REGIONAL #178:  There were two teams in this group that made me take notice, and unfortunately they would face off in the first round; it would be a pairing of two of the most formidable hitters in baseball history, Ted Williams against Barry Bonds.  Beyond those two teams, there was little that stood out to me; there was a late 50s Tigers team that might have been building towards their excellent squad from 1961, but I thought that most other entrants were mired in fairly bleak periods in franchise history.  I suspected that Bonds would have more support than Williams and thus picked the Giants over the ‘58 Tigers in the regional final.   The ELO ranks identified the Splinter’s Red Sox as the best team in the bracket, appreciably better than the #6 seeded Giants, and pegged them to win in the finals against a recent Rockies team that I had overlooked, probably because two Colorado teams were quickly eliminated in the first round in the last regional.  

First round action

The Zoom game of the week involved the marquee matchup between Ted Williams and the 1941 Red Sox against Barry Bonds and the 1997 Giants, with both teams being co-managed by participants, meaning that my typical jinx should have no bearing on the outcome.  The BoSox were 84-70 and runners-up in the AL, with Charlie Wagner (12-8, 3.08) on the hill, while the Giants went 90-72 and won the NL West before getting swept by the Marlins in the NLDS, and they would start Shawn Estes (19-5, 3.18) in his career year.  However, in the top of the first the Red Sox make Estes ponder a different career as they bat around, knocking 5 hits including a bases-loaded double by Lou Finney that makes the score 4-0 before the Giants can swing a bat.  Estes then settles down, and the Giants begin the task of chipping away at the lead, getting an unearned run in the 2nd courtesy of an error by Boston 3B-4 Jim Tabor, and another run in the 3rd when Bill Mueller singles home the intentionally walked Barry Bonds.  However, the biggest blow suffered by the Red Sox occurs when Ted Williams is injured in his second plate appearance, out for seven games to prove that I can jinx teams even when not managing them.  From there, the burden falls on Wagner and he rises to the challenge, shutting down the powerful SF offense and benefitting from a Joe Cronin solo homer in the 6th involving a converted HR 1-2/flyB off Estes’ card.  That provides the final 5-2 margin as the Red Sox move on to the semifinals–but missing one of the best cards in Strat history, almost certainly for the rest of the tournament.

In the least eagerly anticipated matchup of the first round, it was the #7 seed 66-96 2001 Tigers against the even worse #8 seeded, 105-loss 2019 Marlins.   Unusually for a team from the heart of the steroid era, the Tigers had nobody that cleared 20 HR and they had a largely terrible defense to support their one decent starting pitcher, Steve W. Sparks (14-9, 3.65).  Although the Marlins had a few players who could actually field their position, they also had two guys in the lineup hitting below the Mendoza line but they did similarly have one decent starter, Sandy Alcantara (6-14, 3.88) who was better than his record would suggest.   The Tigers lose one of their best hitters and fielders when Bobby Higginson goes down with an injury in the 3rd; Tony Clank then responds with a double but Damion Easley (1-12+2) is cut down at the plate for the third out and the game remains scoreless.  The Marlins finally break the ice in the top of the 6th when Tigers CF-3 Jose Macias commits a 2-base error and Brian Anderson doubles in the run off Sparks’ card; Starlin Castro then finds a Starks single to score Anderson and the Marlins lead by two.  When Sparks walks two in a row to begin the 8th, the Tigers bring in their own Mr. Anderson, closer Matt; he gets a double play ball out of Castro to end the inning, but yields a run in the top of the 9th on a Miguel Rojas sac fly.  That put the game in Alcantara’s hand for the 9th; he allows a leadoff double to Clark and activity begins in the Marlins pen.  Alcantara whiffs Robert Fick but then Shane Halter triples and Miami moves to Jarlin Garcia with the tying run at the plate.  He gets two in a row, striking out Macias to end the game, preserve the shutout and the four hitter, and the Marlins head to the semifinals with a 3-0 win.    

The 2018 Rockies won 91 games and made a brief postseason appearance as a wildcard team, and they combined the typical Rockies offense–four guys with .500+ SLG%--with some atypically decent pitching, Kyle Freeland (17-7, 2.85) finishing 4th in the Cy Young ballots.  However, the 2007 Cubs looked like an even matchup, as they won the NL Central with 85 wins;  these Cubs also had four .500 sluggers in their lineup and starter Carlos Zambrano (18-13, 3.95) was 5th in the Cy Young sweepstakes, with the main difference between the clubs being the far greater defensive skills of the Rockies, with three 1s in the infield.  Zambrano starts out a bit rough in the top of the 1st with the Rockies getting a leadoff single, followed by a Zambrano error, and then with 2 outs David Dahl and Carlos Gonzalez nail back to back RBI singles for a quick Colorado lead.  The Cubs respond in the bottom of the inning with a pair of singles, but only get one run that scores on an Alfonso Soriano double play ball.  Ian Desmond then converts Zambrano’s HR split to lead off the 2nd to extend the Rockies lead, and a nifty DP turned by Rockies 2B-1 DJ Lemahieu kills a Cubs rally in the bottom of the inning.   Gonzalez also finds Zambrano’s homer to lead off the 4th, and the Cubs are just waiting for the 5/5 rule to take effect so they can try someone else; they don’t have to wait long, as Charlie Blackmon singles home Lemahieu later in the inning for run number 5 and the Cubs put Zambrano on ice, trying another Carlos in Marmol and his 1.43 ERA and he fans Trevor Story to end the inning but the Rockies now lead 5-2.   The Cubs get to Freeland in the 6th, and Adam Ottavino comes in with the bases loaded and two out to walk Daryle Ward for a run, but then whiffs Derrek Lee to prevent further damage.  An RBI single from Story provides some insurance in the top of the 7th, but the Cubs strike back in the bottom of the inning, loading the bases for a 2-run single from Cliff Floyd, although Ottavino then whiffs Aramis Ramirez and Ward in succession to strand another potential run on 3rd, so it’s 6-4 Colorado heading into the 8th.  Ian Desmond singles in the 8th, steals second on backup catcher Geovany Soto, and scores on a Lemahieu base hit, and Marmol exits having been burnt for the regional with the Rockies up by three.  Wanting to preserve Ottavino, the Rockies summon closer Wade Davis, who recorded 43 saves but his 4.13 ERA is worrying.  Davis is perfect in the 8th, but in the bottom of the 9th he allows a couple of hits to bring up Ramirez with two outs as the tying run; Ramirez lofts a fly ball but there’s not enough wind at Wrigley and the catch is made to seal the 7-4 win and a semifinal berth for the Rockies.   

The 1958 Tigers finished an even 77-77, with Gus Zernial appreciating this DH rule and 23-year old Al Kaline showing some promise, supporting a solid rotation with Paul Foytack (15-13, 3.44) getting the first round nod.  They were slight ELO favorites against the strike-year 1994 Royals, but I didn’t really see it as the Royals had a better 61-54 record, being built on speed, defense and pitching with David Cone (16-5, 2.94) awarded the Cy Young that season. However, it’s Foytack who impresses early, striking out the side in the top of the 1st while Cone gives up a leadoff single, a walk, and then an RBI hit to Kaline that sets up a 3-run blast by Gail Harris into the upper deck at Briggs Stadium and the Tigers lead 4-0 after an inning.  Four more hits in the 3rd for the Tigers lead to two more runs, although the Royals do get on the board in the 4th with a Mike MacFarlane sac fly although it’s matched with a Charlie Maxwell sac fly in the 5th.  Cone then seems to settle down, and the Royals try to chip away at the Detroit lead as Wally Joyner pokes a leadoff homer in the 6th   A 7th inning injury to Tiger catcher Red Wilson causes some consternation as they have no backups who clear the Mendoza line, although Wilson should be ready for the regional final if the Tigers can get that far.  The Royals then try to assure that they won’t, opening the 8th with three straight hits, the last a 2-run single from Felix Jose; after a conversation with Foytack on the mound, they leave him in and he retires three straight to maintain a three-run edge.  Although Foytack drops a grounder by PH Dave Henderson in the 9th, he keeps his composure and closes out the 7-4 win and the Tigers move on.

The survivors

It was hard to consider the 1941 Red Sox as bracket favorites with their .400-hitting Hall of Fame leftfielder lost to injury, but even without Ted Williams they should probably be favored against the bottom-seeded 2019 Marlins.  In particular, Boston’s Mickey Harris (8-14, 3.25) was quite a bit better than the Marlins’ Trevor Richards (3-12, 4.50) so the Miami team was hoping that they could get five decent innings out of Richards to get to their main advantage, a deeper bullpen.  Jim Tabor and Joe Cronin lead off the top of the 2nd with consecutive doubles, and after a couple more hits Dom Dimaggio and Jimmie Foxx also put up back to back doubles and by the time Richards records out number three, it’s 5-0 Boston.  When Tabor singles to lead off the 3rd, Richards is out and Sergio Romo retires the side without damage.  Romo goes four strong innings, but he’s now burnt and Austin Brice comes in to begin the 7th and is greeted by a walk and two singles with Bobby Doerr driving in a run with one of them; Brice then walks the bases loaded for Joe Cronin, who muscles a grand slam through the Miami humidity to give Boston a double digit lead.  Foxx doubles to lead off the 8th and Tabor singles him home and the Marlins can’t take any more of Brice and send in Nick Anderson to mop up.  The Marlins never can figure out Harris, who completes a 2-hit shutout and the Splinter-free Red Sox have no trouble scoring in disposing of the Marlins by an 11-0 margin and move on to the finals.  

Unlike the previous semifinal, this one featured two competitive teams ranked among the top 1000, the #2 seed 2018 Rockies against the #3 seed 1958 Tigers.  It was German Marquez (14-11, 3.77) for the Rockies against Detroit’s Jim Bunning (14-12, 3.52), who would be without his usual batterymate Red Wilson who had not recovered from his first round injury.   Unfortunately for the Rockies, they end the top of the 1st with an injury to their All Star shortstop Trevor Story, and their vaunted infield defense suddenly gets much worse.  However, DJ Lemahieu records the first hit for the Rockies in the 3rd, a long home run off Bunning’s card, and then a rattled Bunning commits an error, walks the bases full, and then gives up a double to David Dahl; two runs score but Nolan Arenado (1-10+2) is cut down at the plate for the third out.  The Tigers get one back in the bottom of the inning when a 2-out Charlie Maxwell single scores Harvey Kuenn on a close play at the plate, but Bunning gets sloppy again and loads the bases in the 5th, which Carlos Gonzalez clears with a double and the Rockies now lead 6-1.  A single in the 6th and Bunning leaves to run for Senate, while Hank Aguirre comes in to end the inning.  Al Kaline contributes a 2-run blast in the bottom of the inning to make it a three-run game, but replacement SS-4 Ian Desmond makes his third straight X-chart play to prevent any further damage.  Marquez holds serve into the 9th, when Kaline gets injured to make the 2nd out; that seems to catalyze Gus Zernial who pokes a solo shot but Marquez fans Gail Harris and the Rockies move on with a 6-4 win, and with the good news that Story will be back for the regional final.  

The finals result in a rare matchup of the #1 and #2 seeds, a particularly unusual outcome given that both the 1941 Red Sox and the 2018 Rockies had to overcome injuries to key players to get this far.  However, the Rockies would be back at full strength with Trevor Story back in the lineup and with a fully rested bullpen that might be needed given the minefield that was Tyler Anderson’s (7-9, 4.55) card.  The Red Sox would send out Dick Newsome (19-10, 4.12), apparently no relation to Skeeter Newsome, the .225 hitting shortstop who was filling in for Ted Williams.  The Red Sox begin the top of the 1st with three straight hits, including a Jimmie Foxx RBI single, and Bobby Doerr adds a sac fly to provide a quick 2-0 Boston lead.  The Red Sox had gotten off to big starts in their two previous games, but they had never encountered a counterpuncher quite like the Rockies; in the bottom of the 1st Nolan Arenado gets Colorado on the board with an RBI single, and then David Dahl punches a three-run homer, immediately followed by another blast from Carlos Gonzalez and it’s suddenly 5-2 Rockies with eight innings still to play.  An Aranado double in the 3rd sets up a Gonzalez RBI single to extend the Colorado lead, but Boston narrows the gap in the 5th with back to back 2-out doubles from Doerr and Jim Tabor that make it 6-4.  When Boston leads off the 6th with two straight singles, the Rockies take no chances and summon closer Wade Davis in relief of Anderson, who allowed 11 hits in his 5 innings; that goes spectacularly badly, as after getting two outs Davis allows back to back doubles to Dimaggio and Foxx, and then a 2-run homer to Doerr.  A walk and a single to Joe Cronin and the Rockies can take no more, with Adam Ottavino coming in to get the final out but Boston has now regained a 9-6 lead.  However, in the bottom of the 6th, P-2 Newsome commits an error setting up a 2-out 2-run homer from number nine hitter Chris Ianetta, and it’s a one run game heading into the 7th.  Newsome allows a walk and a sharp single in the 7th and the Red Sox feel they have to move to what passes for a bullpen, trying Bill Fleming and bringing the infield in to try to keep the tying run from scoring.  That frees up Dahl to try to steal second and stay out of the DP, but he’s nailed and Fleming gets out number three to maintain the lead.  In the top of the 9th, Rockies 2b-1 DJ Lemahieu makes an unexpected error, and Dimaggio doubles the runner home to provide an insurance run for Fleming entering the bottom of the 9th as he faces the top of the Colorado order.  However, he doesn’t need the help, setting down the Rockies in order to preserve the 10-8 win and secure the 7th regional crown for the Red Sox, who manage to pound out the runs with aging talent like Jimmie Foxx and Joe Cronin, despite being without one of the biggest offensive weapons in baseball history.

Interesting card of Regional #178:  Imagine having this guy in your lineup in a single-elimination tournament and losing him to a seven-game injury in his second at-bat.  That was the predicament of the ‘41 Red Sox in this bracket, and somehow they managed to overcome that setback to go on to win the regional; if they can eventually win their super-regional and I live long enough to play those games, they just might get Williams back someday.  I know there are some of you that are a bit tired of the 1-column pattern for a team’s best hitter, so to break up the monotony I thought I’d also include Ted’s vintage Hall of Fame series card, which also presented his 1941 year as his best season but used a different, classic card format.  As for me, I’d be willing to put either card in my lineup, but after this regional, I’d prefer it if they could print one that didn’t have an injury result on it. Oh, and by the way–this season apparently wasn’t good enough to qualify Ted as the league MVP; that award went to a brother of one of Ted’s teammates, even though Ted led the league in homers, batting average, walks, slugging percentage, on-base percentage (and OPS, obviously), and WAR.  I guess that’s what a hitting streak (and a pennant playing in New York) will do for you.