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.