REGIONAL #207:  This draw looked like an entertaining group with a nice mix of eras and some teams that I suspected were pretty good.  The most obvious quality squad was the pennant-winning 1931 Cardinals, who got to make a late entry into the tournament thanks to Strat finally including a never-before released team in a Diamond Gems set.  But it looked to me like they would have some serious competition; an Astros team two years before their first (and last?) NL pennant, a White Sox team the season after the Winning Ugly division-winners who’d already been eliminated in the first round of Regional #130, and a Padres team two years after their first NL pennant.  There was also another White Sox team of the same vintage as one who had an unexpectedly strong showing in the previous bracket, and a contemporary Cleveland team who was trying to screw up my text search system by changing their team name.  I figured the ‘84 Sox would meet the same fate as their ‘83 versions and lose in the first round to what was likely a good Astros team, who I picked to upset the Gas House Gang in the semifinals and then ride that momentum to beat the Indians/Guardians/Naps/Spiders in the finals.  Although the ELO rankings had the Astros as the second-best team in the bracket, they also put the Cards among the 75 best teams of all time and picked them over Cleveland for the regional crown.

First round action

The 2003 Astros included many of the same names that would win the NL two years later, and in this first round game they would get a chance to avenge the World Series sweep that team suffered at the hands of the White Sox.  This version of the ‘stros won 87 games with a heart of the order that included five guys with SLG% over .500; however, Roy Oswalt (10-5, 2.97) was by far their best starter although their bullpen was excellent.  It didn’t really seem like a fair fight, because the 1984 White Sox were a pale imitation of the team that had won the AL West the previous year, losing 88 games with virtually everyone except Harold Baines suffering a serious decline in performance; it would be up to new “kid” on the block, 39 year old Tom Seaver (15-11, 3.95), to give Houston a problem.  Ron Kittle rolls one of the six home run results on his card for a solo shot in the top of the 2nd, and from there on out Tom is terrific, only allowing two hits in the first 8 innings.  However, Lance Berkman leads off the bottom of the 9th with a single, and then Bagwell draws a walk to put the winning run on with nobody out.  The Sox stick with their veteran, but Jeff Kent doubles and the game is tied with the winning run now on 3rd.  Seaver looks Tony Larussa back to the dugout and delivers to Adam Everett, who rips a single, Bagwell trots home, and the Astros walk off with a 2-1 win to give Oswalt the victory to go with his 3-hitter.

The top-seeded 1931 Cardinals weren’t quite the Gas House Gang yet, as they were short a couple of Dean brothers, but they made up for it with big contributions from Chick Hafey and Jim Bottomley, as Hafey won the batting title and both received MVP votes.  Combine them with a solid rotation, and you get a team that wins 101 games and defeats the powerful A’s in the Series; Syl Johnson (11-9, 3.00) would get the game one start, who like the rest of the staff allowed hits but few homers.  They were huge favorites over the #7 seeded 2007 Orioles, who lost 93 games, but the O’s did have Erik Bedard (13-5, 3.16) who led the league in strikeout rate and came in 5th in the Cy Young ballots.  In the bottom of the 2nd, Frankie Frisch rips a 2-out, bases loaded double past RF-2 Nick Markakis to drive in two, and in the 4th the Cards unleash another barrage of hits including a Charlie Gelbert RBI single and a 2-run double from Jimmie Wilson.  This leads Baltimore to inspect their bullpen, which has a sizable collection of some of the ugliest cardstock ever printed, so Bedard stays in but now trails 5-0 after four.  The O’s get on the board in the 6th when Miguel Cabrera drives in fleet Brian Roberts with a single, but SS-3 Cabrera gives the run back in the 8th with a two-base error that sets up another RBI single from Gelbert.  The Orioles have no response, and Johnson wraps up a 3-hitter as the Cards cruise to the semifinals with a 6-1 win.  

The 1986 Padres had won the NL two years before, but they had not aged gracefully and this team lost 88 games, with Gwynn and Garvey still leading the team and Dave Dravecky (9-11, 3.07) having a typically decent showing in his last full season with San Diego.  Even so, they were slight ELO favorites over the 87-loss 2008 Royals, who had little to brag about other than Zack Greinke (13-10, 3.47), who would win a Cy Young the following season.  However, the Royals rap three straight singles off Dravecky’s card with two out in the 1st, and then a 2-base error from SS-2 Garry Templeton and it’s 2-0 KC before the Padres swing the bat.  San Diego does respond in the 2nd, as Kevin McReynolds leads off the inning with a homer and Garvey almost makes it back to back, missing the split but settling for a triple, and when KC brings the infield in to try to preserve the lead Terry Kennedy nails the gbA++ for a game-tying single.  Two batters later, Marvell Wynne converts his HR split for a 2-run shot and a Padres lead, and they add to it in the 4th with back to back doubles from Gwynn and McReynolds.  In the 4th, KC catcher John Buck commits back to back passed balls and the Padres lead extends to 6-2, and Dravecky seems to have recovered from his first inning issues.  When Greinke issues a walk to Wynne in the 6th, the Royals see no point in conserving closer Joakim Soria and his 1.60 ERA/42 saves killer card, so he comes in and issues a walk, makes an error, and loads the bases for Tony Gwynn, who knocks a grounder that backup 1B-3 Ryan Shealy boots and the hole gets deeper.  From there Soria asserts control but it’s far too late as Dravecky closes out the 7-2 Padres win.  

Officially the Guardians by this time but retaining their legacy name here for tournament text search purposes, the 2022 Indians won 92 games and the AL Central with good up the middle defense, a strong bullpen, and a decent rotation fronted by Shane Bieber (13-8, 2.88), who received Cy Young votes; however, the lineup wasn’t scaring anyone and the bottom of the order made fans wish pitchers were still batting.  They were still big favorites against the #8 seeded 2014 White Sox, 89-game losers who nonetheless had a formidable Chris Sale (12-4, 2.17) finishing 3rd for the Cy Young.  With two out in the bottom of the 1st, Jose Abreu crushes a long solo shot to put the Sox up, and that apparently bothers the Biebs as two batters later Alexei Ramirez converts a pitcher’s card homer for another two runs, and two more batters and Tyler Flowers blast a second two-run shot and the Sox lead 5-0 after one.  In the top of the 5th, Cleveland’s .163-hitting catcher Austin Hedges rolls his homer at 1-2 for a two-run, two-out poke, and Sale struggles but manages to get the third out before incurring further damage.  Meanwhile, Bieber has recovered nicely after his first inning woes, but when he allows a leadoff single to Abreu in the 7th the Spiders see no point in preserving their pen, and Sam Hentges comes in and quickly douses the threat.  In the 8th, Sox 3B-4 Conor Gillaspie boots a grounder to set up a long 2-run homer by Oscar Gonzalez that makes it a one-run game, and the Sox eye their pen but decide to let their ace try to close things out.  Sale responds with two straight strikeouts, and then he sets Cleveland down in order in the 9th and the White Sox hang on to head to the semifinals with the 5-4 upset.

The survivors

This semifinal is the feature game of the bracket with the top two seeds facing off, the 1931 Cardinals and the 2003 Astros in a battle of two very different baseball eras.  The dropoff for the Cards in the rotation after round one seemed smaller than that for the Astros, as Wild Bill Hallahan (19-9, 3.29) led the 1931 NL in wins, strikeouts, and of course walks, while Wade Miller (14-13, 4.13) was merely serviceable for the Astros.  In the top of the 2nd the Jeffs are moving on up, as Bagwell walks and Kent triples him in, but Hallahan strands Kent at third to prevent further damage.  The situation only gets worse for the Cards, as a 2-out error by SS-2 Charlie Gelbert opens the door for a four hit, four run inning and the bracket favorites now trail 5-0 and still don’t have a hit to their credit until Jim Bottomley pokes a single in the bottom of the 4th.  But the Astros get some very bad news when RF Richard Hidalgo is injured for four games to lead off the 5th inning, but in the 6th Geoff Blum does something for the Astros that he’ll do to them in the Series two years later–hit a homer, and some of the Sportsman's Park fans are beginning to head for the trolleys.  In response, the Cards get on the board in the bottom of the inning when Frankie Frisch flashes home on a Bottomley fielder’s choice, but George Watkins leads off the 7th by missing Miller's HR 1-11 split with a 12 and he gets stranded at second.  In the 8th, Bottomley drives in another with a sac fly and then a 2-out double from Ripper Collins drives in another.  This requires a mound visit from manager Jimy Williams, and as the Miller told his tale, Williams’ face at first just ghostly, turned a whiter shade of pale; Jimy then summons Brad Lidge from the pen, and he strikes out George Watkins to retire the side.  For some insurance in the top of the 9th, Morgan Ensberg raps an RBI  double past Cards CF-3 Pepper Martin; Wild Bill then walks the bases loaded for Jeff Kent, who clears them with a 3-run double that gives him five RBI and puts him a homer short of a cycle.  That leaves Lidge with easy mop-up duties, and as usual he makes things interesting loading up the bases for Chick Hafey and then striking him out to end the game; the 10-3 win puts the Astros in the finals as favorites but missing one of their biggest bats.

Neither the 1986 Padres nor the 2014 White Sox appeared to be very good teams, but they both had surprisingly solid starters available for this semifinal game, with the Padres’ Eric Show (9-5, 2.97) facing off against the Sox and Jose Quintana (9-11, 3.32).  It’s not a good start for the Sox in the bottom of the 1st as their leadoff hitter Adam Eaton goes down with a seven game injury on their first roll, and it doesn’t get any better when 1-13 Conor Gillaspie is cut down at the plate attempting to score on a Jose Abreu double.  Kevin McReynolds breaks the ice by leading off the top of the 4th with a homer, but the Padres fielding crumbles in the bottom of the inning with errors by 3B-3 Craig Nettles and 2B-3 Tim Flannery setting up an RBI double from Alexei Ramirez on his second missed HR split of the game, and the Sox take a 2-1 lead.  In the 6th, Dayan Viciedo misses another HR split but his double scores two as Chicago extends their lead, and the Padres show Show the door in favor of the elder Lance McCullers to end the inning.  San Diego’s luck doesn’t get any better when 1-16 Marvell Wynne is cut down trying to score in the 7th, and they do try a two-out rally in the 9th with John Kruk driving in Flannery to make it a two run game.  That brings up Tony Gwynn as the tying run, and the Sox give Quintana one more batter; he comes through as Gwynn grounds out and for the second regional in a row, a bad Sox team of relatively recent vintage advances to the bracket final, winning 4-2 courtesy of four costly Padre errors.

Once again, the regional final was the Zoom game of the week, giving me the opportunity to jinx the bottom-seeded 2014 White Sox live against StratFan Rick who would be managing the #2 seed 2003 Astros.  Both teams had suffered injuries to an outfielder who was a key part of their offense, Richard Hidalgo for Houston and Adam Eaton for the Sox, although it seemed to me that the Astros had plenty of bats to spare. The pitching matchup didn’t look too favorable for the Sox either, with John Danks (11-11, 4.74) tending to allow hits that went a long way, while Tim Redding (10-14, 3.68) was a less frightening option for the Astros.  The first inning is a portent to things to come, as Redding strikes out the side, while Danks is pitching from the stretch a lot but manages to keep Houston off the board for a while.  However, in the 4th a costly error by Sox 3B-4 Conor Gillaspie sets up a sacrifice fly from injury replacement Brian Hunter, and the Sox keep getting railroaded by Redding.  When the game hits the 6th inning, I go to the fully rested Sox bullpen for Zack Putnam and his 1.98 ERA because I’m doubting there will be a lot of scoring on either side, and he holds off the Astros while the Sox mount a threat in the 6th but are shut down by Houston reliever Octavio Dotel with nothing to show for their efforts.  Then, one of the killer B’s finally does something for Houston (not Berkman with his four strikeouts), as Jeff Bagwell leads off the 8th with a long blast to provide some insurance.  Rick then summons Billy Wagner who blows through the Chicago lineup as the Astros pitchers share a 3-hit shutout and Houston takes the 2-0 win earning the 6th regional victory for the franchise, with 2003 now joining the 2004 squad for a single elimination mini-dynasty.

Interesting card of Regional #207:  When Tony Gwynn is your teammate, it's kind of difficult to post the top batting average on the squad, but in 1986 that honor went to one Randy Asadoor.  Not exactly a household name, I had absolutely no memory of Randy when I stumbled across his card even though I’m pretty certain that I played in a draft league at the time, but Asadoor probably wasn’t eligible as he was only included as an “extra player”.  Over the course of this feature, I’ve made mention of certain Strat cards that were great “first cards” in a player’s career, or super “final” cards, but for Asadoor, this is BOTH–the 55 ABs represented here were the only appearances of his entire career, making for a career batting average right up there with Ty Cobb.  It’s kind of difficult to imagine that a 23-year old middle infielder would never get another chance after hitting over .360, but it might have had something to do with his defense; for example, in 15 games at third base in ‘86, he made 5 errors, earning him a 3B-4e37 from Strat but by my calculations he would have merited an e54 if that were an option.  As a final unusual feature of the card, although it may be difficult to tell from the scan this card is miscut, with the top edge cut at much less than a 90 degree angle.  Perhaps such issues with the die cutter during this season prompted the game company to make the unfortunate decision to go with the perforated cards for the 1987 season, as ‘86 was the last die-cut set.  I must not be alone in rueing that day, because Strat has now figured out that some of us will lay out a bundle for modern limited edition die-cut sets, albeit ones printed in unusual colors.