REGIONAL #171:  Pondering this bracket draw entirely from memory, as I always do initially, and considering who might be the quality teams here, I decided that they might be Giants.   As in two Giants teams:  one from 1989 that I remembered as a pennant winner who was a participant in the infamous Bay Area Earthquake World Series, and one from this past season, 2021, who I remembered as winning a ton of games in the regular season but faltering in the post-season.  The 2021 Giants had a tough first round draw in a Yankees team that had won the AL the preceding season, and the winner of that matchup was certainly the odd-on favorite to take an otherwise weak-looking bottom of the bracket.  For the ‘89 Giants, I figured that maybe the ‘91 Mets might provide a challenge as they could still have some remnant of their infamous pennant winners from half a decade previously.  Still, I predicted an all-Giants final, picking the 2021 version to finally get their due and take the regional.  The ELO rankings saw things just as I did, and indicated that the first round 2021 Giants vs. Yankees matchup paired two very good teams that were by far the best in the group.

First round action

The 1989 Giants captured the National League pennant by winning 92 games, with Kevin Mitchell being the NL MVP and a strong rotation that had Scott Garrelts (14-5, 2.28) finishing 6th in the Cy Young voting.  However, they had some defensive holes and the back end of their lineup was pretty weak, and they got swept by the A’s in the Earthquake Series.   They were considerable favorites over the 1996 Royals, who went 75-86 with limited power although spot starter Jose Rosado (8-6, 3.21) looked like a solid game one selection.  With the last regional featuring a bunch of MVPs who didn’t prove very valuable in the tournament, Mitchell decides to quickly break that trend with a 2-run homer in the bottom of the 1st to put the Giants up.  However, the Royals strike back immediately in the top of the 2nd, with an RBI double from Keith Lockhart tying the game.  Things stay knotted until the top of the 7th, when Offerman walks, steals second, and scores on another double from Lockhart and KC moves out in front by a run.  Garrelts allows a hit off his card in the 8th and the Giants move to Goose Gossage out of the pen, and he gets out of the inning with no damage.  But it is to no avail as the Giants are stymied by Rosado, who whiffs PH Greg Litton to wrap up a 5-hitter and the Royals upset the pennant winner by a 3-2 count.  

The 1991 Mets had a pretty decent ELO ranking, but it was hard to understand how as they sported a 77-84 record, with Howard Johnson as their main offensive weapon and a collection of good pitchers having mediocre years, David Cone (14-14, 3.29) as the best of them.  Their opponents, the 2005 Orioles, had an offense fitting the tail end of the steroid era, although the beginnings of enforcement seemed to result in some declines for some of their sluggers like Rafael Palmiero and Sammy Sosa; however, their starting rotation still tended to allow the longball, with Bruce Chen (13-10, 3.83) being no exception.  The O’s take the lead in the top of the 2nd when Mets RF-4 Hubie Brooks can’t get to a Sal Fasano single that scores Brian Roberts, and NY’s efforts to respond in the bottom of the inning are thwarted by the split die when Kevin McReynolds misses a HR 1-16 split and then is nailed trying to score from 2nd as a 1-14 runner.  However, the splits work for Vince Coleman in the 3rd as he gets on, steals second, and races home on a HoJo single to tie the game…although McReynolds ends the inning by hitting Chen’s HR 1-7/flyB result and rolling an 8 split.  The O’s quickly regain the lead on a 2-out, 2-run moonshot by Fasano in the top of the 4th, but again the Mets respond with a couple of hits and a C-3 Fasano error and it’s tied 3-3 after 4.  Cone strands two Orioles on 2nd and 3rd in the top of the 5th, and in the bottom of the inning solo homers from Hojo and Mackey Sasser and the Mets lead again.  That proves to be short-lived, as with two out in the top of the 6th Fasano homers again, Javy Lopez doubles and scores on a Palmiero single and Cone is out and Jeff Innis comes in to walk two to load the bases, but gets the final out without additional damage–but the game is tied once again.   When Chen walks the leadoff batter in the 6th he’s pulled for Todd Williams, and he retires the side so it’s a game reset entering the 7th with things in the hands of the bullpens.  Innis holds the top of the 7th, while Gregg Jeffries leads off the bottom of the inning with a single and he races home on a HoJo double and the Mets retake the lead and O’s closer BJ Ryan is summoned with nobody out; he sets them down but the Mets have a one-run edge entering the 8th.  That lasts two batters as Javy Lopez nails a solo shot to tie the game, although O’s CF Luis Matos ends the inning by being knocked out of the game with an injury.  In the 9th, Innis is tiring and the Mets turn to their former wunderkind Sid Fernandez to hold the fort, which he does to bring the tie game to the bottom of the 9th.  Coleman draws a leadoff walk and steals second; Ryan then delivers to Jeffries, who rips one into the gap and Coleman trots home to give the Mets a walkoff 7-6 win in which they continuously responded to adversity.

With the opportunity for an all-Giants final now gone, it was up to the top-seeded 2021 Giants to carry the brand on their own, and given that they won 107 games, had a lineup with everyone above .400 SLG%, carried more good relievers than some entire leagues that have played, and a decent rotation with Kevin Gausman (14-6, 2.81) finishing 6th in the Cy Young votes, their chances looked pretty good.  However, they faced the regional’s #2 seed 2010 Yankees in another instance of a bracket’s two best teams facing off in the first round.  The 95-win Yankees boasted a formidable lineup and CC Sabathia (21-7, 3.18) finished 3rd in his Cy Young vote, and the Jeter-era Yankees were starting to run out of opportunities for a regional win so they were hungry.  The Giants suffer a big blow in the top of the 3rd when their leading hitter Brandon Belt is lost to injury for the rest of the regional, but Mike Yastrzemski makes grandpa proud by leading off the 4th with a homer to push the Giants into the lead.  ARod retaliates by leading off the bottom of the 5th with a long homer, but when Sabathia issues a leadoff walk and then a long single to Posey in the top of the 6th the Yankees recognize that there may be no tomorrow and move to Mariano Rivera to try to keep the runner on third from breaking the tie.  Rivera is masterful, striking out two straight and then retiring the side on a popup and the score remains 1-1.  The Yanks take a risk and remove Rivera after two hitless innings in the hope of preserving him for future use in the regional, and turn the game over to Kerry Wood to begin the 8th.   He provides two strong innings and brings the game tied to the bottom of the 9th with Gausman against the heart of the Yankee order; he sets them down in order and we head to extra innings.  Both sides go quietly in the 10th, but in the 11th the Giants knock a couple of singles; the Yanks decide to stick with Wood but then Kris Bryant crushes a three-run moon shot that quiets the entire borough.  With Gausman burnt, the Giants hand the ball to Zack Littell to close things out, but after getting one out Robinson Cano doubles and then Nick Swisher parks a 2-run homer and the Giants quickly yank Littell and try Tony Watson in what is now a 1-run game.  ARod misses a SI 1-15, and then Marcus Thames misses a HR 1-6/flyB and the Giants breathe a huge sigh of relief, surviving the epic 4-3 battle and moving on.  

The 1947 Pirates and the 1965 Cubs were similar mediocre teams that had a couple of Hall of Famers without much of a supporting cast.  For the 62-92 Pirates, it was Ralph Kiner and Hank Greenberg, while the 72-90 Cubs had Ron Santo, Billy Williams and Ernie Banks at their core.  Both teams had decent starters with identical ERAs for round one, Dick Ellsworth (14-15, 3.81) for the Cubs and Kirby Higbe (13-17, 3.81) for the Pirates, so it seemed to come down to which set of stars would come through when needed.  The Cubs come up short in the bottom of the 3rd when Don Kessinger doubles but is nailed at the plate (1-13) trying to score on a single by Ed Bailey, and neither team can muster much of a threat in the innings that follow.  Finally, in the bottom of the 7th Don Landrum leads off with a triple; the Pirates have nobody in the bullpen so Higbe tries to work out of it with the infield in, but after one out Jimmy Stewart decides that it’s a wonderful life after he knocks a squib single that scores Landrum and gives the Cubs a lead.   Stewart then steals second and scores when Ed Bailey pushes a single under the glove of Pirates 2B-3 Jimmy Bloodworth to make it 2-0, but the Bucs immediately tie it in the top of the 8th when Kiner parks one onto Waveland Avenue.  A walk to Greenberg and submariner Ted Abernathy is summoned from the pen to retire the side, and the game heads to the 9th inning with things knotted at two apiece and the bottom of both lineups up; neither can do anything and the game moves to extra innings.  In the top of the 10th, the Pirates get runners on 2nd and 3rd with two away; Abernathy delivers to Wally Westlake, and he crushes it for a three-run blast and the Pirates lead for the first time in the game.  So it’s now up to Higbe, in his last inning of eligibility, against the top of the Cubs order.  He gets two quick outs but then Billy Williams singles and Don Pavletich doubles after missing Higbe’s HR 1-13 split, bringing up Santo as the tying run.  He lofts a flyball to Bucs CF-2 Jim Russell, who chases it down and seals the 5-2 extra inning win for the Pirates.

The survivors

After marveling that the 1996 Royals had defeated the regional’s sole pennant winner in the first round, I realized that I had mistakenly looked up the ELO ratings for the 1998 team, and the ‘96 version wasn’t quite as bad so their upset was not as surprising as I first thought.  Furthermore, Kevin Appier (14-11, 3.62) wasn’t a bad second round starter, although the Royals were still underdogs to the 1991 Mets and Doc Gooden (13-7, 3.60).  In the 2nd, an error by Mets 3B-4 Howard Johnson sets up a Keith Lockhart RBI single, and a solo homer from Craig Paquette extends the lead to 2-0 in the 3rd.  Another Royals run in the top of the 4th results from a Tom Goodwin groundout, and in the 6th KC puts up some crooked numbers when a 2-base error from Mets CF-3 Vince Coleman sets up a 2-run single by Royals DH Bob Hamelin.  A leadoff double in the 7th by Joe Randa and the Mets decide the Doc isn’t in, summoning Tim Burke, who promptly yields consecutive doubles to Michael Tucker and Jose Offerman, and a run scoring single to Lockhart and it’s 8-0 Royals heading into the 8th.  Although everything seems to be going the Royals way, Tucker is knocked out of the game with an injury in the 8th and he’ll miss the regional final as well–if they can hang on.  That looks in doubt in the bottom of the 9th, when Appier, who has a 2-hitter up to that point, suddenly can’t get anybody out.  Mackey Sasser hits a 2-run single with the bases load and Keith Miller adds a sac fly, and the Mets again load the bases back up and the Royals decide to let Appier pitch to one more batter to get the final out.  That batter is Coleman, and he grounds out to end the game and the Royals head to the finals with the 8-3 win.  

This semifinal was a mismatch between the top seeded 2021 Giants and Logan Webb (11-3, 3.03) and the bottom seeded 1949 Pirates and swingman Rip Sewell (6-4, 3.57), but the Giants would be without the services of their injured top HR hitter and with a bullpen stretched by their extra-inning battle in the first round.  The Giants strike in the 2nd when Austin Slater singles, steals second, and scores on a bloop double by Alex Dickerson, but that lead evaporates quickly when Hank Greenberg leads off the bottom of the inning with a tape measure shot to tie it.  The Giants respond in the 3rd with a 2-run blast from injury replacement Darin Ruf, but Webb gets wild in the bottom of the 4th and the Pirates narrow the deficit to 3-2 on a bases-loaded grounder from Billy Cox.  A Webb error and a walk and a single load the bases for the Pirates with two out in the bottom of the 6th, and the Giants reluctantly move to their bullpen for game one save artist Tony Watson, who retires DH Clyde Kluttz to preserve the lead.  The Giants pull Watson in the 7th to try to keep him eligible for the final, but that almost turns to disaster as Dominic Leone manages to load the bases with Pirates before retiring Greenberg as the final out with no damage.  Kris Bryant leads off the 9th by finding and converting Sewell’s HR result to give the Giants a little extra padding going into the bottom of the 9th, and they give the ball to closer Jake McGee to wrap things up; he fans Jim Russell for the final out and the Giants move to the finals with a 4-2 win.  Four Giants pitchers allow only three hits, but their defense commits three errors, which needs improvement for the finals.

Both the #1 seeded 2021 Giants and the #6 seed 1996 Royals would be missing a key player for the regional final, although both were able to trot out a solid #3 starter, with Tim Belcher (15-11, 3.82) for the Royals against Anthony DeSclafani (13-7, 3.17) of the Giants.   However, the Royals knock three hits off DeSclafani’s card in the top of the 1st, one of them a 2-run homer from Mike McFarlane and the underdogs jump out to a quick lead.  The Giants get on the board when Brandon Crawford leads off the bottom of the 4th with a HR, but the Royals get the run back when injury sub Johnny Damon also finds and converts DeSclafani’s HR result to make it 3-1 KC.  In the top of the 6th, an error by injury sub 1B-3 Darin Ruf and a Joe Randa single and the Giants move to the pen, looking for Tony Watson to work his 1-inning magic for the third straight game with runners on 1st and 3rd with one out.  And he does the job, assisted by great consecutive fielding plays by C-1 Buster Posey and SS-1 Crawford, but the Giants are still down by two and struggling against Belcher.  In the 7th, a walk and a double by Posey puts the tying run in scoring position with one away, and the Royals check their pen but don’t like what they see and leave it to Belcher; who comes through to prevent any SF runs.  The Giants pen holds, and so it comes down to the bottom of the 9th for the Giants, who had come up short at the end in real life and were hoping to atone here.  Ruf begins the inning with a walk, and then Austin Slater hits Belcher’s HR 1-13/DO result but misses the split, putting the tying run on 2nd with nobody out and Royals HR-prone closer Jeff Montgomery warming up in the pen.  But it’s still Belcher’s game for the time being, and he delivers to Mike Yastrzemski; it’s a single off Belcher’s card, Ruf scores, Slater (1-15) heads for home to tie–and he’s out on a split roll of 20.  Yaz takes 2nd on the throw, and the Royals finally yank Belcher for Montgomery with one away and the tying run in scoring position.  Posey then rolls Belcher’s HR result, but on Mongomery it’s a SI 1-8–but the split is converted and the tying run is 90 feet away.  In comes the infield for PH Thairo Estrada, and it’s exactly the nightmare the Royals feared:  the 5-9 roll, solid HR on Montgomery for a 3-run pinch hit walk off homer for a 5-3 win that clinches the regional for the Giants.  San Francisco thus does in this regional what they couldn’t do in reality–come through big at the end with the season on the line.  The Giants award regional MVP honors to reliever Tony Watson who appeared in all three games, pitching 2.6 hitless innings in tight jams with one save and allowing no inherited runners to score; the Giants pen collectively kept the team in three tight games to allow the offense to score just enough to win.

Interesting card(s) of Regional #171:  For this feature I couldn’t find a way to decide between these two sluggers, so I just decided to include both.   Despite their apparent similarities, one of them won the NL MVP while the other came in 6th; on the other hand, one of them made it to the Hall of Fame in his final year of eligibility, squeaking in by a single vote, and the other received two votes in his first year of eligibility and none thereafter, so it all balances out.  Both also remained in baseball somewhat infamously after their playing days were over:  Kiner best known for fracturing the language as the announcer for the terrible early Mets; Mitchell making his mark as a manager in the Western League who was suspended on two separate occasions for assaulting the owner of an opposing team, and later for punching that team’s third base coach for allegedly stealing signs.  Whatever their differences, if I had to pick between these two cards for my left fielder, it would be a difficult choice.