REGIONAL #240:  As we get to the final entries of the tournament, the teams get more and more contemporary, with an all 21st century lineup in this bracket.  I thought there might be a number of competitive teams here, with a Cards squad that would win the NL in two seasons and a recent Yankees team that should have some pop.  There were two versions of the Mariners that were on either side of the pandemic year, and my recollection was that they could be good enough to compete in this group.  There were versions of the Astros and Mets that were likely in decline following pennants from a few seasons prior, and a steroid-era Cubs team that could have a slugger’s chance of advancing, if that slugger could roll on his card.  It was hard for me to see a clear favorite here, but I selected the Cards over the pre-pandemic version of the Mariners with no logical justification for either.  The ELO rankings indicated that the two best teams in the bracket would face off in the first round with the Cards over the Yankees, and from there the Cards should be able to march to the finals where they were predicted to best the Astros coming out of a weak bottom half of the bracket.

First round action  

Having the two top-rated teams in the bracket facing off in the first game of the first round could make the rest of the regional a bit anticlimactic, but that was the luck of the draw involving the top seeded 2002 Cardinals and the #2 seeded 2021 Yankees.  The Cards won 97 games and the NL Central but lost out on a pennant in the NLCS; they could hit, with Albert Pujols second in the MVP votes and Jim Edmonds and Edgar Renteria also receiving support, and they could field, with four 1s and two 2s providing 75% of their defense.  However, their starting pitching showed the afflictions of the steroid era, although fortunately Woody Williams (9-4, 2.53) eked out just over 100 innings to be able to start round one.  The Yanks won 92 games but were quickly eliminated from the postseason as a wild card team; Aaron Judge was 4th for the MVP and although their rotation wasn’t deep, Gerrit Cole (16-8, 3.23) was the runner-up for the Cy Young.  In the top of the 1st, it’s a guy who should have gotten some MVP votes but didn’t, Scott Rolen, who contributes a 2-out RBI single to put the Cards up early, but Anthony Rizzo returns the favor in the bottom of the inning with a 2-out run-scoring single of his own and the game is tied.  Renteria leads off the 4th with a double on a missed HR split, and then he’s tossed out trying to score (1-14) on a Fernando Vina single and the Cards continue a string of missed opportunities.  But in the 6th, Tino Martinez converts a 2-run homer off Cole’s card to push St. Louis into the lead, although Gio Urshela swats a solo shot in the bottom of the inning to make it a one-run game.  But that momentum comes to an abrupt halt in the bottom of the 7th as Judge ends the inning with a 10-game injury and Yankee Stadium becomes deathly silent.  In the 8th, Renteria singles, steals second, and again is nailed at the plate trying to score on a Vina single; Cole then walks two and loads the bases, so the Yanks move to Jonathan Loaisiga out of the pen who promptly yields a 2-run single to Edmonds off the pitcher’s card and the Cards have additional insurance.  However, when Tyler Wade leads off the bottom of the 9th with a single, the Cards summon Mike Crudale from the pen to try to close things out, but Crudale immediately provides Giancarlo Stanton with a pitcher’s card double and the tying run is at the plate with nobody out.  Crudale then retires two quickly with no runner advancement to bring up the hole in the order formerly occupied by Judge.  Pinch hitter Luke Voit comes out to try to fill the shoes, but the 2-11 roll misses his 2-10 homer and it’s game over, as the Cards move on with the 5-2 win.

After the two top teams in the bracket played in the previous game, the best remaining squad according to the ELO ratings was the 2021 Mariners, who did win 90 games although in setting the lineup I wasn’t sure exactly how; they had a decent core of the team with Mitch Haniger getting mentioned on one MVP ballot, but the rest of the team seemed to be positions by committees, and those committees weren’t very productive.  The round one start would go to Chris Flexen (14-6, 3.61), whose assignment was to put down the 2002 Cubs, who lost 95 games. However, that was nearly 10 game worse than their Pythagorean projection, and looking at their lineup I liked their chances with Sammy Sosa (9th for MVP), Fred McGriff and Mark Bellhorn all providing more pop than any of the Mariners, and Mark Prior (6-6, 3.32) sported a strong card making these underdogs a solid bet.  In the bottom of the 2nd, two walks and an error by Cubs SS-2 Alex S. Gonzalez loads up the bases for Jarred Kelenic, who draws another walk to score one and a sac fly from Jake Fraley makes it 2-0 Seattle without benefit of any hits.  In the 5th, Luis Torrens adds a 2-run single and that is followed immediately by Abraham Toro’s 2-run homer and after five Seattle has a commanding 6-0 lead.  The Cubs finally get on the board in the 8th on PH Angel Echevarria’s 2-run blast, and then with two out in the top of the 9th Gonzalez smacks another two-run shot and things are starting to get interesting.  The Mariners elect to try to preserve the pen and give Flexen one more batter to get the final out, and SS-1 JP Crawford helps out his teammate with a nifty play and the Mariners survive and advance with the 6-4 win.  

Immediately after their siblings posted a round one win, it’s the 2019 Mariners’ turn to try to continue the quest for an all-Seattle final.  These Mariners were clearly the worst of the two M’s, losing 94 games and sporting some terrible fielding holes behind Marco Gonzales (16-13, 3.99), who deserved better.  Fortunately for him, the 2008 Astros weren’t the same team that won the NL a few seasons earlier, but they still won 86 games with Lance Berkman 5th in the MVP votes, and Roy Oswalt (17-10, 3.54) was still the anchor of the rotation.  Seattle moves in front in the top of the 4th courtesy of a Kyle Seager two-run blast, but Ty Wigginton responds immediately by leading off the bottom of the inning converting Gonzales’ HR split, and then the hits just keep coming.  Hunter Pence contributes an RBI single, Miguel Tejada adds a two-run double on a missed HR split, Jose Castillo follows that with a double and the M’s decide to pull Gonzales, who still hasn’t retired anyone in the 4th.  Sam Tuivailala, with no hits on his card and six vowels in his name, comes in and closes out the side in order, but the Astros now lead 5-2 after four.  Domingo Santana leads off the top of the 5th by converting a TR 1/SI** and he scores on a JP Crawford sac fly to narrow the gap, but Carlos Lee and Pence have consecutive doubles in the bottom of the inning to restore the previous margin.  Mariners PH Kyle Lewis begins the 8th with a long homer, and two outs later Jay Bruce adds another solo shot and Roy O. heads for the showers as Geoff Geary comes in to get the last out, but it’s a one run game entering the 9th.  Geary allows a single to Omar Narvaez, but he fans PH Tom Murphy for the final out and the Astros hang on for the 6-5 win.  

The ELO ratings suggested that this was a matchup of closely matched underachievers.    Although they had the slightly worse rating, the 2004 Mets looked better than a 91-loss team as they got a good season from 21 year old rookie David Wright (although not a single vote for Rookie of the Year) and Al Leiter (10-8, 3.21) headed up a decent rotation at age 38.  I had similar thoughts about the 79-83 2015 Diamondbacks, whose top half of the order was imposing with Paul Goldschmidt the MVP runner-up and AJ Pollock also getting some votes; Robbie Ray (5-12, 3.52) had a card that deserved a better record with those bats behind him.  The Mets break the ice in the 3rd when Jose Reyes squibs a split single, swipes second, and scores on a double by #9 hitter Jason Phillips.   In the bottom of the inning Pollock follows a similar path with a walk, stolen base, and ties the game on a Phil Gosselin single, but the Dbacks then leave the bases loaded when Mets SS-4 Kaz Matsui makes an unexpectedly fine play to end the inning.  Wellington Castillo puts Arizona ahead with a solo shot in the 5th, but Eric Valent responds immediately in the 6th with one of his own and the game is tied once again.  When Reyes walks and steals second in the top of the 7th, the Dbacks sense the game is on the line and bring in closer Brad Ziegler, and he passes the test with two straight rolls on his card to end the threat.  They move to Andrew Chafin in the 9th to try to preserve Ziegler in the hopes that they can win the game in the bottom of the frame and avoid extra innings, but although an error from Mets CF-2 Mike Cameron puts the winning run in scoring position, Leiter survives and on to the 10th we go.  Chafin looks dominating striking out the side in the top of the 10th, but Leiter is perfect in his last inning of eligibility and the game goes on.  Chafin continues to hold, and the Mets move to Orber Moreno for the bottom of the 11th.  In the 13th, Chafin is burnt for the regional and the Dbacks dig deeper into their pen for Randall Delgado, but neither team can do anything so the game moves to the 14th.  Delgado sets the Mets down in order in the top of the 14th, but .227 hitter Chris Owens draws a leadoff walk for the Dbacks and steals second to put the winning run in scoring position with nobody out.  But SS-4 Matsui handles two consecutive X-chances flawlessly to bring up Goldschmidt; Moreno pitches to him cautiously and walks him, bringing David Peralta to the plate.  Peralta singles, the 1-15+2 Owings heads for home, and with a split of 16 he slides under the tag and the Diamondbacks move on with the 3-2 win, but with their RF Inciante injured for the regional and with their bullpen sorely depleted by the 14 inning marathon.  

The survivors

The top seeded 2002 Cardinals and Matt Morris (17-9, 3.42) had eliminated the #2 seed in round one, and now in round two they faced the #3 seed in the 2021 Mariners, whose Marco Gonzales (10-6, 3.96) had a decent card but had some trouble keeping the ball in the park.  In the bottom of the 2nd, the Mariners keep locating singles on Morris’s card, with the .210 hitting Jake Fraley and .181 hitter Dylan Moore each driving in a run with one of them, but in the 4th the Cards tie things up with solo homers from Eli Marrero and Tino Martinez–neither of them coming from Gonzales’s rather generous HR results.  However, in the next inning Scott Roland does find one of those pitcher HR results for a two-run shot that puts the Cards ahead, but Morris continues to struggle as Fraley leads off the bottom of the inning with a single and races home (1-14) on a JP Crawford double.  Crawford then scores on a 2-out single from Luis Torrens and Morris comes unglued, walking the bases loaded before issuing another walk to Jarred Kelenic that puts the M’s ahead once again.  With the game heading into the 6th inning and both starters struggling, the bullpens are a hub of activity and when Edgar Renteria singles to lead off the inning, Seattle brings out Casey Sadler with his .0.67 ERA and no hits on his card to try to hang onto the lead, and he ends the inning without incident.  Then in the bottom of the inning Morris yields a leadoff single off his card to Fraley for the latter’s third hit of the game, and Morris is yanked for closer Jason Isringhausen, who likewise shuts down the Mariners and as the game enters the 7th, it looks like it will be a battle between the star relievers.  Sadler throws three perfect innings and entering the 9th, the Mariners are hoping to preserve some use for him and Drew Steckenrider is brought in to try to close things out.  But the leadoff batter in the 9th raps a liner that RF-3 Mitch Haniger turns into a two-base error, and the tying run is in scoring position with nobody out.  Steckenrider whiffs Fernando Vina for one out, but then SS-1 JP Crawford bobbles a grounder for the second error of the inning and there are runners on 1st and 3rd with one away.  In comes the infield, but a pitch gets past C-4 Torrens and the tying run scores; with the go-ahead run now on second, Steckenrider whiffs Jim Edmonds and we head to the bottom of the 9th.  The Cards elect to burn Izzy for his final inning of eligibility, and he does the job, while Torrens is injured for the tournament to end regulation.  In the top of the 10th, Haniger makes another two-base error but Steckenrider strands the runner at second; in the bottom of the inning, Mike Crudale comes in and holds to send the game to the 11th.  In the top of the 11th, Kerry Robinson, who had come into the game as a pinch runner, singles to lead off the inning and races to 3rd on a Vina single, so it’s 1st and 3rd with nobody out.  In comes the infield, but Mike Metheny finds a double on Steckenrider’s card and St. Louis moves ahead.  With two runners still in scoring position, Steckenrider bears down and gets two outs with no damage, but then up to the plate steps Albert Pujols, who delivers a moon shot that blows the game open.  Crudale now faces his final inning of eligibility in the regional, but he yields a leadoff single to Crawford that’s followed by a long blast from Haniger and it’s down to a two-run deficit with nobody out.  But although Kyle Seager adds another single, he goes nowhere as the Cardinals fend off a stubborn Mariner team with a 9-7 win and a trip to the finals–but with little left in the bullpen.  

The bottom half of this bracket would match the #4 seed 2008 Astros and Wandy Rodriguez (9-7, 3.54) against the #5 seeded 2015 Diamondbacks, who needed a strong outing from Josh Collmenter (4-6, 3.79) after their 14 inning marathon in round one depleted their bullpen and injured their right fielder.  However, it was a rough start for Collmenter as Carlos Lee whallops a 2-run homer in the top of the 1st, although AJ Pollock leads off the bottom of the inning with a double and races home on a Paul Goldschmidt single that make it 2-1–but injury replacement Phil Gosselin is himself  knocked out of the game for the third Arizona injury of the regional.  Houston gets a solo shot from Ty Wigginton in the top of the 3rd to make it 3-1 Astros, but Jerrod Saltalamaccia makes me type his name out with his own solo blast in the 4th to get the run back.  When Lance Berkman leads off the 6th converting his split homer, the Dbacks in desperation move to closer Brad Ziegler, who has two innings of eligibility remaining, and he finishes those two innings without further damage.  To begin the 8th, the Dbacks summon Randall Delgado but leading off is Berkman again, and once again he converts that same HR split, and meanwhile in the bottom of the inning injury replacement Yasmany Tomas is knocked out of the tournament and the Dbacks are out of outfielders.  But they open the bottom of the 9th with two hard singles off Wandy's card, and the Astros elect to give him one more batter to straighten out.  That batter is Welington Castillo, and he is Wandy’s Waterloo, just missing his 2-6 HR with a 2-5 RBI single and it’s now a two run game with the tying run aboard and nobody out.  The Astros make a gutsy call, and summon Jose Valverde with his 44 saves–and his solid 6-5 HR result.  And who should be up but Saltalamaccia, in the game because of injury; the roll is indeed a 6-5, it’s a three run walkoff homer to put the banged and bruised Diamondbacks into the finals with the remarkable comeback win by a fitting 6-5 score.  Valverde gets the loss recording zero outs; Delgado gets his second win of the regional, but he’s toast for the regional and Arizona is out two position players and three relievers going into a final in which they would be considerable underdogs regardless. 

The 2002 Cardinals were the ELO favorite in the bracket and they had already eliminated the #2 and #3 seeds on their way to the finals.  They now faced a 2015 Diamondbacks team that had two walk-off wins while suffering four injuries and burning their three best relievers to get this far.  For the Cards, it would be Chuck Finley (11-15, 4.15) on the hill, a guy with a long history of poor run support in this tournament, and St. Louis was also without their two best relievers who had been used heavily in their first two rounds.  The Dbacks were down to Rubby de la Rosa (14-9, 4.67), who was slightly less terrible than their other alternatives, and with both bullpens shot this had the making of a high-scoring affair.  After a bit of searching, JD Drew and Albert Pujols both find doubles on delaRosa’s card, and Scott Rolen then finds a double on his own card to drive in Pujols and the Cards lead 2-0 after the top of the 3rd.  Doubles in the bottom of the 7th from the recovered Phil Gosselin and David Peralta make it a one run game and St. Louis opts to bring in Andy Benes, who escapes the inning with the lead.  DelaRosa guts it out through nine to keep it a one run game, and things head to the bottom of the 9th, with the Dbacks trying to keep a streak of walk-off wins alive against Benes.  Peralta finds a double at 4-11 on Benes’ card to put the tying run in scoring position with one away, and Welington Castillo squibs a SI 1-8 and it’s 1st and 3rd and the infield comes in for game 2 hero Jerrod Saltalamacchia who lofts a deep fly to CF; Peralta tags to tie the game and we head to extra innings.  JD Drew crushes the first pitch in the top of the 10th for a homer, and Edmonds goes back-to-back and a dejected delaRosa heads to the bench as Zack Godley comes in to retire the side.  Once again, it’s Benes’ game to win, and #9 hitter Chris Owings leads off by missing Benes’ HR 1-12/DO split to signal that the Dbacks aren’t done yet.  The next batter, AJ Pollock, finds that 4-11 double and it’s a one run game with nobody out and the 1-17 leadoff man in scoring position.  A squib single from Gosselin sends the tying run to 3rd and the Cards have seen enough from Benes, who has allowed seven hits in 2+ innings, so Dave Veres and his solid 6-5 homer come in to try to save the day.  Veres fans Paul Goldschmidt but Peralta lofts a sac fly to CF and the game is tied with two out.  Up to the plate steps Saltalamacchia; and he rips one out towards LF-3 Pujols; it gets by him for a double with three base advance, Gosselin crosses the plate with the winning run and the Diamondbacks walk it off for the third time in a row, capturing the regional with the 5-4 extra inning win.  It’s the first regional win for the expansion franchise, with three previous trips to the finals ending in losses; Jarred Saltalamacchia makes me type his name one more time as the regional MVP, delivering the walkoff hit in both the semifinal and final while only being in the lineup because of the team’s multiple injuries.

Interesting card(s) of Regional #240:  The 2004 Mets didn’t survive the first round of the tournament, and perhaps that’s a good thing, because in setting their lineup and rotation I came across a somewhat unexpected situation.  In the more recently printed seasons, it’s not uncommon for a player to have more than one card for a team–one reflecting his entire season (typically placed with the team he finished the season with), while the other reflecting only his performance with that team.  Tournament rules accommodate this by mandating that only the highest AB/IP card will be used, which provides the greatest sample size and hence the presumably better estimate of the player’s ability.  So I’m used to encountering two cards for one player on a given team, but this one threw me for a loop; you see, Jae Seo’s IP are exactly the same on both cards.  In fact, all of his stats are exactly the same–but the cards are not.  They are also different on the back side as well; on both, the number of hit and walk chances are the same, but the outcomes are worse on one than on the other.  My suspicion is that one of these is an “error” card that was subsequently reprinted and then included with the set–but if so,  I have no idea which one is the error and which is the corrected one.  Often I can find reference to such situations on the “news and announcements” archives found on the Strat website, but that only goes back to 2008, so I’m guessing the explanation came on one of those little one-inch strips of paper that they were notorious for including with your purchase.  But, there was no need to worry, because the Mets cooperated with a rapid exit from the tournament and his services as a starting pitcher were not necessary.  Now, in researching this feature I learned that this pitcher, Jae (weong) Seo, had an older brother, Jae (Hwan) Seo, who was signed by the Mets at the same time, so in fact the Mets may well have had two Jae Seo’s in their system in 2004, and perhaps they were as confused as I about the situation.  Although the older brother never reached the majors, it thus seems fitting that the Mets would have two Jae Seo’s in their card set.

REGIONAL #239:  This draw of eight yielded two pair, representing the Cubs and the Brewers, and the most notable member of that group looked to me like the version of the Cubs that immediately preceded their first Series win in a billion years.  Another squad that looked competitive to me was a late-90s version of the Astros that would feature the “killer B’s” lineup, and I was thinking that the entry from the White Sox would be decent and perhaps could play a fun role in derailing that Cubs team in the semifinals, conveniently ignoring the probability that the Sox jinx would never allow that to occur.  As such, I was guessing that it would be a finals matching the Astros with the 2015 version of the Cubs, with the north siders prevailing just to spite me.  The ELO rankings aligned perfectly with my guesstimates, although they suggested that my White Sox might represent a slightly bigger threat to the Cubs in the semifinals than the Astros would pose in the finals.

First round action

The first game of the regional involved mixing it up at the bottom of the barrel, as the #7 seeded 2021 Cubs and the #8 seeded 2016 Phillies each sported terrible ELO rankings.  I was initially somewhat baffled when I was setting the lineup for the Cubs, as I was thinking to myself this is a pretty good team–but it turns out I had grabbed the wrong year of the Cubs, and the 2021 version had lost 91 games and had traded away key components of the team, leaving me baffled as to how Kyle Hendricks (14-7, 4.77) managed to win so many games with a pretty bad card.  However, the Phillies also lost 91 games, with an aging Ryan Howard hitting below the Mendoza line and Jeremy Hellickson (12-10, 3.71) the relative bright spot in the starting rotation.  In the bottom of the 2nd, a two-base error by Cubs SS-3 Sergio Alcantara sets up an RBI single by Maikel Franco, but Alcantara makes up for it by finding Hellickson’s HR result for a solo shot in the 3rd to tie the game.  However, the Phils respond in the bottom of the inning as they get the first two runners aboard, and then one scores on a fielder’s choice from Tommy Joseph while the other crosses the plate on a 2-run blast from elder statesman Howard and it’s 4-1 for the Phils.  A leadoff double by Freddy Galvis in the bottom of the 6th and the Cubs see no reason not to head to a strong bullpen for Ryan Tepara, but Galvis scores when LF-3 Ian Happ can’t get to a Tyler Goeddel line drive that extends the Phillies’ lead.  In the 7th, Joseph misses a HR 1-14 split but still drives in a run on the resulting double, and from there the Phils ride Hellickson to a 6-hit complete game that puts the Phils in the semis with a 6-1 win.  

The 1997 Astros were the #3 seed in this bracket; they won the NL Central with a rather unimpressive 84-78 record and didn’t last long in the postseason.  Although the Killer B’s of Jef Bagwell and Craig Biggio finished 3 & 4 in the MVP voting, they were pretty much the only two guys on the team that could field, and the rotation after Darryl Kile (19-7, 2.57), who finished 5th for the Cy Young, got worse quickly.  The ELO rankings had them barely favored against the 2008 Brewers, who won 90 games and also made a quick postseason exit as a wild card team; they had Ryan Braun finishing 3rd for the MVP and CC Sabathia (17-10, 2.70) was a late season acquisition who was 5th for the Cy Young and 6th in the MVP voting.  The Astros defense shows its ugly side in the bottom of the 1st as JJ Hardy knocks an RBI single past RF-4 Derek Bell, but the Brewers return the favor as an error from 3B-3 Bill Hall opens the door for a 2-run single by Thomas Howard that gives the Astros the lead.  Houston puts up two more in the 3rd, being denied another run as 1-10+2 Sean Berry is out at the plate to end the inning.  In the bottom of the inning, Hardy responds with his second RBI single of the game to narrow the gap to 4-2, and the margin is cut to one in the 5th when Ray Durham leads off with a double and scores on a Rickie Weeks single.  The Astros get some insurance from a pinch hit RBI single by Richard Hidalgo, who scores on a Biggio double to make it 6-3 Houston.  However, it’s not enough as Prince Fielder uncorks a 3-run big fly in the bottom of the 7th to tie the game and chase Kile for reliever Mike Magnante who prevents further damage, so the game heads to the 8th knotted at six apiece.  In the top of the 9th, Bill Spiers leads off by missing Sabathia’s HR 1-6/DO split and CC strands him by downing the heart of the Houston order, opening the door for a walk-off win by the Brewers in the bottom of the inning.  To head off any such possibility, the Astros summon closer Billy Wagner to begin the 9th, who tosses a perfect frame so it’s time for extra innings.  The Brewers go with their ace Sabathia for his final inning in the 10th, as he’s been getting stronger as the game has progressed, but with two out it seems that he runs out of steam and allows a walk and two hits, one an RBI single from Hidalgo, and the Astros try to cling to the one run lead behind Wagner.  Wagner quickly retires two, but Gabe Kapler converts a SI 1-8 off the pitcher’s card to bring up the top of the order in Durham, but Wagner cranks up the velocity and strikes him out to earn the decision in the 7-6 Astros win. 

For the Zoom game of the week, the Friday Night Strat crowd decided they wanted to watch the White Sox jinx firsthand, so I assumed the helm of the 1992 White Sox against TT’s management for the 2005 Brewers, who were still stinging from the extra inning loss suffered by their 2008 version in the previous first round game. The Sox were favored with 86 wins, garnering MVP votes for Frank Thomas and import George Bell, and Jack McDowell (20-10, 3.18) was the Cy Young runner-up. The Brewers were truly a .500 team with an 81-81 record, with Geoff Jenkins as the top bat and Ben Sheets (10-9, 3.33) a strong option at the top of the rotation. But Bell tolls to lead off the bottom of the 2nd with a long homer, and Dan Pasqua adds an RBI single to push the Sox to an early 2-0 lead. Russell Branyan answers in the 3rd with a solo shot of his own, but Bell comes back around to ring out a sac fly in the bottom of the inning and restore the two run edge. The Brewers narrow things again in the 5th, with Jeff Cirillo’s RBI single making it a one-run game, but Milwaukee leaves the bases loaded without closing the gap. Ron Karkovice, subject of the game’s trivia question, restores the two-run lead with a fielder's choice in the bottom of the 5th, but McDowell gets hit again in the 6th and instead of doubling down, Black Jack is pulled for Terry Leach, but not before Branyan makes it a one-run game once again. From this point Brewer relievers Rick Helling and Derrick Turnbow hang the Sox out to dry, so I pull out the defensive replacements and closer Roberto Hernandez and his 1.65 ERA gets the call in the 8th. However, two walks to begin the 9th and the crowd is expectant, waiting for the three-run homer from Jenkins that would bury the Sox once and for all. But Hernandez induces the double play and Carlos Lee pops out with the tying run on 3rd, and the Brewers leave about half of the population of Wisconsin in scoring position as the Sox surmount the jinx and survive the 4-3 win to head to a semifinal that might involve the hated Cubs as the opponent

The 2015 Cubs would win the Series the following season and this version won 97 games to make it to the NLCS with Anthony Rizzo and Kris Bryant getting MVP support, as did Jake Arrieta (20-6, 1.77) who easily won the Cy Young award.  Using Arrieta against the 71-91 2011 Padres might have been overkill, as the Padres had nobody in the lineup with double digit homers, although the pitching staff was decent with swingman Cory Luebke (6-10, 3.29) sporting a card that was quite respectable.  Even so, the Cubs immediately get to Luebke in the top of the 1st with an RBI double from Kyle Schwarber being followed with a three-run homer by Dexter Fowler and the Padres start the game in an impressive hole.  SD starts the climb out with doubles by Nick Hundley and Will Venable in the 2nd, both off Arrieta’s card, and the score narrows to 4-1 Cubs.  But Schwarber crushes a two-run blast in the 3rd to extend the lead, although the Pads get one back in the 5th when speedster Cameron Maybin singles, steals second, and scores on a Jason Bartlett hit, although the inning ends with 1-13+2 Bartlett gunned down at the plate.  When Addison Russell leads off the 6th with a double off Luebke’s card, the Padres call on Mike Adams and his 1.13 ERA to try to keep the momentum, but a two out single by Rizzo scores the 1-13+2 Russell and it’s 7-2 Cubs.  However, Arietta simply isn’t sharp, as he loads the bases on a single and two walks in the bottom of the inning and then proceeds to issue two more consecutive walks, but manages to finally escape the inning with the persistent Padres narrowing the score to 7-4.  However, the Cubs are relentless, with a long two-run homer by Miguel Montero in the 7th adding some padding, although Nick Hundley leads off the 8th with a homer to get one of those runs back.  Even so, the Cubs see no reason to tax their bullpen and Arrieta makes it to complete the workmanlike 9-5 victory and send the bracket favorites on to the semifinals for a clash against their cross-town rivals.  

The survivors

The bottom-seeded 2016 Phillies had survived round one against a weak opponent, but they were facing a more competitive squad in the 1997 Astros and the Phils’ starter, Jerad Eickhoff (11-14, 3.65), was rather vulnerable to the long ball.  The Astros would counter with Mike Hampton (15-10, 3.83) and a bullpen that had been taxed in their first round extra-inning win.  Jeff Bagwell gets things going in the bottom of the 1st with an RBI double, but Eickhoff then strands runners on 2nd and 3rd for three consecutive outs to keep matters from getting worse.  In the 5th, Freddy Galvis hits a liner that CF-4 Thomas Howard turns into a double, and Galvis ties the game on a single by Cesar Hernandez.   However, in the bottom of the inning the Astros finally figure out Eickhoff’s weaknesses and RBI doubles from Bill Spiers and Jeff Bagwell are followed by a two-run shot from Derek Bell off the pitcher’s card, and Houston marches out to a 6-1 lead and upon hitting the 6th inning now begin to shore up their defense.  However, Hampton is just not sharp and in the 7th the Phils get runs from a Brad Ausmus passed ball, a Galvis RBI double that involved missing a HR 1-16 split, and a Peter Bourjos RBI single, and the Astro just can’t trust Hampton any longer and opt to burn Mike Magnante for the regional.  He gets the final out of the inning, but the Astros lead is down to two entering the 9th.  Magnante faces the top of the Phils order, and although they scrape out two hits, Mags whiffs Cameron Rupp for the final out and the Astros head to the finals by surviving the 6-4 win.   

I figured the 2015 Cubs would win the regional just to spite me, and I assumed that the dice ignored my jinx in allowing the 1992 White Sox to make the semifinals just to double the pain when they would get knocked out by the Cubs.  The Cubs would start Jon Lester (11-12, 3.34) against Charlie Hough (7-12, 3.93) of the Sox, with both teams having spent their 20-game winners in round one.  It doesn’t take long for the pain to set in, as Kris Bryant finds a knuckler that doesn’t on Hough’s card for a two-run homer in the bottom of the 1st.  However, Ron Karkovice returns the favor in the 5th converting a split on Lester’s card for a three-run blast as the Sox claim a 3-2 lead.  Hough then knuckles down and doesn’t allow a hit for six innings, but the Sox elect to take no chances and bring in Roberto Hernandez to begin the 8th, which will burn him for the regional.  The first thing Hernandez does is issue a walk off his card, but Starlin Castro hits into a DP to wipe out any threat.  The Sox do nothing against Lester in the top of the 9th, which means Hernandez must face the top of the Cubs order holding a one-run lead.  The leadoff hitter, Chris Coughlan, converts a DO 1-2/flyB split on Hernandez’s card to immediately put the tying run in scoring position; Hernandez then bears down and Rizzo, Bryant and Schwarber all go down, with only one of the three even able to put the bat on the ball, and the Sox squeak past the jinx monster and head to the finals with a 3-2 win.   

A quality matchup for the final involves the #3 seeded 1997 Astros against the #2 seed 1992 White Sox, who had survived the jinx this long to allow a faceoff between the only two 20th century teams in the bracket.  The Astros would send out Chris Holt (8-12, 3.52), while Kirk McCaskill (12-13, 4.18) would start for the Sox, consistent with their largely over-the-hill roster. In the top of the 1st, one of the lesser known Killer B’s, Sean Berry misses a HR 1-13 split with two out but the resulting double scores two and the Sox are in a hole before they can bat.  However, they strike back as Tim Raines leads off with a walk, steals second and scores on a Robin Ventura single to make it a one-run game, but Jeff Bagwell counters with a deep 2-run shot in the 3rd to extend the Houston lead.  Lance Johnson’s sac fly in the bottom of the 4th makes it 4-2 Astros, but Bagwell triples in the 5th and scores on a Derek Bell single to get the run back.  A one-out single off McCaskill’s card in the 6th and he’s gone in favor of Terry Leach, who ends the inning without incident.  Meanwhile, the Sox cannot get anything going, hitting into four double plays as Holt rests the Astros pen by finishing out the 5-2 win, and the Astros win their 7th regional title while only garnering six hits, thus joining the ‘98 team as a mini-dynasty in the tournament.  

Interesting card of (not) Regional #239:  I typically try to feature a unique card from among the eight teams selected for the particular mini-bracket regional that was just completed, but as I was sitting down to play the finals between the Astros and White Sox, I received the news that we’d lost Willie Mays to the ages.   Because I’m getting close to having played every Strat team ever printed in this tournament, the remaining teams are mostly post-2000, and I have to admit that I don’t find that very many of the more recent cards (or players, for that matter) capture my imagination to any extent, so I decided to make an exception for this entry.  Now, the Say Hey Kid’s entire career has been included in this tournament, with the exception of 1952, a season that the game company stubbornly refuses to print, but his ‘52 campaign was cut short by a stint in Korea so it’s safe to say that he’s gotten in a few swings in this project.  As far as his cards go, it doesn’t get much more unique than this one, Willie’s card from the second set that the game company produced in Hal Richman’s basement, being based upon the 1961 season.  Aside from some exceptionally unusual hit placements, this one is interesting in a lot of other ways:  how about no fielding rating?  No running rating?  No position designation for various kinds of outs?  And, how about the FLYBALL E and GROUNDBALL E results?  As many know, all of those features began with the 1962 season set, the first to produce sets for all MLB teams and whose popularity basically saved the game company, allowing us to still be rolling the dice 60 years later.  Now I admit that I didn’t use this card in the tournament, instead using the die cut 1961 past season set that was released in 1983, and these cards from the initial two Strat sets aren’t really fully compatible with the current versions.  However, I assure you that the compatibility of this original 1961 season with the current 2023 cards is far better than between 1961 and 2024 computer technology, speaking as somebody who has an extensive collection of Strat season diskettes to use as coasters.  But, I digress; in any format, Willie Mays was one of the greatest, and I’m thankful for the memories.

REGIONAL #238:  This was yet another unusually strong draw, with two pennant winners and a number of other near-winners.  The two high profile entries were last season’s Series champions, the 2023 Rangers who represented the first such title in the history of that franchise, and the 1991 Braves, who were beginning a run of NL crowns in that decade.  But there were other contenders as well; the 2005 Cards won the league the year before and the year after; the 1997 Braves won the NL the two seasons before and would do so again two years after; and the 2018 Indians team won the AL two years prior, and had seen a very good team from the year before ousted in the previous regional, so they were looking to redeem themselves.  Toss in two pandemic teams, who are always unpredictable, and this was an interesting group.  The top of the bracket featured both pennant winners, and I suspected that last year’s Rangers would emerge from that confrontation and go on to beat one Braves team in the semis and another Braves team in the finals.  According to the ELO rating, it would be the 1997 version of the Braves who would prevail over the Cardinals entry, with the latter picked to defeat two consecutive pennant winners to reach the finals.    

First round action

I’m not sure it’s happened before in this tournament that the reigning Series champion makes an appearance, but that was the case here with the 2023 Rangers having won 90 games and their first championship as represented in the current card set.  Their DP combo Cory Seager and Marcus Semien went 2 & 3 in the MVP voting, while the rotation was good but not great, with Nathan Eovaldi (12-5, 3.63) in charge of getting this pennant winner past round one.  Doing so would involve getting past a 2020 Tigers team that managed to earn a terrible ELO rating in only 60 games; they boast two guys hitting below the Mendoza line and a terrible rotation with Matt Boyd (3-7, 6.71) the mandatory first round starter, although like most of the pandemic year teams they did have a few helpful low-usage freak cards that might help out in later innings.  The Rangers move head in the bottom of the 1st on a sac fly from Seager, but the Tigers respond in the 2nd with an onslaught of hits off Eovaldi and vault to a 3-1 lead before the Texas starter can regain control. The Rangers retaliate in the bottom of the inning with a two-out rally as a Travis Jankowski double scores one but 1-12+2 Robbie Grossman is nailed at the plate trying to tie the game.  Even so, Texas does tie it up in the 3rd when Josh Jung bounces a two out RBI triple past RF-4 Jorge Bonifacio, and they take the lead in the 4th when Leody Taveras leads off by finding one of Boyd’s inviting HR results, and then Grossman gets on again and ths time Jankowski leaves nothing to chance by tripling him home with another run.  A walk to Semien and Boyd is gone for reliever Jose Cisnero, but Seager brings in Jankowski with another sac fly and the Rangers now lead 6-3.  For the Tiger, Jeimer Candelario triples and scores on an Austin Romine single in the 8th to make it a 2-run game, and when PH Jacoby Jones follows that with a double that puts the tying run in scoring position with two out, the Rangers reach into their pen for one Jacob deGrom.  The Tigers counter with PH CJ Cron, and Cron crushes one so deep that it probably would have injured deGrom back in New York, and suddenly the Tigers hold the lead.  Now it’s the Tigers’ turn to try to hold a lead, and they summon Bryan Garcia and his 1.66 ERA to try to do the job.  He does fine in the 8th, courtesy of four straight Texas rolls on the pitcher’s card, but the first hitter card roll comes with the first batter of the 9th, and that roll is a solid homer on Adolis Garcia and the game is tied.  Garcia handles the remainder of the order and we head to extra innings.  Both pitchers hold serve in the 10th and 11th, but are toast for the regional in the 12th; Jose Leclerc holds off the Tigers in the top of the inning, but new Tigers reliever Daniel Norris allows a double off his card to Leody Taveras in the bottom of the inning.   That brings up Nathaniel Lowe, who grounds one to SS-2 Niko Goodrum; the split die is a 10, two base error, and the Tigers fittingly lose on a walk-off error as the champion Rangers are fortunate to escape with the 12-inning 8-7 win.  

For the Zoom game of the week, TT decided to try his hand at the helm of the 2005 Cardinals, a 100-win team that made the Series in both the prior and the following seasons and would have made it this season if the Astros hadn’t upended them in the NLCS.  The team had the NL MVP in Albert Pujols and the NL Cy Young in Chris Carpenter  (21-5, 2.83), making them a formidable opponent for a different NL pennant-winner, the 1991 Braves.  These Braves went 94-68 to begin their impressive run of pennants during the 90s, although like many other of those teams this group lost in the World Series.  Although they won fewer games, they did make it to the Series and otherwise their qualifications were parallel to those of the Cards; these Braves had the NL MVP in Terry Pendleton and the Cy Young winner in Tom Glavine (20-11, 2.55), so the game promised to be an epic battle although I was managing the Braves, which usually spells first round departure for any pennant winner.  The Braves did jump out to an early lead in the bottom of the 3rd when Otis Nixon draws a walk, steals second, and scores on a single from Jeff Treadway, but in the top of the 5th an RBI single from Mark Grudzielanek ties the game and forces me to try to type his name without spelling errors.  Not content with that effort, Grudzie raps another RBI single in the top of the 7th and the Cards take the lead, but in the bottom of the inning an error and a hit put runners on the corners with one out; TT keeps the infield back looking for the DP ball out of #9 hitter Rafael Belliard, so to thwart that strategy I order the squeeze play and promptly roll the boxcars that signal the DP popout and the threat is eliminated.  Nonetheless, the Braves threaten again in the bottom of the 8th and TT leaves in Carpenter one batter too long as backup OF Keith Mitchell raps an RBI single to tie the game.  At that point TT closes the barn door with Al Reyes, and the game heads to the 9th knotted at two apiece.  Glavine is sharp in the top of the 9th, so it’s up to Reyes to prevent the walk-off; he issues a walk and then defensive substitute and HOFer 3B-1 Scott Rolen muffs a Jeff Blauser grounder to bring up MVP Pendleton; he cracks a liner into the gap and the run scores to give the Braves the see-saw 3-2 victory and a walk-off trip to the semifinals.  

This was a strong first round matchup between the top-seeded 1997 Braves, fresh off a regional win by another 90s Atlanta team, and the 2018 Indians, fresh off a first-round upset as the top seed in that same bracket.  The Braves won 101 games and the NL East by a wide margin over the Marlins, who somehow defeated them in the NLCS; nonetheless this was one of the best Braves teams of the decade with MVP votes for Chipper Jones, Jeff Blauser, Kenny Lofton, and Greg Maddux (19-4, 2.20) who was also runner up for the Cy Young.  However, the team they were facing was no slouch either, as the Indians won 91 games and the AL Central with Jose Ramirez and Francisco Lindor in the top 10 in MVP votes and Corey Kluber (20-7, 2.89) finished 3rd for the Cy Young, so there was plenty of talent on both sides here.  With two great pitchers, neither team can muster a hit the first time through the lineup, with the first one coming on a Ryan Klesko double in the top of the 5th.  That seems to open the floodgates, as Fred McGriff and Mark Lemke both record RBI singles and the Braves hand Maddux a two run margin.  When Chipper knocks in Blauser in the 6th with a single through a drawn-in infield, Kluber is pulled for Oliver Perez and his 1.39 ERA, and he prevents further damage.  But Lemke knocks an RBI double in the 7th, and meanwhile the Indians can’t touch Maddux until Yonder Alonso breaks up the no-hitter with one out in the 8th.  But that’s all they can muster, as Maddux finished out a one-hitter in which he uncharacteristically walks 3, and the Braves move to the semis with the 4-0 shutout of the #3 seed. 

 This first round game appeared to be a mismatch between a pretty good pandemic-year 2020 Padres team and a 2002 Rays squad with a terrible ELO rating.  The 2020 teams are like Forrest Gump’s box of chocolates in that you never know what you’re going to get, and what the Padres got was a 37-23 record with a post-season appearance as a wild card; the lineup was nine guys with SLG% over .425  with Manny Machado and Fernando Tatis Jr. going 3 and 4 in the MVP votes, and Dinelson Lamet (3-1, 2.09) whose name I had previously made fun of, got the last laugh with a 4th place Cy Young finish.  On the other hand, the then Devil Rays lost 106 games and seemed to miss the steroid era with Aubrey Huff leading the team with only 23 homers; the rotation was particularly bad, and their top option, Joe Kennedy (8-11, 4.53), probably should have been concentrating on building his political dynasty.  As usual, belittling a team seems to goad them into action, as the Rays get a 2-run homer from Huff in the top of the 1st for a quick lead, although Jurickson Profar ties it with a two-run shot of his own in the bottom of the 3rd.  Wil Myers leads off the 4th by converting Kennedy’s HR split, and later Jake Cronenworth doubles in a run and he scores on a single from Austin Nola as the Padres hand Lamet a 5-2 lead.  When Mitch Moreland homers to lead off the 6th the Rays send Kennedy back to Hyannis Port although Esteban Yan is the best of terrible options in the Tampa pen; he promptly yields a two-run blast to Profar who makes Jurick proud by extending the lead to 8-2.  The Padres break double figures with a Nola 2-run shot in the 8th, and Lamet also breaks double figures with 12 strikeout as he finishes out the 6-hit 10-2 pasting that sends San Diego to the semifinals, where the opposition promises to be far more challenging.  

The survivors

Opening up a quality pair of regional semifinals was a matchup between two pennant winners, the reigning Series champion 2023 Rangers and the 1991 Braves team that began their dynasty of the 90s.  The Braves would have Steve Avery (18-8, 3.38), who was 6th in the Cy Young won by his teammate Glavine who won game one; for the Rangers, it would be Jordan Montgomery (10-11, 3.20), who had an already taxed bullpen from their round one extra inning marathon.  The Ranger fail to convert in the top of the 1st when Corey Seager (1-12+2) is gunned down at home for the 3rd out when Adolis Garcia misses a HR split, but in the bottom of the inning the Braves don’t miss as two walks and a HR 1-3 split conversion from Ron Gant results in a 3-0 Atlanta lead.  The Rangers lose LF Travis Jankowski to injury in the 3rd, although they replace him with Evan Carter’s .645 SLG% which certainly eases the pain; however, the Braves continue to hammer Montgomery, with back to back doubles by Jeff Treadway and Terry Pendleton opening the 3rd which also sees runs score on a Brian Hunter fielder's choice and a two-out Lonnie Smith RBI single.  Avery meanwhile recovers from his first inning jitters and dominates until the 7th, when he allows a few baserunners but is rescued by a DP turned by defensive replacement 2B-2 Mark Lemke.  Avery hangs onto the shutout until two out in the 9th, when Cory Seager swats a 2-run homer, but he records the third out to seal the 4-hitter and send the Braves to the finals with the 6-2 win.  

It was now up to the top seeded 1997 Braves to make it an all-90s Atlanta final, and their rotation was an embarrassment of riches as Denny Neagle (20-5, 2.97) finished 3rd for the Cy Young award, right behind their round one starter.  However, the 2020 Padres were a pandemic team unlike anything these Braves had ever encountered, and SD’s Zach Davies (7-4, 2.73) had a strong card of his own, so this one promised to be a battle.  Wil Myers fires the first shot with a solo homer in the bottom of the 1st, but Jeff Blauser’s RBI single in the 3rd ties things up.  In the bottom of the 5th, 3B-2 Chipper Jones drops a 2-out grounder that hands the Padres a 2-1 lead, but when Jones singles in the top of the 6th and Ryan Klesko draws a walk the Padres take no chances and summon closer Trevor Rosenthal to try to hang onto the lead.  He induces a grounder from Michael Tucker that looks like a DP ball, but 3B-1 Manny Machado boots it to load the bases with one away and Fred McGriff at the plate.  The Crime Dog is on the case and he rips a single for two runs and a Braves lead; Andruw Jones then doubles past RF-3 Myers and the Braves are up by two.  Myers wastes no time in atoning for his fielding shortcomings, leading off the bottom of the 6th with his second homer of the game and the margin is down to one.  When Myers comes up again in the bottom of the 7th with two on and two out, the Braves decide that Neagle does not need to pitch to him again and summon reliever Mike Cather, who issues a walk to Myers but manages to get a foulout at 1-12 in Manny Machado’s stacked 1 column for out number three, leaving the bases loaded.  The Braves bring in the defensive replacements to start the bottom of the 8th, but CF-2 Kenny Lofton misplays a Jake Cronenworth single to put runners on 2nd and 3rd with one out, so in comes the infield to try to preserve the one run margin.  Austin Nola lofts another fly to Lofton, who hauls it in but it’s deep enough to score the run and the game is tied.  That brings up round one hero Jurickson Profar, who finds the only (partial) hit on Cather’s card for a double and the Padres go up by a run to enter the 9th.  Klesko draws a leadoff walk but goes no further than 1st as Rosenthal uses his last gasp of the regional to close out the bracket favorites and send the Padres to the final by preserving the 5-4 win.  

The 1991 Braves had impressive credentials as a regional finalist, being a pennant winner who defeated the #2 seed in round one and the only Series winner in the bracket in round two; for the final they would send Charlie Leibrandt (15-13, 3.49) supported by a fully rested bullpen against the 2020 Padres.  These Padres were only the #6 seed in this strong regional but they nonetheless made the post-season, although the constraints of the pandemic season meant that Chris Paddack (4-5, 4.73) was mandated to get the start, and they had burned their closer in their come from behind upset of another strong Braves team in the semifinal.  David Justice leads off the top of the 2nd by finding Paddack’s solid 5-5 homer, but a solo shot by Eric Hosmer in the bottom of the inning quickly ties the game.   SD keeps up the pressure in the 3rd with a 2-run single from Manny Machado, and then Mitch Moreland bounces a double past LF-4 Lonnie Smith to score Machado and add to the lead; a double from Austin Nola and the Padres lead 5-1 by inning’s end.  Machado finds and converts Leibrant’s HR result for a solo shot in the 5th, but Jeff Treadway gets it back in the 6th with an RBI double and the Braves send out reliever Juan Berenguer to try to sustain that momentum.  However, he’s not helped by a two-out error from SS-2 Rafael Belliard that sets up a Fernando Tatis Jr. RBI single followed by a 2-run double by Wil Myers, and with that big lead the Padres are just hoping that Paddack can hang on and preserve the pen.  That doesn’t prove to be the case as Otis Nixon knocks a 2-run double and Terry Pendleton adds an RBI single, all off Paddack’s card in the 7th, and the Padres decide to quick messing around and summon Drew Pomeranz and his 1.45 ERA who whiffs Ron Gant with the bases loaded for the 3rd out.  The Padres respond with a long 2-run homer from Trent Grisham in the 8th that puts them in double digits, and they bring in Luis Patino to mop up the 11-5 win for the regional title, the 7th such win for the Padres franchise and the third victory by a pandemic-year team.  Make no mistake, despite the #6 seeding here this is a good Padres team, with impressive hitting, good fielding, and a couple of good starting pitchers with some decent options available in the pen, and they might provide more surprises as they move on in the tournament.  

Interesting card of Regional #238:  The pandemic Padres pounded the opposition on the way to the regional title, and may the dice gods forgive me but I love the low usage oddities provided in that set.  The card I selected for this feature was actually not eligible to play in the tournament, as the guidelines for this project require that when a player has two cards issued on the same team, the card with the higher IP/AB must be used.  Trevor Rosenthal was traded at the deadline from the Royals to the Padres, who were chasing a postseason berth in that unusual 60-game season, and this Padre-only card represents the production that San Diego got out of their newly-acquired closer down the stretch.  If I were them, I’d be pretty satisfied, because having now played 1,912 unique teams in this tournament, which have included roughly 57,000 different Strat cards, I feel qualified to opine that this is the best pitcher’s card I’ve ever seen.  If it ain’t an X-chart–it’s a strikeout; doesn’t matter if it’s basic or advanced, doesn’t matter if it’s against a righty or lefty, and it almost doesn’t matter if he’s tired or not.  This tournament doesn’t use advanced rules, but I had to violate my general policy and include the back side for this feature, because unlike most SADV-cluttered monstrosities, the B-side is also a work of art.  Oh, and while you’re at it, he isn’t going to balk, issue a wild pitch, or make an error.  Okay, so maybe he isn’t the greatest hitter, but that’s why God invented the DH.   His combined KC/SD card was quite good also and that version of Rosenthal earned the win as the linchpin in the Padres’ comeback semifinal victory–but sitting on the bench was the greatest Strat pitching card in history.  Remarkably, it looks like this will also go down as Rosenthal’s final Strat card, as he had two operations after the 2020 season and has not pitched in the majors since; at present he is 34 years old and listed as an unsigned free agent.  If, as it appears, his MLB career is over–this card is one heck of a swan song.

REGIONAL #237:  In the draw for this bracket I knew there was one pennant winner, as I attended Game 3 of their first World Series, in their park although I was pulling for the visiting team.  That pennant winner was the 2005 Astros, and it looked to me like they drew their toughest competition for the first round, a Red Sox squad that was a year away from their first Series championship since trading the Babe.  Among other entries was an Indians group that had won the AL the prior season and a Diamondbacks team two seasons before their first NL pennant; the remaining four teams I suspected were middling, meaning that they were dark horse candidates worth betting on as a field.  Being most familiar with the pennant winning Astros, I figured that they had the best conbo of pitching and offensive punch and would take the bracket with a win over the Indians in the finals.  Consulting the ELO rankings after making my picks, as is customary, I was surprised to discover that those Indians had one of the best season-ending ELO ranks in history, and that the Astros were only the third best team in the bottom part of the bracket, with both the Dbacks and the Red Sox ranked as better teams.  Nonetheless, those rankings agreed with me that there were no terrible teams here, meaning that anything could happen, and probably will.

First round action

Although the #6 seeded 2005 Rangers and the #7 seed 2009 A’s were among the bottom-ranked teams in this regional, their actual ratings were pretty good.  The Rangers finished under .500 at 79-83 but according to their Pythagorean projection they shouldn’t have, as they had a power-laden offense with Mark Teixeira finishing 7th in the MVP votes with 43 homers, and the DP combo of Michael Young and Alfonso Soriano combined for another 60 round trips.  However, the pitching staff was a problem, with Texas gambling on Kenny Rogers (14-8, 3.46) for the round one start.  Meanwhile, the A’s went 75-87 while projecting as a .500 team, but they didn’t have the firepower of the Rangers’ and their top starter, Brett Anderson (11-11, 4.09) was hardly a dominating presence.   Still, the A’s give him an early lead when Rajai Davis triples in the 3rd and scores on a squib single from Matt Holliday, but they give the run back when an error from 2B-2 Mark Ellis allows Texas to score a run in the bottom of the 5th.  However, Ellis atones by leading off the 7th converting a SI 1-8, and because he’s held Jason Giambi slices a gbA++ single to put runners on the corners with nobody out, so Texas decides to fold ‘em on Rogers for closer Francisco Cordero.  He can’t prevent a sac fly from Rajai Davis and the A’s regain the lead, and in the bottom of the 8th they bring in defensive replacements and closer Andrew Bailey and his 1.84 ERA to try to hang onto it.  However, three hits in the 8th, two courtesy of the A’s DP combo, tie things up entering the 9th.  Cordero holds off the A’s in the top of the 9th, while in the bottom Hank Blalock singles and a Richard Hidalgo double pushes the winning run to third with one away.  In comes the infield for the top of the order in Young, and it's a gbB so Black is out at the plate while Young reaches first.  That brings up Soriano, and the roll is a 4-5:  HR 1, flyB 2-20.  The split die goes into the dice tower, and out comes the 1, game over with the walkoff three run blast and the Rangers ride the unusually cooperative split die into the semis with the 5-2 win.   

The 2017 Indians won 102 games and the AL Central, and their season-ending ELO rating was among the best in history although they exited the post-season in the ALDS.  Still, it was easy to see how they earned their position as regional favorites, as Jose Ramirez and Francisco Lindor both finished in the top 5 of the MVP voting, while Cory Kluber (18-4, 2.25) was 7th while running away with the AL Cy Young award.  However, they faced a pretty tough draw in the 2011 Brewers, whose 96 wins took the NL Central and they made it farther than the Indians in the post-season, getting eliminated in a 6-game NLCS.  Ryan Braun won the NL MVP award and Prince Fielder finished 3rd, while Shaun Marcum (13-7, 3.54) was one of several decent options for the round one assignment.  Kluber is uncharacteristically wild in the 2nd, walking the first two Brewers and then yielding an RBI single to Jonathan Lucroy that puts Milwaukee up 1-0, but Kluber bears down and prevents the numbers from getting crooked.  Cleveland ties it in the bottom of the 3rd when Jose Ramirez slaps a 2-out double and then scores on a single by Edwin Encarnacion.  Both pitchers have things locked down until there are 2 out in the top of the 8th, when Kluber allows a single, a Braun double, and a walk to Fielder that loads the bases.  The Indians think about the pen but decide to stick with their ace; however, although Corey Hart may be wearing his sunglasses at night, he still manages to spot Kluber’s 6-5 HR 1-12/ DO.   Unfortunately, the low visibility produces a missed split for the slam, and Fielder’s 1-10+2 lumber towards home is rudely interrupted for the final out of the inning, but the Brewers still lead 3-1.  When Kluber yield a single in the 9th, the Indians aren’t going to make the same mistake and summon the unhittable Andrew Miller from the bullpen, and Yunieski Betancourt and Casey McGehee both promptly single to prove that description markedly incorrect.  Nyjer Morgan then pokes an RBI single before Miller whiffs Braun with the bases loaded, and the Indians face a 4-1 deficit in the bottom of the 9th.  It quickly narrows as defensive replacement Erik Gonzalez leads off the inning with a homer, PH Austin Jackson walks, and Milwaukee heads to their pen for Cy Young vote-getting closer John Axford.  A Yan Gomes single puts the tying run aboard with nobody out and the top the the Cleveland order at bat, but Axford finds his stuff and ends the game striking out Ramirez and Encarnacion as the Brewers eliminate the bracket favorite with the 4-2 win.  Special recognition has to go to Milwaukee’s all-4 DP combo who flawlessly fielded four X-chances in clutch situations to keep the Indians at bay.  

The matchup between the pennant-winning 2005 Astros and the on-the-doorstep 2003 Red Sox looked to me like the marquee game of round one.  The Astros won 89 games but got to the Series as a wild card; the Killer B’s of Bagwell, Biggio and Berkman were showing signs of age, but Morgan Ensberg wasn’t as he finished 4th in the MVP votes and Roger Clemens (13-8, 1.87) was 3rd for the Cy Young at the top of a strong rotation.  Even so, they were slight underdogs to the Red Sox, who won 95 games but lost a 7-game ALCS to the Yankees; this team had two-thirds of the lineup with a SLG% over .500 with David Ortiz, Manny Ramirez, and Nomar Garciaparra going 5-6-7 in the MVP ballots and Pedro Martinez (14-4, 2.22) 3rd for the Cy Young while leading the AL in ERA.  Both pitchers start out dominant, and there isn’t a hit in the game until 2 out in the bottom of the 4th, when Trot Nixon’s the one to blast a two-run homer to the delight of the Fenway faithful.  Clemens then appears rattled by the catcalls of the fans, as he walks the first two batters of the 5th and they both score on a Todd Walker single and a Johnny Damon sac fly, so Clemens trails 4-0 despite allowing only two hits.  Adan Everett begins the 6th inning with the first hit off Pedro, a missed HR split, but he is stranded at second; however, Houston gets on the launching pad courtesy of consecutive errors by SS-2 Nomar and 3B-2 Bill Mueller; a double by Chris Burke scores another and puts the tying run at 2nd, and Pedro suddenly is looking vulnerable but he comes up with a big strikeout and the score remains at 4-2 Boston.  However, Kevin Millar blasts a solo shot over the Green Monster in the bottom of the 7th and that’s it for Clemens, who only allowed three hits, and Brad Lidge strikes out two in a row to prevent further damage.  It matters not, because Pedro is in control, finishing out a 3-hitter in which he fans 12 to eliminate yet another pennant winner in round one with the 5-2 victory.  

The 1999 Diamondbacks won 100 games and the NL West, but made a quick postseason exit in the NLDS; even so, they boasted a lineup loaded with weapons like Matt Williams, 3rd in the MVP votes, with Luis Gonzalez and Jay Bell also receiving some support, as did Randy Johnson (17-9, 2.48) who did win the NL Cy Young award.   All that made them big favorites over the 1992 Dodgers who lost 99 games, the most for the franchise since 1909; they did have an okay ]] pitching staff fronted by Tom Candiotti (11-15, 3.00), but they had no offensive punch and dreadful defense with an all-4 infield.  Candiotti has some trouble with the knuckler in the bottom of the 1st and loads the bases only to walk Williams to put the Dbacks up, but he strikes out the nameless Damian Miller to prevent further damage.  The Dodgers efforts at smallball aren’t working well, with two caught stealings and a botched sacrifice, but in the 5th Dave Hansen bops a single and Jose Offerman races home from second to tie the game.  In the bottom of the inning, three straight walks give the Dbacks bases loaded with one away, but Candiotti finds the strike zone to fan Williams; however, Miller makes a name for himself with a 2-run single and Arizona regains the lead.  When Bell rings Candiotti’s HR split to lead off the bottom of the 7th, the Dodgers bring in Jay Howell, but from there Johnson isn’t allowing anything and he finished a 3-hitter with 11 strikeouts as the Diamondbacks move on to the semifinals with a 4-1 win.  

The survivors

The 2011 Brewers knocked the regional favorite out of the tournament in round one, so now they and Yovani Gallardo (17-10, 3.52)  would have a supposedly easier opponent in the #6 seeded 2005 Rangers who would start Chris Young (12-7, 4.28).  The Brewers take an early lead in the bottom of the 2nd when Jerry Hairston Jr converts Young’s HR result for a solo shot, but Alfonso Soriano quickly erases that lead with a long solo blast of his own in the top of the 3rd.  The Brewers get runners on the corners with nobody out and the Rangers burnt their closer in the prior game, so Young stays in to face MVP Ryan Braun–who hit the LOMAX and the triple play ends the threat.  Both pitchers settle in for the long haul at that point, and the game enters the 9th still tied at one apiece.  Gallaro does his job in the top of the 9th, giving the Brewers a shot at a walk-off win, and when Casey McGehee leads off the bottom of the frame with a double the Ranger summon Joaquin Benoit from the pen to try to stay in the game.  The Brewers counter by inserting fleet Carlos Gomez to pinch run, making most any hit into the winning run.  Benoit whiffs Nyjer Morgan to bring up Braun, and the Milwaukee crowd waits anxiously for the LOMAX—but no, it’s a 6-9 roll, SINGLE on Benoit and the 1-17 Gomez sets sail for home and scores easily and the Brewers walk off to the finals with a 2-1 win.  

This semifinal matched the #2 seeded 1999 Diamondbacks against the #3 seed 2003 Red Sox, and the winner will be favored to take the regional.witth the top seed already gone.  Both clubs had to move out from top tier #1 starters, but both had capable second fiddles with the Dback’s Omar Daal (16-9, 3.65) and Boston’s Byung-Hyun Kim (9-10, 3.31) being worthy successors.  Arizona puts together a two-out rally in the bottom of the 2nd, culminating in a 2-run single by Luis Gonzalez, and #9 hitter Travis Lee finds and converts Kim’s HR result for a solo shot in the 2nd to make it 3-0 Dbacks.  The Red Sox respond in the 4th when LF-3 Luis Gonzalez misplays a David Ortiz single, and then Ortiz scores on a sharp single from Manny Ramirez; in the 8th, the Sox take advantage of a 2-out error by AZ defensive replacement SS-3 Tony Batista that follows a Johnny Damon RBI double, and Daal is yanked for closer Matt Mantei with the tying run 90 feet away.  Mantei comes through in a big way, whiffing David Ortiz for the 3rd out.  So it’s up to Mantei to get the final three outs in the top of the 9th, and he knocks out three straight with two of them strikeouts for a well-deserved save in the 3-2 victory that sends the Dbacks to the finals in search of their first ever regional win–the last remaining franchise to be without at least one regional crown.

Two solid teams face off in the regional final;  the 2nd seeded 1999 Diamondbacks making it this far was no surprise as a 100-game winner, although the back half of their rotation was a pretty big dropoff and there was some wear on the bullpen if Todd Stottlemyre (6-3, 4.09) should falter.  The 2011 Brewers may have been seeded #5, but they were a division winner and they’d knocked off the top seed en route to the finals, and Zack Greinke (16-6, 3.83) led the NL in strikeout ratio while having a fully rested pen.  An RBI double in the bottom of the 1st by Dbacks DH Erubiel Durazo off Greinke puts Arizona up early, but the Brewers rip off three straight hits to begin the 3rd, the last a Ryan Braun double that ties the game.  After Prince Fielder draws a walk, it’s time to put on the sunglasses for Corey Hart, who launches a grand slam into the Arizona night for a big Milwaukee lead.  Rickie Weeks follows with a double and Stottlemyre still hasn’t retired anyone in the inning, so the Dbacks head to the pen for veteran Greg Swindell but he allows two more hits and by the third out the Brewers lead 7-1.  The Dbacks get one back when Milwaukee C-3 Jonathan Lucroy drops a Tony Womack popup, and he scores on a Steve Finley double; Andy Fox and Travis Lee go back to back by finding Greinke’s HR result to lead off the bottom of the 5th and the Brewer lead is cut to a more respectable 7-4.  The Dbacks move to game one saver Matt Mantei to start the 7th, but Jerry Hairson Jr. finds and converts a HR 1-12/flB surprisingly located at 4-2 on Mantei’s card for a two run shot that provides additional insurance.  In the 8th the Brewers continue the “what’s that doing there?” theme with a 6-2 solid triple on Mantei by Rickie Weeks that scores another.  The Dbacks get that one back when supersub David Dellucci doubles with two out to score one, but 1-11+2 Matt Williams is out at the plate to end the inning.  Arizona gets a Durazo sac fly in the 9th but it’s not enough as with the 10-6 win the Brewers capture their 5th regional title, while the Diamondbacks again fail to record their first such crown.  

Interesting card of Regional #237:  The 1999 Diamondbacks fell short in the regional final in this tournament, but it wasn’t for lack of offensive firepower.  It’s not many teams that have a .394 hitter eligible to DH but actually have someone with a better OPS to use instead, but they did so David Dellucci was relegated to late inning defensive replacement/pinch hitting status.  I have to say that this is among the uglier .390+ cards I’ve come across, with the best roll you can find being at 2-12 and an injury at 1-8, which seems kind of backwards to me.  In 1999, Dellucci was 25 years old and had led the NL in triples the previous season; he was sufficiently impressive in the minors that once he was promoted to the majors, he drew an intentional walk before recording a single hit.  However, he never came close to duplicating this batting average in the following seasons, with a career mark of .256 over a 13 year career that saw him play for seven different teams.  Aside from this card, his biggest claim to fame is probably being married to a Price is Right model, a program on which he made a number of appearances.