down in the top of the 9th, and so it’s Metzer against the M’s for the game.  He records two quick outs but then Leonys Martin converts a SI 1-16 with a 16 roll, and that brings up backup SS Shawn O’Malley and his .229 average–and he cannot be pinch hit for under tournament rules, because the Mariners have no remaining shortstops on the bench.  So the Mariners decide to go for broke, with the A stealing Martin looking to get into scoring position against the Padre’s weak armed backup C-4 Bob Davis; Martin takes off for second and he’s gunned down, game over, and the unlikely Padres head to the finals with the 4-3 win.  

The 1990 Tigers survived the first round with a 5-hit shutout from Jack Morris and a couple of relievers, but that looked unlikely to continue with Dan Petry (10-9, 4.45) being the least terrible option to throw out against the regional favorite 2016 Indians.  Still, the Indians’ rotation wasn’t that great after Kluber, and Danny Salazar (11-6, 3.87) was not without his own weaknesses, and the Tribe bullpen had already seen some use in the first round.  Alan Trammell finds one of Salazar’s weaknesses to lead off the game, rolling the latter’s HR 1-13 result but missing the split roll for a double, but Salazar strands him to escape the inning.  In response, Jose Ramirez leads off the bottom of the 1st by rolling Petry’s HR result, and he does not miss the 1-17 split roll and so the Indians claim a lead courtesy of their first batter of the game.  Two straight walks and a single by Lonnie Chisenhall and it’s 2-0 Indians after one.   An RBI double in the 2nd from .167-hitting catcher Yan Gomes makes it 3-0, but the Tigers get on the board in the 3rd when injury replacement Milt Cuyler misses Salazar’s HR split but this time Trammell is there to single him home.  The trend continues in the 4th; Cecil Fielder leads off the inning by missing the split for a third time on Salazar’s HR 1-13 result, and Salazar strands him for no damage, and then in the 5th Tyler Naquin finds Petry’s HR result and the Tigers again convert that split for a solo shot that makes it 4-1.  However, a walk and a long single to leadoff the top of the 6th and the Indians have lost confidence in Salazar and turn to Andrew Miller, realizing that this will burn him for the regional.  Miller whiffs Lou Whitaker, but then Miller’s weakness is revealed–he can’t field, and he turns a Larry Sheets grounder into a double that makes it a two-run game with runners on 2nd and 3rd.  The infield comes in, and in a debatable move Mark Salas comes in to pinch hit for Mike Heath.   Miller fans Salas and retires Cuyler and the Indians remain in front.  When Chisenhall leads off the bottom of the 6th with a double off Petry’s card, the Tigers go the same path as the Indians, burning their bullpen to try to stay alive and bringing out Jerry Don Gleaton, their round one winner; he burns through three straight and the game heads to the 7th with Cleveland holding the 4-2 lead.  Both Miller and Gleaton do their jobs in the 7th but both are toast at that point; the Tribe bring in Brian Shaw who sets the opposition down in order in the 8th, as does Lance McCullers for the Tigers.  That brings the game to the 9th; Cleveland decides to stick with Shaw, and he rewards them by pitching his second perfect inning to send the Indians to the finals with the 4-2 win, with the Tigers demanding an inquiry into suspicious split dice function.

The #1 seed 2016 Indians made it to the finals, but it wasn’t an easy road and their bullpen was taxed in two close wins, with relief hero Andrew Miller burnt for the final, and with Carlos Carrasco’s (11-8, 3.32) gopher ball tendencies, that could come into play.  Still, they were overwhelming ELO favorites over the #7 seeded 1976 Padres and Dave Freisleben (10-13, 3.51), a guy I have to admit I have no memory of.   But things start off bad for Carrasco, as Padres’ Jerry Turner leads off the game with a single, 1B-4 Carlos Santana drops a grounder, and then Dave Winfield hits one of Carrasco’s HR results; he misses the split but the resulting double scores two runs and Mike Ivie singles Winfield home for another.  A Willie Davis double puts runners on 2nd and 3rd, and with two out Enzo Hernandez singles in Ivie, but miraculously Davis (1-19 with two out) is nailed at the plate to end the inning, but the score is still Padres 4, Indians yet to bat.  A Francisco Lindor RBI single in the 3rd puts the Indians on the board, but when Carrasco allows a leadoff single to Ivie in the 6th the Indians turn in desperation to Dan Otero from the pen in an effort to stay in the game.  That proves futile, as Davis triples off Otero’s card to score Ivie and the Padres extend their lead to 5-1.  Otero settles down after that, but the Indians can’t figure out Freisleben until Carlos Santana leads off the bottom of the 9th with a homer.  However, it’s too little too late, as Freisleben then retires three straight to come out of obscurity and clinch the regional crown for the underdog Padres with the 5-2 upset.  The Padres win all three games without hitting a single home run, and somehow managed to win even though their worst pitching performance of the regional was turned in by their Cy Young Award winner.  This is only the second regional win for the Padres, with the 1971 squad having been another unlikely winner, suggesting that in this tournament the franchise seemed to peak shortly after being created as an expansion team!

Interesting card of Regional #153:  This guy played a pivotal role in getting his team to the finals with clutch relief performances, and once he was burnt up the Indians promptly faltered in the big game.  Miller’s season was interesting in that he got support for the Cy Young Award, first as a reliever who didn’t come close to leading the league in saves, and then as a player who pitched for two different teams, being traded midseason from the Yankees to Cleveland.   Still, as is evident from his card, he had a heck of a year.  This is a card where almost nothing can go wrong, but when it does, it goes very wrong.  But aside from that one result, every other non-fielding chance on this card is a strikeout with one exception, and that is only at a snake eyes roll.  He pitching in four games in both the ALCS and the World Series and was named MVP of the ALCS, which was pretty much the peak of his career; Miller retired after last season, finishing with a 55-55 record and 63 saves in 16 seasons of work.  But as far as this card is concerned, if you need to strand that runner at third with less than two out, there aren’t many better options than Miller time–as long as you stay away from that 4-4.