REGIONAL #157:  The attention-grabber in this bracket was the World Champion 1955 Brooklyn Dodgers, the team that finally defeated the Yanks in the Series to give the Bums the title.  There were some teams that looked like they would have the potential for serve as a roadblock for the Dodgers, however.  The ‘83 Tigers were on the verge of a great pennant winner themselves; the 2018 Royals had won two straight pennants three years prior, while the 2002 White Sox were three seasons from their first Series win in nearly a century.  There was also a Cardinals team that should be competitive, a pandemic year Reds team that could be a dark horse, and a second Royals team from the same era as the one that had just won the previous regional.  I had to pick the Bums to win in the finals over the Tigers out of sentiment, although the way pennant winners go down in this tournament (including those ‘84 Tigers) I wasn’t optimistic that I would be correct.   The ELO ranks made the same prediction, although they indicated that the biggest threat to the Dodgers might come in the semifinals from a Rays team that I had apparently overlooked–maybe because the Rays have won only one regional in the tournament.    

First round action

The team that I most undersold in this bracket was the 2010 Rays, who I discovered won 96 games and the AL East with good defense, speed, a lineup anchored by Evan Longoria (6th place finisher in the MVP voting) and a good pitching staff with Cy Young runner-up David Price (19-6, 2.72) at the top of it.   They faced the 93-loss 2007 Royals, a team that shared many parts with the 2009 team that just won the previous regional in surprising fashion, but one thing they did not share with that team was a Cy Young winner, although Brian Bannister (12-9, 3.87) was a decent option and he had defeated the regional favorites in the previous bracket.   The Royals take the lead when John Buck leads off the 2nd with a shot into the dingy recesses of the Trop, and a Billy Butler sac fly in the 3rd makes it 2-0 KC.  The Rays finally get on the board in the 5th when an error by KC 2b-2 Mark Grudzielanek sets up a 2-out RBI single from Rays #9 hitter Jason Bartlett, and it’s a one run game.  When KC DH Billy Butler leads off the 6th with triple boxcars, Price is knocked out of the game with an injury and the Rays go for broke with closer Rafael Soriano to try to stay in the game.  However, Soriano is greeted by back to back doubles from Ross Gload and John Buck and the Royals extend their edge to 3-1.  The injury bug hits the Royals in the 7th as they lose slick-fielding SS Tony Pena Jr for the next game, and then the Rays get things going in the bottom of the inning as BJ Upton records his second stolen base of the game and then scores on a Sean Rodriquez double.  That chases Bannister for Joachim Soria, who was clutch for the Royals in the previous regional, but LF-4 Reggie Sanders turns a John Jaso liner into a double and the game is tied entering the 8th.  The Rays move to Joaquin Benoit in an effort to preserve Soriano; he does his job while Soria gets pounded by the Rays in the bottom of the 8th, with Longoira, Upton and Matt Joyce all knocking in runs, and Tampa takes their first lead of the game into the top of the 9th with Benoit aiming to close it out.  He does so in style, earning the decision in the 6-3 win for the Rays that sends them to the semifinals and brings a close to the Royals magic that had emerged in the last bracket.

The ELO ranks only listed the World Champion, 98-55 1955 Dodgers as the 111th best team of all time, but most other rankings I’ve seen include these Bums among the top 20, and for good reason–this is a team without many weaknesses.  With five Hall of Famers in the lineup having good years, and Don Newcombe (20-5, 3.27) placing 7th in the MVP voting as their starting pitcher, they seemed like big favorites over the 2020 Reds, who did go 31-29 in the pandemic year which was sufficient to make the postseason as a wild card.  And like most 2020 teams I’ve played in this tournament, their small-sample anomalies made them a wild card here, particularly because Trevor Bauer (5-4, 1.73) was the Cy Young winner with a formidable card to face the Dodgers, his future (briefly, so far) team.  The Reds hand Bauer the lead in the top of the 1st when Jesse Winker finds Newcombe’s solid HR result for a solo shot, and there are no more hits in the game until the 5th, when Tucker Barnhart finds and convert Newcombe’s split HR result for a two run shot, and Newk loses his composure and lets up a few more hits to include an RBI single from Winker, and the Ebbets Field crowd is silent as the scores is now 4-0 Reds. In the bottom of the 5th, Roy Campanella leads off with a walk to become the first Brooklyn baserunner, and then the Ebbets faithful erupt as Carl Furillo blasts a moon shot that narrows the gap to 4-2.  However, in the 5th Joey Votto rolls Newk’s solid HR for a solo shot and the Dodgers have seen enough of his gopher balls, summoning wild youngster Sandy Koufax from the pen.  The punishment doesn’t stop, as Winker smacks a 2-run blast for his second homer of the game and disgusted Brooklynites call for the wrecking ball as the Dodgers can’t do anything against Bauer, who completes a 3-hitter and the easy 7-2 win for the Reds in which they themselves only had six hits–four of them homers.  And the cruel hand of single elimination strikes again as yet another all-time great team bites the dust in round one.

The 81-81 2002 White Sox were quite different from the team that would sweep the Series in three years, although some of the pieces were there and Mark Buerhle (19-12, 3.58) was the staff ace for both teams.  They faced the 1960 Cardinals, whose 86-68 record was good for 3rd place in the NL but, like the Sox, they weren’t yet the team that would win the Series in four seasons.  The Cards were going with Ernie Broglio (21-9, 2.74), who placed 3rd in the Cy Young voting and won 20 games with an interesting use pattern split nearly evenly between starts and relief appearances.  Regardless, Carlos Lee finds and converts Brogio’s HR 1-9/flyB split in the top of the first for a 3-run homer, although the Cards try to return the favor as Daryl Spencer and Stan Musial both roll Buehrle’s solid 4-8 double in the bottom of the inning and it’s 3-1 after one.  Jose Valentin crushes a solo shot with two out in the 3rd, but a 2-out two-base error by Sox SS-2 Royce Clayton opens the door for a Cardinal rally that includes a 2-run homer from Musial and the game is tied 4-4 after three.  When Curt flood finds and converts Buehrle’s HR split for a solo shot in the 4th, the Cards grab their first lead of the game but it doesn’t last long when Ordonez misses a HR split in the 5th but the Sox manage to still put a run across on a Paul Konerko RBI single and the game is tied once again after five.  When Bob Nieman opens the bottom of the 6th with a triple, the Sox deduce that Buehrle doesn’t have his stuff and Damaso Marte and the infield come in.  Bill White greets Marte with a sharp grounder to defensive replacement 3B-3 Joe Crede, who had just come into the game, and Crede throws it into the dugout for a two-base error and the Cards regain the lead.  Broglio enters the top of the 9th trying to hang onto that lead, but Konerko squibs a one-out single and then Cards RF-4 Joe Cunningham can’t get to a Lee liner so it’s runners on 1st and 3rd, and the infield come in for Joe Crede, the guy who had handed the Cards the lead.  He lofts a flyball out to LF-4 Musial, who makes a highlight reel catch and whips the ball in and the runners have to hold.  The game is now up to Royce Clayton, who hits a lazy fly ball to Musial and the game is over, with the Cardinals emerging on top with the hard-fought 6-5 win, despite having nobody other than Curt Flood on the team who can play the outfield worth a damn.

The 1983 Tigers were a year away from greatness, but at 92-70 they were pretty dang good, with the pieces in place for their big run including Jack Morris (20-13, 3.34), third in the Cy Young voting, on the mound.  In contrast, looking at the 104-loss 2018 Royals it was hard to believe that the team had won the Series only three years before; it was remarkable that with 43 carded players compared to the Tigers’ 24, the Royals couldn’t find nine that would make them better, although Brad Keller (9-6, 3.08) was a pretty good starting option for KC.  The Tigers squander opportunities to score by hitting into double plays, and so it’s the Royals who “strike” first when Tigers LF-3 Larry Herndon makes a 2-base error, followed later by an unbelievable error from 2B-1 Lou Whitaker to allow the run to score and it’s looking like the Tigers are doing their best to give this game away.  The Tigers finally threaten in the 8th when Alan Trammell doubles, but he’s cut down (1-14) trying to score on a Herndon single with a split roll of 15.  However, Lance Parrish, who twice previously has grounded into DPs, raps a 2-out RBI single off Keller’s card to tie the game, and the Royals summon Kelvin Herrera to try to end the threat.  However, it’s the Royals’ turn for unlikely miscues, as C-1 Salvadore Perez drops a popup that loads the bases, and Chet Lemon converts a SI 1-9 and the Tigers take the lead.  Enos Cabell and John Grubb also follow with singles and by the time Herrera records the third out, the Tigers lead 5-1.  Herndon adds a two out solo shot in the top of the 9th, but that is way more than Morris needs as he closes out a 4-hitter and the Tigers move on with a 6-1 win that was more difficult than it appeared.

The survivors

With the top seed eliminated in round one, the 2010 Rays found themselves as the favorite among the remaining teams, but they had also been tested in the first round and their bullpen was taxed, so they were hoping for many good innings out of Matt Garza (15-10, 3.91).  They faced the 2020 Reds, the team that had knocked out the top seed courtesy of a Cy Young winner, and their #2 starter in innings was also strong, Luis Castillo (4-6, 3.21).  It’s a pitchers duel until the bottom of the 5th when Joey Votto finds Garza’s solid HR result for a solo shot, and then Brian Goodwin goes back-to-back and the Reds take a 2-0 lead into the 6th.  The Rays strike back as Reds RF-4 Jesse Winker allows a Matt Joyce RBI double, but Castillo guts out the inning with no further runs and the Reds get the run back in the bottom of the inning on a Eugenio Suarez sac fly.  But these Rays aren’t done, and in the 7th Carl Crawford blasts a 2-run homer and then with two outs Evan Longoria adds a solo shot and Tampa grabs their first lead.  That lead is extremely short-lived, as Votto leads off the bottom of the inning with his second homer of the game, and Garza is yanked for Rafael Soriano, who had a rather rough relief outing in the first round but sits the Reds down in order here and the game is tied entering the 8th.  The Rays load the bases against Castillo with two out in the top of the 8th and the Reds summon closer Raisel Iglesias to get the third out against Crawford, but Crawford has a gutsy at-bat and eventually draws the walk and the Rays re-take the lead.  A rattled Iglesias then allows a 2-run single to Ben Zobrist, Reds RF-4 Winker can’t get to a Longoria RBI single, and the Rays take a commanding 8-4 lead into the bottom of the 8th.  Nick Castellanos and Suarez knock consecutive doubles off Soriano’s card to narrow the gap by one, and the Rays can add no insurance in the 9th and bring in Grant Balfour to try to close out the win.  Brian Goodwin smacks a double off Balfour’s card, but Balfour retires a string of low-AB wonder pinch-hitters and the Rays head to the finals with the hard-fought 8-5 victory.

The semifinal between the 1983 Tigers and the 1960 Cardinals boasted two pretty good starters, with Detroit’s Dan Petry (19-11, 3.92) and the Cards Larry Jackson (18-13, 3.48) both being valuable workhorses for their team.   St. Louis scores in the top of the 2nd when Julian Javier rips a two out double and #9 hitter Hal Smith follows with a single that scores the fleet Javier, although they miss a chance for more in the 3rd when Bill White hits into an inning-ending DP with the bases loaded.  Smith, a C-1, gets knocked out of the game with an injury in the 4th, and that proves significant when Alan Trammell singles in the 6th and steals second on Smith’s weak-armed replacement, C-4 Carl Sawatski, as Lance Parrish then singles Trammell home to tie the game.  Glenn Wilson then misses a HR 1-14 split; the resulting double scores one but Parrish is nailed at the plate for the last out, although the Tigers now lead 2-1 heading into the 7th.  Tiger 1B Enos Cabell goes down for the count with a 15-game injury in the bottom of the 7th, and the Tigers avenge him in the 8th when Parrish hits a 2-out RBI triple and then he scores on a Chet Lemon single that chases Jackson for Lindy McDaniel.  But Petry needs no more runs as he closes out a 4-hitter and the Tigers move to the finals with the 4-1 win.

For the first time in the past 15 or so brackets, the regional final is actually between two good (i.e., top 1000) teams, the 92-win 1983 Tigers and Dave Rozema (8-3, 3.43) and the 96-win 2010 Rays and Jeff Niemann (12-8, 4.39).  The Rays start off fast in the top of the 1st with a leadoff single from Carl Crawford, who steals second against C-1 Lance Parrish and then scores on an Evan Longoria double.  However, Larry Herndon hits a solo shot in the bottom of the 4th to tie it, followed by a Parrish double and it’s looking like the Tigers are repeating their pattern of scoring runs in bunches during this regional, but Niemann settles down and prevents any further damage.  In the 6th, Longoria is cut down at the plate (1-13) trying to score on a Matt Joyce double, but Joyce then scores on an infield-in single from BJ Upton and the Rays retake the lead.  Two walks from Rozema in the 8th and the Tigers go to the pen for Aurelio Lopez, and he quells the threat so the Tigers are down to their last six outs in the bottom of the 8th.  Leading off the inning with their #9 hitter, Detroit summons Kirk Gibson to pinch hit down by a run; he limps out to the plate, Niemann delivers with the Tiger Stadium crowd roaring–and Gibson grounds out quietly to 2b-2 Sean Rodriguez, who also handles the next two grounders and we head to the 9th with the Rays clinging to the one run lead.  Rodriguez leads off by converting a SI 1-5, Jason Bartlett adds another single, and then Crawford puts one into the upper deck at old Tiger Stadium for a 3-run shot, meaning that Niemann can take a padding into the bottom of the 9th and perhaps rest the overtaxed Rays bullpen.  He doesn’t need the padding, closing out a 6-hitter and leading the Rays to only their second regional win (with 2017) courtesy of the 5-1 win.  Carl Crawford gets bracket MVP honors with two homers, six RBI and 3 SB from the leadoff position in the three games, with the slow-to-warm-up Rays recording 15 of the 19 runs they scored in the regional in the 7th inning or later.  

Interesting card of Regional #157:  As some of you may have figured out, I am very old-school in my Strat preferences and there really haven’t been many season sets in the past 15 or so years that have been very interesting to me.  However, may the dice gods forgive me, I love the 2020 pandemic set–not the imagined version, mind you, which I got as a cheap add-on and haven’t separated and probably never will.   No, I mean the REAL 2020 set, in all of its small sample size glory.  I present to you the strange case of one Robert Stephenson, with a card that is a Treasure Island for opposing batters.   A 26 year old Stephenson had a decent 2019 with a 1.036 WHIP in 57 relief appearances, but cue the pandemic and he went from Dr. Jekyll to Mr. Hyde with frightening speed.  Managing to allow 8 home runs in only 10 IP is a feat most batting practice pitchers can’t match, but trying to be charitable, you have to admit that other than the home runs allowed, his card is pretty good.  Stephenson continues to be active, waived by the Rockies this season but picked up by the Pirates; I wonder if anyone has ever shown this card to him.