REGIONAL #162:  After some lackluster draws in the past few brackets, this one promises to be epic.  It features the World Champion, trashcan-banging 2017 Astros who won the first Series in the history of the franchise, as well as a golden-era Yankee team that was one season away from a pennant, a Cubs team two years after their first in ages, and a Pirates squad due to be family in a couple of seasons.  Just the bottom half of the bracket alone will include appearances by The Babe, Hammerin’ Hank, the Say Hey Kid, Stretch McCovey and Pops Stargell.  Although I guessed that the Astros would be the best team top-to-bottom, I had to believe that karma would catch up with them, and so I picked Babe and the 1920 Yanks to shut them down in the finals.  The ELO ranks predicted the same two teams in the final but went with the Astros to win it all, and also agreed that this was one of the strongest collections of eight teams to have played in a single regional in a long time.  

First round action

The 2017 Astros won 101 games and the first World Series for the franchise, and although the trashcan banging may have helped a lineup that saw every player hit double-digit homers, that didn’t account for a strong pitching staff headed by late-season pickup Justin Verlander (15-8, 3.36) and a defense where everyone except the catcher was a “2” fielder.   They were big ELO favorites over the 74-88 2013 Brewers, but Milwaukee magic had triumphed in the last regional and the crew were hoping Kyle Lohse (11-10, 3.35) could quiet the trash cans.  The Stros strike in the 2nd with a 2-run homer from Yuli Gurriel, and in the 4th a 2-out error by Lohse sets up another 2-run shot, this one from Brian McCann.  When Gurriel misses his HR 1-13/DO split to lead off the 6th, the Brewers see no reason to wait and bring in Francisco Rodriguez to try to keep things close and he strands Gurriel at 2nd for no damage.  The Brewers finally manufacture a run in the 7th when Jean Segura singles, steals second, and scores on a hit from PH Scooter Gennett, the hero of Regional #104.  FRod shuts the Astros down in the interim, but it doesn’t matter as Verlander allows no more baserunners and completes the 5-hitter to send Houston to the semifinals with the 4-1 win.

After their long-awaited Series win in 2016, I seem to remember Cubs fans believing that this would be the beginning of a dynasty, but it was not to be and this 2018 Cubs team was one of the squads that failed to deliver on that promise.  Mind you, this was still a good team, winning 95 games albeit making a rapid exit from the postseason as a wildcard, with 2B-1 Javier Baez coming in second in the MVP balloting and Kyle Hendricks (14-11, 3.44) heading up a decent rotation.  They faced the 2004 Orioles, a 78-84 team who had a big year from Melvin Mora but a pitching staff that got bad quickly after Rodrigo Lopez (14-9, 3.59).  In the top of the 3rd, BJ Surhoff scores on a close play at the plate courtesy of a Brian Roberts single and the Orioles take the lead, but Baez ties it with a solo shot in the bottom of the inning.  Baltimore moves back on top in the 4th when Rafael Palmeiro juices a double and then scores on a Luis Matos base hit, but again the Cubs respond in the bottom of the inning with a Willson Contreras RBI triple, and he scores on a single from Albert Almora and the Cubs take the lead, 3-2.  Mora then ties it with a solo shot in the 5th, and the Cubs efforts to respond are thwarted when Kyle Schwarber misses a SI 1-15 split with a runner on 3rd to make the final out in the bottom of the inning.  Cubs DH Daniel Murphy goes down with an 8-game injury in the 6th to the chagrin of the Wrigley crowd, but they make some noise when Ben Zobrist squibs a single past 2b-2 Roberts and the O’s summon BJ Ryan to relieve Lopez.  Ryan then induces a double play ball from Anthony Rizzo and the game is still tied heading into the 8th.  A single from Miguel Tejada and the Cubs move to their deep bullpen for Pedro Strop, and he gets a DP out of Javy Lopez and the game proceeds to the 9th where both relievers dispatch the bottom of the respective orders and we head to extra frames.  By the 11th, Ryan has burnt his eligibility for the regional, and Bruce Chen comes in; he does his job, and then Strop is similarly used up by the 12th so the Cubs move to Steve Cishek, and he does likewise.  However, in the top of the 13th Roberts doubles and then David Newhan scores him on the only complete hit on Cishek’s card, and the O’s move ahead with the Cubs facing their last chance in the bottom of the 13th.  Schwarber walks and gets into scoring position with two out, but Chen whiffs injury replacement DH Ian Happ and the Orioles pull off the 4-3 win, moving on to the semifinal round but with a seriously depleted bullpen from the 13 inning marathon.

Despite an impressive 95-59 record, the 1920 Yankees only finished in 3rd place but they were on the cusp of a historic run, with Babe Ruth having his breakout season and Carl Mays (26-11, 3.06) anchoring a strong rotation, all of which was good enough to make them the #2 seed in this regional.  They faced a serious challenge from the 1965 Braves, who went 86-76 in their last year in Milwaukee, but had plenty of power in the form of Hank Aaron and Eddie Mathews, and Tony Cloninger (24-11, 3.29) had his career year as staff ace.   The Braves assert themselves quickly in the bottom of the 1st, with back to back doubles from Joe Torre and Aaron giving them a lead, and then a two-out double from Mathews scores Aaron and Mack Jones with Mathews scoring on a Frank Bolling single–and it’s 4-0 Braves after one inning.  Things just get worse for the Yanks in the 3rd when Aaron leads off with a flyball that CF-4 Ping Bodie manages to turn into a 3-base error; NY brings the infield in to pitch to Mack Jones, who promptly hits the gbA+ to score Aaron and Mays is starting to throw at Braves hitters.  That doesn’t intimidate them as they rap three hits off Mays’ card in the 4th and karma for the Ray Chapman incident seems to have caught up to Mays, who is pulled in desperation for #3 starter Jack Quinn, but Quinn immediately gives up a 2-run double to Rico Carty and it’s 8-0 after four innings and the sparse Milwaukee crowd is putting their Atlanta real estate search on hold.   Meanwhile, Cloninger doesn’t allow a hit until Bob Meusal knocks a single in the 7th, and that is followed by a towering homer from Ruth that narrows the gap slightly.  But that is all the Yanks can muster, as Cloninger wraps up the 3-hitter and the Braves eliminate the Bombers in an 8-2 blowout.

The 1977 Pirates won 96 games to finish 2nd in the NL East, having most of the pieces in place for their championship run two seasons later, but they were hampered by injuries to Willie Stargell, who nonetheless qualified for starting DH duties here.  They also had John Candelaria (20-5, 2.34) on the mound, the NL ERA leader and 5th in the Cy Young vote. However, all that only made them slight favorites over the 1966 Giants, who won 93 games to finish 2nd behind the Dodgers and boasting May, McCovey, and Jim Ray Hart all hitting over 30 homers and Juan Marichal (25-6, 2.23) placing 6th in the MVP voting.  The Giants take the lead in the 2nd when Pirates 1B-4 Bill Robinson allows two doubles, the second a two-run affair from Len Gabrielson, and then in the 4th Tito Fuentes finds Candelaria’s solid 6-9 HR result for a solo shot that makes it 3-0.  The Pirates get on the board in the bottom of the inning when a Dave Parker double sets up a run-scoring fielder’s choice from Al Oliver, but when McCovey leads off the 6th with a double off a missed HR split on Candelaria’s card the Bucs decide that it’s time for Goose Gossage.  Gossage gets an out, then retires Tom Haller on a HR 1-2/flyB with a “3” split, and finally delivers to Jesus Alou, who answers the prayers of Giants fans by finding and converting Gossage’s HR split for a 5-1 lead.  Pittsburgh responds with a run on an RBI single by Parker in the bottom of the inning, but in the 8th the omens aren’t good for the Pirates as with two out the 1-18 Phil Garner is cut down at the plate trying to score on a Parker double.  In the bottom of the 9th Bill Robinson leads off with a double and Oliver adds a single to bring up Stargell as the tying run; the Giants check their bullpen but see nobody nearly as good as their Hall of Fame starter, so it’s up to Marichal to close things out.  But Stargell raps a base hit off Marichal’s card and it’s now a 2-run game and there is still nobody out.  Marichal records a strikeout but then yields a single to Frank Taveras and the bases are loaded with the infield back, hoping against hope to turn a double play against the speedy Omar Moreno.  And sure enough, it’s a gbA+, Lanier to Fuentes to Robinson, and it’s game over with the Giants hanging on for the 5-3 victory.  

The survivors

The #7 seeded 2004 Orioles found themselves to be an okay team in a group of good ones, making it to the semifinals courtesy of a marathon extra-inning win but with a severely depleted bullpen that might well be needed to support Daniel Cabrera (12-8, 5.00).  They had the challenge of facing the top seed 2017 Astros and Dallas Keuchel, who would be at full strength for the matchup with the trash cans freshly polished.  The Astros launch in the top of the 3rd on a squib RBI single from Carlos Correa, but there could have been more as they leave the bases loaded.  They do get two more in the 4th on a 2-out Brian McCann homer, but the Orioles respond with a 2-out Miguel Tejada double followed by a single from Javy Lopez to score the run to make it 3-1.  In the 6th, Keuchel walks two and Tejada makes him pay with a double that ties the game, and the Astros start to feel karma settling in as Jose Altuve is caught stealing for the second time in the game in the 7th.  A leadoff single by Larry Bigbie in the bottom of the inning and the Astros summon closer Ken Giles to try to halt the momentum shift, and he does his job so the game enters the 8th still tied.  It stays that way through regulation, as Giles whiffs Brian Roberts with the winning run on third to end the bottom of the 9th.  In the top of the 10th, Cabrera pitching his final inning by issuing two walks but fanning George Springer to keep the Astros from scoring, while Giles finishes his final inning of eligibility in the regional by getting Tejada, who had hit three doubles thus far in the game, to hit into a DP to end the inning.  Jason Grimsley comes in to pitch the 11th for the O’s, and he sets the Stros down in order, while Chris Devinski gets the call in the bottom of the 11th for Houston.  He allows a leadoff single to Javy Lopez and then a walk to Rafael Palmiero, and Tim Raines Jr. comes in to pinch run as the winning run at second with nobody out.  Luis Matos hits into a fielder’s choice so Raines moves to 3rd as the winning run with one out, and the infield comes in as Devinski faces Bigbie.  Bigbie hits a sharp grounder to 3B-2 Alex Bregman, who looks the runner back but can’t turn the DP and there are two out with runners on 2nd and 3rd and PH David Segui at the plate.  Devenski strikes him out swinging, and the game moves to the 12th.  McCann draws a leadoff walk followed by a single from Cameron Maybin, a AA stealer who is nailed going to second for the third CS of the game for Houston, this time courtesy of backup C-4 Geronimo Gil.  The infield comes in for Altuve, who squibs a single over the head of the SS and the Astros take the lead.  Altuve then finally successfully steals second, and Correa follows with a single and Altuve races home for some added insurance.  The hits keep coming, including RBI singles from Gurriel and Josh Reddick, and by the time new reliever Jorge Julio gets the third out Houston has scored four to take a commanding lead.  This time, there is no extra-inning magic in the Orioles as Devenski puts them down in order and the Astros gain the finals with the 12-inning 7-3 victory.

Semifinal games in this tournament tend to be hard-fought battles, and this one had the makings of a classic, with the 1965 Braves of Aaron and Mathews against the 1966 Giants of Mays and McCovey, with both teams having defeated formidable opponents in the first round.  The pitching matchup was a good one with the Giants’ Gaylord Perry (21-8, 2.99) against Ken Johnson (16-10, 3.43) and both teams had fully rested bullpens.  In the top of the 1st, the Braves, who had started off fast against the Yankees in round one, knock four hits against Perry but only get one run on a Rico Carty RBI single as Joe Torre hits into a rally-killing DP.  That lead lasts until the 4th, when Mays converts Johnson’s HR split to lead off the inning and the score is knotted entering the 5th.  Perry escapes disaster in the 6th by whiffing PH Gene Oliver with runners on 2nd and 3rd; when Giants defensive replacement Ollie Brown misses Johnson’s HR split for a double in the 8th, the Braves take no chances and bring in closer Billy O’Dell, who strands Brown and we move to the 9th with the score still tied at one apiece.  Perry sets down the Braves in order in the top of the 9th, but in the bottom O’Dell walks the first two batters in Mays and McCovey to put the winning run in scoring position and Jim Ray Hart at the plate.  O’Dell finally throws a strike, and Hart rips it into the RF corner to score Mays and the Giants win the 2-1 squeaker to gain the finals, even though they only managed five hits. 

This was the strongest matchup in a regional final in some time, with two 90+ win teams facing off for the crown.  The top-seeded 2017 Astros came into the final with a bullpen that had been taxed and a trashcan that had been dented in their extra-inning semifinal; their closer wouldn’t be available for two more games although Brad Peacock (13-2, 3.00) displayed a gaudy record that suggested he might not need relief.  The 1966 Giants were the #5 seed in a group with six very good teams, but they had gotten this far without the core of their lineup really breaking through, and Bobby Bolin (11-10, 2.89) was a solid option as their #3 starter.  The Giants show signs of waking up in the bottom of the 1st as McCovey rips a solo HR into the wind at Candlestick Park; DH Jim Hart then makes the final out with a 6-12 toss, but the Astros breathe a big sigh of relief when Peacock escapes injury with a “2” split roll.  In the 3rd, Jose Altuve doubles with two out and the Astros send lumber C Brian McCann home to try to tie the game, but he’s out by a mile; the Giants’ luck in the bottom of the inning isn’t much better as Hal Lanier manages to bunt into a double play to kill a rally.  In the 4th, the Houston defense makes a rare slipup as CF-2 George Springer can’t get to a Tom Haller flyball and Mays scores to push the SF lead to 2-0.  The Astros rally in the 6th as Springer knocks an RBI single, but Bolin bails himself out from further damage with a great defensive play with the bases loaded and two out, despite his “4” fielding rating.  In the bottom of the inning Mays misses a HR 1-14 split, but the resulting double sets up a sac fly by Hart pushing the score to 3-1.   The Astros return the high split favor in the 8th as Marwin Gonzalez misses Bolin’s HR 1-17 split, but the double scores Altuve and once again it’s a one-run game.  Bolin then just needs to get through the top of the 9th, but it begins with C-3 Tom Haller dropping a popup, but Bolin gets the next two and now he faces PH Tyler White for the regional.  White rips a grounder, 2B-2 Lanier makes the diving stop, flips to McCovey and karma has caught up with the Astros as the Giants celebrate the regional crown with the 3-2 squeaker.  Despite the murderer’s row of Mays, McCovey, and Hart, the Giants MVP honors go to their starting rotation, which only allowed a total of 6 runs in the three complete games they tossed.

Interesting card of Regional #162:  With all the hoopla around Aaron Judge breaking the AL home run record, I’d like to remind everyone that Maris and his successors should all be carrying the famous asterisk, because they all played in a longer season than did one George Herman Ruth.  Unless the game company uncharacteristically grants my wish and releases another season from the golden era of pre-war baseball, this will be the last entry for the Bambino in my tournament, and what an entry it is.  Judge, hold Ruth’s hot dog:  in this, his first season with the Yankees, Babe by himself outhomered every other TEAM in the league–yes, the entire team, all of them.  By comparison, in 2022 Judge would have needed 111 dingers to outhomer the WORST team in the league; he would have needed 215 HR to match Ruth’s accomplishment of besting all of them.  In my years of watching baseball, I’ve marveled at the power (enhanced or no) of sluggers like McGwire, Sosa, Bonds, and Judge, but it is hard to imagine that the game will ever see another player who is so far better than every other hitter in the league than Ruth was in 1920.  Unfortunately, this included everyone on his own team as well, and these Yanks made a rapid exit from the tournament with Ruth getting walked twice and generating all of their runs with a homer on the only decent pitch he saw.