REGIONAL #215:  No pennant winners in this draw, but it was a nice eclectic mix of teams with several that were within a few seasons of capturing one.  For example, there were two Giants teams that were both two years away from different pennants; an Indians team two seasons after the great ‘48 team and four years before the even greater ‘54 squad; and a Tigers team a few years after their 1984 triumph.  There were entries from the Reds and Orioles that I thought might not be terrible, and some old school White Sox and Senators teams that I thought probably were terrible.  My hunch was that we would see an all-Giants final, and given that the 2004 Giants would have a formidable if nameless player in their lineup, coupled with the success that more modern teams tend to have against older squads, I figured they would take the honors.  The ELO ratings indicated that the three best teams in the group were in the lower portion of the bracket, with the old-school Indians picked as the favorite over the ‘87 version of the Giants in the final.

First round action

The 1987 Giants won 90 games and the NL West, losing the NLCS to the Cards in 7 games, and they had a lineup with seven hitters with double digit homers led by Will Clark’s 5th place MVP finish, and a solid rotation buoyed by late-season pickup Rick Reuschel (13-9, 3.09).  They faced a 67-87 1950 Senators team that managed to finish 5th in the AL, making me wonder just how bad the three teams below them must have been because the team had nobody that reached 15 homers and nobody on the pitching staff had an ERA below four, with Sandy Consuegra (7-8, 4.40) slightly less bad than his rotation-mates.  However, it’s the Senators who take the early lead in the bottom of the 1st when Mickey Vernon pokes a double past LF-2 Jeff Leonard to set up an Irv Noren sac fly, and they make it 3-0 in the 3rd on a 2-out 2-run double by Sam Mele.  Meanwhile, the Giants hit into three DP in the first five innings, but finally get on the board in the 5th with a solo HR from Chili Davis (hit immediately after a baserunner had been wiped out on a DP).  They continue to struggle but seem to wake up in the top of the 9th for their last chance, as a single and walk put the tying runs on with nobody out.  Consuegra is on his own with nobody decent in the pen, and he bears down to get two harmless outs, but Rob Thompson doubles to keep the Giants hopes alive, with the tying run now at third and the go-ahead counter at second.  That brings up Chili, but the 3-7 roll is a strikeout nestled next to a complete HR, and the Washington 3-2 win provides this version of the Giants with a quick tournament exit.

Taking hope from the win in the previous game by the worst team in the group, two more of the bottom ranked squads faced off in this first round game.  The #7 seeded 2015 Reds lost 98 games but they should be helped by being the most modern team in this regional, as those teams seem to fare better in this tournament, and they also had an all-”1” DP combo, three sluggers with over 25 homers, and a very good starter in Johnny Cueto (7-6, 2.62) although the rotation got ugly quickly after him.  The 70-84 1947 White Sox were built very differently, with only Rudy York having double digit homers with 21, but their rotation fronted by Eddie Lopat (16-13, 2.81) was aided by spacious Comiskey Park, site of this matchup.  In the top of the 3rd, sliding Billy Hamilton tries to slide into first and leaves the game with an injury, and then in the bottom of the inning Taffy Wright leads off by missing a HR split but York follows by converting a HR split for a 2-run homer to put the Sox ahead.   The Sox load the bases in the 5th with a couple of walks and a bloop single, and then Bob Kennedy rips a double that scores them all and the Chicago lead is substantial.   It quickly becomes less so, as in the top of the 6th Todd Frazier knocks a 2-out RBI double and that’s followed by a 2-run single from Eugenio Suarez and the Sox lead dwindles to 5-3.  Wright leads off the bottom of the 7th by converting the Cueto HR split that he missed previously, and the Reds summon closer Aroldis Chapman to try to keep them in the game; not only does he end the inning, he manages to injure defensive replacement 2B Cass Michaels, requiring the Sox to downgrade defense at three different positions to cover the hole.  It then falls on the clearly tiring Lopat to put this one away, but with two out in the 9th he lets up an RBI single to injury replacement Jason Bourgeois and Brandon Phillips follows with a double that makes him the tying run at second.  Although they hate to do it, the Sox bring in their best reliever, Johnny Rigney and his 1.95 ERA to try to secure the final out, and Zack Cozart lofts a fly to left but Comiskey contains it easily to secure the 6-4 win for the Sox.  

The 2004 Giants fell two games short of the NL West title, but they won 91 games largely due to the contributions of NL MVP Barry Bonds although Jason Schmidt (18-7, 3.20) was also a big factor, finishing 4th for the Cy Young.  The 1990 Orioles had come from nowhere the previous year to compete for the division, but relapsed this season and lost 85 games, led by an all-Ripken DP combo and a bunch of guys like Brady Anderson and Steve Finley who had no power, but would mysteriously develop some in a couple of years.  Still, Cal Ripken did get a few MVP votes and Ben McDonald (8-5, 2.43) was 8th for Rookie of the Year.  P-4 Schmidt has only himself to blame for a two-out Randy Milligan RBI double that gets past him in the top of the 1st, but in the 2nd he can blame 2B-3 Ray Durham for a two-out error and RF-3 Michael Tucker for allowing a Steve Finley single to fall in front of him that drives in another run.  Schmidt is bailed out of a jam in the 7th when 1-10+2 Craig Worthington is nailed at home to end the inning, but in the 8th O’s DH Sam Horn crushes a solo shot to provide additional insurance.  In the bottom of the 9th, Bonds finally connects for a solo shot, his first hit of the game, and when JT Snow goes back to back to make it a one-run game the O’s summon closer Gregg Olson to get the last two outs.  He records a strikeout but then allows two consecutive singles to put the winning run on 1st, and SF decides on Brian Dallimore to pinch hit–but he flies out harmlessly and Olson shakily closes out the 3-2 Baltimore win.  

The Zoom game of the week was a grudge match played live between Eaglesfly Roy, still resenting the 1987 Tigers for what they did to his Blue Jays at the end of that season, and me, who had just been crushed in a playoff game by the 1954 version of these 1950 Indians.  The Tigers won 98 games, most in the AL, and captured the AL East but were upset in the ALCS by the Twins to be denied a pennant; they had a strong lineup with Alan Trammell finishing second in the MVP race and Darrell Evans and Matt Nokes also getting votes, and Frank Tanana (15-10, 3.91) had a solid season even though some of his rotation teammates received Cy Young attention while he did not.   The Indians won 92 games with Larry Doby and Al Rosen getting MVP support, and although there was no Cy Young award at the time Bob Lemon (23-11, 3.84) would have been the clear recipient as his 5th place finish in the MVP voting was easily the best for any pitcher in the league.  Roy’s Indians started off hot, with an RBI single from Bob Kennedy preceding a two-run homer by Ray Boone to stake Lemon to a 3-0 lead in the 2nd inning.  The Tigers claw back with Pat Sheridan driving in a run in the 3rd and Detroit’s own Lemon, Chet, knocking one in in the 4th, but big Luke Easter responds in the top of the 5th with an RBI double to push Cleveland ahead back by two.  Again, the Tigers respond, with a 2-run homer by Lou Whitaker tying the game in the bottom of the inning and the score is knotted at four apiece after five.  Given his propensity to allow homers, Tanana’s leash was quite short and when he yielded a single to lead off the 7th, it was time for Doyle Alexander, so brilliant as a late season pickup that he came in 4th in the Cy Young votes in only 88 innings as a starter.  That wasn’t enough innings to allow him to start in this tournament, but he was dazzling in relief, shutting down the Cleveland threat long enough to permit Chet Lemon to squeeze Bob Lemon for a 2-run homer in the bottom of the 8th and for the first time in the game, the Tigers lead.  Now able to preserve Alexander for later rounds, Detroit summons Mike Henneman to close things out and the Tribe goes down quietly to give the Tigers the 6-4 win and a trip to the semifinals.  

The survivors

A rather lackluster semifinal matched the #8 seed 1950 Senators and the #6 seeded 1947 White Sox, guaranteeing that one of the oldest squads in this bracket would reach the finals.  The Nats didn’t have many good choices to start, with Bob Kuzava (9-10, 4.33) getting the nod against the Sox and Joe Haynes (9-10, 4.33).  In the bottom of the 1st Rudy York hits a long solo shot into the grandstands for his second homer of the regional, but in the 3rd the Senators stage a 2-out rally to load the bases and Haynes walks in one run and then allows a 2-run single to Cass Michaels for a 3-1 Washington lead.  Haynes loads them up again in the 4th and the Nats get another run on a fielder’s choice, but a GIDP from Irv Noren keeps things from getting any worse.  The Sox try to climb back into it, scoring a run on a Luke Appling fielder’s choice in the 5th, and then Appling doubles in the 8th and scores on a Taffy Wright base hit to pull the Sox within one, although the rally dies when York grounds into an inning-ending DP.  The game heads to the bottom of the 9th with Kuzava trying to hang on, but his cause isn’t helped when the leadoff hitter reaches on an error from 3B-1 Eddie Yost.  Kuzava shakes it off and retires the next three in a row and the bottom seeded Senators head to the regional finals with the 4-3 win.  

After defeating the top seed in round one, the 1987 Tigers were the highest ranked team remaining in the bracket and they had to be considered favorites against the #5 seeded 1990 Orioles, with Detroit’s Jack Morris (17-10, 4.05) 9th in Cy Young ballots against a less successful Pete Harnisch (11-11, 4.34).  The Orioles’ cause is not helped when their second batter of the game, CF Mike Devereaux, is knocked out with an injury, and Darrell Evans adds insult in the bottom of the inning in the form of a 3-run homer to put the Tigers up.  However, Evans quickly gives some of it back when he drops a Randy Milligan grounder, and Milligan scores on a Sam Horn double to narrow the Detroit lead to 3-1.  An RBI double by Mickey Tettleton in the top of the 4th makes it a one-run game, but Kirk Gibson leads off the bottom of the inning with a single, steals second, and scores on a 2-out single from Pat Sheridan to make it 4-2 Tigers.  However, when the Orioles record two straight singles to begin the 7th, the Tigers want Morris’s multiple HR results off the table and they summon late-season wonder Doyle Alexander, winner in round one, to try to kill the rally and he does exactly that.  A single by Trammel in the bottom of the inning and Baltimore brings in its own rally-killer, closer Gregg Olson, who proves equally effective and it’s still a two run game heading into the 8th.  Alexander is perfect in his last inning of eligibility in the regional and Olson does likewise, so Mike Henneman comes in for the 9th to try to preserve the Tigers’ lead.  Henneman blows through the Orioles, striking out PH Ron Kittle for the final out and Detroit heads to the finals with the 4-2 win.

The finals look a little lopsided with the #2 seeded 1987 Tigers, winners of the AL East, against the #8 seed 1950 Senators who would send Sid Hudson (14-14, 4.09) against the Tigers’ Walt Terrell (17-10, 4.05) for the regional title.  The Tigers get a rude shock when Merrill Combs, who hit zero homers in the regular season, finds Terrell’s solid 6-4 HR result for a 3-run shot in the top of the 2nd.  A 2-out RBI single by Gil Coan in the 5th extends the Nats lead, but in the bottom of the inning errors by 3B-1 Eddie Yost and C-4 Al Evans help to load the bases, and sac flies from Lou Whitaker and Alan Trammell narrow the gap to 4-2.  When Darrell Evans leads off the 6th with his second homer of the regional, it’s a one-run game, and Kirk Gibson follows with a single and steals second.  Then, singles from Pat Sheridan and Tom Brookens result in Gibson scoring, and although Hudson is clearly struggling, the Washington bullpen is nonexistent and they let their workhorse try to work out of it.  However, a Whitaker fielder’s choice scores Sheridan and the Tigers now hold a one-run edge after 6 innings.  The Senators get the tying run to 3rd in the 8th, courtesy of C-4 Matt Nokes’ 3rd error of the game, but Terrell bears down and hangs onto the slender lead.  For the top of the 9th, the Tigers bring in Mike Henneman, looking for his third consecutive save in his last inning of eligibility, against the top of the Washington order and he is flawless, accomplishing the unprecedented feat in this tournament of 3 saves in a regional and earning bracket MVP honors for his three hitless appearances.  The Tigers move on with the 5-4 come-from-behind win, the 7th regional win for the franchise and this squad joins the ‘86 team for a mini-dynasty that seems quite effective in this single elimination format. 

 

Interesting card of Regional #215:  There were other cards in this bracket that I liked quite a bit, including some from the bracket winning Tigers such as Alex Trammell and Doyle Alexander, but I felt I had to feature this card, remarkable in many ways.  If the player wasn’t sufficiently interested in getting his name on the card, I don’t see any reason to mention it, but I suspect ”he who shall not be named” needs no introduction here.  This card represents his last of four MVP seasons in a row, and a pretty good season it was.  Although he set the MLB single season record for homers in 2001, this OPS of 1.422 in 2004 is the highest ever recorded outside of the Negro Leagues.  However, like their real-life counterparts, these Giants couldn’t come through when it counted most and despite a solo homer from this guy, they made a rapid exit from the regional in the first round.  In fact, it may be karma, but no team with him in the lineup, neither the Pirates nor the Giants, have ever won a regional in this tournament.