REGIONAL #193:  On this draw I was beginning to wonder about the randomness of my homemade team selector program, as it seemed to be stuck in the American League of the 1980s.  None of these entries looked like world-beaters; there were two representatives from the Angels, suggesting that Chuck Finley might get yet another outing in the tournament, and there were also two White Sox teams that apparently decided that it was safe to come out of storage with a mediocre Sox team having beat the tournament jinx to win the bracket before last.  Even though I felt that both Sox teams were probably “okay” and perfectly capable of hanging with any other squad here, I doubted that the jinx was over and so I decided to pick an Angelic final with the ‘96 Halos besting the ‘85 version.    The ELO rankings indicated that those ‘85 Angels were the only decent team amidst a pile of mediocrities, suggesting that they should have no problem with the Indians in the finals.  

First round action

The 1989 White Sox had various pieces of teams that had been good six years previously and would be good six years later, but this version lost 92 games with a punchless lineup led by Ivan Calderon’s 14 homers, and Eric King (9-10, 3.39) heading a rotation that got steadily worse after him.  For all their limitations, there were still three teams with worse ELO rankings than them, with the worst of them being their first round opponents, the 2021 Royals.  Why they were ranked worse wasn’t really clear to me, as they lost only 88 games and were all-”1”s up the middle with 48 homers from catcher Salvador Perez, although their rotation was largely terrible with Kris Bubic (6-7, 4.43) being the best option.  Sure enough, Perez puts one in the fountains in the bottom of the 1st and the Royals quickly lead 2-0.  A bases loaded single by Nicky Lopez in the 4th and a sac fly from Jorge Soler and KC’s lead extends to 5-0, and a leadoff KC hit in the 6th chases King for Bobby Thigpen, who retires the side without incident.  However, Andrew Benintendi finds Thigpen’s solid HR result to lead off the 7th, and Hunter Dozier adds an RBI double in the 8th for extra insurance.  The Sox don’t put two hits together in an inning until the 9th, but even that isn’t enough to break the ice as Bubic closes out a 4-hit shutout and the Royals cruise to the semifinals with a 6-0 win.  

The 1996 Angels lost 91 games but they didn’t look that bad, having a strong outfield of Garrett Anderson, Jim Edmonds and Tim Salmon, and fairly decent fielding.  However, their rotation was dreadful after Chuck Finley (15-16, 4.16), who would be getting his 11th start in this tournament having gone 5-5 in those previous outings.   According to the ELO ranks the Angels were pretty evenly matched against the 1989 Indians, who lost 89 games in a different way, with little offense other than Joe Carter but sporting a solid rotation fronted by Tom Candiotti (13-10, 3.10).  The Indians get on the board first when a walk and an error by Angels 2B-3 Randy Velarde sets up an RBI double from Carter, and things get worse for the Angels in the 6th when DH Chili Davis is knocked out with an injury.  Cory Snyder adds a solo homer off Finley’s card to the Indians’ lead in the bottom of the 6th, and Candiotti’s knuckler has the Angels baffled until the 9th, when replacement DH Rex Hudler leads off with a triple and then scores on an Edmonds single that puts the tying run aboard.  Candiotti retires Salmon, but then Garret Anderson knocks a double that puts the tying and go-ahead runs into scoring position, and the Indians bring in both the infield and Jesse Orosoco trying to preserve the win.  Orosco whiffs JT Snow for a big second out, and then the dangerous Jack Howell pinch hits with the game on the line.  The roll is in Howell’s prime one column, but it’s a 1-12, and that’s another strikeout as Orosco saves the game in epic fashion to send the Indians on to the semifinals as they take the 2-1 squeaker.  As has happened several times in this project, Finley pitches well for the Angels, tossing a four-hitter, but he gets little run support as he records his sixth tournament loss.  

With a slightly more recent version of the team already eliminated in this bracket, the 1986 White Sox weren’t optimistic about their chances, with this batch having lost 90 games to get Tony Larussa fired midseason in his first stint as Sox manager.  With Harold Baines as their top offensive weapon and swingman Neil Allen (7-2, 3.82) getting the start, they were underdogs to the regional favorite 1985 Angels, who had won 90 games but who had also seen another version eliminated in the prior game.  However, this version had a couple of Hall of Famers in Reggie! and Rod Carew, and Mike Witt (15-9, 3.56) was entering his prime which collectively earned this team the only spot in the top 1000 teams in this regional.  The Angels waste no time getting a run in the bottom of the 1st when leadoff hitter Gary Pettis walks, steals, and scores on a Brian Downing single.  In the 6th, Downing walks and then with two out Reggie gets only the second hit of the game for the Angels, missing a HR 1-17 split but scoring Downing on the resulting double to provide some insurance for Witt.  Ron Hassey hits a solo HR for the Sox in the 7th, their first run in 16 innings in this regional, but Dick Schofield converts a HR 1-8 located at 2-11 on his card for a two run shot that gets that run back and more.   Witt coasts for the rest of the game to finish out a 5-hitter and setting the Sox quietly down in the 9th, including a pinch hitter who is actually still getting paid as of this writing.  Thus, the Angels move to the semifinals with the 4-1 win and more 80s Sox teams join their 1983 brethren in storage following first round failures.

For the Zoom game of the week, it was Seattle-area resident StratFan Rick manning the helm of the 1986 Mariners, who lost 95 games to end up as the #7 seed in this batch, but with the solid Matt Young (8-6, 3.82) getting the start even though he was essentially the team’s closer.  Having no dog in this fight, I managed the #2 seeded 83-79 1990 Rangers, who had one of the better rotations in their history, and I figured you couldn’t go wrong with Hall of Famer Nolan Ryan (13-9, 3.44) on the mound.  And as has been typical of the entire tournament, I was sadly mistaken, as two walks and a Jim Presley homer off Ryan’s card puts the Mariners up 3-0 in the top of the 1st.  Ryan then seems to find his stuff, at least until the 5th, when Phil Bradley also finds and converts Ryan’s homer result for a 2-run shot, and then Presley has left the building once again later in the inning for another two run blast and it’s time to derail the Von Ryan Express after 4+ innings in which he only allows three hits–all of them crooked number homers.  The Rangers try Brad Arnsberg in relief, but Rick claims to know Arnsberg’s uncle and it shows, as in Brad’s two-thirds of an inning he allows two hits on his card, both doubles off missed HR splits.  Sensing that wasn’t the solution, I opt for Scott Chiamparino who doesn’t have a home run result on his card.  No luck there, either, as he did have two double results on his card and they kept getting Rickrolled, and the crooked numbers kept going and going.  In the 7th, Gary Pettis manages a sac fly to make Texas the Lone Run Team, but by the time the game mercifully ends the scoreboard reads Mariners 17, Rangers 1.  Seattle gets 15 hits, nine of which were doubles, and never mind about Elvis as Presley does his best Babe impersonation with two homers and 6 RBI in the slaughter.

The survivors

The first semifinal paired an 88-loss 2021 Royals team against an 89-loss 1989 Indians team; the Indians had the better rotation and Greg Swindell (13-6, 3.37) was a far better option than KC’s Mike Minor (8-12, 5.05), who was hoping to keep the ball in the park so that the Royals defense that had been outstanding in the first round could take care of business.  The Royals put together a 2-out rally in the 2nd when Hunter Dozier singles past Cleveland 3b-3 Brook Jacoby and then Jorge Soler rolls a solid double on Swindell’s card and Dozier races home for a 1-0 KC lead.  In the 3rd, Royals LF Andrew Benintendi is lost for the regional with an injury, but they repeat their previous success as Salvadore Perez hits the same double on Swindell and this time it’s Nicky Lopez racing home from first to add to the lead.  The Indians get on the board when Dion James leads off the bottom of the 4th by finding Minor’s complete home run result, and they tie it in the 5th when a single by Jerry Browne scores Linda Ronstadt, er, Felix Fermin.  The Royals decide to go with Josh Staumont in the 7th, fearing Minor’s gopher ball issues, and he does his job so the game enters the 9th knotted at two apiece.  With one out in the top of the 9th, Whit Merrifield gets the first hit off Swindell since the 5th, and he promptly steals second, so the Indians move to the savior of game one, Jesse Orosco, who retires two straight once again and we move to the bottom of the 9th.  The Royals bring out closer Scott Barlow, who blows through the weak bottom of the Cleveland lineup and the game heads to extra innings.  The Indians don’t trust Orosco’s solid HR for extra frames, so they bring out Doug Jones, who escapes a Perez HR 1/flyB split to survive the 10th, and survives a Dozer HR 1-3/flyB split to end the 11th.  The teams trade goose eggs; in the 13th, both relievers are in their final inning of eligibility for the regional, and Jones survives his half but Barlow allows a leadoff double to James off the pitcher’s card in the bottom of the inning.  Barlow then whiffs Jacoby and Joe Carter grounds out to advance the winning run to 3rd, with Pete O’Brien at the plate.  Barlow delivers, 4-7, single on Barlow’s card and the crowd at old Municipal Stadium begin the demolition a few years early as the Indians head to the finals with the walk-off marathon 3-2 win.

The regional favorite 1985 Angels were somewhat nervous after watching their semifinal opponents, the 1986 Mariners, unleash one of the worst beatdowns in tournament history in their first round game.  However, the M’s did most of that damage off the pitcher’s card and they would no longer have the benefit of Rickrolling, which unerringly found the bad results on the opposing pitcher.  Both starting pitchers would offer a number of bad results to their opposition, as neither Angel Ron Romanick (14-9, 4.11) nor the M’s Mark Langston (12-14, 4.85) inspired much confidence.   The Angels take the lead in the top of the 2nd when Bobby Grich converts a TR 1-2 and scores on a Bob Boone single, and then Boone comes home on back-to-back errors by the Seattle battery of Langston and C-4 Scott Bradley.   The Mariners get one of those back in the bottom of the 3rd courtesy of doubles by Rey Quinones and Alvin Davis, but the Angels respond immediately by loading the bases in the top of the 4th and getting two more on a walk and a Gary Pettis squib single.  Jim Presley leads off the bottom of the inning with his third homer of the regional, and then Phil Bradley ties the game with a 2-out, 2-run double and John Moses then singles him in to give the Mariners their first lead.  Romanick then issues two straight walks to load the bases for Presley, getting his second AB of the inning, and he hits a deep fly to right but Reggie Jackson hauls it in to end the inning.  A Gary Pettis single in the 6th ties the game once again, and the Angels then decide to move to their bullpen for Pat Clements, who promptly walks the bases loaded but avoids any damage, including a roll that would have been a HR result on Romanick.  A leadoff walk to Brian Downing in the 7th has the Mariners looking in their bullpen, but with Matt Young getting the start in the first round it doesn’t look appetizing and they stick with Langston who rewards their trust by getting out of the inning.  However, when the Angels begin the 8th with yet another walk and a single past RF-4 Danny Tartabull, the Mariners bring in the infield and also reliever Mike Trujillo, and he gives up an RBI single to the pesky Pettis to push the Angels into the lead.  They then turn the game over to closer Donnie Moore, but as was unfortunately the case for Moore in real life, things didn’t go well.  A walk to Alvin Davis, who advances to 2nd on a grounder, and scores on a 2-out single from Presley ties the game; a distracted Moore then grooves one to Tartabull, who puts it into the far reaches of the Kingdome, and then supersub Dave Valle goes back to back and Moore is gone.  Trujillo then manages the 9th despite some sloppy fielding by Harold Reynolds, and the Mariners Magic persists as they come from behind twice to take the 9-6 win to head to the finals.

These finals prove that every dog can have its day in this tournament as the 89-loss 1989 Indians and the 95-loss 1986 Mariners attempt to win a regional, a feat that eluded many of the teams touted as the greatest of all time.  Of course, when bad teams get this far in a bracket, the starting pitching usually begins to smell funny, with the Mariners sending out Mike Moore (11-13, 4.30) while the Indians were hoping that John Farrell (9-14, 3.63) could go the distance because after their marathon semifinal win they didn’t have much left in the bullpen other than Ricky Vaughn.  However, the game turns into a pitching duel, with Moore getting out of jams and Farrell dominating the M’s offense.  In the 5th, Moore walks a couple and then Cleveland #9 hitter Andy Allenson delivers a clutch single that scores one, but 1-15 Brad Komminsk is nailed trying to get to third to prevent additional damage.  Harold Reynolds gets the first Mariners hit in the bottom of the 6th, a single that CF-2 Komminsk couldn’t reach, and then a single by Rey Quinones and a walk to Alvin Davis loads the bases but Farrell bears down and keeps the Mariners off the board.  He continues to do so until the bottom of the 9th, when Ken Phelps draws a leadoff walk and the persistent Jim Presley singles him to 3rd on a missed triple split.  The tying run is now 90 feet away with nobody out, and for the third consecutive game of the bracket the Indians summon Jesse Orosco to try to get them out of a jam.  The infield comes in, Orosco walks Tartabull to load them up, and up to the plate steps supersub Dave Valle.  But Orosco strikes out Valle for out number one, and strikes out Reynolds for out number two, so up comes #9 hitter Rey Quinones and his .218 average.  The Mariners bench now consists of five sub-.200 hitters and third-string catcher Bob Kearney, hitting .240, so Seattle tries him as a PH and the noise in the Kingdome is deafening.  Orosco gets the sign from Allenson, delivers–and Kearney strikes out swinging, so the Indians hang on for the 1-0 win and the regional title.  The regional MVP has to go to Orosco, who played a critical role in all of the Indians’ three victories, all of which were one-run games; he allowed no hits and no inherited runners to score in 2.3 innings pitched while earning two saves and striking out the side in the bottom of the 9th of the final.    

Interesting card of Regional #193:  Strat cards printed on black, red, or blue cardstock don’t really do much for me; just give me a low-AB wonder on die-cut stock with a classic hit pattern and I’ll be happy.  Still trying to become a full-time player at age 25, this season seemed to convince Mariners management to give Dave Valle a shot as a regular, and he reeled off a number of years that were decent, finishing in double digit homers three times but never quite living up to this card.  Even so, he did manage to lead the league in one category in 1993:  getting hit by pitch.  In this tournament, he did rack up a pinch hit homer in the semifinal game to help get his underdog Mariners to the regional final, but in the bottom of the 9th of that final with the tying run at third, mighty Valle did strike out, meaning the end of the line for him and his team in this project.