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The 1980 NLCS: The Best League Championship Series Ever Played

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When you hear “Phillies-Astros” as a playoff matchup, it doesn’t jump off the charts as a marquee possibility. But in the 1980 NLCS, these two teams staged a playoff battle that ranks at or near the top of the greatest postseason series ever played.

GREAT 1980s SPORTS MOMENTS
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You can read more about the regular season paths the Phillies and Astros took to reach the playoffs and the seasons enjoyed by their key players at the links below. This article will focus squarely on the games of the 1980 NLCS.

READ MORE ABOUT THE 1980 PHILADELPHIA PHILLIES
READ MORE ABOUT THE 1980 HOUSTON ASTROS

Homefield advantage for the NLCS, which was then a best-of-five series, was set on a rotation basis. The first two games were scheduled for Philadelphia’s Veterans Stadium, with the final three over the weekend being at the Astrodome in Houston.

Philadelphia had gone to the season’s penultimate day to win the NL East, but the rotation worked out that their ace, Steve Carlton, was ready to go—Carlton had been scheduled to start the season finale, but was able to be held back by virtue of the clinching.

Houston missed the same opportunity for their ace Joe Niekro, missing three chances to clinch before finally turning to Niekro to win a one-game playoff on Monday. The Astros arrived in Philly for Tuesday’s game and would start Ken Forsch.

Forsch stepped up and pitched well, and the Astros scored first, on a two-out RBI single from Gary Woods in the third inning. But Forsch had been victimized all year by poor run support and that trend continued. Houston never scored again. In the bottom of the sixth, Pete Rose led off with a single and then Greg Luzinski hit a two-run shot to give the Phils a 2-1 lead.

The Phillies got an insurance run in the seventh when Garry Maddox singled, was bunted over and scored on a two-out pinch-hit from Greg Gross. Philadelphia closer Tug McGraw nailed down the last six outs. The 3-1 win was a good game…but little did anyone know that it was actually the worst of the five games in the 1980 NLCS.

Houston turned to veteran fireballer Nolan Ryan for Game 2 on Wednesday night, while Philadelphia sent Dick Ruthven to the mound. Once again, the Astros scored first in the third. Craig Reynolds drew a walk, moved up on a bunt and scored on a base hit by Terry Puhl.

Philadelphia again countered with two runs, this time coming back in the fourth inning. Mike Schmidt and Luzinski hit consecutive doubles to start the inning, and Maddox later picked up Luzinski with an RBI single.

The 2-1 score held to the seventh when Ryan somehow worked a walk with two outs. Puhl ripped a double and Ryan booked it all the way around, to score the tying run. In the bottom of the inning it looked like Philly would get the lead right back, with runners on second and third with one out. Houston manager Bill Virdon first summoned lefty Joe Sambito, who struck out Bake McBride. Then Virdon called on his righty, Dave Smith, to strike out Schmidt.

Houston took the lead with a double by Joe Morgan, who came around on a single by Cruz, but Philadelphia immediately countered, with Luzinski singling, moving up on a bunt by Manny Trillo and scoring on a base hit from Maddox. The Phils were then poised to win it in the ninth, with three straight one-out singles to load the bases. Houston reliever Frank Lacorte struck out Trillo and escaped.

The Astros broke it open in the tenth. Puhl singled and was bunted over. After an intentional walk, Cruz drove in the lead run, and an error by McBride in the outfield left runners on second and third. A productive out by Cesar Cedeno added another run. Before it was over, a Dave Bergman triple added two more and Houston was up 7-3. But it turned out they needed that insurance.

Larry Bowa singled to start the bottom of the 10th, and Bob Boone drew a walk. With one out, Rose grounded into a force play, and an error on the double play turn brought in a run. McBride drew a walk. Houston fans watched nervously as the bases were loaded and Schmidt came to the plate as the lead run. He lifted a fly ball to right, but it stayed in the park. Houston had an exhausting 7-4 win.

The teams took a day off—certainly needed for the Astros, who had been playing high-intensity games without a break for six straight days and went to Houston for Friday afternoon’s Game 3. Niekro made his first appearance of the NLCS, and staged a big-time pitchers’ duel with Philadelphia’s Larry Christenson.

Through ten innings, the only remote threat came in the third inning, when Rose was thrown out trying to score from third on an infield groundout. In the bottom of the 11th, Morgan came to the plate. Both Morgan and Rose had been integral parts of the Cincinnati’s Big Red Machine of the 1970s, which won four pennants and the World Series in 1975 and 1976. Their return to the postseason on opposite teams was one of the big storylines of this NLCS.

Rose played better during the series, but Morgan struck the biggest blow—he tripled to start the 1th and scored on Denny Walling’s sac fly. Houston was one game from the pennant. And a series that was already tense, full of back-and-forth, was about to go to a new level.

Carlton came back on three days’ rest with his team’s season on the line, while Houston gave the start to Vern Ruhle, a good young pitcher who had already beaten future Hall of Famer Tom Seaver in a key game down the stretch. Ruhle was again the equal of a future Hall of Famer in Carlton.

The game was scoreless through three, and the fourth inning got eventful. After consecutive singles to start the inning, Maddox hit a soft, low liner to the mound that Ruhle either caught or trapped, and threw to first. The ruling on the field was “no catch”, which would have meant Maddox was out, and runners were on second and third. Seems simple enough, doesn’t it?

Only Houston had gone ahead and doubled off each runner just in case. The umpires conferred and determined Ruhle had caught the ball. They declared the runner at first to be doubled off, infuriating the Phillies, who put the game under protest. The also decided to leave the runner at second base, infuriating the Astros, who put the game under protest. It was a completely illogical solution and sounds like the kind of thing you come up with in a backyard game to split the difference.

In the bottom of the inning, Houston scored, with a leadoff double from Enos Cabell, who eventually came around to score on a sac fly from Art Howe. On that play, Woods, who had drawn a walk, was thrown out trying to take third and the game stayed at 1-0. Houston added another run in the fifth when Luis Pujols tripled and Rafael Landestoy singled him in.

Houston was ready to add a third run in the sixth. The bases were loaded with one out. Woods was on third and when Pujols flied to right, Woods tagged and scored. Only he left third base too soon, and the Philadelphia appeal was upheld. It was a double play, and quite unnecessary—there was no reason to think Woods wouldn’t have scored had he waited.

The game stayed 2-0 into the eighth, when the Phillies made the mistake hurt. Gross and Lonnie Smith singled to start the inning, and Rose cut the lead in half with an RBI single. The throw foolishly went home, and allowed Smith to go to third and Rose to take second. Schmidt singled to tie the game. Sambito came in with no one out and again struck out McBride in a big situation.

Trillo hit a sac fly to give the Phils the lead, but again a runner—this time Schmidt—was thrown out elsewhere on the bases to end the inning. To call this game “weird” understates the case.

But to call it “exciting” understates the case too. Landestoy drew a ninth-inning walk, was bunted over and Puhl singled in the tying run. We were going extras again.

Rose singled with one out in the top of the 10th. With two outs, Luzinski and Trillo each doubled and the score was 5-3. McGraw closed the deal and we were going to a Game 5 in prime-time on Sunday night.

Now it was the Phillies’ turn to have a staff running on empty and they were left with unproven Marty Bystrom to go up against Ryan in the decisive game. Houston got on Bystrom early. Puhl singled to start the home half of the first, stole second and scored on a two-out hit from Cruz. The lead didn’t last though—Trillo singled with one out in the second, and after a walk, and a productive out moving both runners up, Philly got their own two-out hit, from Bob Boone and it was 2-1.

Houston was poised to tie it right back up in the second, as Pujols drew a one-out walk. He looked to score on a double by Craig Reynolds, but a McBride-to-Trillo relay gunned Pujols at the plate. More of the same happened in the fifth—Cabell, on second base, tried to score on an error by Trillo, but Rose threw out Cabell at the plate. The 2-1 score held into the sixth.

The Astros finally tied the game when Luzinski committed a two-base error, and Alan Ashby picked up the run with a base hit. One inning later, Houston opened up offensively.

Puhl hit a leadoff single, and Cabell bunted the runner up. With two outs, Jose Cruz drew a walk. Walling delivered a single that put the Astros in front. Cruz moved to third and scored on a wild pitch. Then Howe ripped a triple and it was 5-2, and for the second straight game, Philadelphia was down to their last six outs and trailing my multiple runs.

Bowa, Boone and Gross hit successive singles off Ryan to load the bases and Rose worked a walk to make it a 5-3 game, the bases still loaded and no one out. Sambito was summoned. A groundball force play made it 5-4. Forsch was summoned to face Schmidt.
Forsch’s strikeout of the MVP third baseman looked like it might be a pennant-saving K. But Del Unser delivered the two-out RBI single to the game and Trillo then slashed a triple. In a matter of two batters, the Phillies had gone from elimination to a 7-5 lead.

Houston didn’t just roll over and die. They got consecutive singles with one out in the eighth, Puhl again at the heart of the action. The rightfielder hit .526 for the series, routinely hitting smooth line drives to both fields. With two outs, Landestoy and Cruz each singled and the game was again tied, this time at 7-7.

For the fourth and final time, the 1980 NLCS was going extra innings. Unser hit a one-out double, and with two outs, Maddox also doubled. The Phils had the lead. Ruthven had pitched a clean ninth, and now he did the same in the tenth. This incredible series was finally over and Philadelphia was going to the World Series.

Trillo was named NLCS MVP, going 8-for-21. He was the best choice of players on the winning team. I think this was a case where a choice from the losing team would have been appropriate. Puhl completely dominated this series from the leadoff spot, going 10-for-19, drawing three walks and constantly getting rallies started.

Philadelphia kept the momentum going all the way to the first World Series title in their long history, beating the Kansas City Royals in six games.

The Phils have since won another World Series, in 2008. The Astros finally reached the Fall Classic in 2005, though they have yet to win it all in a franchise history that dates to 1962. Both teams had reasons to be proud in 1980, staging the greatest League Championship Series ever played, and quite possibly the best postseason series at any round.

Fourth Time’s The Charm: The Royals Finally Beat The Yankees In The 1980 ALCS

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Meeting up in the American League Championship Series was becoming old hat for the New York Yankees and Kansas City Royals. When they met in the 1980 ALCS it was the fourth time in five years these two teams had squared off for the pennant. This one had a different outcome—while the Yankees had won each of the previous three meetings, the Royals got this one. And while the previous matchups had been thrillers, this one ended in a sweep.

GREAT 1980s SPORTS MOMENTS
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You can read more about the regular season paths the Yankees and Royals each took to the playoffs, and the years enjoyed by their key players, at the links below. This article will focus exclusively on the games of the 1980 ALCS.

READ MORE ABOUT THE 1980 KANSAS CITY ROYALS
READ MORE ABOUT THE 1980 NEW YORK YANKEES

New York had won 103 games, while Kansas City won 97. Homefield was determined on a rotation basis at this time, and the series would open with two games in KC, and then end with the balance of the series in the Bronx.

The opening of the series was delayed one day by rain, so Game 1 was in the afternoon, rather than prime-time. The Yankees threw lefty Ron Guidry, while the Royals countered with their own southpaw, Larry Gura.

Willie Randolph doubled to lead off the game, but Gura escaped the inning. One inning later though, Rick Cerone and Lou Piniella hit back-to-back home runs. In a quick 2-0 hole, were Royal fans thinking “here we go again?”

If so, their team rallied quickly. Amos Otis singled and John Wathan drew a walk to start the bottom of the inning. With two outs, a wild pitch moved them up and Frank White tied the game with a double. In the third, with George Brett aboard and two outs, Otis hit a ground-rule double and Willie Mays Aikens knocked both runners in with a single.

Gura was settled in and in the seventh, a Brett home run off Yankee reliever Ron Davis gave some insurance and a 5-2 lead. Gura finished the game, scattering ten hits and Kansas City tacked on a couple more runs in a 7-2 win.

Kansas City came back with 20-game winner Dennis Leonard the following night. New York curiously did not turn to 22-game winner Tommy John, who had won big postseason games for the Los Angeles Dodgers in both 1977 and 1978. It’s not that Rudy May was a bad choice—he won 15 games and had pitched the AL East clincher with two days left in the season, but John was clearly the battle-toughened veteran.

The Royals got to May in the third. With one out, after Darrell Porter and White had singled, Willie Wilson tripled down the rightfield line. Shortstop U.L. Washington followed with a double and it was 3-0.

May settled in though and the Royals never threatened again. Graig Nettles hit an inside-the-park home run in the fifth to get New York on the board. That same inning, Leonard inexplicably walked light-hitting Bobby Brown with two outs and Randolph picked up Brown with an RBI double.

The game stayed 3-2 in the eighth, when the Kansas City defense saved the game. Randolph hit a one-out single. With two outs, Bob Watson doubled into left. Wilson got the ball and fired to Brett, who completed the relay and nailed the speedy Randolph at the plate. In the ninth, Reggie Jackson singled with one out. Kansas City went to closer Dan Quisenberry. Cerone hit a one-out single. Then a ground ball off the bat of Nettles went to White at second base, who started a 4-6-3 double play. Kansas City had the win 3-2, and the series two games to none.

The rain that started the series eliminated the travel day off, so the teams resumed on Friday night in the Bronx, with John on the mound against Paul Splitorff. The game was scoreless through four innings, with the one threat—Kansas City in the second inning—being wiped out on a double play ball off the bat of Clint Hurdle.

White homered in the fifth, but the Yankees countered in the bottom of the sixth. In 1977, Jackson had been held out of the decisive Game 5, because of the widespread belief—backed up by past performance—that he couldn’t hit Splitorff. Properly motivated, Jackson hit Splitorff in the 1978 ALCS, and now Reggie hit a one-out double to start a rally.

Royal manager Jim Frey quickly went to closer Dan Quisenberry—while closers pitched more innings than is the case today, the sixth inning was still a little extreme. The move didn’t work, albeit not at the fault of Quisenberry. An infield hit and an error by White tied the game, and a Cerone single gave New York a 2-1 lead.

In the top of the seventh, with two outs, Wilson doubled. Another closer arrived early, with Yankee flamethrower Rich “Goose” Gossage coming in. Washington beat out an infield hit. Brett was at the plate. Gossage fired a pitch clocked at 98 mph. Brett simply unloaded, blasting a towering shot into the third deck of the old Stadium. The crowd was in stunned silence and the Royals led 4-2.

New York still had a rally left in them. Watson tripled to start the eighth, then Jackson and Gamble walked. Cerone ripped a line drive. But, as if to demonstrate that Kansas City’s time had come, Washington speared the line drive at short and quickly doubled off Jackson at second base. The threat was over and the Yankees did not mount another. At long last, Kansas City was going to the World Series.

The Royals’ run ended in the Fall Classic. The Philadelphia Phillies had been pushed to the brink in the NL East race and then in an epic NLCS battle with the Houston Astros. The Phils got come-from-behind wins in Games 1 & 2 that put the Royals in a hole and the series went to Philly in six games.

Kansas City had still finally made it over the hump and after two more playoff appearances over the next four years, the Royals won it all in 1985. The Yankees made it back to the World Series in 1981 but then entered a long drought that did not end until Joe Torre and Derek Jeter arrived in 1996.

Late 1970s MLB History: The Constant Heartbreak In KC & Philly

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The period of late 1970s MLB history was marked by a certain continuity in October—which is another way of saying that the same teams kept playing over and over again. From 1976-78, of the six League Championship Series matchups, a group of five teams occupied the 12 available slots.

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What’s more, if we narrow the focus to 1977-78, and eliminate the ’76 title run of Cincinnati’s Big Red Machine, you have the same four teams in the playoffs each year, the same teams reaching the World Series and the same team winning it all.
The New York Yankees won the Fall Classic both years, and the Los Angeles Dodgers at least got the fun of getting there. The October frustration was left to the fans of the Philadelphia Phillies and Kansas City Royals.
For Philadelphia, the losses were always frustration and occasionally heartbreaking, but the Phillie fan base had it easy compared to what Royal fans endured. Kansas City lost in the ninth inning of the decisive Game 5 in both 1976 and 1977 (in the latter case blowing the lead), and then lost a crusher in 1978 in a Game 3 that swung the series.
TheSportsNotebook has been compiling game-by-game accounts of all of these postseason series, which are linked to below. Within those articles are links to stories with more detail on the path each team took in the regular season to win their division…
READ MORE ABOUT THE 1976 ALCS
*A back-and-forth series ends when Yankee first baseman Chris Chambliss hits a walkoff shot into the bullpen. This is also the first year that future Royal Hall of Famer George Brett appears on the national stage.
READ MORE ABOUT THE 1977 ALCS
*This one was worse for the Royals. The series was theirs for the taking, with a 2-1 lead in games (the LCS round was best-of-five prior to 1985), and having the Yankees on the ropes in Game 4. New York was first bailed out on a brilliant bullpen display from Cy Young winner Sparky Lyle, then put on a ninth-inning rally to win the decisive game.
READ MORE ABOUT THE 1978 ALCS
*Another missed opportunity for the Royals—the Yankees had a rotation in a mess after an epic pennant race with the Boston Red Sox, but still grabbed the first game in KC. The Royals then lost a dramatic Game 3 in spite of three home runs from Brett.
READ MORE ABOUT THE 1977 NLCS
*After splitting the first two games in Los Angeles, the Phils had a 5-3 lead in the ninth inning of Game 3, two outs and nobody on base. They lost, when a bunt single by an aging veteran started the winning rally.
READ MORE ABOUT THE 1978 NLCS
*This one wasn’t quite as crushing, as the Phils dropped two quick ones at home to the Dodgers. But Philly went on the road, took Game 3 and were tied in extra innings of Game 4. The game looked ready to go to the 11th inning, when normally reliable centerfielder Garry Maddox dropped a fly ball that would have ended an inning. It led to the winning run.
Fortunately, the Royals and Phillies each had their vindication ahead. Two years later, the Royals and Yankees met for a fourth time in the ALCS (an article on which is coming in the next couple weeks), and Kansas City won.
Philadelphia had an even bigger vindication in 1980—they won the pennant over the Houston Astros in one of the greatest postseason series ever played, then defeated Kansas City to win the World Series. You can read the complete account of the 1980 Philadelphia Phillies here.
In 1983, the Phils took care of some unfinished business with the Dodgers, winning the NLCS over their old rivals in four games before losing the World Series.
The final piece of the vindication puzzle came in 1985, when the Royals won the World Series—they did it in an especially dramatic way. KC chased down the California Angels to win the AL West at the wire. Then the Royals rallied from a 3-1 deficit in games to beat the Toronto Blue Jays in the ALCS, the first year that four wins were required at the LCS level. Kansas City then did the same to the St. Louis Cardinals in the World Series.
In ripping victory from the jaws of defeat, it was though the Royals made amends to the fan base for having done the reverse at so many key points in the late 1970s. Read the complete account of the 1985 Kansas City Royals.
The late 1970s of MLB history made for great rivalries, great storylines, and if you stretch your view into the mid-1980s, everyone ultimately got what they wanted.
 

1977 NLCS: The Dodgers-Phillies Postseason Rivalry Begins

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The Los Angeles Dodgers and Philadelphia Phillies carried on a lively postseason rivalry, meeting three times in seven years for the National League pennant. The 1977 NLCS was the first of those meetings, and after at least two instances of the Phillies appearing ready to take control, it was the Dodgers who snatched it back and won the pennant.

GREAT 1980s SPORTS MOMENTS
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You can read more about the regular season paths each team took to the playoffs and about their key players at the links below. This article will focus strictly on the games on the 1977 National League Championship Series.

READ MORE ABOUT THE 1977 LOS ANGELES DODGERS
READ MORE ABOUT THE 1977 PHILADELPHIA PHILLIES

Game 1 was a battle of the top two finishes in the Cy Young voting. Philadelphia ace Steve Carlton had won the award, with Los Angeles’ Tommy John coming in second (albeit a distant second). In spite of the pitchers on the mound, it was the bats that would tell the tale in the opener.

With two outs in the top of the first, Dodger shortstop Bill Russell committed an error to keep the inning alive. Phillie leftfielder Greg Luzinski, one of the best power hitters in the National League made it costly, with a home run that staked Carlton to a 2-0 lead

The score held through four, when Carlton—who had already singled—was hit by a pitch to lead off the top of the fifth. Bake McBride grounded into a force out and replaced the pitcher on the bases. Russell booted another grounder, and with two outs, Davey Johnson (the future manager of the 1986 New York Mets and elsewhere) hit a two-run single to center. John was chased and the Phils were on top 4-zip.

Los Angeles got to Carlton in the fifth when Lee Lacy hit a one-out single, was balked to second and scored on a base hit by Davey Lopes. But the Phillie pitcher again did it with his bat in the top of the sixth, delivering an RBI single.

Everything was cruising along for the Phils, up 5-1 in the bottom of the seventh. Then two walks and a Lopes single loaded the bases with two outs. Ron Cey came to the plate The Dodger third baseman hit 30 home runs in the regular season and he hit another one now. The grand slam tied the game and sent Carlton to the showers.

Elias Sosa had a 1.98 ERA all year for the Dodgers and came in on the ninth, but didn’t have it. McBride, Larry Bowa and Mike Schmidt all hit consecutive one-out singles that broke the tie, and then a balk brought in an insurance run. Philadelphia had a 7-5 win. Their time out west was a success no matter what, and they could put an early stranglehold on the series if they won Game 2.

Los Angeles’ rookie manager Tom Lasorda turned to 32-year-old vet Don Sutton. McBride got him for a home run in the third that gave the Phils a 1-0 lead, and the Dodgers desperately needed to shift momentum. They started doing it immediately in the bottom of the inning, when Rick Monday hit a leadoff double and then scored on a two-out single from Lopes to tie up the game.

Philadelphia had 35-year-old Jim Lonborg on the mound, inconsistent all year, and a long way removed from being the ace of the 1967 Boston Red Sox pennant-winning team. The Dodgers nailed him in the fourth. Russell and Reggie Smith singled, and were bunted over. Steve Garvey took a walk. Then leftfielder Dusty Baker, then a 28-year-old power hitter, unloaded with LA’s second grand slam of the series.

This time, there was no Philadelphia comeback. Sutton was locked in and threw a complete game. Los Angeles got two-out RBI hits from Steve Yeager in the sixth and Reggie Smith in the seventh, wrapping up a 7-1 win that evened the series.

Philadelphia still had the NLCS where they realistically wanted it—down to a best two-of-three at Veterans Stadium for the weekend. They sent Larry Christenson to the mound, while LA countered with Burt Hooton. Neither starter was effective.

Baker continued his hot hitting, with an RBI double in the second, and then scored on a two-out single by Yeager. Hooton ripped a double, but Yeager was thrown out at the plate, keeping the score 2-0. The Phils quickly answered—or, more accurately, Hooton answered for them. With two on and two out, Hooton issued four straight walks, was removed from the game, and just like that it was 3-2 Philadelphia.

Christenson couldn’t make it through the fourth. After a Cey double and another RBI single by Baker, the Phillie starter was pulled. With one out and the bases loaded, new Dodger pitcher Rick Rhoden lofted a fly ball to right. McBride made the catch and the gunned down Baker at the plate, keeping the score 3-3.

The first four innings of Game 3 had already seen a lot of what-ifs and changes of fortune. And we were just getting started.

In the bottom of the eighth, Sosa came in for Los Angeles and again couldn’t get it done. Richie Hebner ripped a double and scored the lead run on a single from Garry Maddox, who went all the way to third on a bad throw. When Cey booted a Bob Boone grounder, Maddox scored and Boone went all the way to second, still no one out. Boone was not able to come around. It didn’t seem to matter in the moment, but it would prove to be enormous.

Philadelphia’s Gene Garber got the first two outs in the ninth. Lasorda summoned Vic Davalillo to pinch-hit for Yeager. Davalillo was 40-years-old and in August had been playing in Mexico, out of the majors since 1974 when the Dodgers added him for the stretch drive. The veteran kept Game 3 alive by dropping down a bunt single.

Manny Mota then hit a long double to left. The tying runs were in scoring position, and Lopes singled to center. Stunningly, the game was tied. It got worse. An errant pickoff throw sent Lopes to second base, where he was able to score on a single to center from Russell.

Game 3 is one of the truly underrated gems in LCS history. Because it wasn’t a deciding game, and neither team ended up winning the World Series, it gets forgotten. But the comeback was stunning, the Davalillo plot twist inspiring and it was the final momentum reversal in this NLCS.

Carlton and John hooked up again for Game 4, with a light drizzle hitting the field. As the game went on, the rain would become oddly symbolic of the Philadelphia mood. Los Angeles kept their momentum, as Baker hit a two-run shot in the second. The Phils had good chances to score in the second and fourth, with two on and one out. They did get a run in the fourth, but in both cases, Tim McCarver struck out for the second out and John escaped with a 2-1 lead still intact.

Baker started the action again in the fifth, with a leadoff walk and then Yeager singled him to third. With two outs, a wild pitch scored a run and Yeager ended up on third base, where he could score on a bunt single from Russell.

The 4-1 lead was plenty for John. The Phils were able to get the tying run to the plate in the eighth inning, but had the pitcher’s spot due up and John got pinch-hitter Jerry Martin to ground out. Los Angeles closed out the game and the series with minimal incident.

LEARN MORE ABOUT THE 1977 MLB SEASON
The most consequential teams and each postseason series

Baker was named NLCS MVP, the first time such an honor had been given (the American League would not follow suit until 1980). He had a series on-base percentage of .438, a slugging percentage of .857 and countless key hits, including the Game 2 grand slam that was the first of the two big momentum shifts for his team.

Cey had a good series, at .400/.615 and Lopes always seemed to be around at big times, but Baker was a good choice. Noteworthy in a less positive way was Schmidt for Philadelphia, as he went just 1-for-16.

The Dodgers would drop the World Series to the New York Yankees in six games, not able to handle the Yanks’ strong pitching and a dramatic show put on by Reggie Jackson.

Los Angeles and Philadelphia were just getting to know each other. They would face head-to-head in this round again in 1978 and 1983. The Phillies were also here in 1980, and the Dodgers in 1981, when each team won the World Series. 1977 got a new mini-era rolling.

1975 NLCS: The Big Red Machine Handles The Pirates Again

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The Cincinnati Reds and Pittsburgh Pirates were two teams that had already gotten familiar with each other in National League Championship Series play. The two teams met in 1970 and the Reds won in a sweep. They met in 1972 and the Reds won a thriller. Cincinnati and Pittsburgh got together one more time in the 1975 NLCS. And one more time, the Big Red Machine asserted themselves.

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The NLCS opened on a Saturday in Cincinnati’s old Riverfront Stadium. Each team had its rotation lined up, and the aces—Don Gullett for the Reds and Jerry Reuss for the Pirates—ready to go.

Pittsburgh drew first blood when rightfielder Dave Parker was hit by a pitch with two outs in the top of the second. Richie Hebner picked up the RBI with a double and then light-hitting shortstop Frank Taveras singled to make it 2-0.

Cincinnati got one back in the bottom of the inning with consecutive two-out singles and then Gullett helping his cause with an RBI base hit. It was just the beginning of what the Reds’ pitcher would do at the plate.

In the bottom of the third, Cincy’s MVP second baseman Joe Morgan drew a walk and then swiped both second and third. Johnny Bench was walked. Tony Perez singled in the tying run. Reuss got two outs and looked like he might escape with a 2-2 tie, but Ken Griffey slashed a two-run double and the Pirate starter took an early shower.

The fifth inning broke the game open. Three straight singles from Perez, George Foster and Dave Concepion loaded the bases with no one out. A productive ground ball out from Griffey made the score 5-2. Cesar Geronimo hit a sac fly to add another run. The coup de grace came from Gullett—the pitcher hit a two-run homer to make it 8-2, and the game ended with an 8-3 final.

Cincinnati came back on Sunday and didn’t take their foot off the gas. Pete Rose singled to lead off the home half of the first inning. Pittsburgh starter Jim Rooker was able to get Morgan and Bench, but Perez took it deep for a 2-0 lead.

Pittsburgh’s veteran first baseman Willie Stargell got a run back in the top of the fourth with an RBI double off Cincy pitcher Fred Norman, but the Reds came roaring right back in their own half of the fourth frame.

Three straight singles from Foster, Concepion and Griffey made the score 3-1 and had runners on first and second. The aggressive Reds then employed a double steal and both Concepion and Griffey were safe.

For the second straight game, a Cincinnati pitcher helped himself at the plate—Norman picked up a run with a sac fly and it was 4-1. And for the second straight game a Pittsburgh starter didn’t make it through five innings.

The Reds added some insurance when Griffey singled to lead off the sixth, stole both second and third and scored on a balk. Perez later delivered an RBI single in the same inning, and the 6-1 final put Cincinnati on the brink of a pennant.

READ MORE ABOUT THE 1975 MLB SEASON
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Game-by-game narratives of each postseason series

No team had rallied from on 0-2 deficit since LCS play was instituted as a best-of-five in 1969, but Pittsburgh would get the rest of the series at home in Three Rivers Stadium. They sent John Candelaria to the mound and the lefty did what he could to keep his team’s season alive.

The Reds were able to get a run in the second when the normally light-hitting Concepion went deep for a solo home run. It stayed 1-0 into the sixth when the Pirates got to Cincy starter Gary Nolan. A single from Hebner and a home run by Al Oliver made it 2-1.
Candelaria bailed his team out in the seventh. Bench reached on an error, and even the catcher got in on the basestealing display, taking his own turn at swiping both second and third. Candelaria came up with a big strikeout of Perez, got out of the inning and with the 2-1 lead intact, it looked like the Pirates might live to fit another day.

Fate was cruel in the eighth though. Candelaria got the first two batters out. Then, after having controlled the Big Red Machine’s lineup of future Hall of Famers all night long, he walked pinch-hitter Marv Rettenmund. It flipped the lineup to the top and Rose homered.

Cincinnati was three outs from a pennant, but they wouldn’t get them in the ninth. Stargell and Zisk both singled, and Pittsburgh would load the bases with two outs. Now it was their turn for a no-name pinch-hitter to drive opposing fans crazy. Duffy Dyer drew a game-tying walk and we were going extra innings.

Griffey got one more Reds rally going in the 10th, with a leadoff single. He moved up to second on a balk, and took third on a ground ball out by Geronimo. A sac fly from Ed Armbrister brought in the lead run. For all of the firepower the Reds had, they could move baserunners and execute in key spots, and it gave them the last lead they would need in the 1975 NLCS.

Consecutive hits from Rose and Morgan added an insurance run and reliever Pedro Borbon set the side down in the 10th. The 5-3 win gave the Cincinnati Reds their third National League pennant in six years.

There was no MVP award given in LCS play in 1975. Candidates would include Concepion, whose .455 batting average led Cincinnati regulars. Morgan stole four bases, the leading total on a team whose 11 steals defined this series. Gullett had virtually won Game 1 by himself with his arm and his bat.

All of those were good candidates, but I think the best candidate would be Perez. He hit .417, had four RBIs and his two-out, two-run shot early in Game 2 solidified all the momentum the Reds established at home early in the series.

The Big Red Machine was still seeking to get over the top in the World Series, and they had an epic battle awaiting with the Boston Red Sox. But after a 108-win regular season and a three-game sweep of the NLCS, there was no doubt just how far they were ahead of the rest of the National League.

1975 ALCS: Boston Ends The Oakland Dynasty

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The Oakland A’s won three straight World Series from 1972-74, and the 1975 ALCS marked their fifth straight appearance in postseason play. It also marked the end of the dynasty, as the Boston Red Sox ended the A’s great run with three-game sweep in what was then a best-of-five League Championship Series.

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The ALCS opened in Fenway Park on the first Saturday of October. The Red Sox sent veteran Cuban righthander Luis Tiant to the mound, while the A’s countered with 18-game winner Ken Holtzman. Tiant was Boston’s most clutch pitcher and Holtzman had a demonstrated record of big-game performance. Each were dialed in for Game 1 and an unearned run for the Red Sox in the second inning was the only score as the game went into the seventh.

Boston then broke through. Dwight Evans and Rick Burleson hit back-to-back doubles with one out. Juan Beniquez singled to drive in Burleson and it was 3-0. Consecutive steals by Beniquez put him on third base.

The Oakland defense was a train wreck in Game 1, with four errors and a simple fly ball to center was dropped by Bill North, allowing another run in. With two outs, Carlton Fisk singled and Fred Lynn drilled a two-run double. The close pitcher’s duel had turned into a party at Fenway, and the game ended 7-1.

Oakland might not have played well in Game 1, and it might have been they—rather than a mostly young Boston team with precious few players tied to the 1967 pennant winning team that was the last time they experienced October—who looked like a deer in the headlights. But the A’s veterans regrouped and struck early in Game 2.

Third baseman Sal Bando doubled with two outs, and then Reggie Jackson homered to give the A’s a quick 2-0 lead in the first inning. Their outstanding lefty, Vida Blue, was on the mound and the A’s added another run in the fourth on consecutive doubles from Joe Rudi and Claudell Washington.

Boston began coming back in the bottom of that same inning. Denny Doyle singled and then Red Sox veteran, future Hall of Famer Carl Yastrzemski, homered to cut the lead to 3-2. Fisk doubled and Lynn singled, resulting in an early hook for Blue. Even though Rico Petrocelli hit into a double play, Fisk came in through the backdoor, the score was tied and Blue was out of the game.

Oakland still had the best reliever in the game, Rollie Fingers, in an era when you went to such a pitcher early in and often—like the fifth inning of Game 2. Fingers came in after Cecil Cooper hit a leadoff double, and escaped the jam, with help from Jackson, gunned Cooper at the plate when he attempted to score on a sac fly.

The Red Sox were able to chip away at Fingers though. Yastrzemski doubled with one out in the sixth and scored the lead run on a base hit by Fisk. Petrocelli, not known for his power, homered in the seventh. And in the eighth, Beniquez singled, was bunted over, and scored on a single by Lynn.

While Fingers struggled, Boston’s Dick Drago was getting it done. The Red Sox’ top reliever tossed three scoreless innings, allowing only two hits and the Red Sox won 6-3.

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Oakland still had the remainder of the ALCS on their home field and Game 3 would provide more than its share of back-and-forth on Tuesday.

The Oakland pitching staff was top-heavy in its reliance on Holtzman, Blue and Fingers, and the Game 3 pitching decision illustrated it—with the season on the line, Holtzman would make the start on two days’ rest.

Boston made an early mistake, when they got runners on first and second with one out in the top of the first—Doyle tried to tag and take third base on Jackson after a fly ball out. Doyle was gunned down. Making the final out of an inning at third base is a faux pas in any event, but it’s even more so, when the league MVP—Lynn—is coming up to bat. The game stayed scoreless through three innings.

With two outs in the top of the fourth, the A’s defense again helped the Red Sox. Washington, a 20-year-old leftfielder, committed a two-base error off the bat of Lynn and Petrocelli picked up the RBI single. In the top of the fifth, after a double by Burleson, Boston got another big two-out RBI single, this one from Doyle.

After a base hit from Yastrzemski, Holtzman was removed. Fisk hit an RBI single, Yaz moved up to third and eventually scored on a wild pitch. It was 4-0 and the Red Sox could start to at least sniff a pennant.

Oakland got a run back in the bottom of the sixth, but Boston starter, 18-game winner Rick Wise, struck out Jackson with a man aboard to keep it a 4-1 game. The Red Sox added another two-out RBI single, this one from Cooper in the eighth, to make it 5-1.

There were six outs to go, but this wouldn’t be the pre-2004 Boston Red Sox if everything went smoothly. The A’s fought back in their own half of the eighth.

A single and an error set up RBI base hits by both Bando and Jackson, the two Oakland hitters who swung the bat well in this ALCS. The lead was cut to 5-3, there was only one out and Rudi was coming to the plate.

Drago came on, and induced Rudi to hit a ground ball to short, where Burleson started a 6-4-3 double play. All of New England could exhale and Drago closed the door in the ninth. Boston was going back to the World Series.

There was no MVP in LCS play at this time. There’s also no doubt that it would have Yastrzemski, with his .455 batting average over three games, would have won the award. Yaz was now 35-years-old and his push to be a part of the first Boston team to win a World Series since 1918 was a great story in of itself and that would of undoubtedly driven media voting.

I’m not saying it would have been a bad choice, but since we have some historical liberty here, I’m going to say that Drago would have been the best choice for ALCS MVP in 1975. He pitched 4.2 IP of shutout baseball. He outdueled Fingers in the critical final frames of Game 2, the point at which the series really swung. And Drago closed the door in a very anxious situation at the end of Game 3.

Baseball fans would not get to see the Oakland A’s dynasty take on the Big Red Machine in the World Series, but the coming seven-game battle the Red Sox would stage with the Cincinnati Reds more than made up for it. Of course Boston came up a run short in that one, but at least they were again giving New England a taste of World Series baseball.

American League Championship Series History: Where Does The Ortiz Grand Slam Fit?

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The League Championship Series action in the MLB playoffs has been outstanding as we go into Wednesday’s games, with St. Louis now having three shots at clinching the pennant in the National League and Boston halfway home with a 2-1 lead in the American League.

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But all seven games played in the LCS round have been competitive and entertaining, five have been decided by one run, one went to extra innings and one was turned around by the Shot Heard ‘Round Boston–David Ortiz’s grand slam that tied Game 2 against Detroit in the eighth inning.
It’s that home run and its potential place in history that we’re going to take up here, as we let both series continue through their middle sequence of games, the three played in both Los Angeles and Detroit.
The question TheSportsNotebook poses and seeks to answer is this–where, in the tapestry of American League Championship Series history, does the grand slam of Ortiz rank in the pantheon of big home runs?
To keep the focus narrow, we’re focusing only on games in the League Championship Series, and specifically in the American League. In time, we can broaden it to the NL, but for the sake of space, clarity and narrowing things down, we’re going to make a run through ALCS lore  and first look at the biggest home runs hit, and then speculate where the Papi Bomb might fit in.
The Decisive Walkoffs: On two occasions, the ALCS has reached a decisive game and been decided by a walkoff jack, both times in Yankee Stadium. The first game in the 1976 American League Championship Series, when it was still best-of-five. New York first baseman Chris Chambliss hit one over the right-center fence to break a 6-6 tie. It’s worth nothing that Chambliss overshadowed George Brett–the Royal third baseman had unloaded a three-run bomb in the eighth to tie the game.
Then in 2003 came Aaron Boone’s 11th-inning Game 7 blast off Tim Wakefield and the Yankees broke the Red Sox’s hearts again. Boston manager Grady Little would lose his job over leaving staff ace Pedro Martinez in the game with a 5-2 lead in the eighth and Pedro clearly tired. But in fairness to Little, the Sox did not have a good bullpen in ’03. A more valid question is why a knuckleballer like Wakefield, who is only one floater away from a season-ending solo shot, was in the game prior to the entire pen being emptied in extra innings.
Sealing The Pennant: There were three more shots that either clinched a pennant in walkoff fashion or came close to doing so. Brett finally got his revenge in Yankee Stadium, when he hit a massive three-run blast off Goose Gossage into the third deck in 1980. The home run put the Royals up 4-2 and all but clinched a three-game sweep.
Magglio Ordonez put the finishing touches on Detroit’s four-game sweep of the Oakland A’s in 2006 with a three-run shot of his own that broke a tie game in extra innings. And Tito Landrum, of the 1983 Baltimore Orioles, broke a scoreless tie in Game 4 against the Chicago White Sox with a three-run homer in the top of the 10th. Had Baltimore lost and been forced into a Game 5 on the South Side, the Cy Young winner, in Lamar Hoyt, would have opposed them.
There was a fourth home run that meets the framework for this section, but we’re going to mention it in conjunction with another blast below.
Turning The Tide: These four home runs didn’t come in decisive games, but all had a decisive effect on momentum, and ultimately led the way to a pennant.
*In 1986, the Boston Red Sox were down to their last out, trailing 5-4 in Anaheim with a man aboard in the ninth inning of Game 5. Dave Henderson hit one out and gave Boston the lead. The Angels were able to tie the game, but the Red Sox won in extra frames, went back home and routed the Angels twice more to win the AL flag.
*The 1978 ALCS was the third straight between the Yankees and Royals, teams that would ultimately play four times in five years, the most oft-recurring matchup in ALCS history. The series was tied 1-1 and the Royals led Game 3 by a 5-4 count in the eighth, thanks to three home runs from Brett. Thurman Munson, the Yankee captain, came up with a man on and hit a 460-foot bomb into left-center at the old Yankee Stadium, a gap so deep that at the time it was called “Death Valley.” The Yanks closed out the win and a third straight pennant one game later.
*The 1992 Toronto Blue Jays led the Oakland A’s 2-1 in games, but the recent history of each franchise in LCS play was quite the opposite and it favored Oakland. They led 6-1 in Game 4 and had staff ace and big-game master Dave Stewart waiting in Game 5. The Blue Jays scored three times in the eighth to close the gap, but closer Dennis Eckersley had still been the AL MVP in 1992. Roberto Alomar hit what was, at the time, the biggest home run in Toronto history, taking Eckersley deep to tie a game the Jays would win in extra innings.
Alomar’s status as having hit the biggest home run in Toronto history lasted about a week and a half, as they won the 1992 World Series when Joe Carter hit a walkoff to clinch Game 6.
*The 1997 Cleveland Indians were underdogs to the Baltimore Orioles, had lost the first game and trailed Game 2 by three runs in the eighth. Centerfielder Marquis Grissom then stunned everyone with a three-run shot that tied the game. Cleveland won in extra innings and won two of the next three. When the series came back to Baltimore, Tony Fernandez would be a hero, breaking a scoreless tie with a 10th-inning home run that won the pennant.
Honorable Mention: Four home runs deserve at least a passing mention. Alfonso Soriano’s two-run shot to win Game 4 of the 2001 American League Championship Series was close to being the dagger by which the Yankees ended the dream season of the 116-win Seattle Mariners.
Also in Yankee Stadium, Alex Rodriguez’s game-tying blast in Game 2 of the 2009 ALCS came in the 11th inning against the Angels and set up the Pinstripes for a commanding 2-0 series lead. Noteworthy is that no one in the Yankee front office wanted to void A-Rod’s contract for PED use even though he was an admitted user by that time.
In 2012, Raul Ibanez hit a stunning two-run ninth inning shot to tie the series opener against Detroit. The Yanks would lose that game and be swept, but this was the third game-tying or game-winning shot by Ibanez in the postseason, all in the ninth or in extra frames.
Finally we come to Ortiz himself, who hit the two-run shot that won Game 4 of the 2004 American League Championship Series and started Boston’s epic comeback against the Yankees.
Since we’ve come full circle to Big Papi, we have to ask where his blast fits. The ultimate answer will be determined by whether this leads to a pennant.
With Boston winning Game 2, and then taking Game 3, the momentum is there for Ortiz’s grand slam to fit with Grissom’s 1997 heroics for Cleveland–a true turn-of-the-tide moment early in a series that everyone looks back on.
Should Detroit rally and take the pennant, we’d have to rank Ortiz’s blast as similar in tone to Ibanez of 2012–clutch to be sure, but not ultimately decisive. Ortiz would deserve to rank ahead of Ibanez in either case, because the 2013 Red Sox at least won the game the heroics were performed in and tacked on another win, moving the fan base from complete despair to a reasonable hope of reaching the World Series.