REGIONAL #213:  The attention-grabber in this collection was the infamous 2001 Mariners, a team that won a whopping 116 games but fell short of the pennant in the postseason–a malady that seems to be affecting many of the top winners in recent years.  Their efforts to redeem themselves would face some obstacles, such as a Cardinals team that would win pennants in two of the three following seasons, two versions of the Red Sox that would each go on to capture the flag within a few years, and a pandemic-year White Sox team that I think made the postseason, at least briefly.  Given that the Mariners have had a hot hand in recent regionals, I figured that the 2001 version would get their due, besting the Cards in the final.  The ELO ratings had the 2001 M’s as a big favorite, one of the 50 best teams of all time, picked to beat  the 80s version of the Red Sox who were tapped to squeak by the Cards en route to the finals.

First round action

The Friday Night Strat Zoom game of the week doubleheader involved both of the top two seeds in the regional.  In this matchup, the 1984 Red Sox were the #2 seed in this bracket, winning 86 games with a power-packed lineup that saw their outfield of Tony Armas, Dwight Evans and Jim Rice all get MVP votes; unfortunately for them, 21-year old Roger Clemens was not quite the Rocket yet, so Al Nipper (11-6, 3.89) would get the round one start.  I would manage them against Toronto’s own Eaglesfly Roy at the helm of the 1982 Blue Jays, who were “starting to get good” with a 78-84 record but many of the names that would make them contenders within a few years, including 24-year old Dave Stieb (17-14, 3.25).  The Jays warmed up Exhibition Stadium quickly in the bottom of the 1st, with a succession of hits off Nipper’s card leading to RBI for Jesse Barfield, Wayne Nordhagen, and Ernie Whitt.  However, some sloppy fielding for the Jays creates a threat in the top of the 2nd and #9 hitter Jackie Gutierriez takes advantage, locating and converting Stieb’s HR split for a 3-run poke that instantly ties the game.  The Jays aren’t done, with a solo homer by Willie Upshaw in the 3rd putting the Jays back on top, but once again Boston responds immediately in the 4th as Jim Rice also finds Stieb’s HR to tie things once more, and Roy is on the phone to the pen just waiting for the 5th run to be scored so that Stieb can be pulled.  The Jays persist and hand him the lead yet again with an RBI double from Alfredo Griffin in the bottom of the inning, but Stieb pleads the 5th as an RBI single from Dwight Evans and a run scoring passed ball from Whitt gives the Red Sox their first lead, and Roy summons his namesake Roy Lee Jackson from the pen.  Jackson comes in on fire, and he bakes Boston with four no-hit innings, but now that Nipper has a lead he turns into a real pitcher and the Jays have little success against him until the 7th, when a walk and a double put two runners in scoring position with two out and dangerous Upshaw at the plate.  I ponder walking Upshaw but decide to bring in walk specialist Mark Clear instead to accomplish the same end; Clear responds by whiffing Upshaw, and proceeds to allow only one hit and two walks in his 2+ innings to earn the save in Boston’s 6-5 victory.  

The 2010 Cardinals were the #3 seed in this bracket, winning 86 games on the verge of capturing the pennant the following season and led by MVP runner-up Albert Pujols and Cy Young runner-up Adam Wainwright (20-11, 2.42).  Unlike the Cards, the 2020 White Sox visited the postseason briefly, recording a pandemic-year 35-25 record for a better winning percentage than the Cards, and the Sox had the AL MVP in Jose Abreu and Lucas Giolito (4-3, 3.48), who had to start because of tournament rules around IP restrictions, fortunately finished 7th in the Cy Young voting.  Thus, although the Sox were ELO underdogs, after setting the lineups I thought they were the better team, meaning that it was time for the White Sox Jinx to kick in.  The first victim of the jinx is Sox DH Nick Madrigal, who records one tournament AB while getting injured for 7 games in the 3rd; the second is Eloy Jimenez, cut down at the plate trying to score on a Tim Anderson double in the 4th.  In the bottom of the 4th, the jinx rubs off on the Cards as LF Matt Holliday is gone with a 6 game injury.  The Sox break the scoreless tie in the 6th when Cards 3B-3 David Freese boots a Tim Anderson grounder that allows a run to score, Luis Robert then pokes an RBI single and the Sox stake Giolito to a 2-0 lead.  A leadoff single by defensive replacement Adam Engel in the 7th and the Cards pull Wainwright for Jason Motte, who quickly retires the side to keep St. Louis within striking distance.  In the bottom of the inning PH Matt Pagnozzi launches a solo HR to make it a one run game, and when Freese follows with a single the Sox dip into their collection of low-IP wonders for Garrett Crochet, who knitted up a 0.00 ERA, and he promptly ends the threat.  In the 8th, Sox backup 3B Yolmer Sanchez hits a 2-2 roll for a 2-run homer, and now with some breathing room the Sox try to preserve Crochet, inserting the almost equally dominating Matt Foster, who promptly yields a solo HR to his first batter faced, injury replacement Allen Craig.  But Motte doesn’t help his cause in the 9th, making a 2-out error to load the bases for Tim Anderson, who finds Motte’s HR 1-13/flyB result and converts it for a grand slam, and the crowd goes so quiet you could hear a Busch open.  However, they get noisier in the bottom of the 9th, as a single and a walk set up a 3-run blast by Colby Rasmus, but defensive replacement LF-2 Jarrod Dyson sucks up a Craig flyball for the third out and the Sox survive and advance with an 8-5 win.   

The other Zoom game of the week featured the top seeded 2001 Mariners, a 116 win team ranked among the best in history, with Ichiro as the MVP, Bret Boone finishing 3rd, and Mike Cameron, Edgar Martinez, and Kazahiro Sasaki also getting votes and Freddy Garcia (18-6, 3.05) finishing 3rd for the Cy Young.  To add to the mix, they would be managed by Seattle denizen StratFan Rick, who had never lost a game for any Mariners team in these tournament Zooms.  However, the gauntlet had been thrown down by Nacster, who stated “I would take my chances with 1976 JR Richard” and so he did, sending a rather wild Richard (20-15, 2.75) out to the mound fronting a rather punchless 1976 Astros team that went 80-82 while unsuccessfully trying to hit balls out of the Astrodome.  In the top of the 2nd, John Olerud shows Houston how it’s done with a solo shot for Mariner’s lead, and Dan Wilson leads off the 5th with another blast to make it 2-0 Seattle.  The ‘stros get on the board in the bottom of the inning when Cesar Cedeno crushes a solo shot that would have been out in the Polo Grounds, but Garcia reasserts himself and the Mariners maintain that 2-1 lead through seven innings.  However, a lengthy delay brought about by a truly baffling trivia question for the 7th inning stretch seems to throw Garcia off his game, as in the bottom of the 8th Nac begins a flurry of his usual over-managing moves, his electronic dice finally begin rolling on the batter’s card, and in a split roll for the ages Bob Watson converts a TR 1/SI** to tie the game; he scores on a sac fly from Enos Cabell and suddenly it’s not Houston that has a problem.  That sends things into the 9th with Richard three outs away from the upset, and nobody’s gonna shoot JR as he retires the side to complete a 6-hitter, striking out 7 while walking 4 to send the Astros to the semifinals with a 3-2 win.  And, as has been typical in this tournament, the bigger the team, the harder they fall back into the storage drawers. 

The two teams involved in this game had already seen better versions of themselves play in the first round of this regional, with differing results.  The 2001 Red Sox had their sights on an all-Boston final, and they were a decent team that went 82-79 with Manny Ramirez being Manny enough for 9th place in the MVP votes, but they became a formidable squad with Pedro Martinez (7-3, 2.39) on the mound.  On the other hand, the 2009 Mariners had already seen their best selves fall in the previous game; this team was the ELO underdog despite having a better record than Boston at 85-77, although their Pythagorean projection suggested they should have been a whopping 10 games worse.  Still, they had Cy Young runner-up Felix Hernandez (18-9, 2.49) which suggested a pitching duel might be forthcoming.  Boston DH Dante Bichette unloads a long solo HR in the top of the 2nd, and in the 3rd Trot Nixon adds a 2-run blast to spot Pedro a three-run league.  In the 4th Mike Lansing misses a HR split but the resulting double scores Carl Everett, and when Jose Offerman singles Lansing home the M’s decide that their ace isn’t cutting it, so Sean White snowboards in from the bullpen to record the final out of the inning.  In the 7th, the Red Sox load up the defensive replacements in support of Martinez, who is tossing a perfect game, but with one out Franklin Gutierrez singles to dash that hope.  The Red Sox retaliate in the 8th with defensive sub Nomar Garciaparra hitting a two-run Homar to welcome Seattle closer David Aardsma to the festivities.   The Mariners finally wake up the remaining fans in the bottom of the 9th as they load the bases with nobody out, and then Russell Branyan singles past 1B-3 Brian Daubach for one run and Griffey Jr. singles past CF-2 Trot Nixon for another two.  However, Martinez shakes it off and strikes out Adrian Beltre for his 9th K and closes out the 7-3 Boston win, with two consecutive first-round losses for the Mariners spelling a reversal of fortune for Seattle after having won two of the three prior regionals.  

The survivors

This semifinal was straight out of the Sox drawer with the pandemic 2020 White Sox against the 1984 Red Sox, the top remaining seed in the bracket.  Although the Chisox were required to pitch their second starter with respect to IP because of the limitations of that season, the good news was that starter was Dallas Keuchel (6-2, 1.99) who finished 5th in the Cy Young voting.  Boston had a number of options, but none of them were as good, with Bob Ojeda (12-12, 3.99) getting the assignment.  In the bottom of the 2nd, Danny Mendick’s 2-out single drives in Tim Anderson but the Sox Jinx strikes as Yoan Moncada is cut down at the plate for the third out, limiting the lead to one.  In the 5th, Chicago injury sub Yolmer Sanchez has the fans talking about Wally Pipp with a 3-run homer, and the Sox start shoring up their defense in the 6th.  The Red Sox don’t get a hit off Keuchel until Bill Buckner doubles in the 8th, and that’s the only one they’ll get as Keuchel wraps up a one-hit shutout to propel the White Sox to the regional final.  

Each having dispatched Seattle teams in round one, the 2001 Red Sox were hoping to fare better than they did in the prior semifinal, and they were favorites against the 1976 Astros, who would not have JR Richard to fall back on in this round.  Of course, Boston didn’t have Pedro Martinez any more either, so they called upon the late Tim Wakefield (9-12, 3.90) for the honors, while after some debate the Astros tried 23 year old Joaquin Andujar (9-10, 3.61) who had not yet learned control.  Although the Red Sox defense is suspect, it’s Houston’s CF-1 Cesar Cedeno who makes a 2-base error in the bottom of the 1st, and the runner scores on a double from Brian Daubach to put the offensively-challenged Astros in a hole.  Ed Herrmann quickly ties it in the 2nd with a 2-out solid double located at a 2-12 roll, but that doesn’t last long as Carl Everett leads off the bottom of the inning with a homer.  As he has been known to do, Andujar loses his cool, loading the bases and issuing a walk to Trot Nixon, and a single by Manny Ramirez scores another although 1-14 Jose Offerman is out trying to score.  That brings up Daubach with two out, and he rips a 2-run single for the 5th hit of the inning to evict Andujar and Ken Forsch gets the final out but the Red Sox lead 6-1 after two.  Cedeno attempts to atone for his fielding miscue by leading off the 6th with a homer, but from there Wakefield does the job; Houston garners only seven hits while making five errors and the Red Sox head to the finals with the 6-2 win.  Meanwhile, Andujar was busy trashing my Strat cave and had to be dragged back to the storage drawers by his teammates.

It was a final straight out of the Sox drawer, with the #4 seeded 2001 Red Sox against the #5 seed 2020 White Sox for the regional crown.  The innings-limited Chisox had no choice but to pitch Dylan Cease (5-4, 4.01), who wasn’t bad other than some gopher ball issues, while the Bosox were going for broke with swingman Rolando Arrojo (5-4, 3.48) getting the starting assignment.  But it’s Arrojo who gives up the first longball off his card, with Luis Robert converting a HR 1-6 split in the 2nd for a solo shot, although Scott Hatteberg almost ties it up in the bottom of the inning with a 2-out single but 1-11+2 Shea Hillenbrand is nailed at the plate for out three.  But I forgot to mention that Cease also has walk problems, and in the 3rd he issues two walks off his card to set up a three run homer for Brian Daubach and it’s now the Red Sox in the lead.  That lead lasts two batters, as Robert follows a Tim Anderson single with his second HR of the game in as many ABs; as if that’s not enough, Robert comes up again with two out in the 5th and blast a 3-run shot to make him 3 for 3 in the homer department and it’s the White Sox who now lead, 6-3.  A leadoff single by Danny Mendick in the 6th and Arrojo is yanked for Boston closer Ugueth Urbina, who ends any threat, and when Cease issues a leadoff walk in the bottom of the inning Chicago ceases to use him, turning to their excellent pen for Alex Colome and his 0.81 ERA.  Colome immediately commits an error, but gets a DP ball out of Hatteberg to end the inning without incident.  In the 7th, Urbina gets two quick outs but once again up comes Robert, and once again it’s a 3-6 roll, solid HR and that’s four homers–unprecedented in the over 12,000 games that have been played in this tournament.  For the 8th, Chicago moves to Codi Heuer and his 1.52 ERA, but he surrenders a 2-run homer to Mike Lansing and it’s a 2-run game. In the top of the 9th, the leadoff batter is none other than Robert, but Urbina strikes him out and retires the side to give Boston their best chance in the bottom of the 9th.  However, Heuer proves up to the task and closes things out with the final score Luis Robert 7, Boston 5.  The White Sox win their first regional in over 20 brackets, with the last success coming from the 2019 team, making a mini-dynasty for that era of Pale Hose teams who won when more high-profile examples could not.  

Interesting card(s) of Regional #213:  The pandemic year 2020 White Sox surmounted the jinx that typically befalls the south siders to win this bracket, and they indeed were a good team with the first Sox MVP winner in decades and two starters in the top 10 for Cy Young.  The weird pandemic season led to some interesting cards, and the Sox had some nice examples of how small samples could giveth and they could taketh away.  I think it’s safe to say that Strat has never printed a card with a lower ERA than that of Garrett Crochet, who was a 21-year old making his first appearance in the majors during that truncated season.  Crochet was brilliant in his brief appearance and he was called upon to relieve in the decisive game 3 of the postseason series against the A’s; he struck out the only two batters that he faced, but something felt wrong with his arm and he was pulled.  It was later determined that manager Rick Renteria had decided to use him even though Crochet was already hurting before the game, and this move cost Renteria and his pitching coach their jobs a few days later; Crochet eventually had Tommy John surgery and missed the 2022 season.  Although pitching Crochet may have been an ill-considered decision, it was still probably better than putting in Zack Burdi.  Burdi allowed homers at a rate of 4.9 HR per nine innings.  As far as I can determine, Dan Straily set the all-time worst record in HR/9 (min. 45 ip) in 2019 with a 4.2 HR/9, allowing 22 in just 47.2 IP, but Burdi has Straily beat.  However, remarkably there were THREE relievers on the 2020 Sox with higher HR/9 rates than Burdi, but unfortunately (and perhaps mercifully) Strat did not print cards for those (even lower IP) players.  Too bad–it would be nice to see the card for Drew Anderson, who allowed 2 homers in 1.1 innings pitched for a HR/9 rate of 13.5 to go along with his 40.50 ERA.