1980 World Series: Finally for the Phillies

The Teams
National League: Philadelphia Phillies (91-71) - Third World Series
American League: Kansas City Royals (97-65) - First World Series

What Happened
The Phillies and Royals had a lot in common in the mid to late 1970s. They were the teams that kept winning their division, only to lose out in the playoffs to superior opponents. In 1980, they both finally broke through to make it to the World Series. Both were led offensively by future Hall of Fame third basemen; the Phillies had Mike Schmidt, who won the 1980 NL MVP after leading the league in home runs and runs batted in, while the Royals had George Brett, who chased a .400 average all summer before settling in at .390 and winning his own league's MVP award.

The Phillies and Royals finally got to experience the World Series in 1980, and both were trying for their first championship. For the Royals, that wasn't saying much, as they had existed only since 1969. But for the Phillies, it was almost beyond belief. They had existed as a National League franchise since 1883 but had never won the championship. It's not like they had a lot of chances, either, as they had only been to the series twice before making it in 1980.

The two start third basemen were the story for most of the series, though Brett probably would have preferred not to be during the first two games. He had a much-publicized case of hemorrhoids that got bad enough that he had to take himself out of Game 2. Meanwhile, the Phillies came from behind to win each of the first two games in Philadelphia, including a four-run eighth inning to beat Kansas City closer Dan Quisenberry in Game 2.

In Game 3, with Brett healed from emergency hemorrhoid surgery and Schmidt close enough to the title that he could smell it, the third basemen took over. Brett and Schmidt both homered in Game 3, a game the Royals won on a 10th inning single by Willie Aikens, who was having a monster series thus far for Kansas City. Brett and Aikens continued their play in Game 4 - Brett tripled and Aikens homered in the first inning of Game 4, then Aikens homered again in the second inning to provide the final margin for a Kansas City win.

The series turned in Game 5. Schmidt's early two-run home run gave the Phillies a 2-0 lead, but the Royals fought back to take a 3-2 lead into the top of the ninth. Schmidt led off the ninth with a single off Quisenberry and came around to score two pitches later on a double by Del Unser. The Phillies later took the lead, then turned the ball over to their closer, Tug McGraw. McGraw sandwiched three walks around two outs, giving the Royals hope before striking out Jose Cardenal to end the game.

With the first road win of the series under their belt, the Phillies took no time to put their foot down on the Royals' necks. Schmidt's bases-loaded single put the Phillies up 2-0 in the third, and Steve Carlton, who had been the Phillies' ace for a decade, took over from there. He pitched into the 8th before turning over to McGraw. The Royals took advantage of McGraw's wildness to load the bases in both the 8th and the 9th, but they only came away with 1 run in those two innings. The bases were loaded when Willie Wilson struck out to end the series and give the Phillies their first championship in 97 years of play.

MVP
Schmidt was all over the 1980 World Series. Along with his two home runs were the two key rallies he started in games 5 and 6 and the great defense he played. It was a situation where the teams' best player came up bit when it mattered most.

Scores
(Home team shaded; winners in Bold)

Kansas City	6	4	4 (10)	5	3	1
Philadelphia	7	6	3	3	4	4

The List
I'm ranking all the World Series, from worst to best. Here are the ones I've done so far:

22. 1980 - Philadelphia (N) def. Kansas City (A) 4-2
23. 1911 - Philadelphia (A) def. New York (N) 4-2
24. 1915 - Boston (A) def. Philadelphia (N) 4-1
25. 1971 - Pittsburgh (N) def. Baltimore (A) 4-3
26. 1918 - Boston (A) def. Chicago (N) 4-2
27. 1988 - Los Angeles (N) def. Oakland (A) 4-1
28. 1946 - St. Louis (N) def. Boston (A) 4-3
29. 1925 - Pittsburgh (N) def. Washington (A) 4-3
Numbers 30-39
Numbers 40-49
Numbers 50-59
Numbers 60-69
Numbers 70-79
Numbers 80-89
Numbers 90-99
Numbers 100-107

1976 ALCS: Chambliss in the crowd

How they got here
The Oakland A's had won the AL West five years in a row in the 1970s. But 1976 was the dawning of free agency in baseball, and Oakland couldn't afford to keep its big stars. With the good players leaving Oakland, the Kansas City Royals stepped up.

Though the Royals had virtually no power in their lineup - their number 3 hitter was batting champion George Brett, who had only 7 home runs and 67 rbi on the season - they used their great team speed to burst out to the front of the pack in the West, leading the division by as many as 10 games. They struggled down the stretch a bit, but still won the division by 2.5 games, making the playoffs in just their seventh year of existence.

Meanwhile, there was a changing of the tides in the AL East as well. While the A's couldn't afford their stars in free agency, the New York Yankees could. The Yankees happily signed former Oakland ace Catfish Hunter and, behind his leadership, vaulted to the top of the AL East in 1976. Their postseason appearance was their first since 1964, the longest drought the Yankees had endured since trading for Babe Ruth.

So the ALCS was the old dynasty against the newcomers. The Yankees did the expected in starting Catfish Hunter in Game 1; the Royals did the unexpected by giving the ball to reliever Larry Gura, who only started two games all season long. To many peoples' surprise, though, Gura pitched into the ninth, but Hunter was better as the Yankees won.

Five Yankee errors led to a Kansas City win in Game 2, while the Yankee took their turn to come from behind to win Game 3. Game 4 was a rematch between Hunter and Gura; this time both starters were gone by the 4th, while the Royals won to send the series to a deciding Game 5.

The Game
So far, the stars of the series had been Brett for the Royals and the triumvirate of Mickey Rivers, Thurman Munson, and Chris Chambliss for the Yankees. By the time Game 5 was over, all four had made their impact on the game.

First, the Yankees trio struck. After Kansas City scored two in the first, Rivers, Munson, and Chambliss combined to produce two runs to tie the game, knocking out Kansas City starter Dennis Leonard in the process. After the Royals took the lead in the second, Rivers, Munson, and Chambliss worked together to make it 4-3 Yankees.

Holding the lead, the Yankees kept going for the jugular, loading the bases in both the fourth and the fifth but failing to score both times. Finally in the sixth, Rivers, Munson, and Chambliss again struck, giving the Yankees two more runs to make it 6-3.

Then, it was Brett's turn, as he greeted reliever Grant Jackson with a three-run home run in the 8th to tie the game. At this point, it seemed like anybody's game, especially after Kansas City closer Jim Littel got Rivers and Munson in a 1-2-3 eighth inning. He still had to get past Chambliss, but that would have to wait until the ninth. And after Kansas City failed to score in the top of the ninth, Chambliss had his chance leading off the bottom of the inning.

And then...



Aftermath
After beating the Royals, the Yankees went on to the World Series, where they got swept by the Big Red Machine in Cincinnati. But that result wasn't as important as was the start of a rivalry between the Yankees and the Royals; the two teams would meet in the ALCS again in 1977, 1978, and 1980, and would throw in mutual involvement in the Pine Tar Game for good measure. The five games in 1976 were the start of a true baseball rivalry.

What I'm doing.

The list so far:
5. 1976 ALCS: New York 7, Kansas City 6
6. 1977 ALCS: New York 5, Kansas City 3
7. 1972 NLCS: Cincinnati 4, Pittsburgh 3
8. 1981 NLCS: Los Angeles 2, Montreal 1
9. 1982 ALCS: Milwaukee 4, California 3
10. 2008 ALCS: Tampa Bay 3, Boston 1
11. 1984 NLCS: San Diego 6, Chicago 3
12. 2003 NLCS: Florida 9, Chicago 6
13. 2004 NLCS: St. Louis 5, Houston 2
14. 1972 ALCS: Oakland 2, Detroit 1
15. 1973 ALCS: Oakland 3, Baltimore 0
16. 1985 ALCS: Kansas City 6, Toronto 2
17. 2007 ALCS: Boston 11, Cleveland 2
18. 1991 NLCS: Atlanta 4, Pittsburgh 0
19. 1973 NLCS: New York 7, Cincinnati 2
20. 1987 NLCS: St. Louis 6, San Francisco 0
21. 1988 NLCS: Los Angeles 6, New York 0
22. 2004 ALCS: Boston 10, New York 3
23. 1986 ALCS: Boston 8, California 1
24: 1996 NLCS: Atlanta 15, St. Louis 0

Still to come:
1980 NLCS: Houston vs. Philadelphia
1992 NLCS: Atlanta vs. Pittsburgh
2003 ALCS: Boston vs. New York
2006 NLCS: New York vs. St. Louis

July 24, 1983: The Pine Tar Game

BRONX, N.Y. – George Brett hit a home run against the Yankees on July 24, 1983. It was a pretty big home run, coming with two outs in the ninth and giving the Royals a 5-4 lead. As he touched home plate, he saw Yankees manager Billy Martin walking towards home plate. Perhaps a pitching change was in order?

Martin and the umpire, Tim McClelland, soon were looking at Brett’s bat. While Brett was being congratulated on his home run, the umpires huddled. They were looking closely at the bat handle. Then, McClelland placed the bat on the ground next to home plate. That seemed odd. Then McClelland looked toward the Kansas City dugout, spotted Brett, and calmly called him out.

Nothing was calm about what happened next.

Brett’s reaction is legendary. He sprinted out of the dugout, hands flailing, screaming at the umpires. If one of his coaches hadn’t gotten in the way, he might have punched McClellan. It took two umpires and two teammates to restrain him completely. And for good reason: since the home run came with two outs in the ninth, the out call meant that the game was over.



Turns out, though, that Brett was right. Major League Rule 1.10(b) states that "The bat handle, for not more than 18 inches from the end, may be covered or treated with any material or substance to improve the grip. Any such material or substance, which extends past the 18-inch limitation, shall cause the bat to be removed from the game." See that last part of the rule? It says the bat shall be removed from the game. It doesn’t say anything about calling the player out or nullifying any hit achieved with the bat. McClelland actually called Brett out by invoking the “Umpire’s Prerogative” rule, not the rule involving pine tar.

It was on this basis that the Royals lodged an official protest. League president Lee MacPhail overturned the out call, saying that the spirit of the pine tar rule was to prevent foreign substances from getting on the ball, and that Brett wasn’t intending to gain an unfair advantage with how much he had on the bat. He ordered the home run restored and the game to be continued from that spot. MacPhail did, however, order Brett and Kansas City manager Dick Howser ejected from the suspended game for their argument.

The game was continued on August 18, on what was a scheduled day off for both teams, with only about 1,200 fans in attendance. Martin symbolically protested the continuation by putting pitcher Ron Guidry in center field and left-handed first baseman Don Mattingly at second base. Then, before the first pitch, he again challenged Brett’s home run, saying that Brett hadn’t touched all the bases, and that the umpires, now a different crew than had done the game the first time, couldn’t prove otherwise. New home plate umpire Davey Phillips produced an affidavit signed by all four original umpires stating that Brett had touched all the bases.

Four outs later, 25 days after the game began, the Royals finished off their 5-4 victory.