REGIONAL #218:  The first team out of the draw for this group was another Jeter-era Yankee pennant winner, a classification that has been the kiss of death for them in this tournament.  The only other squad from the 20th century were their arch rivals in Boston from the same season, which could set up an interesting semifinal.  Among the other teams was a Rockies squad from the year after their lone NL pennant, and a dark horse pandemic year Phillies team that could be interesting.  Entries from the Dodgers, Nationals, and Mets were probably okay, while I guessed that the Orioles representative was too far before their current resurgence.  I figured that the Bronx Jeters would go down again, so I picked the Red Sox to eliminate them and best the Rockies in the finals.  The ELO rankings indicated that the two 1999 teams were by far the best in this bracket, with the Yanks in the top 40 of all time and favored to win over the pandemic Phils in the finals.

First round action

The 1999 Yankees won 98 games and the AL, swept the Braves in the Series, and garnered MVP votes for Derek Jeter, Bernie Williams and closer Mariano Rivera, with a solid rotation that could send Orlando Hernandez (17-9, 4.12) out for what looked to be an easy matchup against the 2019 Orioles.  These Orioles apparently celebrated the 50th anniversary of their epic 1969 team by being epically terrible, losing 108 games with a motley collection of no-names and John Means (12-11, 3.60) being the only approximation of an MLB starter in the rotation.  Despite the quick exits historically made by the Jeter-era Yanks, surely this first-round game was one they couldn’t lose.  However, they certainly start off looking like they will try their best to do so, only garnering one baserunner in the first 5 innings and staying in the game because of great fielding in support of Hernandez.  They do get runners on 2nd and 3rd in the top of the 6th courtesy of a Jeter double, but Williams whiffs for the third straight time of the game and the game remains in a scoreless tie.  With two out in the bottom of the inning, Renato Nunez rolls but fails to convert Hernandez’s HR 1-10/DO split, but with the offense sputtering the Yanks feel compelled to go to Rivera to try to survive, and although Pedro Severino then rolls a DO 1-3/flyB on Rivera’s card, he fails to convert and Nunez is stranded to sustain the tie.  In the 7th, O’s LF-4 Dwight Smith Jr manages to commit a 3-base error on the leadoff hitter, but Means bears down and manages to strand the runner on 3rd for no score.  The Yanks get the leadoff hitter on 3rd again in the 9th, with Ricky Ledee cracking a triple, and with nothing but doom in the bullpen the Orioles are hoping Means has the means to pull off another miracle.  He gets one out, but then Scott Brosius lofts a sac fly and Ledee scores to break the ice at last.  That pushes the game into the bottom of the 9th, with the Yankees leading but facing the decision whether to stick with Rivera, which will burn him for the regional, or risk a much less reliable alternative.  Given their track record, they decide to take no chances, and Rivera sets down the Orioles to earn the 1-0 win but the Yanks, who only managed three hits against Means, will be without Rivera’s arm for the rest of the regional.  

Knowing that a semifinal with their arch-rival loomed on the horizon provided extra incentive for the 1999 Red Sox in their first round matchup with a bad 2022 Nationals team.  The Red Sox won 94 games and made the postseason as a wild card, only to lose in the ALCS to the very same Yankee team that had just won the previous round one game.  The Sox had one brilliant pitcher in Pedro Martinez, but in a controversial decision they decided to save him for the hated Yanks, going with Bret Saberhagen (10-6, 2.95) figuring that he and a strong pen would get adequate run support from MVP candidate Nomar Garciaparra and the un-named Brian Daubach.  It was difficult not to be optimistic against the Nationals, who had won the NL just three seasons earlier but now were a 107-loss team with a punchless lineup, big defensive holes, and a terrible rotation with winless Paolo Espino (0-9, 4.84) being the only starter sporting an ERA under five.  Regardless, it’s the Nats who take the early lead on a Maikel Franco sac fly in the bottom of the 2nd, while the Red Sox unerringly find the holes in their good columns and Espino doesn’t allow a hit until the 5th.  When Saberhagen allows two baserunners in the 6th, the Red Sox can feel the game slipping away and move to Rich Garces and his 1.55 ERA, and he ends the threat courtesy of a great play by SS-2 Nomar.  With two out in the top of the 7th, Mike Stanley finally finds some action on Espino’s rather terrible card with a double, but Espino retires PH Scott “he gets on base” Hatteberg to end the threat.  However, in the 8th Jose Offerman finds and converts one of Espino’s HR results for a game-tying solo shot and the Nats bring in Hunter Harvey, who has no such rolls on his card.  However, he issues two walks and a hit to Nomar, bringing up Troy O’Leary with the bases full, and he lofts a sac fly that puts Boston in the lead.  Now with two out, Harvey delivers to Jason Varitek, who crushes it for a 3-run homer.   Armed with a four run lead, the BoSox preserve Garces and bring in Rheal Cormier, who immediately issues a walk to Alex Call to set up a 2-run homer by Joey Meneses and the pitching change is looking like a poor choice.  However, Trot Nixon provides extra insurance in the top of the 9th with a two out, two run homer, and Cormier is able to hang on as the Red Sox overcome a slow start to win 7-3 and set up a semifinal duel with their rivals.

The 2021 Mets went 77-85 but they would certainly have won more if Jacob deGrom’s killer card had been available to them for the entire season.  As it was, deGrom only had 92 IP, setting up a unique situation given a confluence of various tournament guidelines.  Settle in, because this gets complicated:  First, tournament rules require starters to have at least 100 IP to start to be an option in the rotation, meaning that deGrom is not an option.  However, some teams don't have four such starters; for example, with pandemic and some strike year teams.  In that case, all 100+ starters must be used first in the rotation if there are any, and after they are used up it goes in strict order of IP.  It turns out the Mets only have three guys with 100+ innings (Strohman, Walker, Hill), and deGrom's 92 innings are the highest among the remainders, so he will have to be the #4 starter.  BUT, because he has fewer than 100 IP, by tournament rules he is also allowed to serve as a reliever.  AND, another rule is that starters who relieve must rest two games before starting.  FINALLY, another rule for relief usages says that a pitcher who tosses 3.1 to 4 innings (the max allowed) in a game must rest for two games before starting.  So, given all that, for this first round game I decided to start the WORST of the three 100+ IP starters for the Mets, Tajuan Walker (7-11, 4.47), in the hopes that he could survive 5 innings and I could then turn the game over to the unhittable deGrom.  That would need to happen against the 2005 Dodgers, who had an even worse 71-91 record (although a slightly better ELO rating) and had little to brag about other than Jeff Kent, who received a couple of MVP votes; Brad Penny (7-9, 3.90) was the first round choice from an unusually weak Dodgers rotation.  The Mets begin the top of the 1st by loading the bases with nobody out, and after a 2-run double from Javier Baez and a couple more RBI from the tandem of Villar and Pillar, the Mets lead 4-0 before the Dodgers can swing a bat.  In the 3rd Villar triples and scores on a Pillar sac fly, and when the Mets lead off the 4th with two straight singles the Dodgers decide they’ve gotten their money’s worth out of Penny and move to fireballer Greg Gagne who quickly ends the threat.  In the bottom of the inning Kent lofts a towering solo homer to narrow the gap to 5-1, but in the 5th Baez finds an unexpected home run result at 4-11, converting a 1-13 split with a 13 and gets the run back.  Walker is wild in the bottom of the inning and hands the Dodgers another run with a bases loaded walk to JD Drew, but then whiffs Kent who represented the tying run to end the inning.  With Walker apparently tiring, there is no reason for the Mets not to move to deGrom in the 6th.  Brandon Nimmo finds an RBI single in the 9th for additional insurance for NY, but it’s unnecessary as deGrom closes out four hitless innings and the Mets cruise to the 7-2 win.

The Zoom game of the week featured Philadelphia’s own Tall Tactician in charge of the pandemic 2020 Phillies, meaning that I would guide the 2008 Rockies in a battle of two teams close to pennants that both should have been better.  The Phils went 28-32 in the pandemic season but had many of the cogs in place that would lead them to the Series in a few years, with Bryce Harper leading the offense and a rotation where their highest-use starters were also their best, such as Aaron Nola (5-5, 3.28) who finished 7th in the Cy Young votes.  The 74-88 Rockies had essentially the same team that had won the NL in the prior season, but these guys had substantial declines in performance, such as Matt Holliday who still received some MVP support after nearly winning the award the prior season; even so, Aaron Cook (16-9, 3.96) had a fine year for a pitcher working in Coors.  The  Phillies take a quick lead in the top of the 1st on a Rhys Hopkins RBI single, but in the bottom of the inning Chris Iannetta answers with a two-out two-run homer and it’s looking to be a typical high-scoring affair in the Mile High city.  A solo shot from JT Realmuto ties things up in the 3rd, and in the 5th he records a sac fly to add to his RBI total and push the Phils back into the lead.  Meanwhile, Nola is throwing bullets past the Rockies batters until the 6th, when Clint Barmes drives in a run with a two-out game tying single; Garrett Atkins then follows with a HR 1-16/DO roll and misses the split with a 20, but Barmes (1-13+2) heads for home for the lead–and is nailed at the plate with an 18 split.  With the game now tied heading into the 7th, I quickly pull Cook at the first sign of trouble and bring in setup man Taylor Buchholz, which does not go well as he’s tagged for a two-run moonshot by Harper and the Phillies are back in the lead.  Buchholz allows a couple more baserunners in the 8th and I decide to end that experiment, summoning closer Brian Fuentes, who promptly serves up a three-run homer to Realmuto; the only response the Rockies can muster is losing Troy Tulowitzki and Ryan Spilborghs to injuries.  The surviving Rockies don’t fare any better, as Nola doesn’t allow another hit after Atkins’ diet of missed homer splits, and Nola finishes up with 14 strikeouts in a complete game 8-3 win as the Phils survive and advance.

The survivors

A highly anticipated semifinal paired archrivals with the 1999 Yankees and the 1999 Red Sox facing off.  The Yankees won the AL and the Series, and might seem to have an advantage here over the wild card Red Sox whom they defeated in the ALCS, but the Red Sox had Cy Young winner Pedro Martinez (23-4, 2.07), who certainly seemed like a great equalizer although NY’s David Cone (12-9, 3.44) wasn’t chopped liver as he came in 6th in the votes.  The Sox stake Pedro to a quick lead in the bottom of the 1st with a 2-run double from Brian Daubach on a missed HR split, but he scores regardless on a Mike Stanley single and Fenway is rocking with a three run lead.  In the 4th, Daubach decides not to leave it up to the split die and nails a solid homer result for another two runs, and meanwhile the Yanks, who only had three hits in their first round game, don’t get one until the 5th and that leads to an RBI single by Scott Brosius that makes it 5-1.  An RBI double by Trot Nixon in the 6th and Coneheads for the dugout, but with Rivera burnt it’s Jason Grimsley who gets the assignment, but a Daubach sac fly and RBI hits from Jose Offerman and Stanley extend the Boston lead even further.  The barrage continues in the 6th with a leadoff homer from John Valentin and a 2-run double on a missed HR split by Nixon, and Grimsley is gone and Allen Watson gets a turn in the barrel.  He is greeted by an single from O’Leary that scores Nixon and then Jason Varitek puts it over the Green Monster to make the Boston lead 15-1.  Even Boston number nine hitter Darren Lewis gets in the action, hitting Watson’s solid HR result for a solo shot in the top of the 9th, and Martinez wraps up a 6-hitter as the Red Sox avenge their 1999 ALCS loss with a 16-1 humiliation that puts them in the finals.  

It was a semifinal Zoom as partisan Friday Night Strat participants squared off, with TT resuming command of the 2020 Phillies after guiding them to a win in round one, and long-suffering Mets fan Fgabs taking the helm of the 2021 Mets.  It looked like good pitching matchup with the Phils fortunate to have Zack Wheeler (4-2, 2.92) available to go against his former teammates, while Marcus Strohman (10-13, 3.02) was pitching on behalf of his future former Mets teammates.  The Mets take a 1-0 lead in the top of the 2nd assisted by a 2-base error from RF-2 Bryce Harper, but their own gloves return the favor in the bottom of the inning as a 2-base error from SS-2 Javier Baez lead to a pair of unearned runs and a Phillies lead.  Another error in the 3rd puts the Mets deeper in the hole at 4-1, but Strohman still pitching well with none of the runs being earned.  However, the Phils continue their knack of finding his hits, so when he allows a double in the bottom of the 7th Fgabs moves to Aaron Loup and his 0.95 ERA out of the pen.  With first base open and Bryce Harper at the plate, Fgabs signals for some chin music and Harper responds with a colossal blast that decapitates a cardboard fan cutout in the stands, and the piped-in crowd noise is deafening.  The Phils put another couple of runners on in the 8th but the Mets breath a sigh of relief when Jay Bruce lofts a flyball to NY’s best fielder, CF-1 Kevin Pillar; but nope, Pillar rolls the 2-base error with a 1 on the split die and it’s another two unearned runs in Philly.  That’s far more than Wheeler needs as he closes out a 6-hitter and the Phils head to the Phinals as they “earn” an 8-1 victory.

There would be no TT to lead the #3 seeded 2020 Phillies in their quest for the regional crown, as this game would be solitaire after two consecutive live/Zoom wins for TT and the Phils.  They faced a formidable obstacle in the #2 seed 1999 Red Sox, fresh off a massacre against their hated rivals, and although the seedings were close Boston had a far better ELO rating. I would be keeping TT’s seemingly magic batting order, and despite the pandemic-year IP limitations it worked out that Zach Eflin (4-2, 3.97), who had to start, was their best available regardless.  For the Red Sox, it would be Pat Rapp (6-7, 4.12) backed by a fully rested bullpen, and the Red Sox began where they left off, leading off the top of the 1st by having Jose Offerman find and convert Eflin’s HR split.  Trot Nixon follows with a solid double off Eflin’s card; two outs on the Red Sox cards and then Troy O’Leary also locates and converts that Eflin HR split and even the cardboard fan cutouts in Philadelphia are looking for the exits.  The Phils get one back with a 2-out rally that culminates in a Didi Gregorius RBI single, and he saves some runs in the top of the 4th with a stellar defensive play after Eflin walks the bases loaded.  Eflin then settles in and get stronger as the game wears on, and when JT Realmuto leads off the bottom of the 8th with a squib single the Red Sox are taking no chances and turn the game over to Rich Garces to close it out.  However, he walks two to load the bases, and then 3B-2 John Valentin can’t complete the DP and the Phils draw within a run on an Alec Bohn fielder’s choice, although defensive replacement Adam Haseley is knocked out of the game with an injury to end the inning, creating a big hole in left field.  When Eflin allows a one-out single to John Valentin in the top of the 9th, the Phillies leaf through their minefield of a bullpen and opt for Tommy Hunter, who keeps it a one-run game entering the bottom of the 9th.  Garces strikes out the first two Philly batters to bring up Jean Segura; with the game on the line, he rolls his HR 1-12/flyB and the split comes up with a 6 and the game is tied and the piped-in crowd noise roars its approval.  Garces then retires Bryce Harper and we head to extra innings.  In the top of the 10th, Brian Daubach singles and with 2 out Jason Varitek misses his HR 1-5/DO split; with two out the 1-10+2 Daubach heads for home with the go ahead run, but the split is a 17 and it’s inning over.  The Phils do nothing against Garces in the bottom of the inning, and Mike Stanley walks to lead off the top of the 11th; Hunter gets two quick outs but then defensive replacement Jeff Frye knocks a single, sending Stanley to third and bringing up Trot Nixon.  Hunter discovers that Nixon’s the one, as he connects for a three-run moonshot as the cardboard cutouts look on in disbelief.  Boston summons Rod Beck for the bottom of the inning against the bottom of the order, and this time the Phils have no magic in them and they go down in order.  The Red Sox take the 6-3 extra-inning victory and the regional title, their 8th in tournament history, and in doing so became the first regional winner that I’d successfully predicted in a while.

Interesting card(s) of Regional #218:  It was the best of cards; it was the worst of cards, it was the age of wisdom in not pitching a reliever with a 12.54 ERA, it was the age of foolishness in not protecting your best pitching arm.  These, of course, are the opening lines to A Tale of Two Pitchers, a drama that played out in several acts in this regional.  On the one hand, you have a starting pitcher, one with as good a pitching card as has ever been printed, for whom it requires invoking nearly every pitcher-related rule in this tournament to get him into the game.  On the other hand, you have a relief pitcher whose gopher ball tendencies should instill a terror in his pitching coach not seen since the French Revolution.  One thing that the contrast between these two cards brings to mind is discussing Strat with friends of mine who played the primary competition at the time in APBA.  I myself have never played a single game of APBA, but I’ve seen plenty of the cards, and they look like lottery tickets to me; I couldn’t tell you who was a good player or a bad player if you hid their name.  On the other hand, I could show these two cards to Charles Dickens, and even he could probably figure out which pitcher would be a better choice.  Hint for Chucky D:  it isn’t Hembree.