REGIONAL #184:  This seemed to be the Bracket of the Yankees, with three entries from three distinctly different pinstripe eras.  The one that caught my eye was the 1948 team that was about to reel off a string of pennants, but the two other entries would evolve into dynasties later in their respective decades.  There were also two Brewers teams, one AL and one NL, but neither evoked memories of greatness for me, and a Twins squad a few years after their 1991 pennant-winner that crashed and burned in the first round two regionals prior.  Just based on the 50% base rate, I figured that some squad from New York would win, so I guessed it would be the ‘48 Yanks over their ‘93 version in the finals.  The ELO rankings predicted the same outcome, although it had the Mets as the overall #2 seed setting up a potential Subway Showdown in the semifinals.

First round action

The #2 seeded 2006 Mets won 97 games and the NL East, with a powerhouse lineup in which everyone had a SLG% over .400 and seven of nine had double digit homers; however, their rotation was mostly past their prime, with Tom Glavine (15-7, 3.82) being the best preserved specimen.  The 1976 Brewers lost 95 games and had an okay rotation fronted by Jim Slaton (14-15, 3.44), but offensively people were either too young, like Robin Yount, or too old, like Hank Aaron, to be very effective.  However, the Brewers take a lead in the top of the 2nd with two 2-out doubles, the second by Von Joshua past Mets LF-3 Cliff Floyd to drive in the run.  In the 4th, Brewer George Scott converts a TR 1-3 and scores when Aaron grounds into a DP, and they get another in the 5th on three straight singles off Glavine’s card.  Meanwhile, the Mets can’t do anything with the junk that Slaton is serving up, and after five it’s Milwaukee 3, New York 0.  Glavine doesn’t allow another baserunner until the 8th, at which point he’s replaced by closer Billy Wagner, who shuts down the Brewers but it’s too late as Slaton wraps up a 3-hit shutout despite a 9th inning error by 1B-1 Scott; the Mets lose 3-0 and don’t record a hit after the second inning as Milwaukee advances.  

Although the organization of teams within a regional is random, for the 4th bracket in a row the #1 seed is matched against the bottom seed, with two out of three of those top seeds winning the matchup but in the prior regional it was the #8 seed that won it all.  This time it was the1948 Yankees, who won 94 games and although they only finished in 3rd place, the ELO ratings had them as the best team in baseball that season.  With a strong lineup boasting Jolting Joe, Tommy Henrich and Yogi Berra, and a deep rotation fronted by Vic Raschi (19-8, 3.84), this team seemed to have potential to go far in the tournament.  They faced the 1995 Twins, who went 56-88 in the strike-shortened season to finish in last place, and the shortfall of innings left few options in the rotation with Brad Radke (11-14, 5.32) representing a frightening round one starter.  In the top of the third Dimaggio goes deep for a 2-run shot to put the Yanks up, and they plate another in the 4th when Johnny Lindell scores on a Billy Johnson grounder, but they also lose 1B George McQuinn for the remainder of the regional to injury.  With the game still within reach, the Twins eye their bullpen when they hit the 6th inning but what they see probably damages their retinas, so they stick with Radke and he holds as the Twins score two in the bottom of the inning as two hits and a walk, all off Raschi’s card, set up a bases-loaded walk and a fielder's choice that narrows New York’s lead to 3-2.  In the 7th, Bobby Brown, in for the injured McQuinn, doubles and with two outs scores (barely) on a Rizzuto single to provide a bit of padding, and it quickly proves necessary as a 2-out RBI double by PH Matt Lawton brings the Twins back within one.  But Raschi snuffs out their hopes with a perfect 9th, striking out PH Pedro Munoz to seal the tight 4-3 win and move the Yanks on to the semifinals.

By the ELO ranks, the 1973 Yankees were the worst of the three Bronx Bombers squads in this regional, but they were not a bad team, going 80-82 with Bobby Murcer, DH prototype Ron Blomberg, and a couple of Alous leading the offense and Doc Medich (14-9, 2.91) fronting a decent staff.  They were slight underdogs to the 83-79 2012 Brewers, with Ryan Braun the MVP runner up and Yovani Gallardo (16-9, 3.86) on the mound.  In the top of the 1st, Murcer lives up to his hype as the next Mantle and crushes a 2-run homer to put the Yanks ahead, and Felipe Alou extends it in the 2nd with an RBI single.  In the 3rd, Blomberg smashes a solo shot, and after a few hits Matty Alou outdoes his brother with a 3-run homer off Gallaro and the rout is on and Gallardo is gone.  However, Medich loses control in the bottom of the inning, walking four batters, and a triple by Juan Segura and a sac fly from Aramis Ramirez and the score is narrowed to 7-3 New York.  In the 5th, Matty A. gets his 4th RBI of the game on a fielder’s choice, and Blomberg adds an RBI single off Brewer closer John Axford in the 7th.  When a Nori Aoki double puts men on 2nd and 3rd with one out in the bottom of the inning, the Yanks summon Sparky Lyle from the pen, and he whiffs Rickie Weeks and Braun to end that threat.  Graig Nettles pokes a solo homer in the 8th, and the Yanks then seek to save Lyle, bringing in elder statesman Sam McDowell, who closes out the 9-3 win and sends another Yankee team to the semifinals.

The Zoom game of the week featured two partisan managers, genuine Canadian Roy at the helm of the 2014 Blue Jays, and New York enthusiast Frank guiding the 1993 Yankees in a matchup that was pretty even according to the ELO ranks.  The Yanks were AL East runner ups with 88 wins, led by names like Boggs and Mattingly with a big year from catcher Mike Stanley; the Blue Jays won 83 games and had Jose Bautista and Edwin Encarnacion as their biggest weapons.  The Yankees would start Jimmy Key (18-6, 3.00), who they had just that year acquired from Toronto and was 4th in the Cy Young voting, while the Jays countered with 39 year old knuckleballer RA Dickey (14-13, 3.71), who had emigrated from New York after a Cy Young award a few years earlier.   Dickey quickly starts showing his age, as after two outs in the bottom of the 1st nothing seems to be knuckling, and six hits, a two run single from Bernie Williams, and RBI knocks from Pat Kelly and #9 hitter Mike Gallego later, the Yankees lead 5-0 after one.  Stanley contributes a two-run double in the 2nd and it’s 7-0 and Dickey is gone after after 1.1 innings in which he allows seven earned runs, and suddenly the Yanks are facing the imposing card of Aaron Sanchez and his 1.09 ERA.  The Jays don’t get a baserunner until the 5th, but they take advantage of it as Brett Lawrie drives in the runner to put Toronto on the board.  At that point the Jays start feeling out the weaknesses on Key’s card, and in the 6th the Jays get two more on a Bautista double, another in the 7th courtesy of Melky Cabrera, and with two hard hits to open the 8th New York feels that it’s time to change the locks on Key and Paul Gibson comes in, but can’t prevent more damage.  After Marcus Strohman comes in and further tames the Yankee hitters, it’s now a one-run game heading into the 9th and NY summons their closer Steve Farr, who comes equipped with two sizable HR results, to try to hang on to the lead.  But he walks the first batter, PH Adam Lind, and then Jose Reyes follows with a double; with nobody out, Roy is faced with the dilemma of trying to score the tying run with the slow Lind (1-10) with nobody out, or playing for the big inning and the win.  He puts up the stop sign with the heart of the order coming up.  However, the next batter pops out and up steps Encarnacion, with Bautista on deck and the infield in.  Farr delivers, it’s a 3-12, nailing the dreaded LOMAX, and the Yankees are quite fortunate to thwart the comeback and move on with the 7-6 win–with three of the four semifinal teams wearing pinstripes.

The survivors

A Zoom semifinal allowed nacster to try to guide the 1976 Brewers to their second straight upset, this time against the bracket favorite 1948 Yankees, managed by ColavitoFan who had led them to some success in his ‘48 replay.  However, although the game was played live, there was no signs of life in either team’s offense, as Bill Travers (15-16, 2.81) for the Brewers and wild Tommy Byrne (8-5, 3.30) for the Bombers were in complete control.  Aside from Von Joshua, Milwaukee was having trouble mustering any hits, leading Nac to disparage the Hall of Fame credentials of Hank Aaron and Robin Yount as neither was able to produce when needed.  But Travers was equally dominant, holding the Yanks to one hit in the first 6 innings and escaping the 7th on some sloppy New York baserunning.  And so the game proceeds through nine scoreless innings, with both starters still in the game and both holding the opposition to only three hits total.  Each starter begins their last inning in the 10th; Byrne escapes an error by C-4 Yogi Berra to send the game to the bottom of the 9th, where the Yanks come up with a base hit to put the winning run on base with two away.  That brings up the top of the order in the form of Snuffy Stirnweiss, with three homers total on the year–but he finds Travers’ solid 4-4 HR result for a walk-off shot and once again the Yanks are pushed by an upset-minded underdog, but they escape with a 2-0 win and head to what is guaranteed to be an all-Yankee final.  Worthy of note:  while researching following this game, I learned that Stirnweiss tragically died at age 39 while a passenger in a train accident.  His train was apparently traveling at twice the prescribed speed when it approached the drawbridge over Newark Bay, which was open, and the train was unable to stop in time, plunging into the water and killing 48 people including Stirnweiss.  We can only hope that he was looking down into the Zoom game and able to watch his ‘48 card nail that walkoff homer.

This semifinal matched two versions of the Bronx Bombers that were two decades apart, the 1973 Yankees against the 1993 Yankees.  The 73s trot out Mel Stottlemyre (16-16, 3.07) while the 93s would rely on the arm of Jim Abbott (11-14, 4.37), with both pens having seen some use in the first round.  In the top of the 3rd, Abbott suddenly can’t get anybody out, and Roy White knocks an RBI single under the glove of SS-3 Mike Gallego to load the bases for Bobby Murcer, who strokes a 2-run base hit and after a sac fly by Thurman Munson it’s 4-0 for the underdog 73s.  The 93s get on the board in the 4th courtesy of a Mike Stanley fielder’s choice, and in the 6th Stanley raps an RBI double past LF-3 Roy White to send Stottlemyre to the showers in favor of Lindy McDaniel, making his first appearance in the bracket.  Not only does McDaniel get the third out from Don Mattingly, but Mattingly also goes down to injury for the foreseeable future.  But a sac fly by Wade Boggs in the 7th makes it a one-run game, and when Bernie Williams leads off the 8th with a double the 73s are forced to go to Sparky Lyle to try to hang onto the lead.  He notches two whiffs and a scary flyout on a HR 1/flyB result, and the game heads to the 9th with the 73s still up by a run.  Abbott, who recovered nicely after early inning jitters, sets down the 73s, so it’s up to Lyle in the bottom of the 9th.  The 93s record two singles and with two out the winning run is on and Paul O’Neill is at the plate; the roll once again is the HR 1/flyB result on Lyle, the split is rolled….and it’s a 20, game over and the 73s head to the finals to face their 1948 brethren.  Lyle records the save, but he is now burnt for the regional and he may be sorely missed as the team goes deeper into their rotation.

The finals matched the top seeded 1948 Yankees against the #6 seed 1973 Yankees, and no matter who won it would be the 10th regional win for the franchise.  The 48s tapped Spec Shea (9-10, 3.41) for the start, while the 73s had Fritz Peterson (8-15, 3.95) on the hill.  The 73s quickly load the bases with nobody out in the bottom of the 1st, but Shea regains control and only allows a sac fly by Murcer but still pushes the 73 team to a 1-0 lead.  The 48s quickly tie it in the 2nd when Johnny Lindell scores, barely (16 on a 1-14+2 run), on a single from Charlie Keller.  Phil Rizzuto follows with a double and the Yanks press their luck with the 1-12 Keller attempting to score from first, but it’s the inevitable 20 and King Kong crashes to the ground for the third out.  The 73s regain the lead in the 5th when scrawny Gene Michael finds and converts Shea’s HR 1-9/flyB split to lead off the inning; in the 6th Berra doubles and 1-14 Lindell takes off for home, but as usual it’s a 20 and Lindell is nailed.  However, Billy Johnson leaves no room for split misfortunes with a solid single that scores Berra; the 73s don’t like what they’re seeing from Fritz and summon Fred Beene and his 1.68 ERA, and he dispatches the bottom of the order but the game is tied once again.   The game remains knotted until the bottom of the 8th, when Shea walks Ron Blomberg and then Thurman Munson puts one in the stands, and the part of the Yankee Stadium crowd sporting bell-bottoms and perms go wild while the remainder slam their fedoras to the ground.  That puts the game on Beene’s shoulders for his final inning of eligibility in the top of the 9th; he whiffs Keller but Rizzuto walks and Snuffy Stirnweiss singles under SS-3 Michael’s glove to put the tying run aboard with one out.  Bobby Brown pops out for the second out, and it’s up to Joltin Joe Dimaggio with the game on the line.  And Joe hits the hole, a 1-9 in an otherwise formidable one column, and the 1973 Yankees take the regional with the 4-2 upset win, despite getting outhit 10-5.

Interesting card of Regional #184:  The 1973 Yankees were only the 6th seed in this regional despite having a decent ELO ranking, but they managed to overcome the odds by pulling off three consecutive upsets, with important contributions from their designated hitter, primarily displaying a knack for getting on base when baserunners were needed.  This is only fitting, as Ron Blomberg was the FIRST designated hitter in baseball history almost exactly 50 years ago at the time of this writing (April 6, 1973), drawing a bases-loaded walk in his initial plate appearance in the top of the 1st against Luis Tiant to drive in a run.  Note that Blomberg was batting 6th, and if not for Tiant’s ineffectiveness in the top of the 1st, Boston’s Orlando Cepeda probably would have gone down in history as the first DH to bat in MLB history.  I distinctly remember Blomberg’s quality Strat cards in ‘73 and ‘74, but his career basically came to a crashing halt with season-ending injuries in both 1976 and 1977; in a typical move for the franchise, the White Sox overpaid to sign him to a contract for a comeback effort but he was never again the same hitter and he was waived after the 1978 season.  Even so, in this bracket he was able to do what Derek Jeter has yet to accomplish in this tournament:  lead the Yankees to a regional win.