REGIONAL #236:  Although the program that I wrote to select teams for these regionals is supposed to be random, it often seems like I’ll get brackets full of bad teams punctuated by ones that have several very good squads, and this draw seemed to be one of the latter.  There were two pennant winners, the ‘99 Braves and ‘97 Indians, that were both great teams, and another Braves team from last year that didn’t win the pennant but maybe should have and did so two years prior.   Entries from the Jays, Nationals, Padres, and Red Sox were all likely to be pretty strong as well, and then there was a steroid era Cubs team that probably had a bulked up Sammy Sosa going for it.  I figured the ‘99 Braves would take the top half of the bracket, while in the bottom the first round matchup between the Indians and the 2023 Braves would be crucial; my thought was Indians might get by one Braves team, but by the time they hit their #3 starting pitcher the other Braves team would have the advantage and take the regional.  The ELO rankings predicted an all-Braves final and described the two Atlanta teams as being among the 75 best in history, with a virtual tie in their ratings.  

First round action

The Zoom game of the week featured Eaglesfly in charge of his hometown 2023 Blue Jays, only fitting since he had led the prior year’s team to the semifinals in the previous regional before my solitaire managing doomed them.  This team won 89 games and made the postseason as a wild card but were quickly eliminated; Bo Bichette led off as an MVP vote-getter and Kevin Gausman (12-9, 3.16) finished 3rd in the Cy Young ballots, leading the AL in strikeouts.  They faced the 88-74 2001 Cubs, managed by the Tall Tactician who like the performance-enhanced card of one Sammy Sosa whose 64 homers got him MVP runner-up, and Kerry Wood (12-6, 3.36) was tough to hit despite some control issues.  However, one of the big weaknesses of the Cubs was their fielding, and that became evident quickly as two Cubs errors in the bottom of the 1st led to one run on no hits, and the Jays take the early edge.  Gausman allows some hits early but the Cubs can’t capitalize, while the Jays don’t manage a hit off Wood until the 5th inning.  Gausman again gets out of jams in the 6th and the 7th, and Wood doesn’t allow another hit until the bottom of the 8th, but it’s a long one as Brandon Belt belts a solo homer to provide an insurance run for a 2-0 lead entering the 9th.  The Cubs get a runner into scoring position with two out in the top of the 9th, and Eaglesfly signals to the bullpen for closer Jordan Romano, who gets the one-out save as the Jays only manage three hits but pull out a 2-0 win; Sosa goes 0-4 with every one of his rolls on the pitcher’s card, so he and his supplements head back to the storage drawers without even a run to show for their efforts.

The first of two arguably great Atlanta teams entered in this regional, the 1999 Braves won 103 games and the NL only to be swept in the Series; they had NL MVP Chipper Jones anchoring the lineup and Kevin Millwood (18-7, 2.69) came in 3rd in the Cy Young votes with a better season than any of the high profile Maddux/Glavine/Smoltz triumvirate.  However, they faced a good 2015 Nationals team that underperformed at 83-79 but had their own NL MVP in Bryce Harper and Max Scherzer (14-12, 2.79) was 5th place for the Cy Young; however, the supporting cast for these stars was not quite up to that of the Braves.  The Atlanta MVP makes the first noise as Chipper smacks a 2-run homer in the top of the 1st to interrupt Scherzer’s striking out the side, while Harper does double in the bottom of the inning but Millwood strands him at second.  However, Nats 2B Danny Espinoza leads off the 2nd with a homer, Jason Werth goes back to back, and then Ian Desmond misses a HR 1-14 split on Millwood that would have been three in a row.  It doesn’t matter much as Michael Taylor then rips an RBI single past 1B-4 Ryan Klesko and Taylor ultimately scores on a single by Yuniel Escobar and the Nats vault to a 4-2 lead after two innings.  In the top of the 3rd, Chipper finds Scherzer’s solid homer result for a solo shot that gives him two for the game, and the lead narrows to a run.  Denard Span rolls a solo shot by converting Millwood’s HR split in the 4th, and then Harper misses that same split but doubles and scores on an RBI single from Espinoza that leaves Danny one triple short of a cycle.  With things getting desperate, the Braves yank the ineffective Millwood and try closer John Rocker, who hopefully did not take the bus to the game.  Rocker walks the bases loaded but whiffs Ian Desmond to end the inning with Washington now up 6-3.  In the 5th, Michael Taylor races home on a Span double, but Andruw Jones homers to lead off the top of the 6th and gets the run back, although Javy Lopez hits into a DP and in the process gets injured for the rest of the tournament.  However, in the 7th the Braves have definitely solved Scherzer and an RBI single from Brian Jordan is followed by a 2-out 2-run double from the red hot Chipper, and don’t look now but the game is tied.  Deciding that Scherzer is toast, the Nats move to Matt Thornton, but injury replacement Randall Simon rips a liner to RF-2 Harper who can’t get to it and then misplays it once he does, and Jones scores; Klesko then rolls a double off Thornton’s card for another run and by the time the Nats record the third out the Braves lead 9-7.  Now with a lead, the Braves try to preserve some use for Rocker if they reach the finals and bring in Mike Remlinger in the bottom of the 7th, and he does the job nicely.  In the 9th, he gets two outs and then in an effort to preserve him for later rounds, the Braves give the ball to Rudy Seanez to try to get the final out, PH Clint Robinson rolls a SI 1-11 but can’t make the split and the Braves survive a scare with a 9-7 win, with more than half of their hits and runs coming in one inning.  

Another quality matchup in this regional between a pennant-winning 1997 Indians team, and a better-ranked 2023 Braves team that didn’t win a pennant but perhaps should have.  The Braves won 104 games and everyone in the lineup had a SLG% over .400 with more than half over .500, including NL MVP Ronald Acuna, Matt Olson who finished 4th and Austin Riley who polled 7th for MVP; the cherry on top was 20-game winner Spencer Strider (20-5, 3.86) who perhaps deserved better than his 4th place finish in the Cy Young voting.  The Indians won the AL Central with 86 wins and took the pennant but were defeated by the Marlins in an epic Series; they had some offensive weapons of their own with David Justice and Jim Thome finishing in the top 10 for MVP, but their rotation was lackluster with Charles Nagy (15-11, 4.28) probably the best option.  When Michael Harris leads off the top of the 1st with a monumental home run for the Braves, a collective “uh-oh” goes up from the Cleveland crowd, and it gets louder later in the inning when Riley clouts a 2-run shot off Nagy’s HR split.  The Braves load the bases in the 3rd with nobody out, and one run scores on a Riley grounder, which leaves two runners on base that trot home on an Ozzie Albies homer and the dazed Indians signal for the entire bullpen to begin warming up.  But Nagy seems to recover his form a bit, and Manny Ramirez shows why he probably deserved an MVP vote or two with a 3-run blast in the 4th, Marquis Grissom finds Strider’s HR split for a 2-run shot, and suddenly we have a ballgame.  But Eddie Rosario swats a 2-run homer in the 6th to extend the Atlanta lead and Nagy is gone for Paul Assenmacher, who takes his turn getting beat around in the 7th with a solo Olson homer and another run scoring on an Albies grounder that makes it 11-5.  Brian Giles records an RBI single for the Indians in the 7th and Tony Fernandez adds another in the 8th as Cleveland tries to sneak back into the game, but in the top of the 9th Riley singles in a run for his 4th RBI of the game, Albies hits a sac fly for his 5th RBI, and although Omar Vizquel leads off the bottom of the 9th with a double, he goes nowhere as Strider finishes out a rather ugly complete game 13-7 win, although he does strike out 12 in the process, and the Indians meet the fate of so many other pennant winners with a trip back to storage after the first round.  

The 1995 Red Sox held some sentimental attachment for me, as I’d spent a sabbatical across the Charles in ‘95 and ‘96 and took my oldest son to a bunch of games at Fenway, and to this day he remains a Red Sox fan.  They were a solid team that went 86-56 in a strike shortened year to win the AL East, but they were quickly eliminated in the postseason.  They had the AL MVP in Mo Vaughn and John Valentin finished 9th in that vote, while Tim Wakefield (16-8, 2.95) finished 3rd for the Cy Young, although the rotation was shallow and the defense atrocious in spots.  Although teams to which I have an attachment are usually doomed in this tournament, the Red Sox had the good fortune to draw the #8 seed, the 2002 Padres, who lost 96 games.  The Padres had Ryan Klesko, who had already made an appearance earlier in this regional with the Braves, as their main offensive weapon and Brian Lawrence (12-12, 3.69) sat atop a rotation that would sorely need Trevor Hoffman out of the bullpen.  But sure enough, the jinx rapidly becomes evident in the top of the 1st when Padres leadoff hitter Ramon Vazquez converts a TR 1-7 split, Wakefield walks Mark Kotsay, and then Klesko converts a HR 1-2 split and it’s 3-0 with nobody out.  Tom Lampkin adds an RBI single before the inning is out and it’s looking like there won’t be a third straight regional title for the Red Sox.  Bubba Trammell extends the lead with a long solo homer in the 3rd, and Kotsay picks up an RBI in the 4th by converting a DO 1-4/flyB, but bad SD defense sets up a 2-out 2-run double by Luis Alicea in the bottom of the inning to cut the Padres lead to 6-2.  Vaughn adds a sac fly in the 7th to make it a three run game, and Wakefield finds his knuckler and finishes the game with five hitless innings, but the damage is already done and the Padres move on with the 6-3 upset.

The survivors

The 1999 Braves and John Smoltz (11-8, 3.19) attempt to continue their march to the regional title as the nominal favorite, but an unexpectedly taxed bullpen and without the big bat of injured catcher Javy Lopez.   Once again they would face a quality opponent, this time the 2023 Blue Jays who were at full strength with Chris Bassitt (16-8, 3.60), who led the AL in wins and finished 10th in Cy Young votes.  The Braves load the bases with nobody out in the bottom of the 2nd, but Bassitt hounds the next two batters with strikeouts and escapes the jam with no damage.  But the Braves are relentless, as in the 3rd they score on a Chipper Jones single and a Brian Hunter RBI double; then with two outs 1B-4 Vlad Guerrero Jr. drops one to let in another run, and 2B-2 Cavan Biggio lets an RBI single go by him as it’s some bad fielding by the nepo babies to provide Atlanta with a 4-0 lead.  An RBI single for Ryan Klesko in the 7th releases the Bassitt and closer Jordan Romano is brought in, but he walks defensive replacement Walt Weiss with the bases loaded and then allows a single to Eddie Perez that scores another, but 1-11+2 Brian Hunter is cut down at the plate trying for more.  Smoltz, however, needs no more as he finishes up the 7-0 whitewashing, the second game in a row where the Jays were 3-hit meaning that they can’t hit any better for me than they could for Eaglesfly in round one.  Meanwhile, these Braves will sit back and watch the second semifinal game where their modern counterparts will attempt to make it an all-Atlanta final. 

The bottom-seeded 2002 Padres had managed to survive and advance, but now they faced a top 75 team of all time in the 2023 Braves who had Bryce Elder (12-4, 3.81) going against SD’s Brett Tomko (10-10, 4.49), with both bullpens fully rested.  Sean Murphy puts the Braves on top with a 2-out RBI triple in the 2nd, but they get bad news when 3B Austin Riley is hurt for the tournament in the 4th, with remarkably little depth at the position for a contemporary team.  Meanwhile, a Tom Lampkin single ties the game in the bottom of the 4th, but the Braves push back ahead on a 2-out RBI single from Matt Olson in the 6th.  However, in the bottom of the inning it’s Phil Nevin with a 2-run homer that gives the Padres their first lead of the game, and a nervous Atlanta summons Jesse Chavez from the pen who ends the inning.  Tomko is cruising until two away in the 8th, when Marcell Ozuna crushes a long solo homer to tie things up again and it’s time for Trevor Hoffman to come in, and although he allows two hits he strikes out injury replacement Nicky Lopez to keep the tie intact.  He then blows through the Braves in the top of the 9th to give the Padres a chance at a walk-off, but Chavez holds on and sends the game to extra innings.  Neither team can do anything in the 10th, but in the top of the 11th Ronald Acuna walks, steals second, and scores on a 2-out Ozzie Albies single, so it’s up to closer Raisel Iglesias to try to hold the lead in the bottom of the inning.  He does so, and these Braves survive to move on to an all-Atlanta final.  

This would be a high-profile regional final featuring two top 75 teams, both with nearly identical ELO ratings, both from Atlanta, both featuring the NL MVP, and both suffering key injuries to .500+ SLG% regulars on the way to this faceoff.  The 2023 Braves had to start Charlie Morton (14-12, 3.64) as their last 100+ IP starter, and although he wasn’t a bad option, his control problems could be an issue.  Meanwhile, the 1999 Braves had a choice between two Hall of Fame starters, but neither had one of their better years; Greg Maddux (19-9, 3.57) would get the start despite posting one of the worst WHIPs of his career by allowing nearly 11 hits per nine innings.  Both pitchers are in command early; Maddux gets lucky in the bottom of the 5th when Orlando Arcia (1-11+2) is nailed at the plate trying to score on a Michael Harris two-out single.  In the top of the 6th, the ‘99s get a walk from Andruw Jones and a double from Gerald Williams to put runners on 2nd and 3rd with one out; with runs being apparently tight, the 23s bring in the infield and Bret Boone promptly rolls the gbA++ for a 2-run single.  That lead lasts until the bottom of the inning when a 2-run blast by Ozzie Albies ties things up, but with the ice now broken injury replacement Eddie Perez pokes a 2-run shot of his own in the top of the 7th and the 99s regain the lead.  The celebration is quickly dampened when the next batter, RF Brian Jordan, is injured for 5 games, although Chipper Jones crushes a solo shot before the inning is out in honor of his fallen comrade and the 99s lead is 5-2.  But Eddie Rosario leads off the bottom of the inning with a long homer, Harris adds another solo shot, and the 99s decide to turn to controversial closer John Rocker to try to hold the one-run edge, and he whiffs Marcell Ozuna to end the inning.  In the top of the 8th, a walk and a Brian Hunter double puts two runners in scoring position, and both the infield and closer Raisel Iglesias come in; but defensive replacement SS Walt Weiss finds a solid triple at a 2-2 roll, and Weiss then scores when 2B-3 Albies drops a grounder from .205 hitting injury replacement Otis Nixon.  Rudy Seanez is then summoned by the 99s to pitch the 9th while preserving Rocker, and he does the job as the 1999 Braves best their more modern counterparts to take the regional with an 8-4 win.  They become the 7th Braves team but the first from their great 1990s run to capture a regional, although with two key long-term injuries, they face a challenging future in the tournament..

Interesting card of Regional #236:  With an all-Braves final where both versions featured the NL MVP, those being 1999 Chipper Jones and 2023 Ronald Acuna, you might think they would have priority over a guy who only came in second for NL MVP, and who played for a team that got shut out in round one while this player rolled every result on the pitcher’s card.  Still, how could I resist the formidable card of Slammin’ Sammy Sosa, the only player in baseball history to clear 60+ homers in a season three times–but he didn’t win the HR crown in any of those seasons.  Sammy was plucked out of the Rangers minor league system by White Sox GM Larry Hines; as a White Sox fan I remember Sammy’s early seasons with them as largely disappointing, but when Sox owner Jerry Reinsdorf fired Hines, probably for making some competent trades for the first time in franchise history, Hines took the same job with the hated Cubs and almost immediately engineered a trade for Sosa, and the rest was history.  In the five-year period from 1998 through 2002 Sosa averaged 58 homers a year, by far the best in MLB history.  However, his career took a dive after 2004, perhaps because (a) his bats were closely monitored after one broke in a game to reveal that it had been corked, and (b) his PED test results were closely monitored after rumors indicated that he had tested positive.  At the end of the 2004 season, as the Cubs endured another late season collapse, Sosa requested out of the lineup and left the ballpark, spelling the end of his career on the North Side.  With those various checkmarks against him, his 10 years of eligibility for the Hall of Fame expired in 2022 when he peaked at only 18.5% of the vote; deserving or not, his name is on some of the best Strat cards in my collection–unlike certain other cards that shall remain nameless.

REGIONAL #235:  For the third regional in a row, the draw included two Red Sox teams, giving the franchise a good chance to follow up on their triumph in the previous bracket; they looked particularly good because one had won the AL the prior season, while the other had taken the pennant two years earlier.  Other squads that captured my eye were a steroid-era Giants team that had someone a few doses away from the HR record, and a Marge Schott-era Reds a few years before they took the NL pennant.  There was also a White Sox team that would try to survive the first round, which seemed doable against a Tigers team that was in the midst of some seasons of record-setting ineptitude.   In the last group I picked the wrong Red Sox team to win it all, so I figured I’d try again, selecting the 2014 version of Boston to handle the Giants in the final.  According to the ELO rankings, it would actually be an all-Red Sox final, but those ratings picked the other Red Sox entry as the favorite.

First round action

The 2014 Red Sox turned out to have a pretty good ELO ranking considering they lost 91 games, but aside from David Ortiz’s 35 homers the lineup wasn’t much to brag about, and John Lackey (11-7, 3.60) was pretty much the only good starting pitcher they had.  They still looked more than two wins better than the 93-loss 2022 Marlins, who only had one regular with an OBP over .300, although Jesus Luzardo (4-7, 3.32) was not a terrible option on the hill.  Boston shows its issues in the bottom of the 1st when a 2-base error by RF-3 Daniel Nava turns into a run on a Bryan De La Cruz single, but they are denied another run in the 2nd when 1-12 Miguel Rojas is nailed at the plate on a 13 split.  Big Papi Ortiz leads off the top of the 4th with a moon shot HR that ties the game, and AJ Pierzynski leads off the 5th with a knock that barely clears the wall but counts just as much, and the Red Sox move in front.  Four batters later, Ortiz crushes another, this one a 2-run shot, and then Yoenis Cespedes goes back to back and Jesus just left the mound, with Steven Okert getting a try.  Errors by 3B-2 Joey Wendle and P-5 Okert lead to two more Boston runs in the 7th, and Cespedes adds an RBI single in the top of the 9th that leaves him a triple short of a cycle.  Meanwhile, Lackey doesn’t allow a hit after the 6th and he cruises to an 8-1 victory as this version of the Red Sox does their job and moves on.  

The 2009 White Sox were well into decline after their only championship in my lifetime, finishing under .500 at 79-83; they were hoping to get some more mileage out of Paul Konerko and Jim Thome, while they tapped Gavin Floyd (11-11, 4.06) for the start.   Although the Sox might have had better starting options and a jinx to overcome, they couldn’t help but be somewhat confident against a bad 2002 Tigers team that lost 106 games, with nobody over 20 homers, plenty of fielding holes, and a rotation that got pretty gruesome after Mark Redman (8-15, 4.21).   But it’s the Sox bats that start out in full jinx mode, while the Tigers get a run in the bottom of the 4th on a Shane Halter RBI double to draw first blood.  Robert Fick singles in another in the 5th to make it 2-0 Tigers, but Gordon Beckham gets the Sox on the board in the 6th with a solo homer that barely clears the wall.  A leadoff single off Floyd’s card in the bottom of the 6th and the Sox can’t afford any more damage, so Matt Thornton is brought in and he immediately yields a triple to Halter, although Thornton does manage to strand Halter to keep the score at 3-1 Detroit.  In the top of the 8th, Scott Podsednik raps a 2-out double and races home on a Beckham single to make it a one-run game, and the Tigers move to closer Juan Acevedo but Jim Thome greets him with a colossal two-run homer and the Sox take the lead on the two-out rally.  The Sox ponder trying to preserve Thornton for later rounds, but opt to burn him for the regional, and he closes out the bottom of the 9th despite allowing a double on a missed HR 1-4 split to Brandon Inge, and the Sox survive the first round with a come from behind 4-3 win.  

According to the ELO rankings, this was the marquee matchup of this regional with the #1 seed 1988 Red Sox facing off against the #2 seeded 1999 Giants in the first round.   Those Red Sox went 89-73 to win the AL East but were swept in the ALCS; they had three guys in the top 10 MVP vote getters including Mike Greenwell (2nd), the league’s leading hitter in Wade Boggs (6th), and Dwight Evans (9th), and to add to the mix Roger Clemens (18-12, 2.93) led the league in strikeouts to finish 6th for the Cy Young.  For the 86-76 Giants, Jeff Kent and Barry Bonds, who seemed to miss a good chunk of the season given his 1-10 injury roll, both received MVP votes, although after Russ Ortiz (18-9, 3.81) the rotation began to look like a product of the steroid era.  Round one of the juiced Clemens/Bonds matchup goes to the not-yet-nameless one, who crushes a two-run homer in the top of the 1st to quickly quiet the Boston crowd.  However, they rapidly recover as Ortiz walks the first three Red Sox batters in the bottom of the inning, and then Dwight Evans raps a 2-run single and the game is tied.  Another walk re-loads the bases, and this time it’s Marty Barrett with a single and a pair of RBI, which is then followed by a missed Rich Gedman HR split that’s still good for a double and another two runs.  Ortiz settles down after that, but when the Bosox start the 6th with a walk and a single the Giants move to Alan Embree out of the pen, but Wade Boggs slaps an RBI single to extend Boston’s lead to 7-2.   Clemens doesn’t allow a hit for five innings but in the 9th he has trouble getting the 3rd out, as Ellis Burks (starting in the outfield for both teams) hits a 2-run homer for the Giants and then they poke a couple more hits until 3B-2 Boggs makes a stellar defensive play to finally record the final out in the 7-4 Red Sox win.  

The 1986 Reds were the #3 seed in this bracket with an 86-76 record, and they would be carrying the torch as one of the final teams with die-cut cards to enter the tournament.  Their offense was led by Dave Parker and Eric Davis who finished 5th and 12th, respectively, in the MVP votes, and although their rotation fronted by Bill Gullickson (15-12, 3.38) was not spectacular, there was quality in the bullpen.  The 2006 Orioles were hardly a formidable opponent; they did have a pretty good DP combo with Brian Roberts and MVP vote getter Miguel Tejada but the rotation after Erik Bedard (15-11, 3.76) was pretty sorry.  Parker puts the Reds up quickly in the bottom of the 1st with a two run single, and in the 3rd Kal Daniels triples past terrible LF-4 Brandon Fahey and the O’s try to cut off damage by bringing in the infield, which promptly results in a ++ RBI single for Davis.  The Orioles can’t get anything going against Gullickson until the 8th, when they get a run as PH Jeff Conine grounds into a DP, and although Bedard holds the Reds to five hits despite his rough start, the Reds wrap up the 3-1 win and head to the semifinals.  

The survivors

A semifinal between Sox of the different color, the 2014 Red Sox and 2009 White Sox were pretty evenly matched by ELO ratings that seemed better than their W-L records deserved.  Although the ChiSox had a jinx to overcome, they had a pitching advantage with Mark Buehrle (13-10, 3.84) sporting a better card than Rubby de la Rosa (4-8, 4.43), although Boston’s pen was fully rested while Chicago’s best reliever was burnt for the duration of the bracket.  Boston begins the top of the 2nd with four straight baserunners, and two of them score, one on a DP ball hit by AJ Pierzynski who is the starting catcher for both teams. The Red Sox get another run in the 3rd when Dustin Pedroia and David Ortiz both double off Buerle’s card, and next time around in the 5th Ortiz converts Buerle’s HR result for a two-run shot and a 5-0 Boston lead.  The White Sox break the ice with a run on a pair of doubles from Alexei Ramirez and Chris Getz in the bottom of the frame,   Getz continues his hot hand with a homer to lead off the bottom of the 8th, but Pedroia counters with an RBI single in the top of the 9th and Chicago has no answer as Boston aims for an all-Red Sox final with the routine 6-2 win.  

It was up to the top seeded 1988 Red Sox to try to make it an all-Boston final, but their Rocket was spent in the first round and Mike Boddicker (13-15, 3.39) wasn’t bad but he was no Clemens.  Standing in their way were the 1986 Reds and Tom Browning (14-13, 3.81), but Boston begins the top of the 1st with two straight singles against Browning and then Mike Greenwell clears the fence, Dwight Evans goes back to back, and there is a 4-0 Red Sox lead before the Reds can get anybody out.  However, Boston leaves the bases loaded in the 2nd without scoring a run and you can feel the momentum shift, as the Reds rattle off three straight singles to begin the bottom of the inning followed by a missed HR split from Nick Esasky, but three runs score on the resulting double and it’s a one run game.  Boston reclaims the momentum in the top of the 3rd as Rich Gedman finds his 2-11 homer result for a 2-out 2-run shot to extend their lead, but the Reds get one of those back when Eric Davis doubles past 1B-4 Larry Parrish and scores on a Buddy Bell single.  Browning seems to have settled down but in the 6th Ellis Burks finds Browning’s solid HR result for a solo blast and John Franco is summoned from the pen to try to keep the Reds in the game.  Boston is denied a run in the 7th when Marty Barrett misses a 2-out HR 1-10 split and then 1-12+2 Jody Reed is out at the plate with a 15 split, but Barrett gets some measure of revenge by turning a key DP to end the bottom of the inning.  Gedman is injured to lead off the 8th and he’s likely out for the tournament, but Burks avenges that loss with his second solo HR of the game and Boddicker hangs on to complete the 8-4 Red Sox win, so it’s time to decorate Fenway for a regional final between two home teams.  

Two of Boston’s finest pair off for the regional crown with the top-seeded 1988 Red Sox facing the #4 seeded 2014 Red Sox to determine which version would follow up on the regional win by yet another Red Sox squad in the previous bracket.  The strong ranking of the ‘88s was evidenced by their third round starter, Bruce Hurst (18-6, 3.66), actually finishing 5th in the Cy Young balloting; the 2014s were less fortunate as Jake Peavy (1-9, 4.72) didn’t have one of his better years and his .100 winning percentage didn’t exactly inspire confidence.  However, I didn’t like the placement of Hurst’s HR split at 5-8, and sure enough Big Papi Ortiz rolls and converts the split in the top of the 1st for a 2-run shot and a quick lead for the underdog 2014s.  It doesn’t last long as Mike Greenwell finds and converts Peavy’s HR split for a game-tying two-run shot in the bottom of the inning, and in the 2nd a walk and an error by 1B-3 Mike Napoli set up a roll on Peavy’s solid 6-5 HR result for a three-run blast from Marty Barrett.  Before the inning is over, Dwight Evans adds a 2-run double and that’s all for Peavy as Alex Wilson is needed to get the final out.  In the bottom of the 4th, Greenwell victimizes Wilson for his second two-run homer of the game to pad the lead further, but back to back doubles from Mike Napoli and Brock Holt in the 6th followed by a Xander Bogaerts RBI single and the 2014s get those runs back quickly to make the score 9-4 in favor of the elder statesmen.  When Ortiz leads off the 7th with his second homer of the game, the 88s decide to move on from Hurst and summon Bob Stanley from the pen, but he’s victimized by some shoddy fielding and Bogaerts racks up another RBI single to push the score to 9-6.  An RBI single by Yoenis Cespedes narrows the gap even further and Stanley is yanked for Lee Smith, who records a clutch strikeout to maintain the two-run lead.  In the meantime, 2014 closer Koji Uehara has been keeping the ‘88s at bay with three hitless innings, so the game enters the 9th with 2014 still down by two and Lee Arthur Smith trying to hold serve.  Smith walks PH Christian Vazquez but he goes nowhere and the 1988 Red Sox take the regional as the top seed with the 9-7 win, the 12th for the franchise and the second from the 80s, joining 1983.  Mike Greenwell’s three homers and seven RBI in the bracket make him the choice for regional MVP, although a solid team effort was essential to successively knock off the #2, #3, and #4 seeds on the challenging path to the bracket crown.

Interesting card of Regional #235:  After playing 1,880 different teams in this tournament thus far, I have just about run out of teams from the die-cut era of cards, which regretfully ended with the 1986 season.   This feature will honor that milestone with a pretty good “additional player” from that year, rookie Tracy Jones, who saw very limited action in the Reds’ two games in this regional because (a) he was not eligible to start with under 100 AB and (b) they already had a formidable DH candidate in younger rookie Kal Daniels.  Of course, manager Pete Rose might have been advised to play Jones at 1B instead of himself, wasting 237 AB on his feeble .219 batting average; I would wager Rose was trying to put some distance between himself and Ty Cobb, whose hit record he had just broken in the previous September.   But Rose finally retired at the end of ‘86 and Jones did pretty well in more appearances the following season, but at that point he seemingly became trade fodder, getting shipped off in mid-season in three straight seasons from 1988 to 1990 with his hitting skills getting worse with each move before he finally hung up the spikes in probable frustration in 1991.  Aside from having that attractive old-style card pattern, the card is noteworthy in that it was badly centered, as were many of the additional players in 1986; his bottom row of statistics is barely on the card.  I’m wondering if these issues had anything to do with the game company’s decision to go to the perforated card sheets for the following season–although I’m not a fan of the perfed cards, I have to admit that I haven’t seen printing alignment issues comparable to these in the 37+ season sets that I’ve bought from Strat since then.

REGIONAL #234:  Another two leagues, the 1994 and 2007 American League, saw their final entries in the tournament selected in this group, and in both instances it was the Red Sox that would provide the grand finale for those seasons, still smarting from a pair of semifinal losses in the previous regional..  One of those Boston teams was a World Series winner and looked like the team to beat in this group. The other double entry here was the A’s, with two teams from the 2010s that I suspected weren’t very good, unlike the Red Sox tandem.  Among the other contestants were a Phillies team a few years away from what emerged as a mini-dynasty in this tournament and a pretty modern Toronto squad that probably wasn’t too bad, along with Padres and Indians teams thatI suspected were mediocre.  My hunch here was that the 2007 version of the Red Sox would make up for those that fell short in Regional #233 and take the finals, perhaps over the Phillies.  The ELO rankings were quite enthusiastic about my pick of 2007 Boston, ranking them among the top 75 teams of all time, but predicted they would beat the Padres to win the regional, but with their greatest challenge being the Blue Jays in a potential semifinal matchup.

First round action

The 2004 Padres were the #3 seed in this bracket, with the NL ERA leader in Jake Peavy (15-6, 2.27) on the hill and 2B Mark Loretta getting some MVP votes for his .886 OPS as a middle infielder.  They faced a 1994 Red Sox team that went 54-61 in a strike-shortened season, as although they had a variety of offensive weapons, they had some rough spots on defense and other than Roger Clemens (9-7, 2.85) the pitching staff was pretty rough.  It doesn’t take long for the Red Sox to get on the board, as Otis Nixon leads off the bottom of the 1st with a single, steals second, and scores when a grounder back to Peavy gets thrown into the dugout for a two-base error.  They give the run back in the top of the 2nd with a 2-base error from CF-2 Nixon and an RBI single from Terrence Long, and then disaster strikes in the top of the 3rd when Clemens is hurt trying to field a Phil Nevin grounder and Boston is forced to go to a shaky bullpen and Chris Howard.   He gets out of the inning, but then in the bottom of the 4th the Red Sox also lose 3B Scott Cooper for the tournament, and it’s a good thing that Fenway is close to several hospitals because it looks like they’re going to get a lot of business.  However, San Diego proves sympathetic as an error by SS-2 Khalil Greene sets up a two base, two run error by CF Jay Payton, and armed with the two run lead the Sox move to closer Ken Ryan to begin the 6th.  In the bottom of the 6th, Boston loses yet another player to injury, this time C Damon Berryhill; when Nixon raps a double in the 7th, the Padres decide to move on from Peavy and try reliever Scott Linebrink, who promptly yields a double off his card to Mike Greenwell to make it 4-1 Boston.  The Padres get the run back on a two-out RBI double from Brian Giles in the 8th, and then Greene atones for his fielding miscues with another double that scores Giles and it’s a one-run game.  But Ryan makes the most of his final inning of eligibility for the regional and shuts the Padres down in the 9th, and the Red Sox move on with a 4-3 win, but with no bullpen and an injury depleted lineup heading forward.

The ELO ratings for the 2015 A's and the 2002 Phillies were virtually identical, with both teams portrayed as slightly better than average.  The Phils went 80-81 with Bobby Abreu and MVP vote-getter Pat Burrell leading the offense, and Randy Wolf (11-9, 3.20) had a good year to earn the first round start.  The A’s lost 94 games, but their Pythagorean projection suggested that they should have been nearly 10 games better; however, they had holes in their defense and no decent starters after Sonny Gray (14-7, 2.73) who finished 3rd in the Cy Young voting and looked to be the equalizer between the two teams.  The A’s give Gray a quick lead in the top of the 1st on a 2-run double from Stephen Vogt, and they add to it in the 3rd when a Josh Reddick triple, a sac fly from Danny Valencia, and a solo shot from Vogt makes it 4-0 A’s.  Gray is dominating through the 5th, but in the 6th he commits a 2-out 2-base error (P-2) to set up a 2-run single by Placido Polanco and it’s a ballgame again.  A leadoff single in the 7th by Josh Reddick and the Phils are warming up a bad bullpen, but after striking out two straight the Phils think that Wolf is out of the woods–but a 2-run homer by Lawrie sends Wolf packing and closer Jose Mesa has to come in to get the third out.  In the bottom of the 8th A’s SS-4 Marcus Semian drops a Polanco grounder to allow a run to score, but Gray keeps his composure to prevent further damage and the A’s head to the ninth holding a three-run lead.  That proves to be plenty as Gray wraps up the complete game 6-3 win, striking out 12 Phillies in the process and sending the A’s to the semis.

The 2007 Red Sox were the bracket favorite, tapped as one of the 75 best teams of all time having won 96 games, the AL, and sweeping the World Series.  The offense was impressive, led by David Ortiz and Mike Lowell who were #4 and #5 in the MVP votes, and Josh Beckett (20-7, 3.27) won 20 games and was runner-up for the Cy Young.  All of this seemed to spell trouble for the 78-84 1988 Indians, who had little punch past Joe Carter and Cory Snyder, although Greg Swindell (18-14, 3.20) was credible at the top of the rotation and had the potential to keep Cleveland in the game.  Back to back errors by SS-3 Julio Lugo and 1B-1 Kevin Youklis set up a Cory Snyder sac fly in the bottom of the 1st, and then an RBI double from Joe Carter is followed by a 2-run tape measure blast by DH Ron Kittle to provide a quick 4-0 lead for the underdog Indians.  The Red Sox rapidly cut that margin to two in the top of the 2nd on a Jason Varitek RBI single and a run-scoring fielder’s choice by Coco Crisp, but Willie Upshaw responds in the bottom of the inning with an RBI single and Cleveland leads 5-2.  The Red Sox then commit back to back errors with two out in the 3rd by 2B-2 Dustin Pedroia and 3B-2 Mike Lowell, setting up a 2-run double from Brook Jacoby off Beckett’s card and the Red Sox have to try something different, so Hidecki Okajami comes in from the pen to yield a single to Julio Franco and another to Upshaw that gets under Lugo’s glove to make it 8-2 Indians.   Andy Allenson adds an RBI single in the 4th to expand the Cleveland lead even further, but 3B Brook Jacoby is knocked out of the game with an injury, although he’s expected to be available for a likely semifinal game.  Meanwhile, the vaunted Red Sox offense is quiet until the 9th, when Dustin Pedroia singles in a run, but Swindell retires Manny Ramirez with the bases loaded to wrap up the 9-3 win, sending the bracket favorites back into storage having committed five errors to hand away the game.   

The Zoom game of the week involved Toronto partisan Eaglesfly Roy at the helm of the #2 seeded 2022 Blue Jays, while Nacster decided to try his luck with the 2011 A’s who had an undistinguished performance in his 2011 replay.  Roy’s Jays went 92-70 and made the postseason but were quickly eliminated in a wild card game; however, he had an excellent Alek Manoah (16-7, 2.24), 3rd place in the Cy Young voting, on the mound and two nepobabies, Bo Bichette and Vlad Guerrero Jr., received MVP votes.  Nac’s A’s lost 88 games and although Brandon McCarthy (9-9, 3.32) was a solid starter option, there wasn’t much offense to provide run support.  And that became evident, as Manoah went through the A’s order without breaking a sweat, but McCarthy also proved he had plenty of grit, continuously getting out of jams often caused by the terrible A’s defense.  Nac, with no confidence in his offense, tries to manufacture a run when AA stealer Coco Crisp draws a two-out walk in the 8th, so he steals second, steals third, and sets sail to steal home–but he’s out with a 17 split.  Thus the game enters the 9th inning in a scoreless tie, with more action generated by the trivia questions than by any batters for either team.  However, in the 9th once again McCarthy is faced with a jam, this time with the bases loaded and Matt Chapman at the plate, known more for his glove than his bat.  But Chapman delivers a two-run single, providing a lead that looks insurmountable to both Oakland fans in attendance.   Nonetheless, don’t leave for Las Vegas yet, because with one out, 37-year old Hideki Matsui proves there is still life in Godzilla as he swats a solo homer in the bottom of the 9th. But Manoah shakes it off and finishes out a 4-hitter as the Jays eke out the 2-1 win to earn a berth in the semis.

The survivors

With a better version having been eliminated in the first round, the 1994 Red Sox were now carrying the Boston banner by themselves in an effort to reach the regional final.  Having lost Clemens and their starting third baseman to injury, in the first round, the Red Sox must turn to Aaron Sele (8-7, 3.83) with a depleted bullpen unlikely to provide much help.   Meanwhile, the 2015 A’s were at full strength, but Jesse Chavez (7-15, 4.18) was an unimpressive selection for their #2 starter.  The Red Sox strike early with a Mike Greenwell double off Chavez’s card resulting in an RBI single for John Valentin in the top of the 1st.   The A’s, however, are unfazed and respond immediately in the bottom of the inning with back to back RBI doubles from Danny Valencia and Steven Vogt, followed by an RBI single by Bret Lawrie, the first RBI of the game not driven in by a surname beginning with V.  Tim Naehring converts a HR 1-16 split in the top of the 2nd for a solo shot to make it a one-run game, and a 2-base error by Lawrie in the 3rd sets up a Tom Brunansky RBI single, which is followed by a 3-run blast from DH Andre Dawson and Boston has reclaimed the lead by a 6-3 margin.  A leadoff single by Greenwell in the 5th and Chavez is pulled for Tyler Clippard, who walks Mo Vaughn to set up a triple play by John Valentin, a remarkable bit of strategy.  In the 5th Boston suffers its 4th injury of the regional as Dawson is lost for the rest of the bracket; their next batter, C Damon Berryhill also rolls his injury but is able to remain in the game on a 1 split result.  Hesketh’s wildness loads the bases for the A’s in the 6th, but Oakland is only able to convert one run on a Jake Smolinksi sac fly and the Red Sox still lead by a pair.  They extend that in the 7th when A’s RF-2 Josh Reddick commits a 2-base error that allows two runners to score, and a rattled Clippard then grooves one to Mo Vaughn, who launches a moon shot to put Boston in double digits and Fernando Rodriguez takes his turn as the Oakland pitcher.  Oakland tries to respond in the bottom of the inning, as Billy Burns leads off with a triple and he scores on a Reddick single, but Hesketh just needs to be adequate to rest the bullpen and he does so with a 10-5 win to send Boston to the finals.  

The 2022 Blue Jays were the top remaining seed in the semifinals, although their lackluster offensive performance in round one had Eaglesfly threatening to deport the lot of them.  Fortunately for them, the 1988 Indians had eliminated the bracket favorite and were now hoping that Tom Candiotti’s (14-8, 3.28) knuckler would continue Toronto’s woes; the Jays had a solid option in Ross Stripling (10-4, 3.01).  The Indians move ahead when Ron Kittle leads off the 2nd with his second homer of the tournament, but Candiotti gives the run back in the bottom of the inning by fielding a grounder and tossing a knuckler to first that ends up in RF for a two-base error, setting up an RBI sac fly by Lourdes Gurriel that ties the game.  Cleveland reclaims the lead in the 4th with back to back doubles from Ron Washington and Brook Jacoby that make it 4-1 for the Tribe, Jacoby shows that he’s fully recovered from the injury suffered in round one as he notches his third hit of the game in the top of the 9th, an RBI single that provides additional insurance; another single and Stripling is gone for Jays closer Jordan Romano, but his 3B-1 Matt Chapman drops a grounder that loads the bases for Joe Carter, and we all know about his late inning prowess–a 2-8, solid homer for a grand slam and the rout is on.  Candiotti easily disposes of the Jays in the 9th and the underdog Indians are barking all the way to the regional finals with the easy 9-1 win.  

This would be a most unlikely final featuring the only 20th century teams, who were also the bottom two seeds in the regional that had taken somewhat different paths to reach this point.  The 1994 Red Sox had managed to survive four injuries, and they would still be short DH Andre Dawson, 3B Scott Cooper, and #1 starter Roger Clemens in their quest for the crown.  On the other hand, the #8 seeded 1988 Indians had blown out the top two seeds in the bracket, averaging nine runs a game in doing so, and they would be at full strength for the final.  For the Red Sox, Aaron Sele (8-7, 3.83) was mandated for the start given inning shortages caused by the season ending strike, but he was their best option regardless; for the Indians it would be John Farrell (14-10, 4.24) on the mound.  In the top of the 2nd, injury replacement Carlos Rodriguez finds and converts Farrell’s HR split for a 3-run shot, and in the 4th Tim Naehring adds a 2-run blast to make it 5-0 and for the first time in the regional the Indians turn to their pen, going all out with closer Doug Jones.  However, the beatdown doesn’t stop and Jones ends up loading the bases for Mike Greenwell, who continues his torrid tournament pace with his second double of the game that clears the bases.  John Valentin adds an RBI double and by the time Jones records the third out the Red Sox lead 10-0 and even if Cleveland can match their regional average in this game, it won’t be enough.  The Indians begin the comeback attempt by capitalizing on an error by 1B-4 Mo Vaughn that leads to a Willie Upshaw RBI single, and Cory Snyder adds a solo shot in the 8th.  But even though Jones and Brad Havens hold Boston at bay for the final five innings, Sele closes the door on the Indians as Boston’s 10-2 win captures the 11th regional crown for the Red Sox–and they will get Dawson back for their first game of the super-regional, whenever that might occur!

Interesting card of Regional #234:  If someone gets a September callup for their first appearance in the major leagues, it would be nice to take advantage of the opportunity, and Luis Medina certainly did so at age 25 for the regional runner-up Indians.  Posting some big numbers in the minors, there was hope on Lake Erie that Medina would become an offensive force for a franchise that needed one, but it wasn’t to be; he saw limited action for two more seasons, never recording more than 100 ABs in a season, and he finished his major league career with a .205 career average and 10 homers, the majority of which are represented by this card.  In his final stint in 1991, he went 1 for 16 with 7 strikeouts, numbers that would produce a decidedly different card.  Given his limited appearances, in my tournament he was only eligible to appear after five complete innings, and with a red-hot Ron Kittle already at DH for the Indians, he was mainly limited to PH duties, where he only managed four AB in their three games going hitless in those chances.  Even so, I can’t help but ponder what this card might be able to do for those Indians in a full season of plate appearances.  

REGIONAL #233:   It was another 21st century-heavy draw for this bracket, and I didn’t recognize any great teams at first glance.  In terms of pennant proximity, there was a Braves team a few years past their great run in the 90s, a Rockies squad from two years before their lone flag, and a Red Sox group that was three years from a pennant forward and backward.  There was a White Sox team from a few years back that couldn’t be as terrible as the current version, but I was confident that they would make a quick exit; speaking of exits, there was an Expos squad that was about to exit Montreal, and also a pandemic Angels team that might have interesting low-AB versions of a couple high-profile players.  I was at a loss as to who might win this group, but I guessed that the 2010 version of the Red Sox would best the Braves in the final.  The ELO ratings suggested that I got the two teams in the final correct, but that I picked the wrong one, with the Braves emerging as the top seed.    

First round action

Setting the lineups for the 2021 White Sox jogged my memory of watching this good team quickly get knocked out of the ALDS after winning the AL Central an 93 games, earning them the #3 seed in this bracket.  Jose Abreu received a few votes for MVP after winning that award in the prior pandemic year, and Carlos Rodon (13-5, 2.37) came in 5th in the Cy Young ballots to top a solid rotation, so there were flickers of hope that these guys could beat the Sox jinx and survive a few rounds in this tournament.  Their obstacle was the 78-84 2022 Twins, whose offense tailed off quickly after AL batting champion Luis Arraes, Carlos Correa and an oft-injured Byron Buxton, but Sonny Gray (8-5, 3.08) looked strong enough to give them a chance against anyone.  The Sox jinx rears it’s head early as the second batter in the bottom of the 2nd, Jorge Polanco, finds a HR split on Rodon’s card hidden at 6-11 and converts it for a 1-0 lead, but Sox DH Andrew Vaughn evens the score with a solo shot of his own in the top of the 3rd.  Buxton leads off the bottom of the 4th with a homer to restore the Twins to the lead, while Cesar Hernandez tries to respond for the Sox but misses a HR 1-14 split with a 15 roll and gets stranded at second.  The Sox then lose their best player, Luis Robert, for the regional with an injury in the 6th, and in the bottom of the inning Buxton adds insult with another leadoff homer, and after a Correa single the Sox move to their closer, Liam Hendriks.  Hendriks quickly ends the inning but the Twins hold a 3-1 edge after six, although that is quickly cut to 3-2 as Abreu leads off the 7th with the fifth solo homer of the game.  The sixth comes in the form of Twins PH Kyle Garlick, who spices a leadoff shot in the bottom of the inning, but when the Sox knock a pair of two-out singles in the 8th the Twins summon reliever Jovani Moran, who walks the bases full but then whiffs Abreu to end the threat.  In the bottom of the 8th, Buxton leads off and the Sox foolishly pitch to him; he deposits his third leadoff homer of the game into the stands; Nick Gordon later drives in a run of a fielder’s choice for the first non-solo homer score of the game.  The Twins put in Cole Sands to mop up the 9th and he wraps up the 6-2 win that sends Minnesota to the semis and another Sox playoff team back to the storage drawers in the first round.    

Contrary to my pre-regional guesses, the 2002 Braves had declined little from their great teams of the 90s, winning 101 games and the NL East, and they were the top seed in this group with a deadly heart of the order in MVP vote-getters Gary Sheffield and a pair of Joneses, Chipper and Andrew, along with a killer bullpen and an excellent rotation still fronted by Greg Maddux (16-6, 2.62).  However, the 1991 Red Sox were not a team to be taken lightly, as they went 84-78 to earn the #4 seed in this bracket, and they had Cy Young winner Roger Clemens (18-10, 2.62) on the mound as a great equalizer.  Clemens gets into some trouble, loading the bases in the 4th and 5th, but pitches his way out of both jams, and he settles in while Maddux is his usual self and the game proceeds through nine innings in a scoreless pitcher’s duel.  Clemens does his job in the 10th, and Maddux gets two quick outs in the bottom of the inning, but then #9 hitter Luis Rivera singles, and Wade Boggs adds another to push the winning run into scoring position.  That brings up Jody Reed, who rips a hit down the line, Rivera scores easily, and the Red Sox upset the bracket favorite and will play another day, although they’re fresh out of Cy Young winners to get the start.

By the ELO ranks, this first round matchup was between the two worst teams in the regional, but both could be sleepers as the 2005 Rockies were just two years away from a pennant, and the 2020 Angels, who wielded the unpredictability of the pandemic season.   Like many Colorado squads, this Rockies team had offense, with Todd Helton leading the NL in on-base percentage, but they still lost 95 games due to terrible pitching, with Byun-Hyun Kim (5-12, 4.86) the lone eligible starter with an ERA under five.  On the other hand, the Angels had Mike Trout finish 5th in MVP voting with Anthony Rendon and David Fletcher also receiving votes, but Shohei Ohtani hit .190 and Andrew Heany (4-3, 4.46) led the staff in IP with an uninspiring card.  The Angels take flight in the bottom of the 1st when an error by 3B-4 Garrett Atkins sets up a two-run double from Max Stassi on a missed HR 1-15 split; Stassi then scores on a 2-out single from Albert Pujols that drops in front of RF-4 Brad Hawpe and it looks like it might be a long day for the Rockies.  Colorado gets one back in the 3rd when two straight singles off Heaney’s card set up a sac fly by JD Closser, and in the 4th Atkins atones with a two-out double that scores Helton to make it a one run game.  They continue their comeback in the 5th when Jorge Piedra rips a liner past 1b-4 Pujols for an double that ties the game, but Heaney whiffs Helton with two runners in scoring position to keep things from getting worse.  Tied after five, the Angels go all out on the substitutes for the 6th, including reliever Cam Bedrosian, who comes in to issue a walk to Matt Holliday and then Barmes hits his HR 1-12/DO, misses the split, and 1-14 Holliday is out at the plate.  Atkins then doubles off Bedrosian’s card and the Rockies get their run and take the lead.  However, in the bottom of the 7th 1B-1 Helton drops a grounder and the Rockies seek to preserve their thin margin with reliever Mike DeJean, who quickly ends the threat.  Rockies CF Cory Sullivan leaves the game with a minor injury in the 8th, and in the bottom of the inning Jaret Walsh singles and then RF-4 Piedra misplays a single to put two runners in scoring position with one out and Ohtani up.  In comes the infield and Colorado closer Brian Fuentes to try to save the game.  Ohtani lofts one to CF-2 injury replacement Larry Bigbie, who makes a great play and the runner must hold at third, with now two away.  Up to the plate steps Fletcher, who already has three hits on the day, and he rips a solid double on his own card and the Angels regain the lead.  So it’s now up to Angels closer Mike Mayers against the heart of the Rockies order; Helton knocks a one-out double, Mayers retires another and it’s up to Barmes, who laces a single, 1-12+2 Helton sets sail for home and…..19, he’s out by a mile and the Angels rely on some divine split die intervention to survive and move on.  

With the bracket’s top seed already knocked out, the 89-win 2010 Red Sox now become the regional favorite, armed with a fearsome heart of the lineup led by MVP vote-getting Adrian Beltre, and Clay Buchholz (17-7, 2.33) had his career year to finish 6th in the Cy Young sweepstakes.  The 2004 Expos lost 95 games but the Montreal fans came out to say goodbye to the franchise as it would relocate to Washington the following season; there wasn’t too much to cheer for on the roster, although Livan Hernandez (11-15, 3.60) was a decent option for the first round start.  In the top of the 1st, a Dustin Pedroia double sets up a sac fly from Kevin Youklis and the Red Sox take a lead that is quickly erased by a Jose Vidro solo shot in the bottom of the inning. In the 3rd, Pedroia slams a 2-out solo homer and Beltre follows with a double and scores on a 2-base error by Expos SS-2 Orlando Cabrera.  Pedroia crushes his second homer of the game in the 5th, a 2-run shot, but Hernandez then settles down until he walks two in the top of the 9th and Chad Cordero is summoned from a lackluster bullpen.  He promptly yields an RBI single to Youklis off the pitcher’s card, and Buchholz wraps up a 7-hit performance in the bottom of the 9th to send the Expos packing to Washington and send the Red Sox to the semifinals.

The survivors

Both the 1991 Red Sox and the 2022 Twins upset better-ranked teams in the first round, and although Boston had needed a Cy Young winning Clemens to do so, their second round starter, swingman Joe Hesketh (12-4, 3.29), wasn’t too bad either.  For the Twins, Joe Ryan 13-8, 3.55) had only two complete hits on his card, but both of them involved homers, and their bullpen had already seen some work in round one and could use a rest.  In the top of the 3rd, the Twins load the bases with two our for Byron Buxton, who had hit three homers in the round 1 game; a cautious Hesketh walks him to score a run, and then Carlos Correa rips a double; two runners score and 1+16+2 Buxton heads for home, but the split is a 19 and the inning is over, but the Twins still lead 3-0.   Buxton atones by hitting a double in the 5th, and scoring easily on a Gio Urshela single to extend the lead, and Boston’s dwindling chances don’t look any better when CF Ellis Burks is lost for the remainder of the tournament with an injury to lead off the bottom of the inning.  Hesketh settles down and holds the Twins scoreless through the 9th, but Boston can’t get anything going against Ryan until the bottom of the 9th.  There, with two out, Phil Plantier draws a walk and Carlos Quintana pokes a single, and the Red Sox send Jack Clark out to pinch hit.  Clark rolls the 5-9, the solid HR result on Ryan, and all of a sudden it’s a one run game and the Twins are forced to summon reliever Jovani Moran for the second straight game.  And Moran fans Tom Brunansky to stave off the Red Sox and send the unheralded Twins to the finals with the 4-3 win.   

The previous semifinal eliminated any chance of an all-Red Sox final, but hopes for a regional title were still shining brightly in Boston as the 2010 Red Sox were the better of their two entries, and they were facing a #7 seed in the 2020 Angels.  Fortunately for the Angels, their second starter in terms of IP was also their best starter, Dylan Bundy (6-3, 3.29), although the Red Sox had Jon Lester (19-9, 3.25) who finished 4th in the Cy Young voting, so this was a high quality pitching matchup for a semifinal game.  The dice don’t seem to be going Boston’s was early, as JD Drew leads off the bottom of the 1st by missing his HR 1-10 split with an 11, and he gets stranded while offensive weapon Kevin Youklis is knocked out of the tournament with an injury.  Justin Upton then crushes a 2-run homer over the Green Monster in the 2nd to give the Angels a 2-0 lead, but injury replacement Jed Lowrie contributes an RBI single, Adrian Beltre adds another, and Big Papi David Ortiz lofts a sac fly to give the Red Sox the lead after three innings.  From there, the pitching duel begins to materialize, at least until the top of the 8th when David Fletcher converts a two-out SI 1-8 off Lester’s card, which brings up Mike Trout, who deposits it into the Lansdowne Street netting as the Angels regain the lead.  However, in the bottom of the inning, Beltre raps a base hit, and with two out backup C Jason Varitek rolls his HR 1-7/DO split–which he misses, and 1-12+2 Beltre heads for home representing the tying run.  But again the split die finds the Red Sox annoying, with a 15 roll that has Beltre out by a hair to end the inning.  And that is their last gasp, as Bundy sets them down in order with SS-1 Andrelton Simmons handling the last out of the game to send the Angels to the final with a 4-3 victory that is their second straight come-from-behind win fueled by the consistent cooperation of the split die.

The regional final was an unlikely pairing between the #5 seeded 2022 Twins and the #7 seed 2020 Angels, both fresh off semifinal wins over more highly ranked Red Sox teams.  Given their real life performance, the Angels’ #3 starter, Griffin Canning (2-3, 3.99) was surprisingly good, while the Twins were not as fortunate with Tyler Mahle (6-8, 4.40) having some trouble with the longball.  The Angels strike in the bottom of the 1st with an Anthony Rendon sac fly scoring Mike Trout, but in the top of the 4th the Twins get an RBI triple followed by a 2-run homer, both off Canning’s card, and take a 3-1 lead.  When Canning yields a single and a walk in the 6th, the Angels try to keep things in reach for their typical late inning miracles and give reliever Cam Bedrosian that task.  However, PH Matt Wallner strokes an RBI single to pad the lead, but 2B Jorge Polanco ends the inning with an injury that knocks him out of the game.  However, Mahle doesn’t need him, as he completely recovers from his first inning jitters and dominates the Angels the rest of the way to lock down the 4-1 win and provide the 8th regional win for the Twins, with three of them coming from teams since 2017.

Interesting card of Regional #233:  In playing this regional, I gained a little more insight into the question of how a team with Mike Trout and Shohei Ohtani can be so unsuccessful, but perhaps the 2020 pandemic season wasn’t a good one to generalize from.  My assumption had been pretty much that it was those two and a host of minor leaguers, but the pandemic Angels had a pretty good rotation, and although some of the regulars at the bottom of the order couldn’t clear the Mendoza line, there were some quality substitutes, including a 26-year old rookie by the name of Jared Walsh.  Although he qualified as a rookie in 2020, he did see some limited action with the Angels in 2019, where they tried to duplicate their Ohtani magic by using Walsh as a two-way player where he recorded a 1.80 ERA in five relief appearances (although 1.800 WHIP).   For 2020, the Angels went the Babe Ruth route and just let him bat, and lo and behold the result was a card of Ruthian proportions.  In this project, a player must have 100 AB in order to start at the DH, and Walsh fell just short of that threshold, although he played enough in that 60-game season to get a fair amount of support in the Rookie of the Year balloting.  Nonetheless, by tournament rules he had to wait until the 6th inning to get this attractive card into the lineup, and he didn’t do much in his limited opportunities in this regional.  He did go on to have an excellent season in the following year as a full time player, hitting 29 homers and making the All-Star team, and it seemed that the Angels had come up with an important piece to complement their two superstars.  However, as sometimes is the case with 26 year old rookies, he pretty much crashed and burned in succeeding seasons after his fast start and the Angels let him leave as a free agent, and he signed with the Rangers where he's off to a lackluster start this season in Arlington.