REGIONAL #224: This bracket saw one of the final teams of the 1970s enter the tournament, along with a group that had no real standouts. There was a Red Sox team that was likely strong that was within a couple of years of a title, Rays and Angels teams several years after one, and a White Sox squad that should have a big season from the Big Hurt. There were also a couple of entries from the Reds that I suspected weren’t world beaters, and if it weren’t for my jinx I thought the White Sox might have a shot in this group. However, I’d been down this road before, so I figured that it would be some Sox of a different color who would prevail, and I predicted Boston would beat Tampa in the finals. The ELO ratings forecast the same result, but it also highlighted the first round game between the Red Sox and Angels as the game to watch, pairing two of the top 200 teams of all time.
First round action
The 1994 Padres were 47-70 when the strike was declared to relieve them of their misery. This was one of the worst fielding teams I could remember, with 6 of the 8 starters rated a “4” at their primary position, but they had few good pitchers such as Joey Hamilton (9-6, 2.98) and then there was Tony Gwynn’s .394 batting average, which earned him 7th place in the MVP votes. The 1998 Reds only looked good by comparison, as they went 77-85 with a more balanced lineup featuring a very good keystone combo of Barry Larkin and Bret Boone, with Pete Harnisch (14-7, 3.14) as a solid round one starter. The Reds start out hot in the bottom of the 1st with three straight singles, the last by Willie Greene driving in one, and Dmitri Young adds a sac fly to stake Cincinnati to a 2-0 lead. Phil Plantier responds for the Padres by leading off the top of the 2nd with a homer and later Bip Roberts adds an RBI double to tie the game, but another Young sac fly makes it 3-2 Reds after three. In the 5th, Roberts walks and steals second but he’s tossed out trying to score (1-17) on a Craig Shipley single, but in the 6th Luis Lopez rips a single past Reds 3B-4 Greene and the game is tied once again. The Reds move ahead again in the bottom of the 7th on a 2-run homer by Reggie Sanders, and the Padres turn to Trevor Hoffman to try to keep them in the game. Meanwhile Harnisch is holding his own, but when he walks the leadoff hitter in the top of the 9th the Reds summon Danny Graves to try to close things out against the top of the Padres order. Graves issues another walk but gets Shipley to hit into a double play, bringing up Gwynn as the Padres last hope. And Gwynn comes through magnificently, a 1-4 for a solid homer and once again the game is tied; the Padres shaky defense holds in the bottom of the 9th and we head to extra innings. In the 10th, Derek Bell singles off Graves’ card, steals second, and scores when Lopez also finds a single off the pitcher, and the Padres take a one-run lead to the bottom of the 10th. They stick with Hoffman, even though it will burn him for the regional, and he blows through the heart of the Reds order as the Padres persist for a 6-5 upset and a trip to the semifinal.
The top two teams in the regional match up in this marquee first round game, with the 2016 Red Sox and the 2009 Angels each sporting ELO ratings among the top 200 of all time. The Red Sox won 93 games and the AL East with a lineup loaded with weapons, with Mookie Betts 2nd and David Ortiz 6th in the MVP votes, and Rick Porcello (2204, 3.15) capturing the AL Cy Young award. The Angels won 97 games and the AL West, but didn’t look quite as flashy to me although nearly all of the lineup had SLG% over .400 and OBP over .350. Kendrys Morales, Chone Figgins, and Bobby Abreu all got MVP votes that season, while Jered Weaver (16-8, 3.75) fronted a decent but not dominating rotation. In the bottom of the 1st the Angels take a lead when Macer Izturis triples and scores on a Morales sac fly, but in the 3rd Morales is cut down (1-11+2) trying to score on a Torii Hunter single. That play seems to wake up the Red Sox, as Xander Bogaerts converts their first hit of the game to lead off the 4th on a SI 1-5 split, and then Ortiz launches a 2-run homer for a Boston lead. Betts follows with a walk and a stolen base, and he scores on a Hanley Ramirez single and the Red Sox now lead 3-1. Both pitchers then settle in, but in the 8th Morales gets another chance to score from second on a two-out Hunter single and this time he makes it and it’s a one run game with the tying run aboard. The Red Sox summon wild closer Craig Kimbrel and he gets the final out to send the game to the 9th with Boston clinging to the narrow lead. They can’t provide any insurance for Kimbrel, so it’s all on him in the bottom of the 9th and although he issues a leadoff walk, Vlad Guerrero hits into a DP and Abreu whiffs and the Red Sox move on with a 3-2 win even though Weaver held them to only three hits.
The 2014 Rays were the #3 seed in this bracket by the ELO ratings, although they only won 77 games with a largely punchless offense; their main strength was a solid pitching staff with Alex Cobb (10-9, 2.87) a strong option as a game one starter. They faced the oldest team in the group, the 74-win 1976 Giants, who were equally punchless although they were Counting on John Montefusco (16-14, 2.85) to keep them in the game. That doesn’t look like it’s going to happen when the first three Rays batters reach on a hit, a walk, and an error to load the bases, and then Evan Longoria smacks a 2-run single. Although David Dejesus then hits into a DP, that scores another and Tampa Bay leads 3-0 before the elder statement Giants can bat. However, when they do, they respond nicely as Bobby Murcer singles to score Larry Herndon from second, and later RF-1 Kevin Kiermaier does the unthinkable and commits a 2-base error with the bases loaded and the game is quickly tied. Herndon’s speed again pays off in the 2nd as he beats the throw home (1-16+2 with a 17 roll) on a 2-out Gary Matthews single and the Giants now take the lead. A 2-base error by Rays SS-4 Yunel Escobar sets up an RBI single from Gary Thomasson in the 5th to pad the Giants lead, but in the 6th Longoria responds with a 2-run homer and things are tied once again. The Giants lose SS Chris Speier to a tournament-ending injury in the bottom of the 6th, and replacement SS-3 Johnnie Lemaster boots the first ball of the 7th but the Count is not flustered and he quickly dispatches the Rays to cover for the mistake. In the bottom of the inning, Matthews rips a one-out triple into the corner, and the Rays decide it’s time for reliever Jake McGee and his 1.89 ERA to try to prevent Matthews from scoring. It matters not, because the next roll is on Murcer’s card and it’s a base hit for a Giants lead. Darrell Evans then somehow singles off McGee’s formidable card and Ken Reitz gets on courtesy of an error by 2B-2 Ben Zobrist, the Rays’ fourth error of the game. McGee is clearly unsettled and he walks Dave Rader for another run to bring up weak hitting (.210) injury replacement Lemaster–who promptly singles in another two runs and when the fog clears at Candlestick the scoreboard reads 9-5 Giants after seven innings. Sarge Matthews orders a 2-run homer in the 8th to make it even uglier, and Montefusco finishes on cruise control as the Giants coast to an 11-5 win.
Faced with the challenge of surmounting the jinx facing my favorite teams, the 1997 White Sox were a mediocre 80-81 team that had some firepower led by Frank Thomas, who finished 3rd in the MVP votes, but there were a lot of big hurts in their rotation, with Wilson Alvarez (13-11, 3.48) miles better than other options. Nonetheless, they were big ELO favorites over the 97-loss 2003 Reds, who were fortunate that Strat provided a card for Jose Guillen as they traded their best hitter in midseason; the Reds’ rotation was dreadful with Paul Wilson (8-10, 4.64) the lone eligible starter with an ERA under five. The Reds get three hits and a walk in the top of the 1st but only score once on an RBI single from Aaron Boone, although the Sox tie it up in the 3rd when the terrible Chris Snopek scores on a wild pitch that gets past Reds C-3 Jason Larue. In the 5th the Reds load the bases in a two out rally to bring up DH Adam Dunn; he whiffs, swinging so hard he injures himself and he’s Dunn for the tournament. Both pitchers hang on until the 8th, when Alvarez walks Larue the bullpen is considered but I elect to let Alvarez pitch to Sean Casey, who promptly rolls Alvarez’s HR 1-8/flyB split and convert it for a two run blast. Roberto Hernandez comes in to close the barn door after the horses have left, and the Reds decide not to repeat that mistake as after Robin Ventura doubles in the bottom of the inning they summon Scott Sullivan and he douses the fire. The game moves to the bottom of the 9th with the Reds up by two, but the Big Hurt doubles, Mike Cameron walks, and then PH Maggio Ordonez loads the bases with one out when aging SS-3 Barry Larkin drops his grounder. PH Norberto Martin hits the infamous nine hole in his best column, but it’s a sac fly and there are two out with the Sox still down by a run. Up comes the third Sox PH in a row, Greg Norton, and it’s on his card but he whiffs and another Chisox team heads to the storage drawers as the Reds move on with the 3-2 win.
The survivors
The #6 seed 1976 Giants and #8 seeded 2003 Reds were both underdog winners in the first round that were seeking to make an underdog appearance in the finals. The two teams were bad in different ways, with the Giants having little pop in the lineup while the Reds pitching was gruesome, with swingman John Riedling (2-3, 4.90) not good but miles better than the other eligible alternatives. The Giants countered with Ed Halicki (12-14, 3.63) but this didn’t look like it would resemble the low-scoring nature of the other semifinal, although both teams were short-handed due to injuries to Adam Dunn of the Reds and Chris Speier of the Giants. The Reds put up three runs in the bottom of the 2nd on a 2-run triple from D’angelo Jimenez and an RBI single by Sean Casey, but from there neither team can muster much offense. Finally the Giants wake up in the 8th with a two-out RBI double from Gary Thomasson, and when defensive replacement 2B-2 Juan Castro boots the next ball the Reds summon Felix Heredia from the pen and he gets Darrell Evans for the third out. Heredia then blows through the bottom of the Giants order in the 9th, striking out PH Derrel Thomas for the final out and the bottom seeded Reds earn a trip to the finals with the 3-1 win.
It’s David vs Goliath as the top seeded 2016 Red Sox are big favorites over the #8 seed 2003 Reds, and the plight of the underdogs wasn’t helped any by an injury to slugger Adam Dunn and a back end of the rotation involving a start for Danny Graves (4-15, 5.33). Meanwhile, Boston had workhorse David Price (17-9, 3.99) available along with a fully rested bullpen and a healthy lineup, and they take a quick lead when Xander Bogaerts finds and converts a split homer on Graves for a solo blast in the top of the 1st\. However, the Reds didn’t make it this far without knowing how to respond, and Ken Griffey Jr does just that with a two-out two-run double in the bottom of the inning to put the Reds up 2-1. Travis Shaw knocks his own two-out RBI double in the top of the 2nd, also off Graves’ card, and the game is knotted up and promises to be a dogfight. In the 4th Sandy Leon knocks a sac fly for a Boston lead, and then a few batters later Dustin Pedroia knocks a two-out double with the bases loaded and suddenly the Red Sox have a commanding 6-2 lead. A solo shot by Jason Larue in the bottom of the inning narrows the lead some, but Boston immediately gets the run back in the top of the 5th on an RBI single by Leon against Reds reliever Felix Heredia. Sean Casey responds in the bottom of the inning with a leadoff homer off Price’s card, but again the Red Sox retaliate with a 2-run single by Mookie Betts, an RBI triple from Jackie Bradley, and a run-scoring single from Leon and the relentless Red Sox offense has built an 11-4 lead. The Reds get a solo shot from Jose Guillen in the 8th, but Boston defensive replacement Chris Young launches a 2-run homer in the top of the 9th against the 4th Reds pitcher, Scott Williamson, and leave no doubt that they are the best team in the regional with a crushing 13-5 victory for their 9th bracket title, and the second for 21st century Red Sox teams.
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