SUPER-REGIONAL H:  Although four different pennant winners began competing in this group of 64 teams, none of them made it past the regional semifinals.  However, in this group of eight regional winners, the 2014 Tigers had been the top seeds in their group, and most of the rest were #2 or #3 seeds, with the exception of one of the last two surviving Rockies teams in the tournament, and a 2013 Marlins team that had been rated as the worst squad in their bracket.  There were two different 21st century versions of the Mets, and a Red Sox team from the season after they broke the curse of the Babe, among the competitors.  The ELO rankings predicted that those Red Sox were the cream of the crop and that they would best the Tigers in the super-regional finals; however, I did have a recollection of Pete Alonso just dominating the regional for the 2019 Mets and if he were to continue that streak, I think all bets would be off.

Round four action

This round four matchup pits Brooklyn against Queens for a BQE faceoff.  The 1930 Dodgers (or Robins, as they went by at the time) were the oldest team in this super-regional, and the team was what you would expect from one going 86-68 in that crazy hitting year in the NL:  their lowest batting average in the starting lineup was .294, and Babe Herman’s .393 with 35 homers was only good for 5th in the MVP voting.  Of course, the pitching from that season suffered accordingly, but Watty Clark (13-13, 4.19) was not a terrible option for the #4 starter.  The 79-83 2010 Mets had survived three straight one-run games in the regionals, as well as a slew of injuries but everyone was now healthy except for their #1 starter Johan Santana; this start would go to Hisanori Takahashi (10-6, 3.61).  The Dodgers start off hot against Takahashi, with Ike Boone ripping an RBI single and another run scores when Mets SS-2 Jose Reyes drops a DP ball; Del Bissonette adds a single that makes it 3-0 in favor of Brooklyn.  The Mets do catch a break when Al Lopez misses a HR 1-14 split and gets stranded at 2nd in the third inning, but they leave the bases loaded without scoring in the bottom of the inning.   The Mets finally get on the board in the bottom of the 4th as Carlos Beltran leads off with a homer, and Takahashi appears to be settling down so things could get interesting.  When the Dodgers slap two singles in the 8th, the Mets move to closer Francisco Rodriguez, and he ends the inning with one pitch as 3B-3 David Wright turns a clutch DP.  In the bottom of the inning, Josh Thole finds a 2-out double on Clark’s card and Jason Bay races home from first to make it a one-run game; a walk to #9 hitter Luis Castillo and then Angel Pagan locates a solid double on Clark’s card.  Thole and Castillo both dash home, and now it’s a one-run game–in favor of the Mets.  That makes it up to FRod in the top of the 9th, and although Gilbert singles and reaches scoring position with two out, FRod whiffs Babe Herman for the final out and for the 4th straight time the Mets survive a one-run game and advance.  

Since the team was down to one of its last two survivors in this tournament, I had to bring in brother Chuck for a Zoom game of the week to manage his favorite franchise, the 2003 Rockies, who had bludgeoned their way through the regional finals in characteristic Coors Field fashion with two grand slams but had lost catcher Charles Johnson to injury for this game.  Also unfortunately for Chuck, another Rockies characteristic is bad pitching, and the #4 starter in their rotation, Jose Jimenez (2-10, 5.22), had a card that did not inspire confidence.  I would be manning the 2014 Tigers, who had a rotation that was sufficiently strong that I didn’t rate Justin Verlander as one of the four best starters, as I picked Anibal Sanchez (8-5, 3.43) to go as #4 in the rotation.  The Rockies made me question that decision as Sanchez issues a leadoff walk, which was followed by an RBI triple from Larry Walker, who scored on a sac fly from Todd Helton and it was 2-0 in the top of the 1st.  However, the gruesome card of Jimenez quickly comes into play in the bottom of the inning, as the Tigers roll hit after hit on the pitcher’s card and by the time the dust settles, they hold a 3-2 lead.  They extend that in the 2nd as Ian Kinsler contributes an RBI single, and Chuck is contemplating intentionally walking four straight batters just to allow a 5th run so he could get JImenez out of the game.   However, that threat seems to galvanize Jimenez, who tosses a few perfect innings and he is able to complete his requisite five innings without further damage.   The Rockies then bring in Julio Lopez, who tosses two perfect innings, and in the 8th they go to the franchise save leader, Brian Fuentes (which was the 7th inning trivia question for Chuck).  But Nick Castellanos adds an RBI double in the 8th and the Rockies just can’t touch Sanchez, who ends up completing a 3-hitter as the Tigers win 5-2 and move on to round 5.

I had remembered the 86-76 2019 Mets’ journey through Regional #61 as having been powered by Pete Alonso, and indeed he homered in all three games of that regional to provide the winning margin for all three.  What I had forgotten is that they had lost LF Jeff McNeil, DH Dominic Smith, and 3B Todd Frazier to prolonged injuries, and they would be limping into the super-regionals although Marcus Strohman (10-13, 3.22) was a pretty fair #4 starter.  The 1980 Reds had enough parts left from the Big Red Machine to post 89 wins, although it was a solid rotation that pushed them through Regional #62 despite defensive problems in the outfield; swingman Joe Price (7-3, 3.57) was tapped for the round four start.   In the top of the 1st, Alonso misses his HR split but 1-11+2 JD Davis is able to score from first on the resulting double, courtesy of a 13 split.  Meanwhile, the Red start off the bottom of the inning with three straight singles but fail to score, as AA stealer Dave Collins is thrown out trying to steal 2nd by C-4 Wilson Ramos.  Then, in the 2nd the Reds try to even the injury score as SS Dave Concepcion is out for five games, and neither team seems to have any bodies left on the bench.  That quickly proves eventful, as Alonso knocks a two-out single under the glove of injury replacement SS-3 Ron Oester and Brandon Nimmo finds a double for two runs, although the Reds get those back in the bottom of the 3rd as Ken Griffey, not yet known as Sr., cracks a 2-run homer and it’s 3-2 Mets after three.  A Joe Panik RBI single adds to the lead in the top of the 4th, and the Reds respond with an injury to 2B Junior Kennedy for 7 games and there aren’t any infielders left in the city of Cincinnati.   Collins gets thrown out stealing second once again in the 5th, and the Reds are wondering what they did to face such karmic retribution.  A walk in the 6th and the Reds decide that they may as well burn closer Tom Hume, who quickly ends the threat, and Johnny Bench pokes a solo homer in the bottom of the inning to make it a one-run game.  In the bottom of the 7th, a base hit by emergency 2B Harry Spilman and double by fellow injury replacement Oester that gets past LF-4 George Foster, and the Reds have the tying run at third and go-ahead run in scoring position with nobody out.  The Mets are not wild about their bullpen options with closer Seth Lugo needing to rest after the regionals, so they stick with Strohman and bring the infield in.  Collins rolls a gbB and the runner on third is out, but Collins finally steals second successfully and once again there are two runs in scoring position.  Again the infield comes in, but the roll is on Strohman’s HR split, and Joe Nolan converts the 1-6 split for a 3-run homer and an abrupt Cincinnati lead.  That’s it for Strohman, and Justin Wilson comes in to end the inning; for the Reds, Hume is now burnt and the Reds have limited options to replace him, hoping Doug Bair can finish out the game.  To support him, Cincinnati replaces their entire outfield for a big defensive upgrade and an equally big offensive downgrade, but Bair doesn’t need any more offense and he closes out the 6-4 win for the Reds, who advance with their closer toast and their starting double-play combo in the infirmary for the foreseeable future.  

The 95-win 2005 Red Sox may have lost to the eventual champion White Sox that season in the ALDS, but they did far better in this tournament than those Chisox, who lost in round one.  Meanwhile, these Red Sox squeaked through Regional #63 winning the three games by a total of four runs, and they were down to Matt Clement (13-6, 4.57) in the rotation.  On the bright side, they drew the worst surviving team in the bracket, one of the four worst among the 64 that originally began this super-regional: the 100-loss 2013 Marlins, who had inexplicably outscored their opposition by a total of 18 runs in Regional #64.  However, they would without one of their best players, SS Adeny Hechavarria, who still had a lingering injury from the regional, and #4 starter Jacob Turner (3-8, 3.74) had a card that looked worse than his record.  Things don’t get any more promising for the Marlins as their second batter of the game, Logan Morrison, has to leave with an injury in the bottom of the 1st.  In the top of the 3rd, Trot Nixon and David Ortiz knock back to back RBI doubles, but after loading the bases Marlins injury replacement SS Nick Green turns a key DP that keeps matters from getting worse.  Ortiz adds an RBI single in the 5th, and he lumbers home with two out when Jason Varitek misses a HR split for a double, so the Red Sox lead extends to 4-0.  However, in the bottom of the 5th Giancarlo Stanton, who had been a major force for the Marlins in their regional, swats a 2-run homer that cuts that lead in half, and the Marlins go to their pen to begin the 6th with Mike Dunn trying to keep the game in reach.  He strikes out the side, and he and then Steve Cishek hold the Red Sox offense in check.  Meanwhile, in the bottom of the 8th LF-4 Manny Ramirez watches a double bounce past him that puts two runners in scoring position with one out, so the Red Sox move to their pen for Mike Myers, but injury replacement Green doubles off Myers’ card to tie the game and all six Marlins fans in attendance are whooping it up.  Both Cishek and Myers do their jobs in the 9th, and the game heads to extra innings.  Neither team scores in the 10th, and the Marlins lose another to injury, this time LF Juan Pierre, and both relievers survive the 11th but are now toast for the super-regional.  Miami moves to Ryan Webb, but that proves to be a disaster, as Nixon and Ortiz again hit back to back doubles, and then Webb loads up the bases only to yield a triple to Bill Mueller; the onslaught continues as the Red Sox bat around and by the time the dust clears, Boston has scored seven and the Marlins have a steep hill to climb in the bottom of the 12th.  Armed with the huge lead, the Red Sox insert a terrible Curt Schilling, bloody sock and all, and he ends the Cinderella run as Boston ends up with an 11-4 win and the super-regional favorite survives an extra-inning scare and advances.

The survivors:  round five

It’s on to round five and the top of the rotation for the 2014 Tigers in the form of Max Scherzer (18-5, 3.15), who had tossed a 5-hit shutout in round one of the tournament.  Unfortunately for the 2010 Mets, top starter Johan Santana had been injured in his round 1 and he would not be ready to go for this game, meaning that #5 starter Jonathan Niese (9-10, 4.20) would get an unexpected (and unwanted by Mets fans) assignment.  And Niese gets into big trouble in the bottom of the 1st, with two singles and a walk loading the bases; he then issues a run-scoring walk to Miguel Cabrera, Torii Hunter follows with a 2-run double, and Alex Avila converts a SI* 1-5 for another run and it’s 4-0 Tigers after one.  In the 2nd, Rajai Davis leads off with a single, steals second, and scores on a Victor Martinez hit as Detroit extends its lead, and the first hit for the Tigers in the 3rd chases Niese and in desperation the Mets move to closer Francisco Rodriguez.  The Mets finally get on the board in the 5th when a run scores on a Jose Reyes grounder, but Nick Castellanos gets it back in the bottom of the inning with an RBI triple, and he scores on a Hunter sac fly and the Tigers now lead 7-1.  In the 8th, Tiger LF-4 JD Martinez misplays a Reyes single that leads to a David Wright RBI hit, but Scherzer gets some defensive upgrades in the 9th and he holds on for the 7-2 win that sends the Tigers to the super-regional final.

The 2005 Red Sox were the top-ranked team in the super-regional with a list of powerful weapons in the lineup, but their weak spot was a rotation that was middling at best, and although #1 starter Tim Wakefield (16-12, 4.15) could be baffling when the knuckler was knuckling, the ball could travel a long way when it didn’t.  On the other hand, the 1980 Reds had a dominating Mario Soto (10-8, 3.08) ready to go, but with lingering injuries to their starting SS and 2B the remnants of the Big Red Machine were down to a few spare parts.  But they take an early lead in the top of the 2nd when Dan Driessen nails the solid HR on Wakefield’s card for a solo shot, while Soto is throwing bullets, racking up 10 strikeouts in his first 5 innings.  In the 6th, George Foster converts a HR 1-7/flyB split on his own card for another solo homer to extend the lead, and Ken Griffey the elder adds a 2-out RBI triple in the 8th for insurance.   However, a leadoff error by emergency 2B-5 Harry Spilman and Soto loses his cool, allowing a single to Manny Ramirez and an RBI double to Jason Varitek that puts the tying run in scoring position with nobody out.  Up to the plate steps Bill Mueller, and it’s a 1-12, LOMAX, and the inning ends with a triple play and you can hear a pin drop in Fenway.  In the 9th, C-1 Varitek drops a popup and a frustrated Wakefield grooves one to Spilman, who lofts it over the Monster and the Reds move on with a 5-1 win, with Soto allowing 7 hits while striking out 12.

Super-regional finals

The super-regional final was between two good teams (e.g., ELO ranks within the top 1000) although I never would have picked either to get this far out of the 64 squads that began this super-regional.  The 2014 Tigers would be slight favorites here, and had a solid David Price (15-12, 3.26) on the mound with a fully rested bullpen and a healthy lineup.  In contrast, the 1980 Reds were still without both halves of their injured starting DP combo, and although Tom Seaver (10-8, 3.64) was a Hall of Famer, he was no spring chicken and he had bad issues with the gopher ball.   In the 2nd, an error by Reds emergency 2B-5 Harry Spilman loads the bases and #9 hitter Andrew Romine raps a 2-out 2-run single to give the Tigers the lead.   A sac fly from JD Martinez extends the lead in the 3rd, and in the 4th Alex Avila misses Seaver’s HR 1-14 split but eventually scores anyway on a Rajai Davis single.  Ian Kinsler then pokes an RBI single and it’s obvious that Tom isn’t terrific today, so he’s pulled for a different Tom (Hume) after only 3 innings pitched.  Hume gets out of the inning but only after JD Martinez adds an RBI single and the Tigers lead 6-0.   The Reds get on the board when Ray Knight converts Price’s HR split to lead off the bottom of the 5th, but they miss an opportunity in the 6th loading the bases with one out but coming away with nothing to show for it.  The Tigers do the same in the 7th, but they convert with a passed ball from C-1 Johnny Bench scoring one runner and a 2-out single by Kinsler scoring the other two.   Rajai Davis adds a solo homer off Reds reliever Doug Bair in the top of the 9th just for emphasis, and although Johnny Bench leads off the bottom of the 9th with a long homer, Tigers C-2 Avila fields three consecutive chances perfectly and Price finishes up a 5- hitter in which he strikes out 10.  And the Tigers take the super-regional crown with the 10-1 blowout, riding a solid rotation and timely hitting up and down the lineup to win six straight and advance to the final field of 32.

Interesting card of Super-Regional H:  Although his team got nowhere in the super-regional, I still had to feature a card from one of my favorite Strat season sets ever.  The 1930 set has the beautiful die-cut cards, with the classic card patterns, and it highlights one of the most unique seasons in baseball history, particularly for the National League, which had a league batting average of .303–yes, you read that right, that was the average, which was higher than the AL batting leader in 1968.  And one of the primary players pulling up that average was this guy, who proved that there wasn’t just one formidable Babe around at the time.  In this season, he set Dodgers franchise records for batting average, home runs, RBIs, total bases, extra base hits, doubles, runs scored, and slugging percentage–and as of now, most of those franchise records are still standing.  Yet, somehow this Babe only finished 5th in the MVP voting that season.  Perhaps it was because he was only the runner-up for the batting title to Bill Terry’s .401 average; perhaps it was Hack Wilson’s record-setting 191 RBI that season.  It might have been that Brooklyn just wasn’t that good a team, or that Herman had kind of a reputation as a terrible fielder and a goof, having infamously initiated a play earlier in his career where three Dodgers ended up on 3rd base at the same time, about which Ring Lardner notoriously wrote “Babe Herman did not triple into a triple play, but he doubled into a double play, which is the next best thing.”   At any rate, this is still one of my favorite cards from one of my favorite Strat seasons; unfortunately, I fear that the game company will never release another pre-war season that they haven’t done already, and in my humble opinion we Strat-o-philes are all poorer for it.