REGIONAL #199:   This draw included a variety of what appeared to me as rather nondescript teams.  The one that attracted my attention most was a Cardinals team that had won the NL the prior season and would do so again the following season, so I was pretty certain that they were a quality squad.  There was a Rangers team that came a few seasons after their brief burst of pennants in early 2010s; aside from that, I was probably most familiar with an Astros squad that was in serious decline after their 2005 pennant and a Yankees team from the 80s from a few years after I had managed them to mediocrity in a straight replay league.  I didn’t think any of the entries would be terrible and that any one of them could win, but I thought the Cards could handle this batch and defeat the Yanks in the finals.   For the first time in a while, the ELO rankings agreed with me, although they suggested that the Yanks might be even stronger than I remembered.

First round action

The #3 seed 2015 Rangers had won a pennant four seasons earlier while the #7 seeded 2010 Astros had done so five seasons previously, but the ELO seedings indicated that the Rangers had aged more gracefully.  Indeed, the Rangers won the AL West with 88 wins but were knocked out in the ALDS, probably because their solid offense couldn’t compensate for a thin rotation topped by Yovani Gallardo (13-11, 3.42).  However, the postseason was a distant memory for their opponents in this Lone Star Showdown, as the 86-loss Astros had little besides Hunter Pence’s long socks and Brett Myers (14-8, 3.14) who received Cy Young votes for having a winning record with this group.  However, I should mention that I saw this Astros team live several times for Wednesday day games, and they had an uncanny knack of winning nearly all of them.  Thus, I wasn’t surprised when they jump out to a 2-0 lead in the 3rd on a squib RBI single from Chris Johnson that followed a double from Jeff Keppinger that scored one and should have scored two except 1-17 Michael Bourn was cut down at the plate.   The Rangers get a run on their first hit of the game in the 6th, an RBI single from Rougned Odor that makes it a one-run game, and when Astros replacement SS Angel Sanchez singles to lead off the 7th the Rangers try to stay in the game with Sam Dyson and his 1.15 ERA out of the pen.  But he allows a single to AA Michael Bourn with Sanchez taking the extra base to third, clearing the way for Bourn to steal second successfully.  Dyson gets one out but then Johnson pokes an RBI single, followed by a double from Jason Michaels off Dyson’s card that scores another; with runners on 2nd and 3rd Dyson takes out Lance Berkman for the third out but the Astros lead 4-1.  In the bottom of the 8th the Rangers get a single from Delino Deshields followed by a double from Shin-Soo Choo, and the Astros eye their pen but opt to stick with their ace, and Mitch Moreland squibs a single that scores a run and puts the tying run aboard.  Odor’s sac fly makes it a one-run game, and a base hit by Prince Fielder convinces Houston that they have a problem, so Brandon Lyon comes out of the pen to induce a grounder from Adrian Beltre that 1B-3 Berkman makes a nice play on to retire the side.  Lyon then sets the Rangers down 1-2-3 in the bottom of the 9th and the Astros hold on for the 4-3 win and move on.  

Both I and the ELO rankings selected the 2012 Cardinals as the bracket favorites, as they’d won the pennant the season before and would win it again the season after, and they almost won it this season coming out of a wild card spot to take the NLCS to seven games.  With Yadier Molina 4th in the MVP ballots and three other Cardinal position players receiving votes, they had a solid offense and rotation, and Kyle Lohse (16-3, 2.86) got some Cy Young support as well.  They were thus favored over a mediocre 79-83 1963 Indians team that had a rather punchless lineup but solid rotation, with Pedro Ramos (9-8, 3.11) getting the round one start.  However, Ramos has some gopher ball issues, and Jon Jay demonstrates that leading off the bottom of the 1st with a pitcher’s card HR for a quick 1-0 Cards lead.  Jay hits into a run-scoring DP in the 4th to add to the lead, and a Matt Carpenter sac fly in the 6th makes it 3-0 Cards.  Meanwhile, the Indians are stymied by Lohse, who holds them hitless for the final five innings and finishes with the three-hit shutout as the Cards manage a 3-0 win while only collecting five hits themselves.

This was the least-anticipated of the regional’s first round games, a matchup of the 5th seeded 2011 Nationals and the bottom seed, the 1993 Padres.   The Nationals were at least mediocre, with an 80-81 record, a decent defense, Mike Morse getting a few MVP votes, and Jordan Zimmerman (8-11, 3.18) pitching better than his record might indicate.  The 1993 Padres were just bad, losing 101 games and that includes those played before they dumped two of their best hitters (Fred McGriff and Gary Sheffield) and their best starter (Greg Harris) midseason, and as was tradition for Strat those players were carded only with the team they ended the season with–meaning that it would be Tony Gwynn and the eight dwarves, with Andy Benes (15-15, 3.78) by far the best remaining in the rotation.  The Nats waste no time, climbing out to a lead in the top of the 1st on a Laynce Nix 3-run homer, but both pitchers then settle down.  In the bottom of the 6th the Padres put together a rally, and a Jeff Gardner double drives in a run and puts runners on 2nd and 3rd with one out and Gwynn at the plate; Washington decides to stick with Zimmerman and Gwynn drives it into the gap for a game-tying double.  Converted pitcher CF-2 Rick Ankiel then can’t reach a Phil Clark liner and Gwynn scores for a Padre lead, although Zimmerman finally does whiff supersub PH Dave Staton to end the inning.  When Archi Cianfrocco misses a HR split and doubles in the 7th, the Nationals move to closer Drew Storen to try to stay in the game; he ends the threat with no damage, and Jayson Werth makes him the pitcher of record in the top of the 8th with a 2-run homer for a Nats lead.  But Gwynn and Clark both single in the bottom of the 8th, and a Staton sac fly ties the game entering the 9th.  Both pitchers blow through the 9th, with five of six outs coming on strikeouts, and the game heads to extra innings.  Benes retires the side in the top of the 10th for his final inning of eligibility, and after Storen walks Gardner the Nats move to Tyler Clippard, who is hard to hit but longball-prone, and sure enough the first roll for Phil Plantier is a 4-5, solid HR on Clippard and the Padres record a 7-5 walkoff upset that I should have known was coming.

The 1984 Yankees went 87-75, but the ELO rating had them as the second best team in the majors that season, with Don Mattingly and Dave Winfield finishing in the top eight of the MVP voting and Phil Niekro (16-8, 3.09) having a remarkable season for a 45 year old–in fact, I saw him toss a shutout in person that year, taking my father-in-law (who would pass away that fall) to his first Yankees game.   However, they had their work cut out for them in facing the #4 seed 1991 Rangers, who had a similar 85-77 record and who had a killer card from Nolan Ryan (12-6, 2.91) in front of a lineup that for the most part could hit but couldn’t field.  In the bottom of the second, an error by Rangers 2B-4 Julio Franco and two Ryan walks set up a run-scoring grounder by Omar Moreno; Willie Randolph then knocks a 2-out single with runners on 2nd and 3rd, but only one scores as 1-14+2 Toby Harrah is cut down at the plate.   In the 5th, it’s Niekro whose defense lets him down as a double past LF-4 Don Baylor followed by a Rafael Palmiero single past SS-3 Bobby Meacham makes it a one-run game, but the Yankees get the run back on an RBI double from Mattingly in the bottom of the inning.  When the Rangers get a leadoff single and a walk to begin the 8th, the Yanks decide it’s time for Dave Righetti, and he proceeds to retire six straight Rangers to earn the save and propel the Yankees to the semifinals with the tightly pitched 3-1 win, with Ryan striking out nine in the loss.

The survivors

The #7 seed 2010 Astros pulled off an upset in round one, and they pinned their semifinal hopes on Wandy Rodriguez (11-12, 3.60) against the top seeded 2012 Cardinals and Adam Wainwright (14-13, 3.94).   Michael Bourn leads off the game with a triple, and scores on a 2-out single from Hunter Pence to illustrate the Bourn Identity.  However, three straight singles to start off the bottom of the 3rd, followed by an Allen Craig sac fly, and the Cards take a 2-1 lead.  That doesn’t last long, as in the top of the 4th Humberto Quintero finds and converts Wainwright’s HR split for a two run homer and both teams seem locked in on the other pitcher’s weaknesses.  In the bottom of the inning, Houston displays another of their weaknesses as 3B-5 Chris Johnson muffs a grounder that sets up a game-tying sac fly from Rafael Furcal.  When the Cards begin the 6th with a single and a Carlos Beltran double that puts runners on 2nd and 3rd, the Astros bring in the infield and Nelson Figueroa from the pen, and although he fans David Freece, PH Pete Kozma nails Figueroa’s HR split for a 3-run shot.  A leadoff double by Matt Holliday in the 8th and Figueroa is pulled for closer Brandon Lyon, and he prevents any damage so the Cards stay three runs up to begin the 9th.  Wainwright gets two straight outs after having not allowed any hits in the previous four innings, but then he’s touched for a pair of two-out singles to bring up Bourn and the top of the order as the tying run at the plate, but there is no Bourn Supremacy as Wainwright strikes him out to send the Cards to the finals with the 6-3 victory.

The 1993 Padres were ranked as the worst team in the regional, but they squeaked by in the first round with an extra-inning win, and now they faced the #2 seeded 1984 Yankees with swingman Wally Whitehurst (4-7, 3.83), while the Yanks were going with Ray Fontenot (8-9, 3.61), whose card included quite a few hits, but all of them were singles.  The Yankees strike first when Omar Moreno leads off the bottom of the 3rd with a double, and races home on a single from Willie Randolph, and after a single from Don Mattingly Randolph scores when Padres 2B-4 Jeff Gardner can’t complete the DP on a Winfield grounder.  Archi Cianfrocco wraps one around the foul pole in the top of the 6th for a solo shot that makes it a one-run game, but Whitehurst walks the first two Yankee batters in the bottom of the inning so San Diego turns to reliever Pedro A. Martinez, not to be confused with Pedro The Martinez.  Martinez does issue a walk to load the bases, but gets out of it unscathed, and then Fontenot walks the first two Padre batters in the bottom of the inning, but here it’s Tony Gwynn smacking his third hit of the game, an RBI single that ties it up, and then a passed ball by C-2 Butch Wynegar and the Padres take the lead for the first time in the game.  In the bottom of the 8th the Padres go all in with replacements to shore up their terrible defense, managing to get four 4’s off the field, and they retire the Yanks quietly.  In the top of the 9th the Padres get two straight singles, including one by .116-hitting defensive replacement Luis Lopez who has no hits on his card, and it’s Righetti time and he keeps it a one-run deficit for the Yankees heading into the bottom of the 9th, with the top of the order up.  The Padres are sticking with the effective Martinez through his last inning of eligibility, and although Randolph leads off with a double, Martinez mows the rest down and the upstart Padres head to the finals with a 3-2 win.  

This final was a matchup of the top and bottom-seeded teams in the regional, and that had only happened twice before in this tournament (regionals 126 and 132):  remarkably, both times the #8 seed had emerged victorious.  Still, the favored 2012 Cardinals were not terribly worried, with Lance Lynn (18-7, 3.78) as a strong #3 starter and being at full health with a completely rested bullpen.  Meanwhile, the 101-loss 1993 Padres were down to Doug Brocail (4-13, 4.56) and their best reliever was burnt, but this team had come from behind twice already in earlier rounds and was ready for adversity.  The Padres escape the top of the 2nd unscathed when 1-12 Matt Holliday is nailed trying to score on a Carlos Beltran double, but another Matt, Carpenter, leads off the 4th with a homer and then Holliday crushes a solo shot later in the inning which is back-to-backed by Beltran for a 3-0 St. Louis lead.  As usual, the Padres wake up when they’re behind, and Tony Gwynn doubles and ultimately scores on a passed ball by C-1 Yadier Molina; Tim Teufel then misses a HR 1-17/TR but then scores on an error by 3B-4 David Freese and it’s a one-run game.  When Phil Plantier opens the bottom of the 6th with a double off Lynn’s card, St. Louis shows its respect for the Padres’ persistence and goes to the pen for the first time this tournament, bringing in Mitchell Boggs.  He gets two outs, one an injury to Padre supersub Dave Staton, but then Derek Bell swats a two-out single that scores Plantier and the Pads have once again come from behind to tie the game heading into the 7th.  That tie is short-lived, as Freese leads off the 7th by hitting Brocail’s solid HR result for the fourth solo homer of the game for the Cards, so the Padres call upon Trevor Hoffman to keep things close, but PH Pete Kozma doubles and scores on an error by 1B-4 Phil Clark to put St. Louis up by two.  The Cards move to their own relieving Trevor, Rosenthal, to begin the 8th, and he closes things out as St. Louis staves off the pesky Padres for the 5-3 victory and the 11th regional win for the franchise.  This was a team that missed the pennant by one game, Game 7 of the NLCS, that would have made three straight league titles for the Cards; however, they showed in this regional that they could win with their future on the line with strong starting pitching and a balanced offense.

Interesting card of Regional #199:  When I ordered the 2012 season, I apparently sprung for the “bonus” player set (is it really a bonus if we have to pay for it?) that included the individual pitcher hitting cards–I’m not sure why, as I’d rather watch a rain delay than watch pitchers bat.  As I was setting the lineup for the 2012 Cards, I gathered up those pitcher hitting cards to set them aside (since my tournament is all DH) and chuckled at Lance Lynn’s ineptitude; out of curiosity, I flipped it over to see if he at least got beaned or something, and–I see a rather obvious problem.  Intrigued, I then shuffled through the rest of the St. Louis pitcher hitting cards, and they all seemed to have the same problem.  A quick check of a couple of other 2012 NL teams suggested that not all of the pitcher’s hitting cards seemed to be affected, so by now I was really puzzled.  So, I dug around the game company announcement archive (a challenge on their clunky website) and didn't see any postings about card errors for the 2012 season, and a Google search didn’t reveal any mention either.  I’m guessing the problem is as apparent to everyone else as it is to me, and I’m wondering–has this really never been noticed before?