REGIONAL #192:  After a number of brackets populated by some real clunkers, the draw for this regional looked quite competitive.   There was not just one, but two pennant winners, the Harvey Wallbanger Brew Crew and the newly arrived Diamond Gems 1933 Senators.  There were also two Astros teams that each would have some big names on them, an Indians team that would be dominant later in the decade, a Padres team from the immediate past season that I remembered as having been highly touted but ultimately falling short, and then a couple of wild card entries from the Rangers and Braves that I suspected were probably mediocre.  The obvious choice looked like a faceoff of the two pennant winners, but with the Brew Crew being a particular favorite of mine I figured that would probably jinx them, so I guessed that the ‘91 version of the Astros would get to the finals but fall to the ‘33 Senators, who were largely unfamiliar to me.  The ELO ranks went with the obvious, and indicated that those Senators were the favorite as one of the top 75 teams of all time.

First round action

The 1984 Braves looked a little better than I guessed they might, although they only went 80-82 with Dale Murphy dropping to 9th place in the MVP balloting after having won the award the previous two seasons in a row.  On the mound, they would go with Len Barker (7-8, 3.85) as Pascual Perez was having trouble finding the stadium.   On the other hand, the 1991 Indians didn’t look like a team that would win a pennant a few years down the road, as they managed to lose 105 games with an offense that consisted of Albert Belle, a porous defense, and a pitching staff fronted by Greg Swindell (9-16, 3.48), who probably deserved better.  The Braves stage a two out rally in the top of the 3rd, loading the bases for a 2-run single from Bob Horner, but the Indians even it up in the 4th on doubles from Carloses Baerga and Martinez, and a run scoring single by Felix Fermin.   However, things fall apart for Swindell in the 6th, as (assisted by bad defense) the Braves knock five singles that knock Swindell out for Steve Olin, who promptly yields an RBI single to Murphy although 1-14 Gerald Perry is nailed at the plate and the inning ends with the Braves leading 7-2.  Glenn Hubbard adds a sac fly in the 7th for his second RBI of the game, and in the bottom of the 9th he turns a game-ending double play as the Braves cruise to the semifinals with the 8-2 win.  

The 1982 Brewers were a longtime favorite of mine, winning 95 games and the AL pennant and losing a heartbreaking Game 7 to the Cardinals in the Series.  This was a fun team to watch and to play, with Robin Yount winning the MVP award and five other Brew Crewmembers receiving votes, and Pete Vuckovich (18-6, 3.34) capturing the Cy Young award.   Because my favorite teams tend to make rapid exits in this tournament, I had predicted they would lose to the 1991 Astros, who were worse than I anticipated having lost 97 games; they weren’t capable of generating any power in the Astrodome, although Pete Harnisch (12-9, 2.70) seemed to benefit from the park.  In the top of the 1st, Astros leadoff hitter Steve Finley rips a double past 3B-4 Paul Molitor, but Vuckovich strands him and Molitor atones in the bottom of the inning with a leadoff triple and he scores on a Cecil Cooper sac fly to make it 1-0 Brewers.  However, Vuckovich is torched for five straight hits to begin the 2nd and when the dust settles the Astros have put up four runs; then, three straight hits to start the 3rd and it’s obvious that Vuckovich has nothing, so he exits after allowing 9 hits in 2 innings and closer Rollie Fingers is called in desperation.  His first pitch results in a 2-base error by Molitor and the jinx pushes the Brewers to a 6-1 deficit.   More problems crop up in the 4th with a two-out error by 1B-1 Cooper followed by a converted TR 1-3 from Karl Rhodes and a Steve Finley RBI single and the Brewers fans can only look on in stunned silence.  Fingers is burnt after six, so veteran Don Sutton comes in and promptly allows a homer off his card to the first batter of the 7th, Luis Gonzalez, and Harnisch finishes out a 5-hitter as the Astros blow out the pennant winner in a 10-1 win, recording 18 hits off hapless Brewer pitching.

The 2022 Padres were the #3 seed in this group, winning 89 games and getting all the way to the NLCS as as wild card before getting knocked out; for runs they had Juan Soto and Manny Machado, and they had a solid pitching staff with Yu Darvish (16-8, 3.10) getting some Cy Young votes.  They faced the #4 seeded 1983 Astros, the second Astrodome team in this group that had limited power but a solid pitching staff with the wild but scary Nolan Ryan (14-9, 2.98) getting the nod for the round one start.  The Padres were only the second 2022 (most recent season at the time) team to play in the tournament, and in setting their lineup I did notice that they appeared to have heavier cardstock than had been typical recently, although still not quite as sturdy as their opponents that had been printed in 1984.  At any rate, in the top of the 1st a double by professional hitter Jose Cruz drives one in, but a highlight reel catch by professional fielder CF-1 Trent Grisham (split roll of 9, extra bases on all other fielders) prevents more runs from scoring.  Houston gets another run in the 2nd on a 2-out Jerry Mumphrey single, but in the 3rd a couple of Ryan walks set up a 2-out Brandon Drury RBI single that makes it a one run game.  In the 4th, Jurickson Profar adds a 2-run double and the Padres take the lead; Omar Moreno triples in the top of the 6th but Darvish strands him at third to keep San Diego in front.  When the Padres get runners on first and third with nobody out, the Von Ryan Express takes the next exit out, and Frank Dipino comes in to try to keep Houston in the game.  But Austin Nola doubles past LF-2 Cruz, and although Dipino prevents further damage the Padres lead by two.  The Astros cut it back to one in the 8th when Alan Ashby converts Darvish’s HR split for a solo shot, and the Padres elect to bring in Robert Suarez who has less of a problem with the longball; he gets into some trouble but is bailed out by a great play from 3B-1 Manny Machado.   Suarez is perfect in the 9th, and he saves the 4-3 win and a berth in the semifinals for the Padres.

The 1933 Senators had only recently arrived as a special “drop” of 1930s Diamond Gems (printed on the typical very thin cardstock, unlike the 2022 season), and it was a team about whom I know almost nothing, although I did have their Series opponents as part of the Old Timer series and I knew the ‘34 Nats had reached the finals of their group.  The ELO rankings had them in the top 75 teams of all time, but after setting the lineup I wasn’t so sure, although they did win 99 games and the AL.  However, they had little power as they played in cavernous Griffith Stadium, and their leading HR hitter, Joe Kuhel, only managed 11 HR.  Nonetheless, their lineup could hit for average and they had two 20 game winners with Earl Whitehill (2208, 3.33) getting the start.  Their opponents couldn’t be much more different, as the 91-loss 2003 Rangers had plenty of steroid-era power, with AL MVP Alex Rodriquez hitting as many homers as the entire Senators lineup, and Juan Gonzalez, Rafael Palmiero and Hank Blaylock adding plenty more.  However, there was only one eligible starter in the rotation, John Thompson (13-14, 4.85) with an ERA under five, and Washington player/manager Joe Cronin leads off the top of the 1st with a double against him and scores on a Heinie Manush single for a quick 1-0 lead.  However, the Rangers mount a 2-out rally in the bottom of the 3rd with three squib singles that load up the bases for Juan Gone, and he misses a split for the grand slam but clears the bases with the resulting double and the Rangers move ahead 3-1.  Meanwhile, Thomson throws five straight hitless innings, but the Nats lead off the 7th with a walk and a single and the Rangers waste no time in going to closer Francisco Cordero to head off a rally, who blows through three in a row including a strikeout of .410-average pinch hitter Cliff Bolton.  However, in the 8th Cronin again leads off an inning with a double and again Manush comes through with 2-out, missing a HR 1/TR split to drive in Cronin, but Goose Goslin leaves the tying run stranded at third.  The Rangers get a tough break in the bottom of the 8th as 2B-1 Michael Young has to leave the game with an injury, but they still cling to a one-run lead entering the 9th and they bring in reliever Ron Mahay in an effort to preserve Cordero for future use.  He whiffs Dave Harris, but then consecutive singles by Fred Schulte and Bolton put the tying run 90 feet away with one out.  Although conflicted with the slow Bolton on 1st, the Rangers bring the infield in for Ozzie Bluege, who pops out and it’s now up to Cronin, who’s already got two doubles on the day.  Cronin connects, it’s a deep fly to RF-3 Juan Gone, and the lead is Gone as Juan muffs it for a 2-base error.  Bolton is now the go-ahead run on 3rd, and Buddy Myer strokes a single that scores both him and the fleet Cronin; Joe Kuhel follows with a double and Myer races in and the ballpark at Arlington now more resembles the Arlington National Cemetery.   Whitehill sets the Rangers down quietly in the bottom of the 9th and the bracket favorites move on with a come-from-behind 6-3 win, recording half of their 10 hits in the 9th inning.  

The survivors

After crushing a pennant winner in round one, the 1991 Astros were hoping for another upset in the semifinal against the somewhat less formidable 1984 Braves.   With Pascual Perez still trying to find the stadium, the start for the Braves would go to Rick Mahler (13-10, 3.12), while the Astros tapped Darryl Kile (7-11, 3.69), with both pens at full strength.  The Braves go up 1-0 in the top of the 1st with a Claudell Washington double setting up a 2-out RBI single from Bob Horner, with all of the action coming off Kile’s 4 column.  Washington gets another double in the 3rd, this time off his own card, to drive in a run, and then a walk to Dale Murphy brings up Horner with the bases loaded; he misses a HR split for a grand slam but clears the bases with the resulting double and that’s it for Kile, out after only two innings pitched.  The Astros look for a long reliever and select 24 year old prospect Curt Schilling, who allows another four hits while also recording three strikeouts, but it’s now 8-0 Braves.  However, these Astros had put up double digits on a pennant winner and they weren’t done yet; they get RBI singles from Ken Caminiti and Jose Tolentino in the 4th and ultimately load the bases for Steve Finley, who misses a HR split for the grand slam but instead records a triple to knock in another three and the Braves lead is cut to 8-5 after four.  Al Osuna takes over for Schilling in the 6th, and holds off Atlanta while the Astros get a leadoff single and a walk to begin the bottom of the inning, and with the tying run now at the plate the Braves make a move to the pen for Gene Garber.  But his first pitch is hit deep to CF-1 Murphy, who inexplicably muffs it for a 2-base error and the tying run is now on second with nobody out.  The .213 hitting Karl Rhodes is at the plate, and the Astros check their bench for a pinch hitter and discover that they actually have nine guys on the bench with lower batting averages than Rhodes, so they let him swing away and it’s a HR 1-11/DO result on Garber.  He misses the split, but the game is tied, there is still nobody out, and the top of the order is up.  Garber then yields a single to Finley and walks Biggio to bring up Jeff Bagwell with the bases jammed, and it’s another 4-10 on Garber, HR 1-11 and for the third time in the game, the split is missed for the grand slam but three runs score on the double.  That’s all the Braves can take of Garber, who fails to record an out while allowing two inherited runners and four of his own to score, and Steve Bedrosian comes in to try his hand.  Bedrock issues a walk but then strikes out the side, and after six it’s now Houston 11, Atlanta 8.   The Astros aren’t done yet, as two two-out walks in the 7th lead to a 2-run double from Bagwell to add to his RBI count, and armed with the now five run lead the Astros preserve Osuna and leave the game to Jim Corsi.  He does the job, closing out a remarkable comeback from an eight run deficit as the Astros head to the finals with the 13-8 victory.  

The marquee game of the regional looked to be the semifinal between the #1 seed 1933 Senators and the #3 seed 2022 Padres, although both teams were fortunate to have escaped their first round game.  The Senators had the luxury of turning to their second 20-game winner, General Crowder (24-15, 3.97) while San Diego went with Joe Musgrove (10-7, 2.93) for a solid pitching matchup.  And a duel does develop, with the game staying a scoreless tie until the bottom of the 6th, when the Nats begin the inning with three straight singles from the top of the order that bring in one, and then a Heinie Manush sac fly brings in another and a hard single from Goose Goslin signals the end of the line for Musgrove, with Robert Suarez coming in to try to replicate his artistry from the first round.  He prevents further damage but it’s now 2-0 Senators after six.  Suarez is done for the regional by the 8th, and Nabil Crismatt comes in to yield an RBI double to Manush followed by a pinch hit triple from supersub Cliff Bolton, and he scores on a Goose Goslin sac fly and the Washington lead is now five.  That’s more than Crowder needs, as he finishes up a three-hit shutout and the Senators win 5-0 and head to the finals as big favorites.  

It looked like a lopsided final with the #1 seeded 1933 Senators pennant winners matched against the #7 seed, 97-loss 1991 Astros, but it was the Astros who had been blowing out the opposition in the first two rounds, having already demolished one pennant winner and averaging eleven-plus runs per game to reach the finals.  However, Houston was now heading into the depths of their rotation and Mark Portugal (10-12, 4.49) would get the start against the Nats’ Lefty Stewart (15-6, 3.82), with both pitchers among the worst on their teams in keeping the ball within their homer-unfriendly parks.  In the top of the 2nd, Eric Yelding hits a liner that RF-4 Goose Goslin chases into the corner for an RBI triple, but in the bottom of the inning Goslin singles and then Fred Schulte laces a hit to center that CF-2 Steve Finley misplays, and the Senators have runners on 2nd and 3rd with one out.  The Astros opt to bring the infield in to cut off a game-tying grounder, but Luke Sewell nails the gbA++ and both runners score on the resulting single.  A flustered Portugal then grooves one to Joe Cronin, who drives it into the gap for a double that scores Sewell and the Astros are now down 3-1.   The Senators then load the bases with two out in the 5th for Goslin, who misses a SI 1-18 split and the Astros, who came back from an 8-0 deficit in the previous game, sense their chance but Stewart continues to frustrate their offense.  In the bottom of the 7th the top of Washington’s order begins the inning with a single and a walk, and Portugal is beached for Al Osuna, the winning pitcher from their semifinal game.  However, a walk to Joe Kuhel loads the bases; Osuno retires Manush to face supersub Cliff Bolton, who rips a grounder past 2b-3 Casey Candaele for an RBI single, and Goslin drives in another on a fielder’s choice and the Senators hold a four run lead entering the 8th.  In the top of the 8th Craig Biggio finds and converts Stewart’s HR split for a two out solo shot that narrows the gap, but Stewart sets the Astros down in order in the 9th and the Senators live up to their lofty ELO rating by capturing the regional with the 5-2 win–the first “Diamond Gem”-only release by Strat to have done so.  

Interesting card(s) of Regional #192:  This features a tale of two shortstops–it was the best of times as both of these shortstops won the AL MVP with these cards, but it was the worst of times as neither did much of anything in this tournament and as a result both of their teams were eliminated immediately in the first round.  Nonetheless, in a league drafting from every Strat card ever printed, I’m guessing that both of these guys would go fairly early.  Yount won the MVP award, leading his team to the pennant and becoming the first shortstop in American League history to lead the league in slugging percentage and total bases.  ARod was the next SS to lead the AL in SLG%, which he did as he won his first MVP award in 2003 while also leading the league in homers for the third straight year–on a Rangers team that had losing records all three years.  However, several years later a Sports Illustrated story revealed that Rodriquez had tested positive for a banned anabolic steroid during the 2003 season; the steroid use apparently continued and he was eventually suspended for the entire 2014 season.  Yount was elected to the Hall of Fame in his first year of eligibility in 1999; Rodriguez has appeared on the ballot for two votes, each time totalling about 35%.  Like his contemporaries from the steroid era, it remains to be seen whether he will ever garner the required votes; for what it’s worth, the JAWS metric for evaluating HOF candidates measures ARod as the second greatest shortstop of all time, after Honus Wagner.