SECTIONAL II:  There are some quality representatives in these eight teams, including two pennant winners and three other division champs, but not a single team from the American League.  Also a couple of great bats making multiple appearances in this sectional, such as Willie Mays and Ryan Howard.  The ELO rankings point to one of the two Phillies teams in this group–interestingly, the one that didn’t win the pennant and the Series–to top the legendary ‘51 Giants and move on to the final four.  However, in order for that matchup to occur, the Phils may need to crush the hopes of a younger version of themselves in round eight. The eight entries and their paths to the sectional:

1951 Giants:  ELO ranking 151, actual record 98-59, NL pennant winners.  The beneficiaries of the “shot heard round the world”, their clutch performance in real life seemingly extended to this tournament, as they tended to play their best against strong teams.  Teams defeated to reach round seven: 2013 Rockies (1744) 5-1; 2014 Twins (1986) 5-4; 2000 Mets (354) 3-1; 1975 Mets (1248) 9-7; 1986 Tigers (676) 8-5; 2005 Phillies (542) 8-2.  Key performers:  Wes Westrum 2 HR 7 RBI; Don Mueller 2 HR 6 RBI; Willie Mays 1 HR 5 RBI.

2012 Reds:  ELO ranking 708, actual record 97-65, won NL Central.  A team that has won four of their six games by one run, greatly assisted by closer Aroldis Chapman who received Cy Young and MVP support for his dominating season.  Teams defeated to reach round seven:  1994 Angels (2061) 6-5; 2019 Padres (2205) 5-1; 1988 Astros (1328) 6-2; 1969 Astros (1346) 3-2; 1960 Yankees (201) 2-1; 2013 Indians (1020) 6-5.  Key performers:  Aroldis Chapman 6.3 IP, 4 HA 4.27 ERA, 1-0, 2 saves; Jay Bruce 1 HR 6 RBI; Ryan Ludwick 2 HR 4 RBI.  Injuries:  Joey Votto, 2 games remaining.

1997 Dodgers:  ELO ranking 576, actual record 88-74.  A team that underperformed in real life according to Pythagorean projections, these Dodgers had a fairly easy path to the sectional mainly riding the bats of Mondesi and Piazza.  Teams defeated to reach round seven: 1953 Senators (1055) 4-1, 1982 Rangers (1963) 6-2; 2016 Rays (1660) 1-0; 1968 Reds (1121) 4-3; 2004 Astros (341) 7-3;  2000 Twins (2126) 6-0.  Key performers:  Raul Mondesi 4 HR 9 RBI; Mike Piazza 3 HR 4 RBI; Chan Ho Park 2-0 15.7 IP 8 HA 2.30 ERA.  Injuries:  Roger Cedeno, 4 games remaining.

2012 Nationals:  ELO ranking 460, actual record 98-64, won NL East.  A strong rotation and run production from the heart of the lineup allowed the Nats to overcome long-term injuries to their double play combo, and pull off some come-from-behind wins.  Teams defeated to reach round seven:  1988 Padres (1223) 11-3; 2019 Brewers (718) 9-4; 1978 Royals (461) 3-2 (10); 1977 Angels (1582) 5-1; 2013 Orioles (743) 6-5; 1941 Tigers (1116) 3-2.   Key performers: Ryan Zimmerman 3 HR 10 RBI, Bryce Harper 1 HR 8 RBI.  Injuries: Ian Desmond 4 games remaining; Danny Espinosa 4 games remaining.   

2008 Phillies:  ELO ranking 298, actual record 92-70, World Series champions.  This championship squad beat numerous good teams to reach the sectional, averaging eight and a half runs a game in doing so.   They also managed to overcome a slew of minor injuries during the first rounds but they are now in full fighting form for sectional play.  Teams defeated to reach round seven:  1938 Reds (1091) 4-2; 1953 Reds (1763) 13-5; 2010 Rockies (904) 8-6; 1941 Pirates (797) 8-1; 2017 Cardinals (925) 9-3; 1964 Giants (663) 9-1.      Key performers:  Ryan Howard 3 HR 11 RBI, Shane Victorino 1 HR 11 RBI, Jayson Werth 2 HR 8 RBI.

2006 Dodgers:  ELO ranking 1228, actual record 88-74, wild card team.  Even though they made the post-season, these Dodgers had a difficult path to this round as they were underdogs in five of the six games needed to reach here, with consecutive shutouts in the previous two rounds showing the strength of the rotation.  Teams defeated to reach round seven:  1953 Braves (563) 4-3 (11); 2003 Pirates (1826) 8-1; 2016 Nationals (592) 6-4; 1995 Yankees (501) 4-3; 1930 Yankees (295) 12-0; 1960 Indians (1080) 1-0.  Key performancer:  Andre Ethier 1 HR 9 RBI, Nomar Garciaparra 1 HR 7 RBI.

2011 Phillies   ELO ranking 76, actual record 102-60, won NL East.  The second of the Phillies mini-dynasty to reach the sectionals, this was MLB’s best team that fell short in the post-season; however, they made up for it in this tournament, curiously dominating good teams and squeaking by bad ones.   Along the way they’ve had to surmount a number of injuries, including a 15-gamer to Chase Utley that knocks him clean out of the project.  Teams defeated to reach round seven:  1957 Senators (2295) 5-4; 1958 Dodgers (1576) 2-1; 2020 Nationals (760) 8-6; 1950 Cardinals (649) 18-2; 1964 Pirates (1311) 4-1; 2009 Reds (1752) 4-2.   Key performers:  Ryan Howard 2 HR 7 RBI, Shane Victorino 1 HR 5 RBI, John Mayberry Jr. 1 HR 5 RBI.  Injuries: Chase Utley 10 games remaining (out of tournament).

1960 Giants:  ELO ranking 881, actual record 79-75.  A team that went nowhere in reality, here it performed as a team with Mays, McCovey, Cepeda and Marichal might be expected to.  However, their path was relatively smooth and they have yet to face a team rated among the top 1000 of all time, so it remains to be seen if they can continue their run, while still dealing with injuries suffered in previous rounds.   Teams defeated to reach round seven:  1953 Tigers (2245) 5-4; 2017 Marlins (1806) 5-0; 1989 Tigers (2011) 4-1; 1927 White Sox (1290) 6-2; 2005 Blue Jays (1087) 4-3; 2017 Rays (1344) 3-2.  Key performers:  Orlando Cepeda 1 HR 6 RBI, Willie Mays 1 HR 6 RBI, Willie McCovey 1 HR 5 RBI.  Injuries: Sam Jones, 2 games remaining; Willie Kirkland, 7 games remaining (out of tournament).  

Round seven action

The 1951 Giants fired the shot heard round the world, so they were locked and loaded with Dave Koslo (10-9, 3.31) going against the injury-riddled 2012 Reds, who were without Scott Rolen and Joey Votto, and to make matters worse supercloser Aroldis Chapman would need to rest and would not be available to support Homer Bailey (13-10, 3.68) if needed.  And the need seemed to arise quickly in the top of the 1st, with Al Dark nailing an RBI triple and scoring on a Bobby Thomson sac fly.  An RBI double from Hank Thompson makes it 3-0 Giants in the second, but Bailey settles down and holds New York until Thompson drives in another with a 6th inning single.  The Reds move to reliever Jonathan Broxton at that point, and he shuts down the Giants offense, while in the 7th its Ryan time for Cincinnati as Ryan Hanigan cranks a solo homer while Ryan Ludwick adds an RBI single to narrow the gap to 4-2.  That lead holds until the bottom of the 8th, when Kolso gets into trouble and the Giants are forced to go to a limited bullpen and Al Corwin.  But Corwin is tagged for an RBI single by pinch hitter Didi Gregorius and suddenly the Reds have the winning run at the plate with the top of the order Brandon Phillips at the plate.   However, Corwin induces a weak popup and the Giants hang on for the 4-3 win and live to play another day.

I recruited brother Chuck to manage one of the too many LA teams to make the round of 32, this one being the 1997 Dodgers, while I would count on the pitching staff of the 2012 Nationals and Jordan Zimmerman (12-8, 2.94) going against Ramon Martinez (10-5, 3.64), who had tossed a 5-hit shutout in the finals of Regional #82.  Chuck immediately resumed a trend he’s been displaying recently, rolling a bone-crushing 10-game injury to primary Dodger weapon Mike Piazza in the top of the 1st.  An angry Dodger team responds in the 2nd with RBI hits from Todd Zeile and Darren Lewis, but a young Bryce Harper takes Martinez downtown in the 4th for a solo shot that makes it 2-1 LA.  Chuck’s dice of infirmity continue their roll as Eric Young goes down for the Dodgers for 15 games, and another solo homer from Mike Morse in the 7th ties the game.  Chuck sends out Scott Radinsky to begin the 8th, and that goes badly as a two-run double by Ryan Zimmerman and a Harper sac fly puts the Nats in the driver’s seat.  Craig Stammen seals off the Dodgers in the 9th and the Nats, battling injuries of their own with their DP combo out of the tournament, move on to the Sweet Sixteen with a 5-2 win.

In a Zoom showdown it was Philadelphia’s own Tall Tactician attempting to steer the world champion 2008 Phillies against the Friday Night Strat college of coaches guiding the 2006 Dodgers.  Philly would send out Brett Myers (10-13, 4.55), who was injured in the second inning of his first start in this tournament, against the Dodgers’ Brad Penny (16-9, 4.33), with both bullpens having seen some wear from tight super-regional finals.  In the bottom of the 2nd back to back doubles by JD Drew and Jeff Kent provide a 1-0 lead for LA, but the Phils tie it in the top of the 5th on a Shane Victorino RBI single.  However, the Dodgers respond immediately in the bottom of the inning as Kenny Lofton finds a solid 5-5 homer on Myers for a two-run shot to regain the lead.  Of course, any team left alive at this level doesn’t go down easily, and Greb Dobbs and Pedro Feliz deliver timely hits in the top of the 5th to cash out Penny and Joe Beimel comes in from the pen to record the last out, but the game is tied once again.  That lasts until the bottom of the 7th when Olmedo Saenz continues his tournament success with an RBI single off reliever Ryan Madson and it’s 4-3 LA heading into the 8th.  After a Pat Burrell single, the college of coaches taps closer Takashi Saito to try to preserve the lead, but with two outs the Tactician opts for pinch-hitter Matt Stairs, and the move is tactical genius as Stairs hits a climbing heater into the cheap seats for a 5-4 Philadelphia lead.  Now it’s time for Phils closer Brad Lidge, and I remind the assembly I witnessed Lidge for the Astros yielding a playoff clinching homer to Albert Pujols that still hasn’t come down–a shot that broke Lidge permanently in Houston.  Lidge didn’t seem to appreciate the reminder and he struck out the first two batters in the bottom of the 9th and the college decided it was time for their own pinch hitter, James Loney.  And of course Loney delivers a game-tying homer to send the battle to extra innings, with both teams having to stick with and burn their closers to try to pull off the win.   Saito does his job in the top of the 10th, and Lidge again fans the first two Dodgers–and then, it’s deja vu all over again, as Wilson Betemit converts his 1-13 homer split for a walk-off solo shot, Lighthouse Lidge once again brings them home, and the Dodgers move on to the Sweet Sixteen with the 6-5 walk-off win, while the Phils head to the card catalogs hoping that their still-surviving 2011 selves can avenge the loss.  

A sectional matchup for Friday Night Strat saw Philly partisan Tall Tactician manning the 2011 Phillies, the sectional favorite, against Eaglesfly and the 1960 Giants of Mays and McCovey fame, with the Phillies Cliff Lee (17-8, 2.40) getting the start against SF’s Jack Sanford (12-14, 3.82).  The Phils garner three hits in the top of the 2nd, but only a squib single by Placido Polanco drives in a run; meanwhile, the Giants are getting baserunners against Lee but they aren’t crossing the plate.  In the 5th an RBI double from John Mayberry Jr. provides some additional padding for Philly, while the Giants respond with an injury to SS Eddie Bressoud that doesn’t promise to make their task any easier.  Nonetheless, in the bottom of the 7th a two-run single from Hobie Landrith ties the game and warms up a chilly Candlestick crowd–at least briefly, until reliever Johnny Antonelli falls apart in the 8th with a double from Carlos Ruiz driving in two and a clutch hit from injury replacement Wilson Valdez scoring another.  Meanwhile, Lee seems to get stronger as the game goes on and he finishes out the 5-2 win to propel one of the two Phillies squads in the bracket on to the final field of 16.

The survivors:  round eight

The Friday Night Strat game of the week was the round eight matchup between the infamous 1951 Giants and Jim Hearn (17-9, 3.62) against the 2012 Nationals and Ross Detwiler (10-8, 3.40), both representing the tail end of their respective starting rotations.  The Giants deliver some opening shots with RBI hits from Don Mueller in the 2nd and Bobby Thomson in the 4th for an early lead, with Hearn looking sharp in permitting only two hits in his first five innings.  However, in the bottom of the 6th Ryan Zimmerman cracks a double that scores Bryce Harper and it’s a one-run ballgame as of the 7th inning stretch trivia bonanza.  Unfortunately, after a lengthy challenging trivia question, it seemed that Hearn couldn’t get loose again, as the Nats reel off consecutive hits by Michael Morse, Cesar Izturis, and Jayson Werth, and Al Corwin out of the GIants bullpen is not the answer as Harper adds to the hit parade and when the smoke clears four runs have crossed the plate.  That leaves Washington reliever Drew Storen in a position to lock down the win, and he does the job with a shot-less 9th inning as the Nationals move on to the Elite Eight with a 5-2 victory, while Willie Mays bows out of the tournament as the Giants return to storage.

After watching his Phils lose to the 2006 Dodgers in round seven, the Tall Tactician would have his chance for vengeance as he assumed the helm for the 2011 Phillies version for this round eight showdown.  Both teams were down to the bottom of their rotation, with the Phils going with Vance Worley (11-3, 3.01) while Mark Henrickson (6-15, 4.21) was sent out to start by Eaglesfly, managing the Dodgers in this Zoom battle.  This version of the Phils would also be down Chase Utley, out for the tournament with an injury, while Dodger closer Takashi Saito was unavailable after a prolonged outing in their extra inning win against the earlier Phils.  However, as seems to often be the case in this tournament, the Dodgers are unfazed by challenges and they immediately mount a threat with a run scoring in the bottom of the 1st on a Nomar Garciaparra single, but they leave two runners on, setting a pattern where Worley continues to strand men on base.  Meanwhile, the Phils are not doing much of anything against Henrickson, who allows only two hits through the first five innings.  However, in the top of the 6th a leadoff walk is followed by a 2-base error from Dodgers CF-3 Kenny Lofton, putting Ryan Howard at the plate with the tying run 90 feet away,  Eaglesfly brings the infield in and opts to walk the powerful Howard with first base open, bringing up Raul Ibanez with the bases loaded and nobody out.  Henrickson delivers, it’s a 2-5, HR 1-5, and the split die reads “4” for a grand slam that’s the first hit of the inning.  It’s enough to chase Henrickson for Hung-Chih Kuo, and he does the job, allowing only one more hit for the Phils in four innings of work.  But it’s to no avail; Ryan Madson comes in to pitch the 8th and 9th and although the Dodgers continue to get runners aboard, they can’t drive them in, and the Phillies complete their revenge with a 4-1 win in which they only record four hits–but those were enough to send them to the sectional final with a chance to move on to the Final Four, while heading back to the top of a very strong rotation.

Sectional II finals

A big matchup in the Sectional II final with the winner earning a berth in the Final Four of the tournament, with the Friday Night Strat crowd on hand to witness the Tall Tactician once again helming his 2011 Phillies against a collective of coaches on hand to guide the 2012 Nationals.  These two division winners both sported formidable rotations and a pitcher’s duel might be expected, with Cole Hamels (14-9, 2.79) on the hill for the Phils and Gio Gonzalez (21-8, 2.89) of the Nats both among the leading vote-getters for the Cy Young. Both teams had managed to survive crippling injuries to get this far, with the Phils losing Chase Utley for the tournament while the Nats had their entire double-play combo, Ian Desmond and Danny Espinosa, out of commission for at least one more game. Those injuries didn’t help the offenses against these top-flight pitchers, and for the first five innings there is only one hit recorded in the game.  Finally, in the 6th injury replacement Cesar Izturis find and converts Hamels’ HR split for a solo shot and a lead, one that is augmented in the 7th by a sac fly from the other Nats injury replacement, Steve Lombadozzi.  Meanwhile, Gonzalez is cruising, but in the 8th he starts to lose control, with the Phillies loading the bases on three walks, so Drew Storen is summoned from the pen and he gets the final out as the Nats hang onto the shutout.  Hamels wraps up the 9th having allowed only four hits, but the Phils head into the bottom of the 9th still having recorded only one hit and it’s looking bleak for their prospects, but this time it’s Storen who has control issues and Jimmy Rollins doubles in a run to make it 2-1.  A couple of walks loads the bases with one out, and #9 hitter Placido Polanco steps up to the plate to try to get the tying run across.  The FNS coaching collective opts to play the infield back looking for the double play, so Tall Tactician signals for the seldom-used (in this Basic tournament) squeeze play to insure that there would be no game-ending DP.  And, it works flawlessly, the tying run plates and now there are runners on 2nd and 3rd with two outs and the top of the order in Hunter Pence in the batter’s box.  Storen delivers, Pence rips a clean single, and the Phils walk it off with a classic 3-2 comeback win, one in which they only register three hits–pairing nicely with their four-hit win in round 7.  So, it’s the highly efficient Phils and their killer rotation, the last remaining squad of a dynasty that was remarkably successful in this tournament, that moves on to the Final Four with the 3-2 victory, while the Nationals fall just short after reeling off eight consecutive wins.

Interesting card(s) of Sectional II:   In 2012, a book authored by Jim Salisbury and Todd Zolecki was published that was entitled The Rotation: A Season with the Phillies and the Greatest Pitching Staff Ever Assembled.  They argued that it had been more than half a century since a major league team's pitching staff boasted three pitchers in the Top Ten in career winning-percentage, and the fourth man up in the rotation just happened to be an NLCS and World Series MVP.  These are certainly impressive credentials, although I must admit that it isn’t these 2011 Phillies that come to mind when I think about the greatest four-man rotations: it’s more teams like the 1971 Orioles, 1954 Indians, or even the 1920 White Sox that occur to me.  Furthermore, this Phillies rotation didn’t last long, with key parts leaving or declining into mediocrity fairly soon thereafter.  Does that mean that the premise of the book is wildly mistaken?  I’m not sure, but I have to point out that all three of those aforementioned teams with “great” rotations had their shot in this tournament–and they are all long gone, while these Phils have reeled off nine straight wins to earn a spot as one of the final four left standing.  In other words, the cards and dice have spoken, and it’s hard for me to argue against them.