For the first time in the tourney, the top four seeds advanced to the semifinals as the 1975 Reds, 1954 Indians, 1954 Giants and the 1905 Giants were victorious in the Tony Perez Bracket in the Press Room Pass Strat Madness Tournament.
Tony Perez Bracket Results, Schedule and Round-Up
(1) 1975 Reds 6, (8) 1948 Indians 5 (11)
(4) 1954 Indians 5, (5) 1965 Twins 4
(4) 1954 Indians at (1) 1975 Reds
- Joe Morgan ended in the longest contest in the tournament up to this point as he singled to give Cincinnati a 6-5 win over Cleveland in the bottom of the 11th. Pete Rose began the 11th with a single and Ken Griffey moved him up a base with a sacrifice bunt to set the stage for Morgan’s game-winner off Russ Christopher. Thurman Tucker gave the Indians an early advantage with a two-run homer off Don Gullett in the top of the first. However, Dave Concepcion answered for the Reds in the second inning with a three-run blast. George Foster‘s sacrifice fly put the Reds on top 4-2 in the fifth. The Indians tied the game with a homer by Larry Doby in the sixth and sacrifice fly in the seventh by Lou Boudreau. Doby hit his second homer in the 10th off Pedro Borbon, but the Reds answered in the bottom of the frame on a run-scoring triple by Cesar Geronimo. Rawly Eastwick picked of the win for the Reds as he worked a perfect 11th.
One swing was all that was needed as Cleveland’s Jim Hegan blasted a walk off grand slam to give the Indians a 5-4 victory over Minnesota. The Indians trailed 4-1 heading into the bottom of the ninth against Twins starter Jim Kaat. After one out Al Rosen singled and Vic Wertz walked, Kaat was finished. Al Worthington got Dave Philley to fly out before he walked George Strickland to set up Hegan’s game-winning blast. Jimmie Hall put the Twins up 1-0 the RBI single in the first inning. Don Mincher added to Minnesota’s advantage with a three-run shot off Early Wynn in the fourth frame. Cleveland’s first run of the contest came on a pinch hit homer by Hank Majeski in the eighth. Don Mossi worked a scoreless ninth to pick up the victory.
(3) 1954 Giants 8, (11) 1967 Red Sox 1
(2) 1905 Giants 3, (7) 1957 Braves 1
(3) 1954 Giants at (2) 1905 Giants
- New York’s Johnny Antonelli survived a rough first inning as the Giants went on to an 8-1 win over the Boston Red Sox. Antonelli gave up four hits with seven strikeouts as he retired the final 13 batters of the contest. Don Mueller led the Giants with four hits as he knocked in three runs. Willie Mays and Wes Westrum both drove in two runs in the win. George Scott had a RBI single for Boston. Jose Santiago got the loss for the Red Sox.
- Christy Mathewson pitched and hit the New York Giants to a 3-1 victory over the Milwaukee Braves. Mathewson went the distance on the mound and gave up six hits with seven strikeouts. At the plate, Mathewson had a pair of run scoring singles in the fifth and seventh. George Browne homered for the Giants in the first inning. Billy Gilbert led the Giants with three hits. Eddie Mathews had a RBI single for the Braves in the sixth. Lew Burdette suffered the loss for Milwaukee.
IN REAL LIFE:
With the Cleveland Indians having two teams in this bracket it was possible for several of the players to face each other in a semifinal contest. However, that didn’t happen as the 1948 team fell in a tight contest.
Jim Hegan, who went without a hit in five plate appearances for the 1948 squad redeemed himself with the game-winner for the 1954 group.
In 1954, Hegan had 11 homers and 40 RBI as he helped Cleveland to 111 regular season wins before the Indians fell to the New York Giants in the World Series.
Hegan spent 17 years in the big leagues and made five appearances in the all-star game. He started with the Indians in 1941-1942. He missed 1943-1945 due to military service, but returned to the Indians in 1946 as he and the Indians won the World Series in 1948. He remained in Cleveland until 1957. From 1958 to 1960, He played with the Detroit Tigers, Philadelphia Phillies, San Francisco Giants and Chicago Cubs.
Mike Hegan, who played in the majors from 1964-1977 and was a part of the Oakland A’s World Series title in 1972, is Jim Hegan’s son.