REGIONAL #189:  The draw for this group did not include any pennant winners, with the closest being the 2007 Tampa Bay Devil Rays, who dropped the “devil” after the season and promptly won their first league title.   Similarly, there was a pandemic year Cleveland team that carried the “Indians” moniker for the last time.  Most of the teams here were from the more modern (i.e., post steroid) era, but the one exception, the ‘76 Red Sox, I vaguely remembered as being competitors.  There was a Twins team from several seasons after their last pennant, an Angels squad that probably had a good Mike Trout, a Blue Jays team about whom I remembered almost nothing, and representatives from the A’s and Pirates that I doubted would amount to much.  I thought that the first round matchup between the Rays and the Red Sox would determine the group winner, but I banked on the greater depth of the more modern Rays and picked them over the dark horse Indians in the finals.  Much to my surprise, I discovered that the ELO ratings for those Rays had them as the second-worst team in baseball that year, surpassed only by the Pirates who were also in this regional–making me wonder how they managed to win a pennant the following year.  Instead, those ratings suggested that I should have stuck with my instincts about the Red Sox, picking them over the A’s team that I had apparently underestimated.

First round action

The 1976 Red Sox were the ELO bracket favorites, although and although their 83-79 record was not awe-inspiring, they had a solid offense for that era and Luis Tiant (21-12, 3.06) came in 5th in the Cy Young voting at age 35.  Their opponents, the 2007 Rays, had a terrible ELO ranking and lost 96 games, but they did win a pennant the next season and I didn’t think they looked that bad–there was power up and down the lineup with Carlos Pena garnering MVP votes, and James Shields (12-8, 3.85) wasn’t bad provided that he could keep the ball in the park.  No sooner do I write those words when the first Boston hitter of the game, Rick “The Rooster” Burleson, nails Shields’ solid 6-5 home run for a quick lead.  That lead dissipates quickly, as Tiant is struggling and a key error by SS-3 Burleson in the 3rd opens the door for an RBI single from Johnny Gomes that puts Tampa ahead, 2-1.  In the bottom of the inning, Butch Hobson has to leave the game with an injury, but the good news is that Fred Lynn’s two-out triple ties things up.  A sac fly in the 4th puts the Rays back on top, but Boston injury replacement Rico Petrocelli finds Shields’ 6-5 to lead off the bottom of the 5th and the game is tied once again, with neither team having much confidence remaining in their starting pitchers.  In the bottom of the 6th, Shields gets into trouble and the Rays survey the house of horrors that passes for their bullpen, so they stick with their starter but after 2-out RBI singles from Petrocelli and Denny Doyle, they have to try something different so closer Al Reyes gets a turn.  He gives up another run-scoring single to the Rooster and the Red Sox take a 6-3 lead into the 7th.  However, once again the Rays storm back, with Ty Wigginton delivering a 2-run single in the top of the 7th, and the Red Sox realize that their bullpen is also dreadful, so they stick with Tiant who has now allowed 13 hits in 7 innings.  Reyes strikes out the side in the bottom of the 7th and the Rays can smell blood, but Tiant holds them off in the 8th and the Red Sox add another run in the bottom of the inning on a Doyle fielder’s choice.  That leaves it up to Tiant in the 9th, but BJ Upton leads off with a solid double off Tiant’s card, and then LF-3 Jim Rice misplays a Carlos Pena single and it’s a one run game with the tying run in scoring position.  After a Gomes strikeout, Wigginton singles and the 1-11 Pena beats the throw home, and it’s a tie game.  The next batter, Brendan Harris, doubles but the 1-10 Wigginton is nailed trying to score, and Tiant records the final out with the game tied heading into the bottom of the 9th.  Lynn leads off with a single, and after an out Cecil Cooper rockets a gbA++ past the first baseman holding Lynn and the winning run is now at 3rd, the infield is in, and veteran Carl Yastrzemski is at the plate.   Yaz lofts a deep fly, Lynn tags, and he scores–the Red Sox take the 8-7 victory, and Tiant gets the win despite allowing 18 hits to the Rays.  

The 87-75 2006 Blue Jays were not only the #2 seed in this regional, but they were being managed in the Zoom game of the week by Roy the genuine Canadian, who was amassing a pretty nice tournament record at the helm of the Jays thus far.  StratFan Rick gamely accepted the task of guiding the 94-loss 2007 Pirates, even though the last time the Bucs had been involved in the weekly Zoom they had lost by 15 runs.  The pitching matchup looked pretty one-sided as well, with Roy Halladay (16-5, 3.19) 3rd in the Cy Young voting, while the Pirates’ Ian Snell (9-12, 3.76) looked more vulnerable.  And the Jays start out finding Snell’s hits in the bottom of the 1st, as he’s lucky to escape allowing only one run on a Lyle Overbay single.  However, the bottom drops out on Snell in the 4th, as the Jays pound out seven hits in the inning, including a 2-run single by farmer John McDonald and a 2-run homer by Aaron Hill, and Snell is gone but the Jays now lead 7-0, leading Roy to pronounce that “Halladay doesn’t allow seven runs”.  Of course, the Bucs immediately load up the bases for Xavier Nady, who bounces one off the hotel windows in center field for a grand slam.  Halladay is not clearly happy, and he somehow manages to injure the next batter, Adam Laroche, for the maximum 15 games and a brawl ensues that is only interrupted by the typically bad Hughesnet connection.  As order is restored, Halladay and a succession of Pirates relievers both are in control, and Halladay finishes out a complete game 7-4 win in which he scatters 8 hits, setting up a semifinal showdown between the top two seeds in the bracket.

The 1997 Twins lost 94 games and after Chuck Knoblach and Paul Molitor at the top of the lineup, things dropped off quickly, as did the rotation after Brad Radke (20-10, 3.87) who was 3rd in the Cy Young votes for winning 20 games with a dismal team.    They were underdogs to the 2010 A's, who balanced out an 81-81 record with pretty good team defense and a solid rotation fronted by Trevor Cahill (18-8, 2.97), who also received some Cy Young votes.  But Cahill yields back to back doubles to Pat Meares and Rich Becker in the 2nd, and Terry Steinbach follows them by finding and converting Cahill’s HR split for a 3-0 Minnesota lead.  The A’s were not a team built to come back from a large deficit, and they couldn’t record a hit until the bottom of the 5th.  However in the 8th the A’s get a couple of singles and the Twins eye their closer Aguilera, but shy away from his longball tendencies and stick with Radke, who retires Jack Cust with the bases loaded to maintain the shutout.  But Radke continues to fall apart in the bottom of the 9th, allowing two singles to lead off the inning and a run comes in when C-2 Steinbach drops a popup.  With the tying run now aboard and nobody out, the Twins are forced to admit that Radke is done and in comes Aguilera; hee induces a DP out of Mark Ellis, and PH Steven Tolleson lofts a fly that’s hauled in by defensive replacement RF-3 Denny Hocking and the Twins escape with the 3-1 win.    

The 2018 Angels went 80-82 with Mike Trout, Shohei Ohtani, and only three eligible starting pitchers, of whom Jaime Barria (10-9, 3.41) was the best option.  Of course, that was three more than the pandemic-year 2020 Indians had, although the Tribe did go 35-25 and made a brief postseason appearance as a wild card.  With all the AB/IP limitations from a 60-game season, they had no leeway in setting their lineup–even their DH was automatically selected as the highest remaining AB player.  Fortunately for them, their highest IP starter was one Shane Bieber (8-1, 1.63), and the Biebs had developed from an obscure Youtube music performer into the 2020 AL Cy Young winner with a killer mini-season.  The Indians load the bases in the top of the 1st but can only convert a Francisco Lindor sac fly, while the Angels can’t even manage a hit off Bieber until .199-hitting Luis Valbuena pushes a single in front of immobile Cleveland LF-5 Josh Naylor.  After that first inning, Barria is also dominating but in the 8th Jose Ramirez gets a two-out single, steals second and scores on a Franmil Reyes base hit to provide an insurance run.  That run proves to be sorely needed when Otani delivers a 2-out RBI single in the bottom of the inning and Cleveland clings to a one run lead entering the 9th.  When the Indians deliver two more singles in the 9th, Barria is pulled for Jose Alvarez, who comes in and records two straight strikeouts to send a one-run game to the bottom of the 9th.  But Bieber retires three straight against the rather feeble bottom of the Angels order, the last being his 13th strikeout of the game, to close out a 3-hitter and wins the 2-1 pitching duel.  

The survivors

The first semifinal features a showdown between the top seeded 1976 Red Sox with Reggie Cleveland (10-9, 3.07) just one of several decent options in the Boston rotation, while for the #2 seed 2007 Blue Jays their options dropped off quite a bit after AJ Burnett (10-8, 3.98).   It’s a rough start for Burnett in the top of the 1st, with a single, a Fred Lynn double, and then a 2-run hit from Jim Rice for a quick lead.  The Jays get one of those back in the bottom of the 2nd when Lyle Overbay scores on an Alex Rios grounder, but the Lynn/Rice tandem strikes again in the 3rd when a Lynn single is followed by a towering homer from Rice that makes it 4-1 Boston.  Carlton Fisk wraps a 2-run homer around the foul pole in the 6th and the Jays have been burned by Buerntt once too often, with closer BJ Ryan summoned in desperation.   The Jays try to climb back into the game, scoring a run in the bottom of the 6th when C-2 Fisk drops a popup, and they get another in the 7th when Alex Rios drives an RBI double past LF-3 Rice, but the 1-15 Rios is cut down at the plate trying to score on a Reed Johnson single.  The Red Sox miss a chance in the top of the 9th when Lynn misses his TR 1-12 split for the second time of the game, and 1-14 Rick Burleson is nailed trying to score on the resulting double.  So it heads to the bottom of the 9th with Cleveland facing the back of the Jays order; things start out badly with a 2-base error from SS-3 Burleson, and a Johnson single puts runners on the corners with one out, but with the tying run at the plate PH Frank Catalanotto grounds into the DP and the Red Sox head to the finals with the 6-3 victory.  

The 2020 Indians survived the first round because their top IP starter happened to also be the Cy Young winner, but for the semifinals they would not be as fortunate as Aaron Civale (4-8, 4.74) would have to make the start.  However, even though the 1997 Twins had different options for their #2 starter, none of them were particularly good choices and Frank Rodriguez (3-6, 4.62) would get the nod, with most expecting a high-scoring affair.  Terry Steinbach puts the Twins ahead in the top of the 2nd with a 2-out RBI double off Civale’s card, but Franciso Lindor responds in the bottom of the inning with a 2-run homer off his own card and Cleveland leads.  However, both pitchers then make it through their requisite five innings without further incident, and the Indians decide not to press their luck and replace Civale with Oliver Perez to begin the 6th, a move that proves wise as the inning ends on a 5-9 strikeout roll that would have been a solid HR on Civale.  A leadoff double by Lindor in the bottom of the 7th chases Rodriguez, and Greg Swindell comes in to prevent any runs even though he manages to walk the bases full before doing so.  Still clinging to the one run lead, the Indians summon closer Brad Hand to begin the 8th, but he allows back to back doubles to Ron Coomer and Marty Cordova–both on a DO 1-8/flyB result on Hand’s card–and the game is tied.  However, Swindell drops a grounder that allows the leadoff man in the bottom of the inning to reach base, and then CF-3 Rich Becker can’t get to a Jose Ramirez double, so with men on 2nd and 3rd and nobody out the Indians try their closer, Rick Aguilera.  He is untouchable, stranding both runners and recording two strikeouts, and the game heads to the 9th knotted at two.  Hand pitches into and out of a jam in the top of the 9th, retiring Paul Molitor for the final out with runners at first and third.   Aguilera is flawless in the bottom of the inning, but he is now burnt for the regional as the game heads to extra innings.  Hand holds in the top of the 10th, so the dangerous Eddie Guardado becomes the pitcher of record for the Twins, and he strikes out the first two Indians but then allows three straight squib singles to load the bases for pinch “hitter” Jordan Luplow, who strikes out to send the game to the 11th.  Cleveland brings in Cal Quantrill to begin the top of the inning, and he sets the Twins down in order, so it’s Guardado’s turn in the bottom of the inning.  He gets two quick outs, but then a single by .165-hitting Roberto Perez and a walk to Cesar Hernandez and the winning run moves into scoring position.  That brings up Woodstock veteran Carlos Santana, and he rips a hit into the gap, Perez trots home, and the pandemic Indians survive with a 3-2 walkoff win that puts them into the regional finals.

The finalists for the regional each had something to prove; the 1976 Red Sox sought to erase the memory of losing the World Series in the prior season, while the 2020 Indians sought to be the first pandemic-year team to win an eight-team bracket.  The matchup looked like a good one; although the Red Sox were the top seed, the Indians were the only squad in the group that saw any post-season action, and both starters were solid, Carlos Carrasco (3-4, 2.91) for Cleveland and Rick Wise (14-11, 3.54) for Cleveland.  The cardboard cutouts occupying the stands at the Jake were relieved when the Red Sox failed to score in the first inning for the first time in the regional, but they did not approve when Carlos Santana missed a HR 1-17 split in the bottom of the 1st and got stranded.  There is some payback in the 2nd when Boston SS-3 Rick Burleson drops a Santana grounder (his second error in only 2 innings) with the bases loaded and two outs, so the Indians move out to a 1-0 lead.  In the 3rd, former Texas Aggie Tyler Naquin misses that same HR 1-17 split on Wise’s card, but two runners still score on the resulting double; the 1-14 Naquin is gunned down trying to score on a Delino Deshields base hit and Cleveland resolves never to tempt the split dice gods again.   However, it turns out that they don’t need to, as Carrasco is dominating; he finishes out a four-hit shutout, and the Indians win the regional with the 3-0 blanking of the Red Sox.  Although this was a pandemic year team, they really had no low-usage wonders; rather, a Cy Young winner, timely hitting, solid fielding (at least as soon as they could get their LF-5 out of the game), and a bullpen deep enough to get them through their extra-inning semifinal game propelled them to the regional crown.

Interesting card of Regional #189:  In general, I tend to enjoy playing old-school teams far more than contemporary seasons, but I have to admit that I always like to see a 2020 squad come up in the tournament.   That season is chock full of low-usage oddities, but it would be unfair to characterize this card as one of them; Bieber pitched the most innings for the regional champion Indians and was the unanimous winner of the AL Cy Young award while doing so.   The fact that he’d finished 4th in the voting for that award in the 2019 season further proves that his pandemic performance was no fluke.  Despite the late start to the 2020 season, it only took him 62 innings to record 100 strikeouts, the fewest by a starting pitcher since 1900.  He finished the season leading the major leagues in wins, strikeouts, and ERA at age 25; in real life, he got raked in the 2020 Wild Card game as his team made a quick exit from the postseason, but in this tournament, his strong performance in a first round pitchers duel set the Indians in motion to capture the regional title.

REGIONAL #188:  This group features the inaugural season of one Jackie Robinson, with he and his teammates capturing the pennant in 1947 to make them the highest profile squad in this group.  However, another noteworthy entry was a Yankees team that won the AL the season before AND the season after, but had their streak interrupted by the Go-Go Sox.  There were two examples of the Diamondbacks, one of them coming two years after their first NL pennant, and teams from the Tigers, Cubs, Angels, and A’s that I suspected included one or two decent squads.   I figured the Dodgers would get past the Dbacks in the bottom of the bracket, while I picked the Yankees to make the final despite the generally unimpressive showing of their 1950s teams in this tourney.  That would set up a classic Dodgers/Yankees final, where I predicted that number 42 and his colleagues would prevail.  For the second regional in a row, the ELO ratings agreed with my predictions, making the Dodgers odds-on favorites to win their second regional in a row.

First round action

The 1997 Angels were an 84-78 team that rode the bats of Tim Salmon and Jim Edmonds and endured the declining years of Eddie Murray and Rickey Henderson; they would give Chuck Finley (13-8, 4.23) his 10th start in this tournament, which has to be a record.  Speaking of Rickey H., he was also playing for the 77-85 1984 A’s, and he wasn’t the only thing shared between the teams as Tony Phillips was batting leadoff for both squads.  The ace for the A’s was Ray Burris (13-10, 3.15) and he was backed by the longball threat from Dave Kingman and Dwayne Murphy.  The Angels start the fireworks early with a 2-run homer from Salmon in the top of the 1st, while the A’s load the bases in the bottom of the inning but Davey Lopes makes the third out on a 3-3 roll with a grand slam sitting at 3-4.  In the bottom of the 3rd, Oakland’s Henderson finds and converts Finley’s HR result for a solo shot, and then Carney Lansford rolls the same result but misses the split for a double; however, he’s cut down trying to score on a Kingman single and the score is 2-1 Angels after three.  Edmonds adds some insurance in the 6th with a two out solo homer, but when Mike Heath leads off the bottom of the 7th with a double off Finley’s card, the Angels take no chances and bring in closer Troy Percival to head off the threat.  He retires six straight, and as the game heads into the bottom of the 9th the Angels wish to preserve Percival and bring in a no-name reliever (literally no name on his card; apparently one Pep Harris) to close things out.  He makes a name for himself with an uneventful inning and a save, and the Angels move on with the 3-1 win even though Burris held them to only five hits, while Chuck Finley evens out his tournament record at 5-5.

They had won four pennants in a row before, and they would win another five in a row afterwards, but the 1959 Yankees came up short, finishing only 79-75 in third place behind the Go-Go Sox.  Although many of the famous names were there, aside from Mantle they weren’t having particularly good seasons, and their defense was porous.  They went with Art Ditmar (13-9, 2.90) for the round one start, even though I remember once skipping over Whitey Ford in the first round for a different 50s Bombers and coming to regret it.  Their opponents, the 2009 Diamondbacks, lost 92 games and like the Yanks, were skipping over a bigger name pitcher in Max Scherzer to start Dan Haren (14-10, 3.14), who finished 5th in the Cy Young voting despite pitching for a bad team.  In the bottom of the 3rd, a 2-base error by Yankee 3B-4 Hector Lopez enables the Dbacks to score a run on an Augie Ojeda sac fly before either team had recorded a hit in the game.  However, in the 4th Arizona SS-2 Stephen Drew returns the favor with a 2-base error, and a 2-out single by Bill Skowron–the first hit of the game–ties things up.  Then, Lopez atones for his bad fielding with a 2-out solo shot to put NY ahead.  Justin Upton finally breaks up Ditmar’s no-hitter in the bottom of the 7th by converting a 3-12 SI* 1-2 split, but the Dbacks can’t take advantage of it, and little Bobby Richardson homers off Haren’s card in the 8th to provide an insurance run.  That’s more than Ditmar needs, as he closes out the 3-1 win for the Yanks; Haren tosses a 4-hitter himself but absorbs the loss.  However, in a meaningless at bat in the 9th, Skowron is injured for six games and the Yanks will miss his bat behind Mantle’s.

The 1947 Dodgers won 94 games and the NL and were the top seed here, but in setting their lineup I was surprised by the lack of power (12 homers was tops on the team) in a field that I’d always assumed to be pretty homer-friendly.  I noticed that they finished seven games better than their Pythagorean projection, and so it seemed that they could use a strong showing from their ace Ralph Branca (21-12, 2.67) with no Bobby Thomson-like incidents.  He would face the 76-86 1996 Cubs, whose Sammy Sosa and Ryne Sandberg combined to hit as many homers as the entire Dodger lineup, but Steve Trachsel (13-9, 3.03) had a fair share of longballs on his card as well.  The Cubs break the stalemate in the top of the 5th with a 2-run single from Scott Servais, and then in the 5th a 2-out error by Dodger 2b-2 Eddie Miksis is followed by a 3-base error from their RF-4 Dixie Walker, and the Cubs lead grows to 4-0.  In the 8th, Luis Gonzalez adds an RBI single and defensive replacement Rey Sanchez follows that with a HR off Branca’s card and it looks like the favorites are going down hard.  A squib RBI single from Tyler Houston adds to the damage, and Trachsel finishes up the 5-hit shutout as the Cubs roll over the top seed with an 8-0 laugher.

The 2003 Diamondbacks were a couple of season past their first pennant, but they still had much of that squad intact and they were good for an 84-78 record and the #4 seed in this bracket.  Although their famous pitching tandem of Curt Schilling and Randy Johnson were still around, their top starter was Brandon Webb (10-9, 2.84) who would be making his 4th start of the tournament, sporting a 1-2 record in his previous efforts.  He would try to even up his record against the 79-83 1997 Tigers, who got career years out of Bobby Higginson and Tony Clark, but their rotation after Justin Thompson (15-11, 3.02) was pretty gruesome.  In the bottom of the 2nd, the normally sure-handed DBack CF-2 Steve Finley misplays a single by Clark, and that sets up a sac fly by free-swinging Melvin Nieves for a Tiger lead.  Meanwhile the Dbacks don’t register a hit against Thompson until a Carlos Baerga single in the 5th, but that leads nowhere, and although they load the bases in the 6th they again fail to capitalize.  However, in the 8th Finley makes up for his fielding miscue with a solo HR off Thompson’s card.  The Tigers respond in the bottom of the inning with Brian Hunter drawing a walk and stealing second, so the Dbacks head to the pen for closer Matt Mantei, but he can’t prevent Higginson from stroking a 2-out RBI single and the Tigers regain the lead heading into the 9th.  That puts it in Thompson’s hands, and he closes out a 6-hitter and the Tigers squeak by to the semifinals with the 2-1 win.

The survivors

The Yankees DL

The 1959 Yankees and the 1997 Angels both survived the first round winning with identical 3-1 scores, notching only a total of nine hits between them, and both were hoping for better offensive performance as the opposition dug deeper into their rotation.  Although the Yanks would be missing the bat of Bill Skowron, they felt good about the prospects of sending out Whitey Ford (16-10, 3.04) against Angels spot starter Shigetoshi Hasegawa (3-7, 3.93).  In the bottom of the 1st, Hector Lopez, stepping into the cleanup spot vacated by Skowron’s injury, cracks a 2-run homer, but a spate of Ford wildness in the 3rd loads the bases to set up a 2-out 2-run single by Tim Salmon that ties it up.  Unfortunately, in the bottom of the inning the Yanks watch their tournament aspirations go up in smoke as Mickey Mantle is carted off the field with a 7 game injury, “replaced” in the lineup by Marvelous Marv Throneberry.  The Angels smell blood and get a run in the 4th on a Gary Disarcina RBI single that scores Garret Anderson.  Both pitchers then hold until Gil McDougald leads off the bottom of the 7th with a triple, leading the Angels to summon closer Troy Percival in the hopes of recording some strikeouts.  The Angels bring the infield in, and Bobby Richardson hits a grounder, McDougald breaks for home, and he’s out on the fielder’s choice.  Percival then whiffs Kubek and Throneberry, and it’s crisis averted.   Percival then gets two quick outs in the 8th, but then Elston Howard wakes up the depressed Yankee Stadium crowd with a long bomb that ties the game heading into the 9th, with Percival now burnt for the regional.  However, the crowd quickly relapses as Disarcina converts Ford’s HR 1-5/flyB for a 2-run shot in the top of the 9th.  So, to begin the bottom of the 9th it’s once again the Angels’ no name reliever (aka Pep Harris) looking for his second straight save.  He gets two quick outs, but then SS-2 Disarcina drops a Kubek grounder, Throneberry draws a walk, and up comes Hector Lopez, who already has two homers in the regional, as the winning run.  But he grounds out harmlessly and the Angels survive and advance to the finals with the 5-3 win over the game but battered Yankees.  

Two near-contemporaries that were upset winners in round one, the 1996 Cubs and Jaime Navarro (15-12, 3.92) would face the 1997 Tigers with Willie Blair (16-8, 4.17) for the right to vie for the regional title.  In the bottom of the 3rd, Deivi Cruz bounces a double past Cubs LF-3 Luis Gonzalez, and he scores on a Tony Clark single to put the Tigers ahead, but the Cubs tie it up in the 5th on a Mark Grace RBI single.  In the 6th, Brian Hunter draws a leadoff walk, steals second, and scores when RF-2 Sammy Sosa can’t get to a Bobby Higginson single, and the Tigers regain the lead.  However, as is often the case in a semifinal game neither team will surrender, and in the top of the 7th Scott Servais hits a solo shot off Blair’s card, and two singles later the Tigers summon closer Todd Jones from the pen hoping for something better.  He whiffs PH Brant Brown, walks Sosa to load the bases, and then strikes out Ryne Sandberg and the game remains tied.  When Cruz leads off the bottom of the 8th with a double, the Cubs decide to move to their pen and Turk Wendell comes in; he whiffs Hunter but then Damion Easley knocks a base hit and 1-14 Cruz beats the throw to put the Tigers back on top.  Hoping to preserve Jones for the final, the Tigers bring in Doug Brocail to close in the 9th, but that proves unwise when an error by 2B-3 Easley is followed by two singles, with one by Brown driving in a game-tying run.  Brocail then gets Sosa to ground into a DP, and when Wendell retires the Tigers in the bottom of the inning we head to extra frames.  Both pens hold, but when Brocail is burnt for the regional in the 13th the Tigers are forced to go to the nether regions of their bullpen, with AJ Sager the least terrible option.  His first pitch to Jose Hernandez is a 5-9, HR 1-18/TR, and he misses the split with a 19 but the inherited runner Rey Sanchez scores.  The next batter, Servais, also rolls a hit on Sager’s card, Hernandez scores, and the Cubs take a two run lead into the bottom of the 13th, with Larry Casian assigned the job of closing out the game.  He rips through a succession of Detroit pinch hitters, and the Cubs come from behind three different times to take the 5-3 13-inning battle to reach the finals.

It’s an all-90s final with the #4 seeded 1997 Angels against the #5 seed 1996 Cubs representing the middle of the pack of the regional.  As is typical of middle of the pack teams, the #3 starters for these squads were worrisome, with Anaheim’s Ken Hill (9-12, 4.55) pretty bad and the Cubs’ Frank Castillo (7-16, 5.28) even worse, and both teams had seriously stretched their pens during the semifinals.  Sure enough, in the top of the 1st Castillo walks the first batter and then allows a solid 6-9 homer roll to Darin Erstad.  Then, in the 2nd Castillo allows a single off his card to Garret Anderson, and that’s followed by another 6-9 roll for Chad Kreuter and things are getting ugly quickly.  However, Castillo then responds with three hitless innings, and the Cubs begin chipping away with a 2-run homer from Luis Gonzalez in the bottom of the 5th.  In the 6th, Grace leads off with a single, Tyler Houston doubles past LF-3 Anderson, and then runners on 2nd and 3rd and first base open, the Angels elect to pitch to the cold Sammy Sosa, who warms to the occasion with a 3-run moon shot that sends the Cubs into the lead and their yuppie scum fans into a frenzy.  When Tony Phillips singles to lead off the top of the 8th, the Cubs decide not to risk any more longballs off Castillo and he departs to considerable applause, with Terry Adams charged with closing things out.  He whiffs Erstad, but promptly gets injured on the next batter, which is something the Cubs definitely did not plan on and Kent Bottenfield gets pressed into emergency service and he retires Salmon to maintain the one-run lead.  Things stay that way heading into the 9th, where Bottenfield gets two quick outs, but then PH Jack Howell raps a single and Rickey Henderson pinch runs representing the tying run.  Kreuter then hits a grounder to 2B-2 Sandberg, but he muffs it and the tying run is now in scoring position, and PH Luis Alicea steps to the plate.  But he hits a soft liner to Jose Hernandez at third, and the Cubs take home their 8th regional crown with the 5-4 comeback win.

Interesting card of Regional #188:  Does anyone else think this card might have shortchanged Melvin by a few strikeouts?  I realize that in the current era, 157 strikeouts doesn’t even place a batter on the leaderboard in that category anymore, but still, accumulating those in only 300+ ABs is an impressive amount of whiffing.  Of course, Nieves had big shoes to fill as a Tigers right fielder, attempting to follow in the footsteps of the immortal Rob Deer.  Perhaps he did so a little too well, as Nieves only played one more season in the majors before being demoted to the minors, where he spent nearly 10 seasons unsuccessfully learning to make contact.  Sadly, Nieves was arrested in 2022 in Puerto Rico after taking the congregation in a Mormon church hostage and threatening to kill them; police eventually subdued him with a Taser.  News reports did not indicate whether he fired on the police, but if so, it’s safe to guess that he missed.

REGIONAL #187:  The team that caught my eye in this draw was the ‘65 Cardinals, who had won the Series the previous year and would win it again two years later.  I also figured that entries from the Astros and Dodgers could be contenders, and although the Reds had two representatives in the bracket I didn’t think that either of them would be formidable.  My hunch was that the Cards would best the Angels for the top half of the group, but their mid-60s offense would come up short against the greater depth of the more modern Dodgers in the final.  The ELO rankings saw things pretty much the same way, although indicating that the Dodgers’ path to the finals might be challenging.  

First round action

The 1965 Cardinals slumped to an 80-81 record after winning the Series the previous season, and although they had some weapons at the top of the order, aside from Bob Gibson (20-12, 3.07) it looked like they would need to make use of a pretty solid bullpen.   The 76-86 1976 Rangers looked like a mid-60s team in that they were largely punchless, but they had some workhorses in the rotation with Gaylord Perry (15-14, 3.24) constituting an interesting (and contrasting) matchup with Gibson.  In the top of the 3rd, Lou Brock finds and converts Perry’s HR 1-9 split for a 2-out 2-run shot and an early lead.  That lead extends in the 4th when the Cards record another run on an error by 1B-4 Mike Hargrove, and then 3B-4 Roy Howell can’t get to a Mike Shannon single that brings in two more to make it 5-0 St. Louis.  The Cards put in their ‘67 DP combo of Maxvill and Javier for defensive purposes in the 6th, but Hargrove finds Gibson’s HR result for a 2-run shot that narrows the lead.  From there, both HOF pitchers are in control and the game wraps up with a 5-2 Cardinals win, Gibson earning the win with a 5-hitter and Perry the loss despite allowing only four hits.  

The 1984 Angels lineup was populated by a bunch of free agents who had made their name elsewhere, but Gene Autry’s money only resulted in an 81-81 record; however, they did have a solid homegrown product in Mike Witt (15-11, 3.47) on the mound for the first round start.  They were slight favorites over an 89-loss 2005 Reds team that had a primary weapons in Griffey Jr. and Adam Dunn’s 40 homers, although everybody in the starting lineup had a SLG% over .400; but there was not much in the rotation with Aaron Harang (11-13, 3.83) by far the best option.  The Angels move to an early lead when Fred Lynn launches a 2-run homer in the bottom of the 1st, and Witt starts out dominant, not allowing a baserunner until a Felipe Lopez single in the 4th.  However, Witt’s second time through the Reds order proves to be more troublesome, and a 2-out 2-run single by Edwin Encarnacion ties the game in the top of the 5th.  The Angels quickly respond in the bottom of the inning, and an RBI single by Lynn, a run-scoring fielder's choice on a Brian Downing grounder, and a 2-base error by Reds RF-2 Austin Kearns and it’s 5-2 Angels after five.  The Reds punch back in the 6th, with Adam Dunn converting a DO 1-3/flyB to drive in a run, but he’s nailed trying to score (1-12+2) on a Jason LaRue single for the third out.  Kearns leads off the 7th with a double and then PH Ryan Freel knocks him in with another double, and with the lead down to one the Angels are at Witt’s end and reluctantly summon their only decent reliever, Doug Corbett.  But he allows a single to Sean Casey, the fleet Freel flies home, and the game is tied. The rattled Corbett then delivers a hanging curve to Felipe Lopez, who deposits it somewhere by the base of the big A for a 2-run shot and a Reds lead.  That doesn’t last long, as Doug Decinces blasts a 2-run homer in the bottom of the inning that ties the game and the Reds summon THEIR only decent reliever, Brian Shackelford, and he survives some fielding lapses without further damage.  Doubles from LaRue and Kearns give the Reds a one run lead in the top of the 8th, and they load up on defensive replacements after having committed three errors already in the game.  It comes down to the bottom of the 9th, and Shackelford gets two quick outs to face Reggie Jackson.  With chants of “Reggie!” ringing loud, it’s a 2-7 roll, HR 1-7/flyB.  The split die comes to rest on a 16, and Mr. October and his teammates head back to the storage drawers as the Reds pull off the see-saw 8-7 victory.    

The 1995 Astros were the #2 seed in the group, going 76-68 in that strike-shortened season aided by some Killer B’s and they still managed to get 30 starts out of Shane Reynolds (10-11, 3.47).  They had the good fortune to be matched against the 2021 Pirates, a 101-loss team consisting of some of the ugliest cardstock this side of a recycling center; other than Bryan Reynolds, I doubted that anyone in the lineup could start for another team in this bracket, and Tyler Anderson (5-8, 4.35) was the best option in a shallow rotation that would likely need the seemingly endless supply of bad relievers who were carded for this team.  Of course, no sooner do I disparage the Pirates lineup than Anthony Alford finds and converts Reynolds’ HR 1-9 split for a 2-run shot in the bottom of the 1st.  The Astros get one of those runs back on a Dave Magadan fielder’s choice in the 2nd, but in the 3rd Alford gets another RBI as B. Reynolds races home on Alford’s 2-out single.  Wilmer Difo (who was apparently NOT the Green Goblin in the Spiderman movies) leads off the top of the 6th with a triple, and after a mound conference Houston leaves Reynolds in hoping for the strikeout.  However, Ke’Bryan Hayes singles to drive in the run, and Reynolds is gone as Todd Jones comes in just in time for Jacob Stallings to roll his HR split–it’s a miss, but Hayes scores on the resulting double and the Pirates are now up by five.  They get a scare in the 7th when their best hitter Reynolds goes down with an injury, but reports indicate that he’ll be ready to go for the second round.  A couple of singles in the 8th and the Pirates move to wild Kyle Crick out of the pen, but he escapes the inning unscathed after walking the bases full, and then sets Houston down in order as the Pirates, in classic #8 seed style, respond to my insults by rolling to a 6-1 upset win.

The 2013 Dodgers were the top seed in the regional courtesy of 92 wins and the NL West pennant, and they were two games away from a Series appearance.  Although their lineup was solid with a formidable 1.040 OPS from SS Hanley Ramirez (if he could stay healthy), their real strength was their pitching staff, anchored by Cy Young winning Clayton Kershaw (16-9, 1.83).  However, the 1996 Reds didn’t look like pushovers despite a mediocre 81-81 season, with a stellar DP combination in Barry Larkin and Bret Boone, although after John Smiley (13-14, 3.64) their rotation mainly elicited frowns.  In the top of the 1st, Yasiel Puig hits a solo shot clear out of Cinergy Field, almost beaning Reds owner Marge Schott who was banned from entering the stadium at the time.  From there both pitchers are in fine form, but when Smiley allows a leadoff hit in the 7th the Reds confer but let him try to work his way out of the inning.  He gets one out but then Juan Uribe finds and converts Smiley’s HR result for a 2-run shot and it’s time for closer Jeff Brantley.  Things do not go well for Brantley in the 8th, as after a Puig RBI single, Adrian Gonzalez rolls Brantley’s HR 1-14/flyB result and pops a 14 on the split die for a 3-run blast and Reds fans head for the exits, from which they get to witness Andre Ethier miss the same split later in the inning.  Making up that deficit against Kershaw ain’t gonna happen, and he ends with a 3-hit shutout as the Dodgers cruise to the semis with the 7-0 victory.  

The survivors

The #3 seeded 1965 Cardinals were facing life after Bob Gibson, but even with Tracy Stallard (11-8, 3.39) they had to be considered as substantial favorites over the #7 seed 2005 Reds with Brandon Claussen (10-11, 4.21) on the mound and their best reliever burnt.  And Claussen is quickly in a pickle as Lou Brock begins the game by finding a solid homer on the pitcher’s card, and they get another run in the 2nd when Ken Boyer races home on a 2-out Dick Groat single.  However, the Cards suffer a blow when their best hitter, DH Bob Skinner, is knocked out of the regional with an injury.  Boyer avenges his fallen comrade with a solo homer in the 4th, but Adam Dunn gets the first hit off Stallard, a solid pitcher’s card homer that wakes up the home crowd.  However, in the 5th LF-4 Dunn waves helplessly at a single by injury replacement Tito Francona that scores Lou Brock, and Bill White follows that with a 2-run homer that puts Claussen back in the jar and gets David Weathers for relief.  RBI singles from White and Tim McCarver extend the lead in the 7th, and Stallard doesn’t allow any more hits until there are two out in the bottom of the 9th as he closes out a 3-hitter and the Cards head to the finals with the easy 8-1 win.

This semifinal matchup was the Zoom game of the week, with loyal Pennsylvanian TT gamely taking the helm of the terrible #8 seed 2021 Pirates.  He faced me as manager of the top seeded 2013 Dodgers, although I only assumed that role because nobody else in the Zoom gathering liked the Dodgers either.  The starting pitchers were as lopsided as the rest of the lineup, with LA’s Zack Greinke (15-4, 2.63) against the Bucs’ Wil Crowe, (4-8, 5.48), whose prolific gopher ball tendencies were actually exceeded by the other remaining starters in the rotation.  However, it didn’t take long for the Dodgers to find one of Crowe’s homer nests, in the form of AJ Ellis in the bottom of the 2nd for a 3-run shot.  Andre Ethier hits a giant solo shot in the 4th, and Pirates fans are rooting for Crowe to let up his 5th run so that he can be pulled for a reliever, and that occurs in the bottom of the 5th with an RBI single by Ellis that brings in Pittsburgh reliever Chasen Schrieve.  Juan Uribe crushes one of his offerings for a 3-run blast in the 6th, and so the Bucs try Sam Howard to begin the 8th.  Three walks, an error, and a passed ball later, and Pittsburgh thinks that they’ve inadvertently pitched Moe Howard instead, so they summon closer David Bednar, who promptly allows a bases-loaded triple to Carl Crawford to send Howard off with a line of ⅓ IP, 0 hits, and 5 runs allowed. Adrian Gonzalez adds a homer to Bednar’s mistakes, and in the meantime the only offense Pittsburgh can muster is a converted split HR off Greinke’s card by #9 hitter Kevin Newman.  Greinke closes out a 5-hitter and the Dodgers roll to the finals with a 16-1 demolition of the hapless Pirates.  The 16 runs ties for third highest total in the tournament thus far, falling short of the 18 runs put up by the 1950 Red Sox in the finals of Regional #40.

The regional final matching the #1 seeded 2013 Dodgers against the #3 seed 1965 Cardinals was accurately predicted by both me and the ELO rankings, a fairly rare occurrence, with neither team really having been challenged in the first two rounds.  The Cards had outscored their opponents 13-3, which looked good until compared to the Dodgers’ differential of 23 to 1.  Ray Washburn (9-11, 3.63) was on the mound for the Cards, facing Hyun-Jin Ryu (14-8, 3.00), and the already limited Cardinal offense was further weakened by the injury to their DH Bob Skinner.  Both pitchers are in control the first time through the lineups, but in the bottom of the 5th the Dodgers begin the inning with five straight hits, and by the time Yasiel Puig contributes a base clearing double the Dodgers claim a 6-0 lead.  The Cards try to reassert themselves quickly, with Lou Brock leading off the 6th with a single, stealing second, and then heading for home on a Curt Flood base hit–but the 1-17 Brock runs into a split roll of 19 and Ryu escapes the inning with no damage.  Dodger PH Scott Van Slyke misses a HR 1-2/DO split on Washburn to begin the bottom of the inning, and Washburn is pulled for Don Dennis, who retires the side without incident.  The Cards finally get on the board in the 7th on an RBI double from Phil Gagliano, but the Dodgers respond in the bottom of the inning with RBI singles from Andre Ethier and AJ Ellis to provide additional padding.  The Cards try to make it interesting as DH substitute Tito Francona contributes a 2-out, 2-run single in the 8th, but in the 9th they can only muster a pinch hit from Bob Uecker, and Ryu closes out the 8-3 win to give the Dodgers the 10th regional win for their franchise.  A strong all-around team, these Dodgers have the makeup to last for a while in this tournament, even though they could not do so in the 2013 NLCS.

Interesting card of Regional #187:  A counterargument to the belief that they don’t make pitchers like they used to, this card represents the 2013 Cy Young winner who in this tournament started off the regional winners with a 3-hit CG shutout in round one–a pretty nice parallel to the 4-hit CG shutout he actually pitched on 2013 Opening Day.  Mind you, this card is from 10 years ago; this season, he is as of this writing leading the league in wins and has a WHIP under 1.00.  He’s been an imposing force on the mound since his high school days in Dallas, where he was backed up at shortstop by his teammate Matthew Stafford, who ended up playing for a different team in Los Angeles.  According to a recent graphic I saw, Kershaw currently has the lowest career ERA in history of any pitcher in MLB history with more than 1300 IP.  Can you name who is in second place on that list?

REGIONAL #186:   In this draw, it seemed to me that almost any of the teams could compete for the regional.  There were two Expos entries, one from the year just before they were notoriously shortchanged by the season-ending strike.  There were the Rays right after their pandemic pennant, who I remembered as having been somewhat disappointing, and a Red Sox team a few seasons before they were finally able to overcome the Curse of the Babe.  There were the Tigers two seasons after an AL pennant, and the Marlins three years after an NL crown, although for that franchise it might as well have been a century given how quickly they tended to be disassembled, so I suspected that they might be the worst of this bunch.  Throw in an Angels team three years before their first pennant and an A’s team about to enter the Moneyball era, and picking a winner seemed like a crapshoot.  I decided to go with the ‘93 version of the Expos, although their first round matchup with the Red Sox might lead to a quick exit; I went with the Tigers in the top half of the bracket but figured their rotation would decline by the time they reached the finals.  The season-ending ELO score for the 2021 Rays far outpaced the rest of the teams and suggested that despite their ALDS loss, they were hardly a disappointment; those rankings suggested that they would get their revenge against the Red Sox, the franchise that beat them in that series, in the finals here.

First round action

The 2008 Tigers lost 88 games and finished last in the AL Central, which might have been the result of having a team comprised largely of DHs; Armando Galarraga (13-7, 3.73) had a nice WHIP but had troubles with the gopher ball, with nearly twice as many HR chances on his card as Andres Galarraga, the first baseman on the opposing 1986 Expos.  The Expos were ELO underdogs to the Tigers, but I wasn’t so sure as Montreal went 78-83 with Tim Raines and a career year from Hubie Brooks leading the offense, and Floyd Youmans (13-12, 3.53) headed a solid rotation.  However, the Tigers flex their muscle in the top of the 1st as Miguel Cabrera misses a HR split but Carlos Guillen races home on the resulting double, and Maggio Ordonez singles in Miggy to make it 2-0 Detroit.  They get another run in the 3rd when Youmans’ wildness loads the bases and then Miggy scores on a wild pitch, but the Expos get the run back in the bottom of the inning on a Tim Wallach sac fly.  Expos DH Wallace Johnson finds and converts Galarraga’s 5-7 HR 1-5/flyB split to lead off the bottom of the 4th, and then both Mike Fitzgerald and Raines convert Galarraga’s 6-7 DO 1-10/flyB to tie the game, although Andre Dawson misses that 5-7 HR split to end the inning.  Entering the 6th, the Tigers summon a bevy of replacements and when Youmans issues his 8th walk to one of them leading off the inning, Floyd is sent to the dark side of the moon and Bob McClure gets the ball.  However, the Expos learn that there are worse things than a walk, as McClure allows a double, a 2-run single to Guillen, and a 2-run homer to Ordonez and suddenly it’s 7-3 Tigers.  Johnson leads off the bottom of the inning by missing that 5-7 HR split, but Mike Fitzgerald follows with a 6-5 roll that leaves no doubt, a solid HR result and the Tigers need to disArmando although their pen is terrible but Freddy Dolsi manages to end the inning without further damage.  The Expos load the bases in the 8th and score a run when Tigers SS-2 Ramon Santiago turns a DP ball into a single, but then Dawson grounds into a DP to kill the rally, so it’s a two run game heading into the 9th.  The Expos get the tying run aboard in the bottom of the 9th, but Dolsi manages to hold on in his last inning of eligibility for the regional and the Tigers advance with a 7-5 victory.

In a first round Battle for Florida, the regional top seed 2021 Rays were big favorites over the 2007 Marlins.   The Rays won 100 games and the AL East, and boasted three 30+ HR bats, solid defense, and a deep bullpen, although Shane McClanahan’s (10-6, 3.43) card didn’t look quite as good as his stats.  However, the 91-loss Marlins looked to have a puncher’s chance, with eight guys in the lineup with SLG% over .450, but their starting pitching was atrocious, with Dontrelle Willis (10-15, 5.17) representing one of the worst round one starters I’d seen in quite a while.  The Jays get on the board with back to back doubles from Wander Franco and Joey Wendle to lead off the bottom of the 2nd, and later in the inning a sac fly from Randy Arozarena precedes a 3-run homer by Brandon Lowe and it’s 5-0 Tampa after two.  A couple of Rays baserunners in the 3rd and Willis is gone for Lee Gardner, who comes in and promptly allows an RBI single to Arozarena and then a 3-run shot to Ji-man Choi and it’s looking like a blowout.  The Marlins get a run on a squib RBI single from Josh Willingham in the 4th, and then McClanahan is victimized by errors from 3B-2 Wendle and 1B-2 Choi in the 8th to provide the Marlins with another.  But Choi atones in the bottom of the inning with his second homer of the game, and a tiring McClanahan hangs on in the 9th to cement the 11-2 complete game win, striking out 12 Marlins in the process.  

The 1993 Expos had virtually no overlap with the 1986 team that had been eliminated earlier in the regional, as this version won 94 games to finish second in the NL East boasting lots of team speed, Larry Walker coming into this own, and an impressive if somewhat walk-prone card from starter Jeff Fassero (12-5, 2.29).  Fassero and his Expos teammate Mike Lansing were also on the opposing team, the 85-win 2000 Red Sox, but the start for Boston was going to Pedro Martinez (18-6, 1.74), the Cy Young winner and by himself sufficient to make the Red Sox the slight ELO favorite here.  True to form, Fassero walks three batters in the bottom of the 1st but somehow escapes with no damage.  In the bottom of the 4th, Brian Daubach leads off by adding injury (for four games) to insult (he doesn’t have his name on his card), and the Expos come alive in the 6th with a 3-run homer from Marquis Grissom that renders Fenway Park eerily quiet.  Fassero is dominating until the 8th, when an RBI single gets under the glove of SS-4 Wil Cordero and with nobody out and two aboard les Expos summon a supercard of their own in closer John Wetteland.  But the Red Sox get another run on a Jason Varitek fielder’s choice and the game enters the 9th with Montreal clinging to the one-run lead.  Martinez holds serve in the top of the inning and it comes down to Wetteland vs. the top of the Boston order in the bottom of the 9th.  He whiffs Trot Nixon, but Carl Everett singles (missing a TR 1-10 with an 11) and he advances to third on a Garciaparra hit.  The infield comes in for Dante Bichette, who hits a gbA but there is no DP as Nomar heads to second, representing the winning run with two away and injury replacement Israel Alcantara at the plate.  Wetteland delivers; it’s a 1-5, single on Alcantara, Everett scores and Garciaparra, 1-16 with two out, is waved home, the split is a 3 and the Red Sox walk off a come from behind 4-3 win, Martinez getting the win allowing only 5 hits while striking out 13.  The Red Sox themselves only manage 7 hits, with five of them coming in the last two innings.

The 1997 A’s featured the final season of the Bash Brothers, with McGwire dealt to the Cards mid-season but sporting a formidable card nonetheless.  However, it wasn’t enough to keep the A’s from losing 97 games, mainly because of a laughably bad starting rotation with swingman Mike Oquist (4-6, 5.02) actually looking better than all other options.   The 1999 Angels were from a few years later, and they lost 92 games but had at least one okay starting pitcher:  Chuck Finley (12-11, 4.43), a guy with eight previous starts in this tournament, going 4-4 in those opportunities.  However, Finley falls apart in the top of the 2nd, allowing 3 hits and 4 walks and the A’s put up a 4-0 early lead.  The A’s do lose SS Rafael Bournigal to injury in the 4th, and in the 6th RF Matt Stairs goes down for 7 games and the A’s are looking for potential replacements in the stands in case they run out of players.  The Angels get two singles to start off the bottom of the 8th and the A’s eye their bullpen, but there is only one non-terrible option there and Oakland figures they will likely be needed in later rounds, so they give the ball back to Oquist and he responds by striking out the side to end the threat.  He then sets Anaheim down in order in the 9th and completes the 7-hit shutout to propel the A’s to the semifinals; Finley has another hard luck outing as he allows only four hits, but they were bunched with several walks and his tournament record drops under .500.

The survivors

This semifinal paired the top-seeded 2021 Rays against the #4 seed 2008 Tigers, who had a pretty decent ELO ranking for a last place team.  Furthermore, Detroit had Justin Verlander (11-17, 4.84) who, while not having the kind of year he’d have later in his career, still looked better than the Rays’ Ryan Yarbrough (9-7, 5.11).  But it’s the Rays who get first strike in the 2nd, as an error by Tigers C-3 Brandon Inge sets up a squib RBI single by Kevin Kiermaier to make it 1-0, and Choi is Ji-Man for the Rays leading off the 3rd with a homer to extend the lead.  However, Verlander seems to regain his composure and when Yarbrough allows runners on 1st and 3rd in the 6th with one away, the Rays decide to take advantage of their deep pen and summon Tyler Glasnow, who whiffs Gary Sheffield and Inge to eradicate the threat.  In the bottom of the inning, the Rays get back to back doubles from Mike Zunino and Nelson Cruz, both off Verlander’s card, and Wander Franco then singles in Cruz and the Tigers are regretting having burned their only decent reliever in round one.  Although Verlander again recovers, the Rays bring in Drew Rasmussen for the final two innings and he completes the 4-hit shutout as the Rays use only a small part of their dominating relief corps in wrapping up the 4-0 win and the trip to the regional final.

The Zoom game of the week was the semifinal matching the 2000 Red Sox, managed by StratFan Rick, and the 1997 A’s, reluctantly guided by nacster who had reservations about their beyond terrible pitching staff, to say nothing about injuries benching two of their regulars.  Although Boston’s Rolando Arrojo (10-11, 5.63) was not one to instill confidence in Red Sox fans, he still looked better than the A’s Dave Telghelder (4-6, 6.06), with both having serious issues with the gopher ball.  Things start out quietly enough, but the Red Sox start finding Telghelder’s numerous weaknesses in the 3rd, with Dante Bichette and Nomar Garciaparra driving in runs to stake Boston to a 2-0 lead.    In the 4th Troy O’Leary and the underpowered Manny Alexander deliver solo shots to extend the margin, and nac pulls the plug on Telghelder in the 5th after he allows his requisite fifth run, but the bullpen is not the answer and the hits keep coming.  Alexander, who had four homers during the entire 2000 season, hits his second solo shot of the game in the 7th, but the A’s finally strike back in the bottom of the inning with a solo shot by McGwire that actually comes off the card of Arrojo, but Jose Canseco then suffers a tournament-ending injury to become the third Oakland player to head to the infirmary.  When Big Mac takes Arrojo downtown a second time in the bottom of the 9th, the Red Sox opt to summon closer Derek Lowe, who wraps up the comfortable 8-3 victory to send the Red Sox into the finals.

The regional final matched the top seed in the 2021 Rays against the #2 seeded 2000 Red Sox, just as the ELO rankings had predicted.   For the top two teams in the group, neither had a #3 starter that merited much enthusiasm, as the Rays Josh Fleming (10-8, 5.09) and Boston’s Jeff Fassero (8-8, 4.78) were both hoping to survive long enough the reach more capable bullpens.  The Rays lose Ji-Man Choi, who had been a major force in first two rounds, to injury in the top of the 1st, but in the 3rd the Rays get RBI singles from Arozarena and injury replacement Yandy Diaz, and then Brandon Lowe brings both of them home with a three-run blast that sends Fassero to the showers after only 1+ innings pitched.  Rich Garces ends the inning, but Tampa has a commanding 5-0 lead until the bottom of the inning, when the Red Sox show why they’re in the final by rapping five hits, with Troy O’Leary and Manny Alexander driving in runs before Dante Bichette rips a two out, two run single with the bases loaded to make it a one-run game.  The Rays respond with another run in the 3rd on a two-out RBI single by Manuel Margot, but when Nomar leads off the bottom of the inning with a homer, the Rays yank Fleming for Ryan Thompson who retires the side without incident.  So it’s now up to the bullpens as neither starter could go beyond two innings, and the Rays find a couple of hits on Garces in the 4th and score on a Nelson Cruz RBI single and a run-scoring error by Red Sox injury replacement 1B-4 Alcantara.  However, in the bottom of the 5th Carl Everett leads off with a homer and after a Nomar walk, Alcantara atones with a 2–run homer and the game is knotted at eight apiece.  In the top of the 7th, a dropped grounder by 3B-3 Manny Alexander allows a Rays run to score, and Boston reliever Rod Beck ends the inning by getting injured for the rest of the tournament.  So Red Sox closer Derek Lowe comes in for the 8th, and he’s shelled for four hits by the relentless Tampa offense and the Rays add three runs to their lead.  Then, in the 9th Mike Zunino and Nelson Cruz lead off the inning with back to back homers; two hits later, .206 hitting defensive replacement Brett Phillips raps a 3-run shot and Lowe exits after allowing 9 hits and 8 runs in one inning pitched.  Rheal Cormier comes in and allows solo shots to Arozarena and Brandon Lowe, his second blast of the game, and Red Sox fans are streaming out to try to catch the next T home.  JP Feyereisen then sets Boston down quietly in the bottom of the 9th and the Rays take the regional with a crushing 19-8 win, completing a 3-game run in which they scored 34 runs.  This is the 3rd regional win for the relatively young franchise, joining 2010 and 2017; the dominating offense and stifling bullpen of this version suggests that despite their suspect starting pitching, they may continue to be a threat in later rounds.  

Interesting card of Regional #186: My first National League Strat cards that I acquired as a kid was the 1968 season, and of course Bob Gibson’s card is forever etched in my memory as the pinnacle of pitching accomplishment.  However, I have to say that this performance, which barely was victorious in the first round in this regional, rivals Gibby’s.  Although Gibson’s 1.12 ERA was a mark for the ages, he did it in a season where the league average was ERA 2.99.  On the other hand, Pedro’s 1.74 ERA in 2000 was put together at the height of the steroid era, with a league average of 4.91; that’s 35% of the league mean, even better than Gibson’s 37%, and his opponents’ on-base percentage (.213) was the lowest in 100 years.  I don’t usually include the back sides of the card in this feature because this tournament is all-Basic and I find the SADV versions in particular to be cluttered and not aesthetically pleasing; however, I’ll make an exception here (although you’ll have to turn your monitor sideways to read it) as this one is pretty nice-looking–especially against lefties.