REGIONAL #206:  For this bracket, my team selector program seemed to want me to do these writeups in French, because it selected three different Montreal teams for inclusion.  However, although the quantity of Expos was impressive, I was skeptical of their quality, but I didn’t see stiff competition for them in this group.  There was a White Sox team that was probably mediocre as well as jinxed, and entries from the Angels, Royals and Braves that I guessed were also-rans.  I thought the Mets seemed like the team with the most potential here, as the version from one year later had an impressive regional win in #61 and they had won a pennant a few seasons prior, so I picked them over the ‘84 version of the Expos in the finals.  The ELO rankings indicated that my blind guesses were terrible, and that all three Expos teams were rated ahead of the Mets; those ratings also suggested that I overlooked a very good Angels team that was favored to win the bracket over the ‘87 Expos in the final.  

First round action

The 2015 White Sox wouldn’t need any Sox jinx to be the underdog in this first round game, as they lost 86 games and they were fortunate to be considered as the #6 seed in this bracket.  They had limited offense, defense, and pitching aside from Chris Sale (13-11, 3.41) who was busy trying to figure out how to get off this team.  The 78-83 1984 Expos were ranked as the worst of the three Montreal entries in this bracket, but they looked pretty good by comparison with Gary Carter and Andre Dawson anchoring the lineup and Charlie Lea (15-10, 2.89) had a strong season that was unfortunately cut short by an injury that essentially ended his career.  Les Expos jump to a quick lead in the top of the 1st on a Dan Driessen RBI single, but in the bottom of the inning the front-loaded Sox line gets the first three runners on and Melky Cabrera finds and converts Lea’s HR split for a grand slam, which briefly gets the sparse US Cellular crowd off their phones.  Montreal responds with a two-out rally in the 2nd capped by a two-run double from Tim Raines that makes it a one-run game, but Tyler Saladino leads off the bottom of the inning with another homer off Lea and there is already action in the Expo bullpen.  When the Sox knock a single and a double to lead off the bottom of the 3rd, the Expos decide it’s time for Lea to Leave and closer Jeff Reardon is summoned in desperation.  The infield comes in for Tyler Flowers, who manages to roll a gbA++ for a 2-run single, but he is injured on the play for 10 games and his tournament experience is over.  Up next is Saladino, and once again he manages to convert a HR split on the pitcher’s card, this one on Reardon, and it’s now 9-3 after three innings.  Montreal starts the long climb back into it with a Doug Flynn RBI single in the 4th, and Jim Wohlford adds a 2-run single in the 5th that comes after Dawson misses a HR 1-18 split.  In the 6th Tim Raines singles, steals second, and scores on a Carter hit, and when Driessen follows with another hard single the Sox aren’t buying Sale and move to Matt Albers and his 1.21 ERA out of the pen, and he whiffs Dawson to end the inning with the Sox lead now down to two.  However, the Sox get a sac fly from Jose Abreu and a 2-out RBI single from injury replacement Geovany Soto to get some insurance in the 7th against new Expo reliever Gary Lucas, and Trayce Thompson drives in a run with a single in the 8th to extend their lead.  At that point, the Sox hand the ball to closer David Robertson and he seals the deal as the Sox survive a 12-7 win in which the teams combined for 34 hits.

Before doing any research I was surprised to find that the 2008 Angels were strong favorites to win the bracket, but they won 100 games and the AL West; Mark Texiera got votes for AL MVP despite only coming to the AL and the Angels for the last 50 games of the season, and Ervin Santana (16-7, 3.49) came in 6th in the Cy Young ballots, heading a strong rotation backed by Francisco Rodriquez’s 62 saves that earned him 3rd place for that same award. However, my hunch that the 2003 Royals would be lackluster proved largely correct, although they were over .500 at 83-79; Carlos Beltran got some MVP votes and Jeremy Affeldt (7-6, 3.93) was not a bad option for game one.  Garrett Anderson finds and converts Affeldt’s HR result to lead off the top of the 2nd, but Michael Tucker returns the favor leading off the bottom of the inning, keeping the game knotted after two.  Texiera unleashes a long solo blast in the top of the 3rd to put the Angels up again, but they are denied in the 4th when Jeff Mathis misses a HR 1-16/flyB split to end the inning.  That motivates Joe Randa to find and convert Santana’s HR split in the bottom of the inning for the 4th solo homer of the game, which is tied once again.  Two straight singles off Santana’s card in the 6th and the Angels waste no time in going to Jose Arrendondo and his 1.62 ERA, and he squelches the threat.  But he can’t get anybody out in the 7th, as Mike Sweeney knocks an RBI single and then Raul Ibanez rips another through a drawn-in infield and the Royals take a two run lead into the 9th.  However, Affeldt yields an RBI triple to PH Mike Napoli and with the tying run 90 feet away with one out, and the Royals leaf through their largely terrible bullpen for the tricky but wild Curtis Leskanic.  Sure enough, Leskanic walks Chone Figgins; the Royals decide to ignore the A stealer Figgins to bring the infield in, and the Angels chance it and Figgins successfully steals 2nd to stay out of the DP and put the go-ahead run in scoring position.  Torii Hunter then rips a fly to LF, where LF-2 Tucker races after it–but it gets past him for a double and the Angels take the lead.  The bottom of the 9th is time for FRod, but Beltran leads off with a single and steals second.  FRod walks Mike Sweeney to bring up defensive replacement Aaron Guiel, but he rolls his HR 1/DO result, Beltran ties it up and 1-11 Sweeney ignores the hold sign to dash for home; the split is a 10 and Kauffman Stadium erupts as the Royals get the walkoff 6-5 win, and FRod takes the loss by failing to retire a single batter in the 9th.  

This first round game matched two teams from the least legible season ever printed by the game company, the 1987 Braves and the 1987 Expos.  The ELO ranking had this as the best of the three Expos teams in this bracket, as they won 91 games with Tim Raines, Andres Galarraga and Tim Wallach pacing the offense, although the rotation dropped off quickly after Dennis Martinez (11-4, 3.30).  Meanwhile, the Braves lost 92 games in the same league and the fact that Dale Murphy got MVP votes while leading the league in intentional walks reveals something about their lineup; their rotation was also unimpressive with Zane Smith (15-10, 4.09) being the best of the bunch.  Wallach quickly gives the crowd at Stade Olympique something to cheer about with a 2-out 2-run homer in the bottom of the 1st, and the Expos add three straight singles to open the 3rd and all eventually score to make it 5-0.  Smith walks three batters in the 7th, but nothing spells relief in the Braves bullpen and Smith guts up and whiffs Wallach to strand three runners, and he skirts danger again when Casey Candaele (1-15+2) is thrown out at the plate to record the third out in the 8th.  However, none of it matters as the Braves have no answer to Martinez, who ends up tossing a 5-hit shutout in the Expo’s 5-0 win.  

The 2003 Expos had nobody in common with the other two Montreal teams in this group, but they did clear .500 at 83-79 with Vlad Guerrero getting some MVP votes and they had a couple of decent starters including Javier Vazquez (13-12, 3.24).  They were ELO favorites over the 77-85 2018 Mets, but the New Yorkers had one sizable advantage in Jacob DeGrom (10-9, 1.70), who won the NL Cy Young and came in 5th for MVP as a pitcher on a losing team.  However, in the top of the 1st the Expos find two hits on DeGrom’s formidable card to set up an RBI single by Wil Cordero and a quick Expos lead.  Todd Frazier leads off the bottom of the 3rd for the Mets with a double on a missed HR 1-17 split, and he ends up stranded at third; the Mets’ woes continue as DH Yoenis Cespedes gets injured for the tournament to lead off the 4th.  However, in the 5th Frazier gets another chance at that same split and this time converts it for a solo homer to tie the game, and DeGrom is now looking untouchable as he allows just one hit in innings three through nine.  In the bottom of the 9th, Devin Mesoraco of the Mets singles, and then RF-3 Guerrero misplays a Frazier flyball for a two-base error that puts the winning run on 3rd with one out.  After a visit to the mound, the Expos decide to stick with Vazquez and bring the infield in for Amed Rosario, who lifts a deep fly to center and Mesoraco tags and scores and the Mets advance courtesy of DeGrom’s 5-hitter in the 2-1 win.  

The survivors

A semifinal game between two similarly bad teams, the #6 seed 2015 White Sox and the very hittable Jose Quintana (9-10, 3.36) against the #7 seeded 2003 Royals and the similarly carded Brian Anderson (14-11, 3.78).  The White Sox had put on an impressive offensive display in round one, and they continued the trend with a 2-run Jose Abreu homer in the top of the 1st for a quick lead.  In the 4th, Avisail Garcia finds Mr. Anderson’s HR for another 2-run shot, and Adam Eaton does the same for a solo blast in the 5th.   That sends Mr. Anderson back to the matrix and KC borrows Alan Levine from Maroon 5 to see if pop rock can halt the disco demolition.  Levine shows his moves like Jagger, and holds the Sox scoreless, but after he gives way to Curtis Leskanic in the 9th, Leskanic repeats his performance from the first round, allowing two more runs aided and abetted by a 2-base error from SS-2 Angel Berroa.  So it comes down to the Royals trying to pull off another bottom of the 9th comeback against Quintana, and it starts off promising with a single by Raul Ibanez and a 2-run shot from Joe Randa with still nobody out.  Quintana then gets two outs, but a Desi Relaford single followed by a triple from backup catcher Tom Prince and the Sox are getting nervous, but would really like to rest their pen.  However, Berroa then launches a 2-run shot and suddenly it’s a two-run game with the heart of the KC order up.  A chat on the mound and the Sox decide to give Quintana one more batter in the form of Carlos Beltran; it’s on the pitcher’s card, a 4-6, and there is no joy in Mudville as mighty Carlos has struck out; the Sox head to the finals and stave off a furious KC comeback for a 7-5 win.  The Royals exit the tournament having scored 2/3rds of their total run production in the bottom of the 9th inning.  

The #2 seeded 1987 Expos were the only team favored in the first round that actually won, and they were now facing the #5 seed 2015 Mets who had only reached this game courtesy of the efforts of the best starting pitcher in the bracket.  In fact, it would be safe to say that the Mets had the best rotation in the bracket, with Zack Wheeler (12-7, 3.31) one of three remaining solid starters.  The Expos weren’t as fortunate, as all of their remaining options were far worse than any of the top four Mets starters, with Bryn Smith (10-9, 4.37) getting the assignment.  The Mets suffer their second serious injury of the tournament as Todd Frazier is knocked out, probably permanently, to lead off the bottom of the 3rd, and the Expos waste no time in taking advantage as Tim Raines leads off the 4th with a walk, steals his second base of the game, and scores on a single from Andres Galarraga.  The surviving Mets respond in the bottom of the inning with an RBI single from Wilmer Flores, but Mitch Webster leads off the 6th with a double past injury replacement 3B-4 Luis Guillorme and Galarraga again comes through with the RBI single as Montreal regains the lead.  Mets injury replacement Juan Lagares is himself knocked out of the game with a minor injury in the bottom of the inning, but they threaten when Flores doubles in the 7th and the Expos move to Tim Burke and his 1.19 ERA to try to douse the fire.  But Devin Mesoraco manages to find a single on Burke’s card, the painfully slow Flores heads for home with the bottom of the Mets order coming up–and he’s out by a mile.  Burke then retires Guillorme and the Expos cling to the one run lead entering the 8th.  Both pitchers then hold, and in an effort to preserve Burke, the Expos bring in Pascual Perez, who just arrived after finally locating the stadium, and he tosses a perfect frame to earn the save and propel the Expos to the final with the 2-1 victory.

On paper, the finals looked a bit lopsided with the #2 seeded 1987 Expos favored over the #6 seed 2015 White Sox, but this tournament doesn’t play favorites.  Thus far, the Sox offense was averaging almost 10 runs a game while Montreal pitching was giving up half a run per game, but the back half of the Expos rotation was frightening; their Neal Heaton (13-10, 4.52) did not have a card that inspired confidence, while the Sox’ Carlos Rodon (9-6, 3.75) wasn’t bad except for significant control issues.  An error by Expos C-3 Mike Fitzgerald scores a run for the Sox in the top of the 1st, although Avisail Garcia ends the inning missing a HR 1-7/flyB split that could have made it much worse.  The Expos then return the favor in the bottom of the inning, as a two-out error by Sox SS-3 Alexei Ramirez sets up a 3-run shot by former Sox favorite Vance Law, and Montreal takes the lead.  In the 3rd, Jose Abreu misses a HR 1-16/DO split but two runs score on the double, and Heaton strands Abreu at second so the game is now tied.  That tie is short lived, as in the bottom of the inning Andres Galarraga misses a HR 1-5/DO split but fleet Mitch Webster and Tim Raines both race home to restore the Montreal lead.   A chat with Rodon on the mound and he stays in, and of course Tim Wallach rolls that same HR 1-5 outcome on Rodon and this time converts the split for a 2-run blast; Rodon leaves without recording an out in the 3rd and Matt Albers comes in to stop the bleeding but it’s 7-3 Montreal after three.  In the 4th, an unlikely 2-base error by LF-1 Tim Raines sets up an RBI single from Adam Eaton, but Heaton pitches his way out of a bases-loaded jam and the Expos still hold a three-run lead.  Tyler Saladino leads off the top of the 6th with a triple and Sox #9 hitter Carlos Sanchez singles him in, and Heaton is on a short leash but he gets Eaton to hit into a DP to escape further damage.  Meanwhile, Albers tosses 4 perfect innings but must be replaced in the 7th by David Robertson; Herm Winningham promptly rolls Robertson’s HR 1-16/TR split, but misses it with a 19 and ends up stranded on third as the Expos can’t seem to provide any insurance against a Sox team that has steadily been creeping back into the game.  A leadoff single by Garcia in the 8th and the Expos move to Tim Burke, who had been preserved in the semifinal game for exactly this type of situation; he promptly allows a single and then commits an error to load the bases, but he bears down and manages to avoid any damage as the Sox strand three runners.  Burke then sets down the Sox in order in the 9th and the Expos win 7-5 to become the 4th Montreal team and the first from the 80’s to take a regional (and in this one they had three chances).  Les Expos manage to take the final despite committing three errors and getting out-hit 11 to 6, but they made their hits count. 

Interesting card of Regional #206:  There were better cards in this group, but this one struck me as a bit weird.  For one thing, at a quick glance I would not guess that this was the card of a .339 hitter; if you take a minute and started adding up chances, it makes more sense, but the initial impression for me isn't one of a card that could lead the league in hitting.  The placement of the hits also strikes me as a bit strange, as if they had to place a lot of singles and then started to throw darts to figure out where to put them.  And finally, there's that 3-7 roll; in their regional appearance, the largely punchless Mets lineup suffered a bunch of injuries, which meant that Lagares was allowed to start their semifinal game.  And, he rapped two hits in a futile effort to jump-start their offense; unfortunately, the second hit was on that 3-7 and he joined many of his teammates in the infirmary.   Lagares was never much of a hitter, and he has mainly stuck around the majors because of his glove; even this was a pretty empty .339 card (for some reason, when I write “empty .339 card” I think of Pete Rose).  Still, the Mets might have advanced further if he could have stayed healthy, but it was pretty true to form as Lagares was laid up by May 2018 after tearing a ligament after crashing into an outfield fence.