REGIONAL #158: My random team selector this time pulled two teams from the most recently carded season, and one of them was the Series champion 2021 Braves. However, it just so happened that in the first round those Braves would face a second pennant winner included in this bracket, the 2010 Rangers, the first time since Regional #91 that two pennant winners would meet in round one (spoiler alert: neither of those teams won the regional!). There were some other possibilities in here as well, such as a ‘59 Pirates team that would famously win the Series the following year, and the other 2021 team represented, the Twins, who I thought I remembered being competitive. With only one Rangers team having a regional win in the tournament, I thought that perhaps they were due and that they would handle the Braves in round one and move on to defeat the Pirates in the finals. However, the season-ending ELO rank for the Braves put them around the 50th best of all time and so picked them as favorites over a 2007 A’s team ranked as the best in the bottom of the bracket.
First round action
The 2021 Braves were Series champions and had a season-ending ELO rating that placed them among the best teams of all time, but they had a rather modest 88-73 record and, really looking closely at their team for the first time since getting the cards, I wasn’t overwhelmed. They did have power up and down the lineup, good team defense, and Charlie Morton (14-6, 3.34) was a solid staff ace, but they weren’t that great at getting on base and the back end of their rotation was rather pedestrian for a pennant-winner. Speaking of pennant-winners, they faced the 2010 Rangers, who won 90 games and the AL, and the Rangers had plenty of power of their own, led by AL MVP Josh Hamilton, and had the capable Cliff Lee (12-9, 3.18) on the mound, so this looked like a close matchup between two very good teams. In the 2nd, the Braves take the lead when Freddie Freeman races home on a Jorge Soler double, but the Rangers tie it in the 4th when Braves C-4 Stephen Vogt drops a Vlad Guerrero popup which allows a run to score. When Guerrero singles Hamilton to third with two out in the bottom of the 6th, the Braves bring in Luke Jackson to try to prevent the run from scoring, but Jackson promptly uncorks a wild pitch that Vogt has no chance of stopping and Hamilton scores to give the Rangers the lead. When Dansby Swanson doubles to lead off the 8th, the Rangers pull Lee for closer Neftali Feliz, who tosses two perfect innings to shut down the Braves and preserve the 2-1 win for the Rangers. As such, the champions of the most recent card set in the tournament make a rapid exit and the Rangers continue their quest to reverse the poor showing of the franchise thus far.
The 83-79 1991 Mariners could take heart from the fact that the 1990 version of the team was the only Mariner squad to win a regional; both teams had a couple of Griffey’s at their disposal, and the exceptionally wild Randy Johnson, (13-10, 3.98, 228 K, 152 BB) on the mound. They were ELO favorites against the 73-89 2021 Twins, a curious team with some mighty but injury prone sluggers (e.g. Byron Buxton with a 1.005 OPS but an injury at 3-8) and a non-existent rotation with the staff leader in IP traded away mid-season. So the Twins decided to send out trade acquisition John Gant (5-11, 4.09) who almost rivaled Johnson’s BB/9 rate. The Mariners waste no time and jump out to a 4-0 lead in the top of the 1st with an RBI single from Edgar Martinez, a 2-run triple from Jay Buhner, and a run-scoring double by Pete O’Brien. Although Gant settles down afterward, a walk and a single in the top of the 6th and the Twins see no reason not to go to their pen, and Joe Ryan comes in to strike out the side. Sensing the momentum shifting, the Twins get a single and then three Johnson walks force in a run and the M’s bring in Bill Swift with the bases loaded and two out to face PH Luis Arraez. The roll: 1-4, gbA on Arraez, solid HR on Ryan Jeffers, the guy he pinch hit for. Minnesota puts up another run in the 8th on a Jorge Polanco fielder’s choice, and the Mariners bring in Mike Schooler to try to close things out. Meanwhile, Ryan completes four innings of no-hit relief and the Twins enter the bottom of the 9th down by two. Miguel Sano leads off with a double and then PH Alex Kirilloff follows with a single, putting the winning run at the plate with nobody out. Another base hit by Trevor Larnach and it’s a one run game with the tying run in scoring position; #9 hitter Andrelton Simmons is at the plate and the Twins call for the sacrifice; Simmons beats it out and the bases are loaded with nobody out and the winning run now on second base and the top of the Twins order up. Seattle has to pull the totally ineffective Schooler, and they give Mike Jackson the impossible task of pulling this one out. The infield comes in for Max Kepler, but he lofts a flyball deep enough to score the run and the game is tied and the imposing Buxton is at the plate. Buxton hits a grounder to SS-3 Omar Vizquel, who flips it to Harold Reynolds and on to O’Brien and we head to extra innings. Alvin Davis leads off the 10th missing a HR 1-13/flyB split with a 14 roll, and new Twins pitcher Tyler Duffey is in control until the top of the 13th, when a spate of wildness loads the bases with one out and Minnesota moves to Jorge Alcala, with better control but also gopher ball issues, and he gets out of the jam. The Mariners then have to move to Calvin Jones, their 5th pitcher of the game, in the bottom of the 13th, and he does his job but the Mariners bats do not, and finally in the bottom of the 15th Byron Buxton can be denied no longer, leading off with a tape measure shot that drives a stake into the Mariners and gives the Twins the exhausting 5-4 win.
The 1981 Blue Jays were ranked as one of the worst 100 teams of all time, with a 37-69 record in that strike year and a host of players that would be better later on but dismal now. However, they did have Dave Stieb (11-10, 3.18) on the mound, who actually received MVP votes as the bright spot in a dim group. They faced the 90-loss 1964 Red Sox, another team that would be better in a few years, but the Boston lineup had far more weapons than did the Jays and although Bob Heffner (7-9, 4.08) was not of Stieb’s caliber, the Red Sox did have some talent in the bullpen, including Dick Radatz’s 157 relief innings. The Jays cause is not helped in the top of the 1st when DH Otto Velez is injured for seven games, but in the 2nd Alfredo Griffin knocks in a run with a triple and the Jays take a lead. Stieb doesn’t allow a hit until the 4th, but it’s a long one as Felix Mantilla sends it over the Green Monster to tie the game, but that tie doesn’t last long as the Jays strike in the 5th with an Al Woods solo shot and an RBI double from Barry Bonnell, who scores on a Heffner error and the Jays lead by three. Radatz is summoned to begin the 6th for the Sox, and he does his job but it’s to no avail as Stieb is dominating, finishing up a 2-hitter and the Jays somehow move on with the 4-1 win.
The 1959 Pirates were just a year away from a championship, but they were barely a .500 team at 78-76 with a rather anemic lineup, although Vern Law (18-9, 2.98) got MVP votes, as did Roy Face, who went 18-1, all in relief. It was interesting that they were ELO underdogs to a sub-.500 2007 A’s team that went 76-86 and was a rather faceless “Moneyball” era squad with Dan Haren (15-9, 3.07) getting the first round start. In the bottom of the 1st, it’s Dr. Strangeglove who gets things going for the Pirates as Dick Stuart crushes a 2-run moonshot with Virdon aboard, and then Bob Skinner goes back-to-back and the A’s are quickly in a three-run hole. They dig out of it immediately, as in the top of the 2nd Law can’t get anyone out, and the double play combo of Groat and Mazeroski both allow infield singles that score runs, and it’s tied 3-3 until the bottom of the inning, when Pirates C Danny Kravitz knocks a 2-run homer to put the Pirates back in front, and it’s looking like a long game. However, in the 5th Pirates LF-4 Skinner bobbles a Travis Buck single that allows a run to score, and then Mark Ellis blasts a homer and the A’s take the lead, 6-5. A leadoff single by A’s #9 hitter Jason Kendall in the 6th and Pittsburgh realizes that the Law has been broken, and no point in saving Face so in he comes. Face quickly induces a DP ball and ends the threat, and the Pirates get to work in the bottom of the inning with a Smokey Burgess single and a walk to Don Hoak, and it’s the A’s turn to move to the pen and Huston Street, who has had several excellent relief appearances in this tournament for a variety of teams, and Street sets the Pirates down in order with no damage. Oakland DH Jack Cust crushes a solo shot in the top of the 7th to provide some insurance, but in the bottom of the inning it’s time for a new policy as Roberto Clemente finds and converts Street’s HR split for a 2-run shot and the game is tied once again. In the bottom of the 8th Hoak doubles past CF-3 Nick Swisher, and Groat follows with a sharp single but the 1-14 Hoak is nailed trying to score. Thus, the game is still deadlocked at six apiece heading into the 9th; both relievers are in their last inning of eligibility for the regional but neither team wants to pull their best, so it’s game on. Face does his job, 1-2-3 with two whiffs, and so it’s Street’s turn in the bottom of the 9th. He gets two quick outs but Stuart singles and then Skinner walks, so the Pirates have to pinch run for Stuart as the winning run in scoring position and Burgess at the plate. Burgess lines out, and we head to extra innings and the Pirates biggest bat is now out of the game. The Pirates turn to their painfully shallow pen and bring in Ron Blackburn, and he gets through the 10th with no issues; the A’s turn to Alan Embree in the bottom of the inning and he does likewise. In the bottom of the 12th, Pirates PH Harry Bright misses a HR 1-6/flyB split with a 9 to make the third out with Burgess on 3rd and we move on to the 13th–the last inning of regional eligibility for this set of relievers. Blackburn walks Dan Johnson to lead off the inning, and then A’s SS Bobby Crosby rolls Blackburn’s solid 4-10 HR and the wheels come off; Cust adds a 2-run homer, Swisher gets an RBI grounder, and Travis Buck rolls the 4-10 and it’s a 6-run 13th inning for the A’s, who bring in Andrew Brown to preserve Embree and he mops up the 13-7 extra inning win for the A’s in a game that saw nine homers leave Forbes Field.
The survivors
The 2007 A’s were the only ELO-favored team to have won a game in this regional thus far, and they were the highest seeded team still alive although their 13-inning game in the first round left them with little bullpen to support Joe Blanton (14-10, 3.95). The 1981 Blue Jays had their own problems, as aside from being the #8 seed they had lost their DH to injury, although Luis Leal (7-13, 3.67) pitched better than his record. The A’s get a 2-run double from Eric Chavez in the bottom of the 1st to take the early lead, but the bad news is that they lose RF Travis Buck to injury for 6 games. The Jays immediately tie it back up in the top of the 2nd on clutch 2-out, 2-run single from Alfredo Griffin, but the A’s strike back as injury replacement Milton Bradley delivers a 2-out triple to put Oakland up by one. Leal then issues four walks in the 4th, walking in one run and another scoring on a Shannon Stewart sac fly, but then in the top of the 5th Blanton comes up with a sore arm and has to leave the game, and the depleted A’s pen sends out Santiago Casilla and his 4.44 ERA as their best long relief option. That doesn’t go well, as in the 6th the Jays rack Casilla for three runs to tie the game, and it could have been worse as John Mayberry makes the third out missing a HR 1-8 split with two men on base. The A’s get runners on first and third with one out in the 7th, and Leal is pulled for Jerry Garvin, who allows an RBI single to Dan Johnson but retires PH Daric Barton with the bases loaded to keep the Jays within one. Garvin holds the A’s, and so the Jays enter the 9th down by one and Andrew Brown is summoned by Oakland to close things out; he does, and the A’s survive to reach the finals coming out on top of the 6-5 battle.
The regional finals match the #3 seed 2007 A’s against the #6 seeded 2021 Twins, but to me the matchup looked much closer than the ELO rankings would suggest. Neither team had a great option on the mound, with the A’s going with Lenny Dinardo (8-10, 4.11) while the Twins’ lone remaining 100 IP option was Kenta Maeda (6-5, 4.66). The A’s take the lead in the bottom of the 2nd when Eric Chavez misses the split on Maeda’s HR 1/DO but Milton Bradley races home on the double; Maeda then recovers and strikes out the side to strand Chavez, and the Twins tie it in the third on a Byron Buxton sac fly. In the 6th, the injury bug finally strikes the Twins as Miguel Sano gets knocked out for the tournament, and the A’s capitalize in the bottom of the inning when Bradley misses a HR 1-14/DO split but scores on a 2-out triple by Mark Ellis. When Andrelton Simmons doubles to lead off the 7th, the A’s pull Dinardo for Alan Embree and he gets out of the jam safely. Maeda then falls apart in the bottom of the inning, allowing a 2-run double to Nick Swisher, and when Alex Colome comes in he isn’t much better, yielding a 2-out 2-run single to Chavez and it’s now 6-1 A’s. The Twins get one back in the 8th out a 2-out RBI single from injury replacement Alex Kirilloff, but that’s all they can muster and the A’s take the 6-2 win and the regional, their 6th for the franchise but only the first from this century.
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