SUPER-REGIONAL K:   This group of 64 began with only two pennant-winners, and neither of them made it to the super-regional stage, leaving an eclectic mix that included the only deadball-era team to win a regional, the Astros squad from immediately before their first (and presumably last) NL pennant, and two different Indians teams from 60 years apart.  One of those Cleveland squads was one immediately prior to the 2013 version that fell one run short of winning the prior super-regional and my hunch was that they would get another shot in a final, this time against those Astros, but I suspected that the Killer Bs on the Astros would sting the Indians with another near-miss.   The ELO ratings indicated that this group had some of the worst squads to win regionals in this tournament, one of which was apparently those 2012 Indians.  In other words, it looked like I had put my money on the wrong Indians team by far, as they predicted those 1951 Indians who were midway between two great Cleveland pennant-winners would best the Astros in the final.

Round four action

The 1968 Reds were a few years away from the machine that they became, going 83-79 but winning Regional #81 with a couple of upsets; George Culver (11-16, 3.23) was decent enough, but closer Clay Carroll had to rest following two straight saves to clinch the regional.  For the 88-win 1997 Dodgers, it would be Tom Candiotti (10-7, 3.60) and his knuckleball getting the start, with their steroid-era power going against a Reds lineup enfeebled by the Year of the Pitcher.  The Dodgers open the bottom of the 1st just like they drew it up:  AA stealer Eric Young singles, steals second on C-2 Johnny Bench, and scores on a Brett Butler single for a quick lead.  However, Bench doubles in the top of the 2nd and scores on a 2-base error by LA LF-2 Roger Cedeno to tie the game, and from there both starting pitchers settle in.  It’s not until the bottom of the 8th when a 2-out rally puts runners on 2nd and 3rd for the Dodgers that the Reds call for submariner Ted Abernathy out of the pen, but he issues a walk to bring up the top of the order in Young.  He brings the depth charges and finds a double on Abernathy’s card, scoring two but 1-12+2 Eric Anthony ends the inning at the plate trying to score a third run.  The game now rests on Candiotti’s knuckles, and he’s tossing a 3-hitter.  However, he walks Tony Perez to begin the 9th, and then a knuckler doesn’t as Bench finds that solid 6-5 homer on Candiotti to tie the game and Darren Dreifort comes in and avoids further damage.  It’s now on Abernathy, but he’s still not fooling anybody, as singles by Piazza and defensive replacement Tripp Cromer put the winning run in scoring position with two away.  Up steps Eric Karros, and he lines a single and 1-9+2 Piazza sets sail for home for the win;  the split is a 6, Piazza is safe, and the Dodgers walk off with a 4-3 win, outhitting Cincy 13 to 5 but committing three errors in the process.

The 92-win 2004 Astros came within Game 7 of the NLCS of winning a pennant, a feat they would accomplish the following season.  Unfortunately, they were ravaged by injuries while winning Regional #84, and they would still be without 1B Jeff Bagwell, SS Adam Everett, and 3B Morgan Ensberg for this round four game.  To make matters worse, their last eligible starter, Tim Redding (5-7, 5.72) was terrible, and supercloser Brad Lidge had to rest after heavy use in the regional final.  So, it was hard to consider them favored over the 1996 Mets, even though the Mets lost 91 games; the Mets at least had no injuries, but they had also burned their closer John Franco in the regional final and Bobby Jones (12-8, 4.42) looked like he should have stuck with golf.  The Mets get four singles in the top of the 2nd, two of them on low split die rolls, and turn that into a 2-0 lead, and an RBI in the 3rd for NY’s Jeff Kent, who is in the lineup for both teams, adds to the lead.  The Mets miss an opportunity in the 4th when 1-12 Edgardo Alfonzo is thrown out at the plate, and the Astros sense that they can’t afford the hole to get any deeper, so Andy Pettitte comes in to begin the 6th.  The Mets get to Pettitte in the 8th for a run driven in by a Lance Johnson single, but the Astros finally solve Jones in the bottom of the inning with three straight hits to break the shutout, and Jones is pulled for Dave Mlicki.   But Houston’s not done yet, as Carlos Beltran singles in another run, steals second, and then it’s the Astros version of Jeff Kent who raps a 2-run single and the game is tied 4-4 heading into the 9th.  Pettitte retires the side for his last inning of eligibility, and Mlicki goes out to start the bottom of the 9th.  The first batter is injury replacement Jason Lane, who rolls a 6-5, HR 1-12/flyB on Mlicki; the split is a 1 and Minute Maid Stadium is feeling the juice as the Astros complete a furious comeback to walk off a 5-4 win.

With #1 son Michael in town visiting, it seemed only right to get him involved in the endless tournament, as it may be his responsibility to finish the project if I drop before it’s over.  Of the choices available, he opts for the 2000 Twins, a 93-loss group of misfits who managed three straight upset wins while capturing Regional #86, although I had to inform him that he was stuck with Joe Mays (7-15, 5.56) as his lone remaining eligible starting pitcher.   As the old man, I would be managing the old team, the 1911 Senators who were the last remaining deadball era squad still afloat in the tournament.  The Senators were a 90-loss team themselves, but at least Bob Groom (13-17, 3.82) was a decent starter, even though the Nats’ leading HR hitter, Doc Gessler, managed only four.   My chances at a tightly pitched game were quickly dashed as the Twins start with a hot hand, rapping five hits in the bottom of the 1st with RBI singles for Corey Koskie and Denny Hocking and a sac fly for Jacque Jones providing a quick 3-0 lead.  However, I was willing to bide my time with Mays providing many tempting targets, and an error by Twins 1B-3 Ron Coomer sets up an run-scoring single by Gessler to cut the lead to 3-1.  Then Mays falls apart in the top of the 5th, with multiple walks and a 2-run double by Tilly Walker result in four Washington runs and a 5-3 lead; Michael pulls Mays for Travis Miller who quiets the Senator bats in his two remaining innings of eligibility.   In the meantime, Groom is keeping things tidy, helped when I suggest that Michael pinch hit AJ Pierzynski for Matt Lecroy, which he does and promptly rolls a 3-2, an out that would have been a Lecroy homer.   But Groom gets into some trouble in the bottom of the 8th, putting two runners on with two out for SS Christian Guzman.   This time I keep my managerial suggestions to myself, and Michael decides to pinch hit with Luis Rivas, who promptly delivers a triple on a missed HR split and the game is tied heading into the 9th.  Bob Wells, pitching for the Twins with an alluring solid HR result at 6-5, manages to escape with a few 6-4 outs and things move to the bottom of the 9th.  Groom is let down by his defense as errors from 3B-3 Wid Conroy and C-2 Gabby Street put the winning run in scoring position with one away.  Up to the plate steps David Ortiz, and the Young Papi singles; 1-12 Koskie heads home with the potential winning run and….he’s out!  Groom now needs to retire Hocking to send the game to extra innings, but Hocking laces a base hit and the winning run trots home to walk off with a comeback 6-5 win as the son beats the father, while also ending the last gasp for the deadball era in this tournament. 

With Cleveland’s own ColavitoFan in attendance, it only seemed natural to have the Zoom game of the week involve the round four matchup between the 1951 Indians and the 2012 Indians, with ColavitoFan opting for the 1951 version, who happened to be the favorite in the super-regional.  They certainly deserved to be favored in this game, as they won 93 games in the regular season and had the great rotation of that era, with Bob Lemon (17-14, 3.52) as an enviable #4 starter.  On the other hand, the 2012 team lost 94 games, had suffered injuries to Travis Hafner and Michael Brantley in the regional that continued to keep them out of an unimpressive lineup, and as their manager I was forced to start Josh Tomlin (5-8, 6.36), who might have had the worst ERA I’d seen out of a starting pitcher in any super-regional.  But they had proved their pluck while battling to win Regional #87, and on lead guitar they had Carlos Santana, whose legend continues to grow in this tournament as he has been mentioned in the historical records of this project 25 different times.  Unexpectedly, a pitching duel broke out as the game was a scoreless tie after five innings, with the two teams only mustering a total of 5 hits during those innings.   After Tomlin survives those five strong innings, I drew jeers from the onlookers by pulling him with a shutout going, and closer Chris Perez took over to begin the 6th.   Perez became the pitcher of record in the 7th when none other than Carlos Santana samba pa teed off with a solo homer, and then when Lemon allows back to back doubles in the 8th for another run ColavitoFan goes to his pen for Lou Brissie.  Now with a 2-run lead, I try to preserve Perez and call for Vinnie Pestano, but he get off to a rough start allowing an RBI single to Luke Easter; however, the 51’s leave the tying run stranded at 3rd, and Pestano dispatches the bottom of the order in the bottom of the 9th as the plucky 2012s down the favorites with an unlikely 2-1 win to move on.  

The survivors:  round five

This round five matchup featured two solid teams that each would have the benefit of their #1 starter, the 2004 Astros and Roy Oswalt (20-10, 3.49) against the 1997 Dodgers and Chan Ho Park (14-8, 3.38), and although Roy O. won 20 and finished 3rd in the Cy Young votes that season, he would have to be at the top of his game as the Houston lineup was suffering from devastating injuries to half their lineup, including 1B Jeff Bagwell, SS Adam Everett, 3B Morgan Ensberg and C Brad Ausmus.  Early indications suggested that he was not at his best, as Raul Mondesi and Mike Piazza launch back-to-back tape measure solo shots in the top of the 1st for a quick 2-0 Dodger lead.  In the 5th, Eric Young gets on, steals second, and scores on a Brett Butler single to extend the margin, but in the bottom of the inning the Astros finally get it in drive against Park, as injury replacement Eric Bruntlett crushes a 2-run homer and later Carlos Beltran adds an RBI triple to tie the game, although Lance Berkman strands the go-ahead run at third.  The tie is short-lived as Piazza leads off the 6th with his second homer of the game, and when the Dodgers reel off three straight singles to load the bases Houston has a problem and turns to Brad Lidge to solve it.  Lidge comes through with a big strikeout and prevents further damage, and then Jeff Kent leads off the bottom of the inning with a triple and it’s the Dodgers turn to eye their pen.  They opt to stick with Park and bring the infield in, a strategy that works perfectly as Kent is stranded on three grounders and LA clings to its lead.  In the 8th, Eric Karros homers off Lidge and it seems like the lights may be going out in Houston, and in the 8th Young singles, steals second, and scores on a Mondesi single, and Lidge falls apart and walks the bases full for a Greg Gagne single that scores one although 1-10+2 Todd Zeile is out at the plate to bring the inning to a merciful end.  Park then wraps things up against a slew of injury replacements at the bottom of the lineup and the Dodgers head to the super-regional final with the 7-3 victory.

In a Zoom game characterized by “if you can’t beat ‘em, join ‘em”, Cleveland’s own ColavitoFan would manage the 2012 Indians, who had defeated him in round four, while I would lead the 2000 Twins, who had walked off a win against me in that same round.   On paper, these were two fairly bad teams who had both lost 90+ teams their respective seasons, but they had both proved to be remarkably persistent and both were coming back around to their top starter in the rotation, although neither Eric Milton (13-10, 4.86) for the Twins and Justin Masterson (11-15, 4.93) for Cleveland were particularly good pitchers.  As they had in the previous round, the Twins got off to a fast start with Denny Hocking and Torii Hunter driving in runs in the top of the 1st, although it could have been much worse for the Indians as the bases were left loaded.  Matt Lawton’s RBI double in the top of the 4th makes it 3-0 Twins, but Adrubal Cabrera locates Milton’s solid 6-5 homer for a solo shot in the bottom of the inning to keep things within reach, and Milton is informed that his leash can’t get much shorter.  However, in the 7th the Twins provide him with some slack; a leadoff walk by Masterson and he’s pulled for Carlos Perez, who then walks two more to load the bases; then the hits begin and it’s Hunter and Ron Coomer each driving in a pair to push the Minnesota lead to 7-1.  In the 8th Casey Kotchman converts Milton’s 6-6 HR split to regain a little ground, so I move to the pen for Latroy Hawkins, and he’s able to shut down the Indians to preserve the 7-3 Twins win that sends them to the super-regional finals.

Super-regional finals

While the 1997 Dodgers were a decent team that was not a total surprise to see in a super-regional final, the 2000 Twins had come quite a ways for a team that lost 93 games.  As might be expected, the Dodgers appeared to have the advantage in pitching with Ismael Valdez (10-11, 2.65) having much better numbers than the Twins’ Brad Radke (12-16, 4.45) with a fully rested bullpen available for support.   Both pitchers start out strong; the Dodgers manage to load the bases with two out in the top of the 5th with imposing Mike Piazza at the plate, but Radke gets him out to quash the rally.  But in the 6th, PH Darren Lewis leads off with a single, and Eric Young follows with a double and the speedy Lewis races home for the first run; the Twins summon Latroy Hawkins and although he gets two outs quickly, Raul Mondesi crushes a 2-run shot and the Dodgers take a commanding lead, although in the process they lose CF Roger Cedeno to injury for the remainder of the tournament.  LA adds a sac fly from Young in the 8th but they leave the bases loaded once again; in the 8th the third error of the game by the Twins, this one by 2B-3 Denny Hocking, sets up a 2-out 2-run double from Young and Valdes closes out the 9th to wrap up a 4-hit shutout as the Dodgers capture the super-regional with the 6-0 win to earn their spot in the final field of 32.

Interesting card of Super-Regional K:   I had already featured Mike Piazza as the interesting card of Regional #82 and although he probably still deserved recognition here, I try to avoid reruns.  As a result, I decided to go with a player from the last deadball-era team to be eliminated from the tournament, the 1911 Senators:  the immortal Walter Johnson.  Although the Big Train didn’t get to pitch in the super-regional, he did toss a 5-hit shutout in the regionals to help get his mediocre team that far, although to be honest I think they might have short-changed his 1911 card a little, as winning 25 games for a squad that only managed 64 victories might deserve an even more dominating card than this. Perhaps one like his 1913 card, which was printed as part of the original Basic-only Hall of Fame set; that set is one of my favorite Strat products of all time and this seems like a good excuse to show one of the cards.  Johnson was one of the classic examples of the good player on a bad team; during the decade of the 1910s he posted a winning percentage of .650, while other Senators pitchers accounted for a .452 record.  Backed by the Senators’ mediocre batting and fielding, he holds the major-league records for number of 1-0 wins as well as losses; unfortunately, the Senators lost a walk-off game to their modern descendants, the Twins, to fall one game short of giving Johnson his second shot at a start in the tournament.

SUPER-REGIONAL J:  This group of 64 had initially featured 5 pennant winners, but only one of them had won their regional:  the 1960 Yankees, the predecessor to the famed ‘61 M&M boys that had meekly exited in the first round in this tournament.  Not the 1960 version, however, who had blown through Regional #73 outscoring the opposition 17-4 and were substantial ELO favorites here.  However, one of the representatives here, the 1990 Giants, had defeated two of those pennant winners in their regional and certainly weren’t afraid of ELO rankings, which indicated that they were the most likely opposition for the Yanks in the super-regional final.   Judging by those rankings, other major obstacles would include Reds and Angels teams that both won more than 90 games; the rest of the bracket included middling teams that had each pulled off some upsets to get this far.  The Yanks were my sentimental favorite here, as they would add star power to the final field of 32 if they could pull it off, but being my favorite tends to be the kiss of death.  Furthermore, they were on the more challenging side of this bracket and would need those stars to produce if they hoped to advance.

Round 4 action

The 1960 Yankees won 97 games and the American League before losing the Series to Maz’s infamous walk-off homer in Game 7.   However, they had powered through their regional and although there was a little wear on their bullpen left over from the regional final, Bob Turley (9-3, 3.28) was a fine #4 starter as long as he could get the ball over the plate.  However, although the Yanks had the top ranking in the super-regional, their opponent had the second best:  the 1989 Angels who had gone 91-71, although a 2nd inning injury to starter Kirk McCaskill in the regional final had decimated the Angels bullpen, so they were putting their hopes on the arm of Jim Abbott (12-12, 3.92).  A Tony Kubek RBI single and a Roger Maris sac fly stake Turley to a 2-0 lead in the top of the 3rd, and Hector Lopez adds an RBI double in the 4th to extend the margin.  Abbott settles down some, but two walks to begin the 7th and he’s out for Angels closer Bob McClure; Kubek then misses a HR 1-10 for a double that scores one but 1-12 Clete Boyer is out trying to score from first.  In the bottom of the inning, the Angels finally get to Turley, loading the bases with two away, and then Devon White hits a grounder that SS-2 Kubek muffs and California is on the board.  Wally Joyner adds a sac fly in the 8th and the Yankees lead is down to two entering the bottom of the 9th, which makes them quite nervous given their prior experiences with that inning.  But there are no Mazeroskis in the Angels lineup, as Turley sets them down in order to wrap up a 4-hitter and a 4-2 win.  

The 2012 Reds won 97 games, the NL Central, and Regional #76 despite losing HOF 3B Scott Rolen in round one, a lingering injury that would persist through this super-regional if the Reds were able to survive.  For their #4 starter, they had Bronson Arroyo (12-10, 3.74) whose stats looked a lot better than his card, but their bullpen was in decent shape if they were needed.  The 1969 Astros had an even split at 81-81, but went 3-0 in Regional #75 and I liked the looks of the card for starter Don Wilson (16-12, 4.00) better than that of Arroyo.  Regardless, the Reds take a lead when injury replacement Chris Heisey leads off the bottom of the 2nd by converting Wilson’s HR split, and Wilson then issues four straight walks in the 2nd to add to the lead although he strands the bases loaded to prevent further damage.  A two out RBI single by Joey Votto in the 7th gives Arroyo some insurance, and the Astros don’t get on the board until the top of the 9th, when Marty Martinez begins the inning with a triple and Jim Wynn cannons a sac fly to bring him in.  Hoping the rest their pen, the Reds stick with Arroyo but a single by Denis Menke puts the tying run at the plate with one out, and Cincinnati moves to the nearly unhittable Aroldis Chapman to try to get the final two outs.  However, a Curt Blefary single puts the winning run at the plate and the Reds are starting to see how these Astros won a regional.  Chapman whiffs Doug Rader, but Norm Miller delivers a single to score Menke and the tying run is 90 feet away, while the winner is on first.  Up to the plate comes Jay Alou, and the roll is 5-5:  a solid homer on Arroyo, but a strikeout on Chapman and the Reds survive with a 3-2 win despite being held to 5 hits by Wilson.  Key to the victory were three inning-ending DPs initiated by Reds 2B-1 Brandon Phillips

The 2013 Indians won 92 games to make a brief postseason appearance as a wild card; they had only been the #5 seed in a strong Regional #78 but they had prevailed against a couple of very good teams to reach this super-regional, and Corey Kluber (11-5, 3.85) was a decent option for a fourth starter.  The Tribe faced the 1996 A's, who assembled a mediocre 78-84 record in real life but they had mashed their way through Regional #75 with 10 homers in the three games–five of them by an imposing Mark McGwire.   However, what steroids giveth, they also taketh away, and their pitching options bore the scars of the era, with Don Wengert (7-11, 5.58) serving as cannon fodder until the bullpen can come into play.  The A’s immediately load the bases with nobody out in the top of the 1st with a single and two walks, but Kluber somehow gets out of the jam with a whiff and a DP ball.  The Indians also load the bases in the bottom of the inning, but they also come away empty.  However, they break through for a two-out rally in the 3rd, taking advantage of Wengert’s generous card with run-scoring hits including a Mike Aviles double, a 2-run single by Michael Bourn, and another RBI single from Jason Kipnis for a 4-0 lead.  In the 4th, Nick Swisher finds Wengert’s solid HR result for a 2-out 2-run shot and Oakland tries to stop the bleeding with closer Billy Taylor.  It takes an unexpected error by LF-1 Michael Brantley for the A’s to get on the board, and after another 2-base error in the 8th, this one from P-3 Kluber, the A’s get another on a Rafael Bournigal sac fly.  But Kluber finishes out a 3-hitter and allows no earned runs (and no home runs) in a 6-2 win to propel the Indians to round five.  

Two of the three teams that the 85-77 1990 Giants defeated in Regional #80 were pennant winners, although every game was decided by a single run; they were hoping that a shaky Don Robinson (10-7, 4.57) would be able to keep things that close and turn the game over to a deep bullpen.   The 1991 Expos, on the other hand, lost 90 games and although they pulled off some upsets in Regional #79 with some young players who were a few years from greatness, those were against less formidable teams; even so, Oil Can Boyd (6-8, 3.52) could grease the path to victory.  The first blow of the game is struck in the bottom of the 4th when Matt Williams sends one deep into the fog at Candlestick Park for a solo homer, and Will Clark’s double in the 5th scores another although 1-14 Dave Anderson is out at the plate trying to pad the lead further.  A homer by Robby Thompson in the 6th and Boyd goes to rust in the showers as Jeff Fassero is called upon to try to keep the Expos in the game.  Robinson is meanwhile exceeding expectations, but then two doubles off his card in the 7th, the second by Dave Martinez breaking the shutout, and he’s out of the game for Jeff Brantley. Brantley yields an RBI single to Andres Galarraga and it’s now a one-run game.  However, in the bottom of the 8th a 2-out RBI single from Anderson is followed by a 2-run Will Clark triple, so Steve Bedroisan is brought in to finish out the 9th for the Giants.  He’s greeted by Tim Wallach who converts Bedrock’s HR 1-8/flyB split for one run, but 1B-1 Will Clark makes a highlight reel snag to end the threat and the Giants advance with a 6-3 win.  

The survivors:  Round 5

This round five game features two postseason teams each swinging around the rotation back to their number one starters.  For the pennant-winning 1960 Yankees, it would be Hall of Famer Whitey Ford (12-9, 3.08) who had tossed a 2-hit shutout in round one; the 2012 Reds were down a Hall of Famer with Scott Rolen still out with an injury, and they needed Johnny Cueto (19-9, 2.78) to improve upon his rather shaky first round performance because closer Aroldis Chapman only had one inning left in him.  Ford looks rough from the start, escaping some jams but finally yielding a run in the bottom of the 3rd when a Joey Votto double sets up a Jay Bruce sac fly for a 1-0 Reds lead.  Zack Cozart leads off the 4th for the Reds with a home run, although it could have been worse as Brandon Phillips misses Ford’s HR split and gets stranded at second.  The Yanks then lead off the 5th with three straight singles, one from Kubek driving in a run, but Maris and Mantle then combine to kill the rally and NY still trails by one.  Disaster strikes for the Reds in the 7th as Votto is injured for four games, meaning that Cincy is now missing two corner infielders, but Cueto is still hanging in there.  Finally, with two out in the bottom of the 9th and a pinch runner on 1st, I send up Johnny Blanchard to pinch hit for #9 hitter Clete Boyer.  The roll…..3-9, a solid homer on Boyer but a lazy fly on Blanchard and I personally kill the Yankees chances as the battered Reds hold on for the 2-1 win.  However, I refuse to accept full responsibility, as Maris and Mantle do nothing in the game but hit into DPs and it’s up to the stars to come through if you want to advance in this tournament.  

Although the 2013 Indians had the better record in this round five game, the 1990 Giants were higher ranked by the ELO rating, so this looked like a pretty even matchup between two teams sending out their top starters, Justin Masterson (14-10, 3.45) for Cleveland and John Burkett (14-7, 3.49) for San Francisco.  The Indians start off big in the top of the 1st with a 3-run homer from Nick Swisher, one that might have been a grand slam if leadoff hitter Jason Kipnis hadn’t been nailed by Giants’ C-4 Terry Kennedy trying to steal second.  Kennedy then throws out Michael Bourn attempting to steal in the 2nd to kill a rally, but Swisher knocks a 2-run shot for his second homer of the game in the 3rd and the Indians lead is 5-0.  Will Clark responds in the bottom of the frame with a 2-run blast of his own, but the Indians keep dumping lighter fluid on Burkett, who allows three straight hits to begin the 5th and SF moves to Jeff Brantley to try to end the rally.  But Swisher records his 6th RBI with a run-scoring grounder before the inning is over, and although Robby Thompson puts up an RBI single in the 7th for the Giants, Swisher crushes yet another 3-run homer in the 9th and Masterson is sufficient to close out a 10-3 complete game win to send the Cleveland Swishers to the super-regional final. 

Round 6: super-regional finals

The 2013 Indians had pounded their way through the super-regional, outscoring the opposition 16-5 behind the suddenly Ruthian Nick Swisher, and they would try to sustain that momentum with Zach McAllister (9-9, 3.75) on the mound.  The 2012 Reds came limping into the final with two of their best players injured, Scott Rolen and Joey Votto,  but they had Mat Latos (14-4, 3.48), who had tossed a 3-hit complete game in round two and they hoped he could be an equalizer.  McAllister allows four baserunners in the top of the 1st but is fortunate to escape with only one run on a Jay Bruce double, as 1-12 Ryan Ludwick is tossed out trying to score on the play.  The Indians get it back quickly as they lead off the bottom of the 1st with two straight hard singles, and although Ryan Raburn hits into a DP it scores a run to tie the game.  In the second the Reds walk Swisher, who gets singled to third and scores on a Michael Bourn grounder and the Indians take a 2-1 lead after two, but weak-hitting injury replacement Wilson Valdez raps a single past P-4 McAllister to drive in a game-tying run in the 4th.  The Reds load the bases with nobody out in the 5th, but McAllister recovers his control and whiffs one and is bailed out by a key DP turned by 2B-2 Jason Kipnis to sustain the tie.  The Indians lose RF Drew Stubbs (not to be confused with Reds CF Drew Stubbs) to injury and his only replacement is terrible with the glove and the bat, and when McAllister yields a single to begin the 6th the Indians quickly move to the pen for Bryan Shaw and he quickly ends the threat.  Sensing that this is going to be a struggle, the Reds bring in closer Aroldis Chapman in the bottom of the inning after Latos yields a hard 6-7 single for the third time of the game, and he does his job, while Ryan Ludwick puts the Reds ahead with a 2-out solo homer in the 7th.  However, in the bottom of the 8th, Carlos Santana, who has been Supernatural all tournament, continues to require guitarist puns with a clutch 2-run double, and Astrubal Cabrera follows with an RBI double of his own and the Indians have grabbed a two run lead against the previously untouchable Chapman.  The Indians go to Matt Albers to begin the 9th, but he fares no better against Ludwick than Shaw did, as Ludwick crushes another solo shot to make it a one-run game.  After Jay Bruce walks, it’s Chris Heisey’s turn, and he converts a HR 1-5 for a two run shot and a Cincinnati lead; Albers leaves with a 27.00 ERA and Danny Salazar ends the inning but the damage is done.  The Reds now try to preserve the ineffective Chapman and turn the game over to Sean Marshall for the bottom of the 9th; he retires the Indians in order and the battered Reds continue to perform their magic to repeatedly come from behind in the 6-5 win, capturing the super-regional and taking their place among the 32 most persistent Strat teams ever printed.

Interesting card(s) of Super-Regional J:  Two relievers in the group, linked through literature:  "Afterward in the outfield we talked about one-pitch pitchers.  Ryne Duren was a one-pitch pitcher.  His one pitch was a wild warm-up.  Ryne wore glasses that looked like the bottoms of Coke bottles, and he'd be sort of steered out to the mound and he'd peer in at the catcher and let fly his first warm-up pitch over the screen and the intimidation was complete.  All he needed was his fastball and hitters ducking away."   Jim Bouton, Ball Four, p. 67. 

SUPER-REGIONAL I:  There had been 8 pennant winners starting out in this group of 64, but the only one of them to reach the super-regional level were the purveyors of the “shot heard round the world”, the 1951 Giants.  However, there were some other top flight teams in here, including a Tigers team that included many of the members of their great 1984 team (which did not make the super-regional level), a very good Blue Jays squad, and one of the two Phillies teams represented here was strong.  The remaining teams had middling records but had proved unbeatable during the regionals, so it seemed to me that any of them could win it.  The ELO rankings had the Bobby Thomson Giants as slight favorites over the Jays in the finals, although I remembered those Phillies teams of the aughts as extremely tough in this format and I wouldn't be surprised to see them make the next level.

Round 5 action

The 1986 Tigers won 87 games and marched through Regional #65 defeating the formidable 1930 A’s in the regional final; Randy O’Neal (3-7, 4.33) would get the round four start and he was happy to see that Darrell Evans had recovered from an injury suffered during the regional, bolstering a strong lineup.  The 2014 Phillies were a 73-89 team, down to their last option in the rotation, Kyle Kendrick (10-13, 4.61), and CF Ben Revere had still not recovered from an injury in the regional final, so they were decided underdogs although they had many of the same guys who had made magic in the tournament thus far–including another Phils entry in this super-regional.  Alan Trammell quickly discovers Kendrick’s solid 5-9 HR result in the top of the 1st and two batters later Kirk Gibson rolls one on his own card;  Darnell Coles singles and Lance Parrish smacks yet another solid HR, to be fair to Kendrick on the batter’s card, but the Phillies phans have no desire to be fair to Kendrick and are calling for his head.  However, by tournament rules Kendrick has to remain in the game for 5 runs or 5 innings, but he cooperates with the wishes of the fans as after SS-2 Jimmy Rollins drops an Evans grounder, singles from Chet Lemon and Dave Collins produce another run.  That means Kendrick can exit with 2/3rd of an inning pitched, and 35-year old Cliff Lee, with insufficient innings to start, gets a shot at long relief; he strikes out Lou Whitaker for the latter’s second out of the inning and Philadelphia finally gets a chance to bat, down 5-0.  They do nothing, and Lee holds off the Tigers until the 5th, when Evans triples and the Phils summon Ken Giles, but 2B-2 Chase Utley drops out #3 to score Evans and extend the Detroit lead.  However, O’Neal’s no-hitter through 4 innings abruptly ends in the bottom of the 5th with three straight hits, and RBI doubles from Ryan Howard and Domonic Brown quickly cut the margin to 6-3.  A sac fly by Chase Utley in the 7th and it’s now 6-4 and the Tigers go wholesale with defensive upgrades, although they decide to stick with a tiring O’Neal for the time being.  In the 8th, Rollins makes his second error of the game (and the Phils’ 4th) and Gibson follows by crushing his second homer of the game.  At that point the fight seems to go out of the Phils and their fans, and Chet Lemon gloves the final out of the game to send the Tigers on with an 8-4 victory.  

The 1951 Giants were one of the few pennant-winners to survive a regional, perhaps because they demonstrated an ability to survive in live-or-die games in real life.  Their rotation had provided three complete game wins in the regional and Jim Hearn (17-9, 3.62) was a strong option as the #4 starter, while 2B Eddie Stanky was now ready to go after getting hurt in the regional semifinals.  They had defeated a pennant-winning Mets team in the regional final, and now they moved on to face a more humble 82-80 1975 Mets.  However, these Mets had pulled off three straight upsets over good teams, although Hank Webb (7-6, 4.07) would be on a short leash with the Mets hoping to be able to hand the game off to a good bullpen.  In the top of the 1st, young Willie Mays doubles to score one but 1-15 Monte Irvin is nailed at the plate; Mays himself scores on a Bobby Thomson single and the Mets are down 2-0 before they can bat.  Thomson records another RBI on a single past LF-4 Mike Vail, with Mays taking 3rd and then scoring on a Don Mueller fielder’s choice; the Mets don’t get a hit until Del Unser’s single in the 4th but that leads to nothing.  Mueller adds an RBI double in the 5th and that’s the cue for the Mets to clear the Webb for Skip Lockwood and his 1.50 ERA who ends the inning but the Mets now trail by five.  Mays is robbed of another RBI in the 6th when 1-16 Al Dark is cut down trying to score on a double from the Say Hey Kid, but once again it’s Thomson with another shot, a single under the glove of SS-3 Bud Harrelson and Mays scores easily.  However, Hearn abruptly falls apart in the bottom of the inning, with RBI singles from Felix Millan, Ed Kranepool and Rusty Staub suddenly cutting the lead to 6-4, and the Giants realize that the reason they have all those CG wins is that they have no bullpen to speak of.  But in the top of the 7th Al Dark converts a TR 1-4/flyB with two outs and two more Giants runs are plated, so they hope that Hearn can hang on with the additional insurance.  Staub drives in another run in the 8th with a double and the tying run comes to the plate in the form of Dave Kingman, who rips a single that scores two and it’s now a one-run game.  The Giants have to admit that Hearn has become the Hit Man, and Al Corwin is summoned from the pen and he immediately induces a DP ball to send the game to the 9th.   With Lockwood now burnt for the super-regional, the Mets move to Bob Apodaca, but Whitey Lockman finds and converts Bob’s HR 1-5/flyB for a solo shot and the Giants hand Corwin a 2-run lead to hold in the bottom of the 9th.  The persistent Mets get two singles with one out to bring the winning run to the plate, but Corwin puts down Harrelson and Millan and the Giants survive the 9-7 battle to advance.

The 1985 Blue Jays won 99 games and the AL East before going down in seven games in the ALCS, and they had ridden their well-rounded combination of pitching, hitting, and defense to take Regional #70 as the favorites.  The depth of their rotation was in evidence here with Jim Clancy (9-6, 3.78) getting the start.  They faced the 1973 Twins, who were a .500 team with an 81-81 record, but were fortunate to have a solid #4 starter in Bill Hands (7-10, 3.49) although that was about the only Hands the team had, because the dreadful Twins defense was enough to give any pitcher nightmares.  In the bottom of the 1st, George Bell rolls a two-out gbA++ with Tony Fernandez held at first;  Lloyd Moseby then misses a HR split but drives in both runners with the resulting double.  The Twins threaten in the top of the 2nd but 1-15 Larry Hisle learns firsthand about Jesse Barfield’s arm and he’s cut down trying for the extra base to end the threat.  In the bottom of the inning, Rance Mullineks doubles and he dashes home on a two-out single from Tony Fernandez that extends Toronto’s lead to 3-0.  An RBI single from Tony Oliva puts Minnesota on the board in the 3rd, but in the 5th the Jays respond with an RBI single from George Bell and a Moseby sac fly that further extends the Jays lead.  An Ernie Whitt single in the 6th and it’s Hands off, with the Twins bringing in their lone decent reliever in Bill Campbell and he keeps any runs from plating.  Oliva drives in his second run with a 2-out single in the 8th, but he can’t do it by himself and the Jays wrap up a 5-2 win and punch a ticket to round five and the top of their formidable rotation.

The Zoom game of the week had two partisans at the helm of their favorite teams, with TT taking on the 2005 Phillies and ColavitoFan manning (Rick, not Payton) the 1976 Indians.  The Phils won 88 games, but their teams from this era have had remarkable success in this project; however, #4 starter Vincente Padilla (9-12, 4.71) had some frightening results on his card and CF Kenny Lofton was still out with an injury suffered in the regional.  On the other hand, the Indians only managed an 81-78 record, but again Cleveland teams of that vintage had outperformed expectations, with the ‘75 team winning the very first regional of the tournament; spot starter Stan Thomas (4-4, 2.30) had an imposing card and looked to be a great equalizer.  Both managers quickly tired of my terrible dice rolling, and requested that my brother Chuck roll the bones in the hope that the issue was not a heritable trait.  Sure enough, Chuck manages to convert a HR 1-5/flyB split on Thomas’ card and the Phils jump to lead in the 2nd on the resulting Jimmy Rollins solo homer.   However, some sloppy fielding by Rollins in the bottom of the 5th helps load the bases, and Rico Carty draws a walk to tie the game; Chuck’s dice-rolling seems to be cooling off and the game has developed into a pitcher’s duel.  When Padilla gets into a little trouble to begin the 6th, TT decides that dueling with him is asking for trouble, and Aaron Fultz is summoned and he snuffs out the threat.  In the 7th, Pat the Bat Burrell puts the bat on one and sends it deep into the recesses of Cleveland Stadium to put the Phils ahead, and Dave Laroche comes out of the Indians pen; although Laroche ends that threat, injury replacement Jason Michaels raps an RBI single in the 8th for additional insurance.  Billy Wagner then comes in to pitch the final two innings and although he makes things more exciting than he should have, he escapes unscathed and the Phillies move on to round five with a 3-1 victory.

The survivors:  round 5

By the time teams reach round five, those survivors are usually pretty good, and the 1986 Tigers and 1951 Giants were no exception.  These squads were also back to the top of their rotation in a matchup of 20-game winners; the Giants’ Sal Maglie 23-6, 2.93) would attempt to barber the Tigers, while Detroit would have Jack Morris 21-8, 3.27) trying to avoid any Ralph Branca impressions, a valid concern given Morris’s gopher ball tendencies. The Tigers get three baserunners in the top of the 2nd but come away empty-handed when AA Kirk Gibson is tossed out trying to steal on C-1 Wes Westrum.  But NY is less fortunate in the 3rd, as Maglie surrenders an RBI double to John Grubb, but he strands two Tigers in scoring position to keep the Detroit lead at 1-0.  Detroit quickly relinquishes the lead in the bottom of the inning, as a 2-base error by SS-2 Alan Trammell sets up an RBI single from Hank Thompson that ties the game.  In the 4th, Monte Irvin misses Morris’s HR 1-11 split with a 12, but Morris apparently feels bad for Irvin and lets him score by committing a two-out two-base error on a Westrum grounder.  However, the Tigers respond in the top of the 5th when Trammell finds and converts Maglie’s 6-5 HR split for a 2-run blast, and then RF-3 Monte Irvin misplays a Grubb single to put a runner in scoring position, who scores when Lance Parrish raps a single off Maglie’s card to put the Tigers back on top by a 4-2 margin.  Hank Thompson immediately responds by leading off the bottom of the inning by converting Morris’s HR split; that seems to send Morris into a tailspin, as three straight baserunners culminate in a Willie Mays RBI single that ties it, and then Don Mueller finds Morris’s solid HR result this time, good for a 3-run homer and a trip to Branca-ville for Morris as Bill Campbell has to come in to record the final out of the inning.   However, the Tigers aren’t done yet; two straight hits to start the 7th and a Kirk Gibson sac fly cuts the GIants lead to 7-5.  But Mueller also isn’t finished making his statement, leading off the bottom of the 8th by converting Campell’s HR split for his second homer of the game, and Sal the Barber clips the Tigers, and there are no heroics this time from Gibson as he makes the final out of the game.  And so the bracket favorite Giants gain a berth in the super-regional final with a back and forth 8-5 win.  

With two teams representing favorites for some of the regular Friday Night Strat participants, this round five matchup had to be saved up for Friday night Zooming:  the Tall Tactician managing the 2005 Phillies and Brett Myers (13-8, 3.72)  against Eaglesfly and the 1985 Blue Jays and perennial trivia answer Dave Stieb (14-13, 2.48).  In the pregame conference at home plate, TT wins the coin flip and selects my brother Chuck to roll the dice for the Phils, while the Jays will be stuck with my terrible rolling, and it’s easy to spot the looks of concern in the Toronto dugout.  Still, with both teams returning to the top of their rotation, it looked like a pitching duel might be forthcoming, but neither starter looked sharp out of the gate.   Rance Mullineks singles home a run in the top of the 2nd to put the Jays ahead, but the Phils keep pace as Pat Burrell converts Stieb’s HR split for a solo shot, thanks to some nifty dice rolling from Chuck.  Not to be outdone, George Bell drives in two more in the top of the 3rd and the Jays retake the lead, but it doesn’t last long as Bobby Abreu counters with a two-run double in the bottom of the inning and once again the game is tied.  At that point, Myers settles down but Stieb continues to be plagued by control problems, and the normally sharp Toronto defense doesn’t help either as an error by Damaso Garcia in the 5th sets up an RBI single by Burrell that puts the Phillies ahead for the first time in the game.   When Chuck converts a TR 1-3 off Stieb in the 6th, Eaglesfly has seen enough and Tom Henke and his solid 6-column of strikeouts is summoned; he bears down and strands the runner at third to keep it a one-run game.  Trying to keep pace in the sibling rivalry dice department, I manage to convert three straight stolen base attempts for the Jays, albeit with the highest successful roll possible, but none of them lead to runs as Myers becomes increasingly dominant as the innings roll on.  Still, the font on Myers’ solid 5-9 home run result seems to get larger as the game gets later, so TT moves to Aaron Fultz in the 8th to try to bring it home, hoping to preserve Billy Wagner for future rounds.  And Fultz turns out the lights on the Jays, who didn’t record a hit after the 4th inning, as the Phillies take the 4-3 win and earn a berth in the super-regional final.  

Super-regional finals:

With the Tall Tactician having led the 2005 Phillies in two previous Zoom games to the rarefied atmosphere of the super-regional final, an emergency Zoom had to be called to provide the Phils with their best shot against the favored 1951 Giants, who had been cruising through the tournament proving that the shot heard round the world was just part of a larger barrage.  Taking no chances, TT also enlisted my brother Chuck to roll the dice on his behalf, a strategy that had worked against the Blue Jays in round five, while here in the finals it was going to be my usually uncooperative dice on behalf of the Jints. Still, I liked my pitching chances, with Larry Jansen (23-11, 3.04) winning 20+ for the Giants facing off against the Phils’ Jon Lieber (17-13, 4.20), who had both a solid and a split homer for the Giants to aim for.  And in the top of the 2nd the gophers moved in to Citizens Bank Park, as Wes Westrum crushes a 3-run homer and Eddie the Brat Stanky follows up a few batters later with a 2-run shot–both of them on the batters’ cards, and both of them on splits that I actually converted for a change.  Then, in the 4th Al Dark turns the lights out in Philly with another 3-run homer on another converted split, and even the Phanatic was seen heading for the exits.   Meanwhile, Jansen holds the Phils hitless until the bottom of the 4th, when the bats come alive with three hits, the third by Placido Polanco to get them on the board, although they strand two men on to squander an opportunity to decrease the gap further.  When Willie Mays fails to convert Lieber’s HR split in the 5th, TT sends Lieber packing and Ugueth Urbina comes in, baffling both the heart of the Giants order and the spell-checker, to end the threat.  He and Billy Wagner proceed to lock down the Giants’ bats, and a Ryan Howard RBI single in the 8th provides a little spark of hope for a comeback, but it’s not going to happen as Jansen wraps up the complete game 8-2 win, sending the Giants on to the final group of 32.

Interesting card of Super-Regional I:   Back in the days of the old, beloved card looks, there was one particular pattern that only seemed to occur among players of a particular type.  The player type in question usually involved some slugger who belted quite a few homers, but suffered from a dismal batting average, typically accompanied by a bunch of strikeouts.  The pattern itself involved hiding all of the home run results at obscure spots like 11 & 12, or 2 & 3, with large expanses of real estate in the middle of the card dedicated to whiffs.  Although even as a kid I understood the probability underlying the roll of two six-sided dice, I still never liked having those homers stuck in the nether reaches of the card, so I probably avoided these types of guys more than I should have back in those days. One of the prototypes of this type of player was the infamous Dave Kingman, but in 1975 he finally managed to avoid that pattern and get a card with home runs in "reasonable places", although he didn't find those places often enough to keep the Mets alive in the tournament.  Since the adoption of the ugly current patterns roughly 30 years ago, we don't see the old-school looks any more; I guess one upside is that the combination of power with low batting average and lots of strikeouts seems to describe 50% of all contemporary major leaguers, so at least they don’t have to give everyone this same pattern in modern card sets.  Still, I miss the variety of looks on the old cards, as well as the variety of different types of players we used to see, who just seemed more colorful to me than the big leaguers of today.