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.