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Division Series history

2000 NLDS: How The Mets & Cardinals Advanced

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When the 2000 National League Division Series began, the Atlanta Braves were the defending NL pennant winners and back again as a division champ. The San Francisco Giants were the team who had the National League’s best record in 2000. But neither team would make it out of this best-of-five round. It was the New York Mets and the St. Louis Cardinals who advanced.

The links below show the paths all four teams took to reach the postseason and discusses their key players. This article will focus squarely on the games of the 2000 NLDS, that paired up Braves-Cardinals and Mets-Giants.

READ MORE ABOUT THE 2000 NEW YORK METS
READ MORE ABOUT THE 2000 ST. LOUIS CARDINALS
READ MORE ABOUT THE 2000 SAN FRANCISCO GIANTS
READ MORE ABOUT THE 2000 ATLANTA BRAVES

Tuesday, October 3

St. Louis

The Cardinals and Braves had each won 95 games, so a narrow head-to-head edge in favor of St. Louis had this series starting with an afternoon game in Busch Stadium. The Cards gave the ball to Rick Ankiel, while the Braves opened with the great Hall of Famer, Greg Maddux.

St. Louis catcher Carlos Hernandez made the game’s first big play, throwing out Rafael Furcal on a stolen base attempt. The play meant a single and two walks went to waste. And when the Cardinals came to the plate, they wasted no time in getting after Maddux.

The first four batters—Fernando Vina, J.D. Drew, Jim Edmonds, and Will Clark—all singled. St. Louis had a 2-0 lead, runners on the corners and no outs. An error by Atlanta third baseman Chipper Jones added another run.

After a sacrifice bunt and intentional walk loaded the bases with one out, Placido Polanco knocked a single to center. Two runs scored as a matter of course and a throwing error served to clear the bases and put Polanco on third. With the pitcher’s spot up, Ankiel popped out and Polanco didn’t score, but the massive damage was already done. The Cardinals had a 6-0 lead.

In the top of the third, Ankiel got wild. Extremely wild. He walked Maddux to lead off the inning, then uncorked two wild pitches. Another walk and wild pitch had runners on second and third. After striking out Chipper Jones, Ankiel combined the two elements of wildness by walking Andres Galarraga and doing so on a wild pitch that brought Maddux in. Brian Jordan singled. It was 6-2 and there were still runners on first and second.

Ankiel threw another wild pitch. He got the second out, and with runners on second and third was on the verge of escaping this nightmare inning. But Walt Weiss knocked a big two-out, two-run single. The lead was cut to 6-4 and Ankiel was gone. Mike James came on and finally ended the inning that saw St. Louis give up four runs on just two hits—both singles.

St. Louis threatened, but didn’t score in the third, as Maddux again used the pitcher’s spot to escape trouble. But in the bottom of the fourth, Edgar Renteria homered to make it 7-4. Maddux was finally gone. Mike Remlinger came out of the bullpen in the fifth. The Cardinals threatened again, with runners on the corners and one out, but a big strikeout of J.D. Drew was the key to escaping the inning.

St. Louis had the lead, but had also left a lot of meat on the bone in the first six innings. Would that come back to haunt them? In the top of the seventh, Andruw Jones worked a walk and Chipper Jones singled. Britt Reames came out of the Cardinal bullpen. After striking out Galarraga, Reames walked Jordan to load up the bases. But now it was Atlanta’s opportunity to miss an opportunity. A Reggie Sanders fly ball to left was too short to score a run, and Reames escaped.

The Cards missed another chance in the bottom of the eighth, when Clark couldn’t pick up a runner on third with one out, so the Braves were still in striking distance. And a Renteria error and hit batsman opened the top of the ninth. There was one out, Dave Veres was on for St. Louis, and Atlanta could bring the tying run to the plate.

Jordan singled to left. It was 7-5. But Veres struck out Sanders. Keith Lockhart hit a line drive, but it ended up as an out. Game 1 was not a video that one that anyone would send to the Instructional League. But no one in St. Louis cared. They had the win.

Wednesday, October 4

San Francisco

St. Louis and Atlanta got an odd day off, so the Giants-Mets game was the only action in the National League, coming on for a late-night broadcast on the East Coast after both ALDS games had wrapped up. This one had a good pitching matchup. The Giants went with Livan Hernandez, a World Series hero for the Marlins in 1997. The Mets went to their ace, Mike Hampton.

In the bottom of the first, San Francisco got a one-out double from Bill Mueller, who took third on a Barry Bonds base hit to center. A groundball out from Jeff Kent scored the run and the Giants had the early lead.

New York responded in the top of the third, when Mike Bordick hit a one-out single. Hampton helped his own cause with a base hit. After a walk to Benny Agbyani, Jay Payton delivered the tying run with a sac fly.

But with two outs in the bottom of that same inning, San Francisco struck big. Again, it started with a base hit by Mueller. Bonds’ RBI triple put the Giants back in the lead. Kent worked a walk. And Ellis Burks unloaded with a three-run blast that made it 5-1.

In the meantime, Hernandez was in control. Even though San Francisco missed out on a bases-loaded/one-out opportunity in the sixth, the Mets couldn’t threaten again until the eighth. They loaded up the bases with two outs. Hernandez departed and Felix Rodriguez came in. The Giant reliever struck out Daryl Hamilton to end that threat. Closer Robb Nen closed the game out in the ninth. San Francisco had Game 1.

Thursday, October 5

St. Louis

Both series were in action on Thursday, and Busch Stadium had another afternoon start. Darryl Kile was going for the Cardinals. The Braves had another Hall of Fame ace to turn to, in lefty Tom Glavine.

Glavine was staked to a quick lead. Furcal led the game off with a walk, moved up on a groundball out and scored on a single from Chipper Jones. A Galarraga double set up an RBI groundout from Jordan and Atlanta was up 2-0.

But for the second straight game, the St. Louis bats attacked a great Atlanta starter. Vina led off with a single. Edmonds drew a one-out walk. Will Clark homered. One inning later, Hernandez went deep. It was 4-2 Cardinals.

And they kept coming in the third. Renteria opened with a single, followed by an Edmonds double. When Clark was hit by a pitch, the bases were loaded with none out. Eric Davis’ sac fly picked up one run, Ray Lankford’s double added another two, and Glavine was headed for the showers, his team in a deep 7-2 hole.

St. Louis kept adding on in the fourth, when Renteria walked, stole second and scored on another Edmonds double. In the sixth, Edmonds delivered yet another RBI double. Later in the game, Mark McGwire homered. Kile worked seven strong innings, and was not challenged after the rocky first inning. A couple late Atlanta runs were meaningless in a 10-4 final.

San Francisco

An 8 PM start time on the East Coast meant people were just leaving work in San Francisco when Game 2 began. Al Leiter was handed the task of getting the Mets back on track. Shawn Estes would try to hold serve for the Giants at home.

Wildness got Estes in trouble in the second. Two walks and a hit batsman loaded up the bases. Leiter was at the plate and his effort to get a bunt down didn’t work. But, on the verge of wasting their free gifts, the Mets got a clutch two-run single from Timo Perez and took the early lead.

San Francisco immediately got one back, when Kent singled to right, stole second and scored on a Burks double. But with no one out, Burks was left stranded and the score stayed 2-1. At this point, Leiter settled in. Kirk Reuters came out of the Giant bullpen in the fourth, and did the same. And by the ninth inning, we were still tied 2-1. But the evening was just beginning.

It didn’t seem that way when the Mets seemed to take out some insurance in the top of the ninth. Perez singled with two outs and Alfonzo homered. At 4-1, this series looked tied. But in the bottom of the inning, against Mets’ closer Armando Benitez, Bonds led off with a double and Kent legged out an infield hit. The tying run would come to the plate. Burks flied out, but pinch-hitter J.T. Snow delivered. A three-run jacked tied the game 4-4.

Felix Rodriguez was still on for San Francisco, after giving up the two runs in the ninth. In the 10th, he again got in trouble after getting the first two men out. Darryl Hamilton doubled, Jay Payton singled and New York reclaimed the lead, 5-4.

The Giants again made it interesting when Armando Rios began the bottom of the 10th with a base hit off John Franco. A sacrifice bunt and a groundball to the right side by Mueller moved the tying run to the third with two outs.

Bonds came to the plate. It was the height of drama. The Mets opted to pitch to Bonds rather than risk putting the winning run on base. On a full count, Bonds was caught looking. Ballgame. The series was tied.

Saturday, October 7

Atlanta

After a travel day, both series would resume on Saturday afternoon in the Eastern time zones. Kevin Millwood was pitching for the Braves, trying to keep his team alive. St. Louis went to Garrett Stephenson to go for the sweep. And it didn’t take long for the Cardinal bats to pick up where they left off. Vina began the game with a home run.

Atlanta tied it right back up in the home half of the first, with Furcal again getting something going. He drew a leadoff walk, stole second and eventually scored on a two-out hit from Galarraga. But in the third inning, Edmonds put his mark on yet another game in this series. After a Renteria single, Edmonds went deep. It was 3-1 St. Louis.

Edmonds’ assault on the Braves’ starting pitching continued in the fifth with an RBI double that chased Millwood. Trailing 4-1 and seeing their season slip away, Atlanta tried to rally in the bottom half of the fifth, working two walks off Cardinal reliever Britt Reames with one out.  Andruw Jones was coming to the plate as the tying run. Reames got a groundball to second base that ended up as an inning-ending double play.

Blood was in the water and St. Louis went for the kill shot in the top of the sixth. Lankford walked, Hernandez singled and they were bunted up to second and third. Kerry Ligtenberg came out of the Atlanta bullpen to try and keep this one close. A Polanco groundball scored one run .A two-out, two-run single by Vina extended the lead to 7-1.

This series was all but over. The final twelve Atlanta batters went in order. A series between two teams that looked evenly matched had ended not just in a sweep, but with St. Louis outscoring Atlanta by a combined 24-10. It was a wipeout. Perhaps it wasn’t complete payback for 1996, when the Braves beat the Cardinals in the final three games of the NLCS by a combined score of 32-1. But it was dominating, and it would give St. Louis a chance to win their first pennant since 1987.

New York

It was a busy day in the Big Apple, with the Yankees playing at home at night, and the Mets coming back to Shea Stadium for the matinee in Game 3. The pitching matchup here was Ron Reed for the Mets against the Giants’ Russ Ortiz. And once again, the pitching would be good and the game tight.

San Francisco threatened in the second and third inning, getting two runners aboard both times. Reed got big strikeouts. In the second, he got Rich Aurilia when a man was on third with less than two outs. And in the third, the New York starter K’d Kent, the soon-to-be National League MVP, to escape.

But Reed didn’t escape in the top of the fourth. Burks and Snow began the inning with singles. With one out, Bobby Estalella singled to drive in the game’s first run. An Ortiz bunt didn’t work, but Marvin Benard delivered a two-out base hit. The Giants were on top 2-0.

The Mets’ offense stayed quiet until the sixth. Mike Bordick drew a walk. Hamilton, batting for Reed, singled. Perez singled. The lead was cut to 2-1 and there were still none out. After the runners advanced to second and third on a groundball out, Piazza was intentionally walked. The bases were loaded with just one out.

Alan Embree came out of the Giant bullpen to face Robin Ventura. A groundball to Kent at second base started a double play and San Francisco held their lead.

All was quiet on both sides until the bottom of the eighth. Doug Henry was on out of the Giant bullpen, and he hit the leadoff batter. After getting the next two men out, Alfonzo doubled. The game was tied and Shea was roaring.

Once again, extra innings beckoned. Benitez escaped a first-and-second with one out jam in the top of the 10th. Rodriguez returned the favor by getting out of a first-and-second and no outs mess in the bottom of the 11th. Late afternoon turned into early evening. The game stretched to the 13th inning.

Agbayani was the one who ended it—a solo blast off Aaron Fultz gave the Mets a 3-2 win in the game and a 2-1 lead in the series.

Sunday, October 8

New York

What a day it was to be a sports fan in New York City. The Jets were hosting the Steelers in the early afternoon. The Super Bowl-bound Giants were in the 4 PM slot. The Yankees would play a decisive Game 5 in Oakland in prime-time. And right here in Queens, the Mets were going for the clinch.

Mark Gardner was who San Francisco tapped to keep their season alive. Bobby Jones was the man for New York. And was Jones ever “the man” on this day.

The Mets gave their starter an early lead when Piazza worked a two-out walk in the first inning, followed by a Ventura home run.

It was 2-0, and Jones was dealing. The Giants’ first hit came in the fifth inning when Kent led off with a double, and then took third on a fly ball. Jones got Aurilia to hit a short fly ball out, preventing a tag-up, and then ended the inning. The 2-0 lead held until the bottom of the eighth.

With one out, Gardner—pitching a magnificent game himself—struck out Jones, but the ball got away and the Mets’ starter got down to first base. The door was open and New York bashed it down. Perez and Alfonzo hit back-to-back doubles. It was 4-0. Gardner was done for the day.

And, for all practical purposes, San Francisco’s excellent season was done. Kent’s double would be their only hit of the afternoon. Jones finished the job in the ninth. The Mets were going to the NLCS for the second straight year.

DIVISION SERIES MVPs

Baseball doesn’t formally crown a series MVP in the divisional round. But they should, so we’ll set the record straight here. Edmonds is an easy call in the Cardinals-Braves series. He went 8-for-14, homered twice and drove in seven runs. If we ever did a list of the best Division Series performances of all-time, this one would be on there, especially given two of the games were facing Maddux and Glavine. Shout outs go to Vina (4-for-13) and to James and Reames, who combined to pitch 7.2 innings of shutout relief. That’s big in a series where runs flowed freely.

The Mets-Giants battle had more interesting candidates. Alfonzo seemed to be everywhere, going 5-for-18 with five RBIs and all of his hits seeming to be big ones. Perez went 5-for-17 with his own share of clutch hits. Jones’ one-hit masterpiece certainly stands out in a series this short. But the edge has to go to Agbayani. His 5-for-15 showing is good overall. And the walkoff blast to win Game 3 was the biggest hit in a series that had a ton of them.

AFTERMATH FOR THE VANQUISHED

Atlanta wasn’t going anywhere—a string of division titles that already went back to 1991 would extend through 2005. But this playoff loss did mark a shift. Previous Brave teams either reached the NLCS or the World Series. The 2000 postseason marked a six-year stretch where Atlanta won just one postseason series. It was still a run of success most any fan base would sign up for. But it wasn’t what Braves fans had gotten used to.

San Francisco wasn’t going anywhere either. Even though they missed the playoffs in 2001, they were still a good team and the season was highlighted by Barry Bonds’ controversial single-season record 73 home runs. In 2002, the Giants made the World Series and got to five outs of winning it all.

AFTERMATH FOR THE VICTORS

The most immediate success was with the Mets, who would beat the Cardinals in five games in the upcoming NLCS round before dropping a tough World Series to the crosstown rival Yankees. But the long game belonged to St. Louis. After this 2000 season, New York failed to make the postseason again until 2006. The Cardinals were back in both 2001 and 2002. By 2004, they made it to the World Series, and in 2006, they won it.

2000 ALDS: How The Yankees & Mariners Advanced

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The 2000 ALDS Series had some new cast members. The Chicago White Sox were in the postseason for the first time in seven years. The Seattle Mariners were here after a five-year absence. And the Oakland A’s were in the playoffs for the first time since The Bash Brothers era came to an end eight years earlier. Surrounding these three new faces was one cast veteran—the two-time defending World Series champion New York Yankees.

Chicago had finished with the best record in the American League and was matched up with wild-card Seattle. Oakland was the 2-seed. New York might have been the battle-tested veteran, but a terrible September had almost cost them what was a weak AL East, and left them as the 3-seed.

You can read more about the season-long journeys of all four playoff teams, and about the individual players who lifted them to the postseason, at the links below. This post will focus squarely on the games of the 2000 American League Division Series.

READ ABOUT THE 2000 NEW YORK YANKEES
READ ABOUT THE 2000 SEATTLE MARINERS
READ ABOUT THE 2000 CHICAGO WHITE SOX
READ ABOUT THE 2000 OAKLAND A’S

Tuesday, October 3

The South Side of Chicago

The Mariners and White Sox got it going with a late afternoon start for Game 1. Seattle veteran Freddy Garcia took the ball against Chicago’s Jim Parque. And the Mariners wasted little time in getting after Parque.

The great veteran, Rickey Henderson, led the game off with a single to right. After a hit batsman, a young Alex Rodriguez, knocked a single the other way. Seattle was on the board and had runners on the corners. Edgar Martinez hit one on the screws, but it was a line drive out. John Olerud picked up the second run with a productive ground ball out. Then, in the top of the second, catcher Joe Oliver homered. The Mariners had an early 3-0 lead.

Chicago struck back quickly in the bottom of the second. Paul Konerko worked a walk. With two outs, Chris Singleton ripped an RBI triple, then scored on a wild pitch to cut the lead to 3-2 .

Seattle kept coming in their half of the third, with base hits by A-Rod and Martinez setting the table. But White Sox catcher Charles Johnson made a big play and picked A-Rod off of second base. Olerud grounded into a double play and the threat was killed. Chicago took that momentum into the bottom of the third when Ray Durham’s leadoff homer tied the game. Jose Valentine worked a walk and when Magglio Ordonez tripled, the White Sox had a 4-3 lead.

There was still just one out, and big hitters in Carlos Lee and Konerko were coming to the plate. But Garcia got a strikeout of Lee, retired Konerko and prevented further damage. This sequence, ending an otherwise good inning, would prove to be something of a premonition for how Chicago’s Division Series appearance would go.

Like in the bottom of the fourth. A couple singles and a walk set up the White Sox with the bases loaded and none out. But Brett Tomko came out of the Seattle bullpen and got Valentine on a short fly ball, then retired the great Frank Thomas. Or in the bottom of the sixth, when there were runners on the corners and one out. Durham grounded into a double play. Chicago went to the late innings with a 4-3 lead, but it could have been more comfortable.

Bob Howry came out of the White Sox bullpen to relieve Parque, who had admirably settled down after the shaky start. Howry promptly issued a walk. David Bell ripped a double to put runners on second and third. A groundball out failed to score the run. After a walk, Howry struck out Stan Javier. The Chicago reliever was on the verge of escaping with the lead intact. Until Mike Cameron singled to right.

The good news for Chicago was that Ordonez threw out the go-ahead run at the plate. The bad news was that all the missed opportunities for the White Sox in the middle innings now had them tied 4-4.

Both bullpens settled in and Game 1 went to extra innings. Keith Foulke was on for Chicago in the top of the 10th. Cameron again got a big hit, this time a rally-starter, as he led off with a single and then stole second with one out. The steal proved unnecessary. Martinez and Olerud hit back-to-back homers. Seattle was ahead 7-4 and closed out the bottom of the 10th without incident. The road team had grabbed the series opener.

Oakland

The Yankees were, as per usual, in the prime-time spot and sent the great veteran, Roger Clemens, to open this series. The A’s answered with Gil Heredia. New York might have ended the season on a down note, but they looked to establish quick momentum against a young starter.

Chuck Knoblauch opened the game with a base hit, and Derek Jeter got plunked. This rally died when Paul O’Neill hit into a double play, but Heredia wasn’t as fortunate in the second inning. Jorge Posada’s two-out single was followed by consecutive doubles from Luis Sojo and Scott Brosius. The Yanks were up 2-0.

Heredia settled in after that and Clemens was cruising in the early going. The game stayed 2-zip until the bottom of the fifth. A Jeremy Giambi walk was sandwiched by singles from Eric Chavez and Ramon Hernandez. The A’s had cut the lead to 2-1 and had runners on first and second with none out.

A ground ball to the right side by Terrence Long moved both runners up. A base hit from Randy Velarde tied it up and a Clemens wild pitch put Oakland on top 3-2. Velarde was now on second base. Clemens limited further damage by intentionally walking the more potent Giambi in the A’s lineup—first baseman Jason—and then getting an inning-ending double play.

And the Yankees immediately struck back when Bernie Williams doubled to lead off the top of the sixth Productive outs from David Justice and Tino Martinez put us back in a 3-3 tie.

But having gotten to Clemens, Oakland kept coming. They did two-out damage in the sixth, with singles from Chavez and Jeremy Giambi, followed by an RBI double from Ramon Hernandez. Giambi was thrown out at the plate—oddly foreshadowing of a more famous play where he got clipped at the plate in this same playoff round a year later—but the A’s led 4-3.

Heredia handed the game over to the Oakland bullpen who dominated the late frames. Three A’s pitchers did not allow a hit. The A’s added an insurance run in the eighth. The upstarts had taken Game 1 from the veterans by a 5-3 count.

Wednesday, October 4

The South Side of Chicago

The White Sox turned to Mike Sirotka to get them back on track, while the Mariners handed the ball to Paul Abbott for Wednesday afternoon’s Game 2. Chicago got a quick run in the bottom of the first, when Durham and Valentin doubled in succession to start the frame. But it could have been more, especially after Valentin stole third base with no one out. But the big guns of the White Sox lineup—Thomas, Lee, and Konerko—all missed chances to bring the second run home.

And that missed opportunity immediately started to hurt. Martinez doubled to lead off the Seattle second. Olerud was hit by a pitch and Valentin booted one to load up the bases. With no one out, Bell singled to tie the game. Dan Wilson’s sac fly put the Mariners up 2-1.

Valentin stayed in the middle of the action in the bottom of the third when he led off by bunting for a hit.  With one out, he stole another base, then took third on an errant throw. This time, he found someone to pick him up. Lee’s sac fly tied it up 2-2.

But Seattle had an immediate answer when Jay Buhner homered in the top of the fourth. The bottom of that same inning saw Chicago miss another good opportunity, when Durham grounded into a double play with runners on the corners and one out. The Mariners manufactured a run in the fifth when Henderson walked, stole second, was bunted to third, and came home on a base hit by A-Rod.

For the second straight day, the pitching settled in in the second part of the game. The White Sox made noise in the seventh, putting runners on first and second with one out. Thomas and Ordonez were coming to the plate. Seattle manager Lou Piniella went to the bullpen and called for Jose Mesa. Thomas and Ordonez were set down. The Mariners kept the lead, added an insurance run, got another save from closer Kaz Sasaki and, with the 5-2 win, took a 2-0 series lead.

Oakland

The two-time defending champs called on lefty Andy Pettitte to avoid falling into the same hole Chicago found themselves in. Oakland had Kevin Appier on the hill for Game 2. And both pitchers were locked in early on. Each team missed a scoring opportunity in the first inning, but then zeroes started going up without incident until New York came to bat in the top of the sixth.

Williams one-out double got the Yankees going. With two outs, O’Neill was intentionally walked. It was an understandable move, with the lesser known Hill and Sojo up next. It was also a move that didn’t work out for the A’s. Hill singled to score the games’ first run, Sojo doubled in two more and Pettitte had a 3-0 lead.

Oakland made a little bit noise three more times. But a leadoff double from Chavez in the sixth went for naught. In the seventh, Grieve grounded into a double play with two on and one out. In the eighth, there were runners on the corners with two outs. Pettitte finally gave way to Mariano. The great closer finished off the last four outs, the Yanks tacked on a run in the ninth and their 4-0 win evened up this series.

Friday, October 6

Seattle

Both series took a day off to travel, and the Mariners came home looking to close it out on early Friday afternoon local start. Aaron Sele was pitching for Seattle, while Chicago relied on James Baldwin to extend their season. Both pitchers would be terrific.

Sele put Chicago in position to score with a couple walks in the first, but escaped when Ordonez bounced one back to the pitcher, allowing Sele to start a 1-6-3 double play. The White Sox got the game’s first run in the second when Harold Baines doubled the other way to left field, then scored on a consecutive deep fly ball outs. Seattle answered in the fourth. Raul Ibanez singled, was bunted over by A-Rod and took third on a ground ball out. With two down, Javier legged out an infield hit that tied the game 1-1.

Sele and Baldwin both kept things quiet. Baldwin finished his afternoon after six innings, Sele went into the eighth, but there were no threats of any real substance.

In the bottom of the ninth, Kelly Wunsch was pitching for Chicago. Wunsch came off the mound to field a short grounder off the bat of Olerud…and threw it away. Olerud ended up in second base. Foulke was summoned.

With no one out, Piniella played small ball. Javier dropped a sac bunt down to get the runner to third. Carlos Guillen came to the plate. He bunted. It was a line drive bunt that could have blown up on Seattle, but it found a hole between the drawn-in Durham and Thomas on the right side of the infield and went all the way through. Rickey Henderson, running for Olerud, came racing in with the winning run.

The Mariners were going to the American League Championship Series. The White Sox magical season had ended with a hard thud.

The Bronx

The Yankees went to the reliable Orlando “El Duque” Hernandez for the pivotal Game 3, while Oakland turned to Tim Hudson, a talented young arm with a long and bright future ahead of him.

It was the second inning when both teams struck. El Duque walked a couple guys. With two outs, Jeremy Giambi made it hurt, with an RBI single. In the bottom of the second, Bernie Williams did what he always seemed to do—be ready with an immediate answer. A leadoff double, and an O’Neill infield hit set up runners on the corners with one out. Hill’s short grounder to the pitcher plated one run and moved O’Neill to second. And New York got some clutch two-out hitting of their own, as Derek Jeter’s base hit put them up 2-1.

Each pitcher worked around some trouble in the third. In the bottom of the fourth, a walk and an error put the Yanks in business. Jeter’s ground ball out picked up another run. Long hit a leadoff homer in the fifth to quickly answer back, but New York still had a 3-2 lead. El Duque got settled in and started to dominate. So did Hudson, but it was already too late. A late Yankee insurance run, combined with Rivera in the bullpen led to a 4-2 win. New York was on the brink of clinching.

Saturday, October 7

The Bronx

Another one of the rising stars in the A’s rotation, lefty Barry Zito, got the ball with the season on the line. Clemens would pitch for the Yankees. The legendary power pitcher was going on short rest, and it didn’t take long to show.

Clemens issued a couple walks in the top of the first, Olmedo Saenz went deep and Zito had a 3-zip lead before taking the mound. Oakland continued to get opportunities, putting runners on first and second with none out in both the second and third inning. But Clemens escaped each time. Would the missed chances come back to haunt the A’s?

Not with Zito dealing the way he was. And in the top of the sixth, the Oakland bats got back to work. Chavez singled, Tejada doubled and Grieve singled both runs in. It was 5-0 and Clemens was gone. Ramon Hernandez tacked on a subsequent RBI single to give Zito a 6-0 cushion.

New York got their first run in the bottom of the sixth, and put runners on second and third with two outs. Jim Mecir came out of the Oakland bullpen to face Tino Martinez. Mecir got Tino to pop up. That was the last time the game got close to becoming interesting. The A’s added a run in the eighth, unloaded for four more in the ninth and the final was 11-1.

Sunday, October 8

Oakland

There was no travel day and Saturday’s game had been in prime-time, so both teams flew cross-country overnight back to the Bay Area. The only Game 5 in this year’s Division Series would get prime-time coverage on Sunday night. Heredia was back on the mound for the A’s. Pettitte was going for the Yankees, trying to do what Clemens could not, and that’s be effective on short rest.

But it was Heredia who had nothing out of the gate. Chuck Knoblauch started the game with a single. Jeter walked and O’Neill beat out an infield hit. The Yankees quickly had the bases loaded. A sac fly from Williams put New York on the board. Justice worked a walk. Tino Martinez came to the plate and crushed a bases-clearing double. The fans were barely in their seats and the home team trailed 4-0.

And the Yanks weren’t done. Posada legged out an infield hit. With runners on the corners, Heredia was gone after recording just one out. Sojo’s sac fly made it 5-0. Brosius singled to keep the inning alive. The lineup flipped over and Knoblauch got his second single of the first inning. It was 6-0. Jeter flew out to right and the top of the first was mercifully, at least for A’s fans, in the books.

It seemed like this would be an anticlimactic night. But Pettitte would not have his good stuff either. And in the bottom of the second, Oakland started to chip away. Adam Piatt singled with one out. Ramon Hernandez singled with two outs. Long worked a walk. Velarde came up with a clutch single that scored two runs. It was 6-2 and the A’s quickly added another run in the third when Tejada singled and then scored on a Chavez double.

Now, with the score 6-3, the six innings still remaining seemed like an eternity. Justice delivered for New York with a solo blast in the fourth to make it 7-3. But Oakland struck right back in the home half of the inning. Hernandez singled, Long walked and Velarde singled. The bases were loaded. Consecutive sac flies from Jason Giambi and Saenz cut the lead to 7-5. Tejada singled. Now it was Pettitte’s time to go, having allowed 10 hits in less than four innings. All the momentum was with the A’s.

But as for much action as had been jammed into the first four innings, that’s how little went into the final five. The bullpens for both teams completely took over. The A’s got just three hits over the final five frames. The Yankees had only two, but they were the ones with the lead. Oakland got noble work from Kevin Appier and Mecir, who kept the game close after the disastrous start. But the tag-team of Mike Stanton and Jeff Nelson for New York turned the game over to Rivera. Mariano slammed the door.

This was the toughest postseason test the Yankees had seen since starting their dynastic run in 1998. But it still ended with a seventh straight series victory for the men in Pinstripes.

DIVISION SERIES MVPS

Baseball hasn’t gotten around to officially awarding a MVP for the Division Series. But they should, so we’ll do what we can to fill in those historical gaps.

The Yankees-A’s series had a number of notable performers. Chavez and Tejada had seven hits apiece for Oakland. For New York, Sojo has to have set some kind of record for the loudest .188 series batting average in history. He went 3-for-16, but all of those hits were consequential and he drove in five runs.

The best contenders for MVP though, are Tino Martinez and Mariano Rivera. Tino went 8-for-19, and his bases-loaded double in Game 5 was monumental. But I have to give the edge to Mariano. He saved all three Yankee games and the biggest story of the decisive fifth game was the dominance of New York’s bullpen. Let’s send Rivera an ex post facto Division Series MVP trophy. As though his trophy case isn’t big enough.

The three-game sweep in the White Sox-Mariners makes it a little tougher for individuals to stand out, especially because the defining feature of that series was Chicago’s inability to get big hits (or Seattle’s ability to get big outs, whichever way you want to view it). On the White Sox side, the only player who had a good series with the bat was Herbert Perry, who went 4-for-9.

The Mariners got good performances from Bell (4-for-11), Edgar Martinez (4-for-11) and A-Rod (4-for-13). Sele’s brilliant Game 3 could make him a viable choice in a series with no standouts. And Arthur Rhodes worked relief in all three games, and pitched hitless ball for 2 2/3 innings.

I lean Bell. He was involved in key rallies and you can make the case that his crucial double late in Game 1 was the biggest hit in a series where the games were decided on the margins.

So let’s go with David Bell and Mariano Rivera as your 2000 ALDS MVPs.

AFTERMATH FOR THE VANQUISHED

Chicago completely disappeared from the landscape for the next five years. The White Sox’ 2000 season has the look of a strange outlier, sort of nestled in between their good teams of the early 1990s and the one that would bring the ultimate prize to the South Side in 2005.

Oakland did not disappear. This run to the playoffs started a string of four straight postseason appearances. It also started a string of crushing Game 5 losses in the Division Series all four of those years. And one of those seasons, the 2002 campaign, became the inspiration for the Brad Pitt film Moneyball.

AFTERMATH FOR THE VICTORS

New York and Seattle were getting started on a little mini-rivalry. This was the first of two consecutive years they would meet in the ALCS. And the Yankees won both times in six games. New York’s victory in the 2000 ALCS set them up for a Subway Series against the crosstown Mets, and the 2000 World Series saw the Yanks win their third straight championship.

1981 NLDS: Comebacks Set Up A Pair Of Game 5 Battles

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1981 was the foreshadowing of a new era in baseball, with the introduction of the Division Series. The circumstances weren’t ideal—a players’ strike from mid-June to mid-August pushed MLB to the idea of declaring the teams in first place at the strike to be in the playoffs, where they would then play the teams that won “the second half” after starting from scratch. The 1981 NLDS gave baseball good reasons to like the idea, with both series going the full five games.

GREAT 1980s SPORTS MOMENTS
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The Philadelphia Phillies and Los Angeles Dodgers were leading the East & West at the strike (there was no Central Division until the realignment of 1994). The Montreal Expos and Houston Astros won the respective second halves. You can read more about all four teams regular season paths, the key players and decisive moments in their push to October at the links below. This article will focus on going day-by-day through the Division Series.

READ MORE ABOUT THE 1981 LOS ANGELES DODGERS
READ MORE ABOUT THE 1981 MONTREAL EXPOS
READ MORE ABOUT THE 1981 HOUSTON ASTROS
READ MORE ABOUT THE 1981 PHILADELPHIA PHILLIES

The series opened in Houston & Montreal for the first two games, and then went to Los Angeles and Philly for the balance of the set.

GAME 1

Los Angeles-Houston: Fernando Valenzuela, the 20-year-old Cy Young winner took the mound for the Dodgers, against the veteran Nolan Ryan and neither pitcher disappointed. No one even threatened until the bottom of the sixth. With two outs, the Astros got a single from Terry Puhl, a walk by Phil Garner and an RBI base hit from Tony Scott for a 1-0 lead. But the Dodgers immediately countered in the seventh with Steve Garvey’s two-out solo home run to tie it.

Houston missed a chance in their own half of the seventh when Cesar Cedeno doubled and stole third to begin the frame. Two flyball outs were too short to get the run home and Fernando escaped.

Valenzuela was pinch-hit for in the eighth. The move made sense—it was to lead off the inning and the player off the bench was Jay Johnstone, a good hitter even before he made his 1989 cameo appearance in The Naked Gun. But it didn’t produce a run, and Los Angeles turned to 24-year-old Dave Stewart to continue the game.

Stewart got the first two outs, but light-hitting Craig Reynolds singled. The Astros weren’t a team noted for home runs in the deep expanse of the Astrodome, but they got on here—Alan Ashby homered and Houston took the opener 3-1.

Philadelphia-Montreal: It was a battle of aces with the Phillies’ sending their future Hall of Fame lefty Steve Carlton to the mound. The Expos had their own #1, Steve Rogers, ready to go. Montreal got to Carlton immediately with a first-inning single from Warren Cromartie. After Jerry White hit into a force out, he stole second, and scored on a hit by Gary Carter, a future Hall of Famer himself.

The Phils quickly tied it in the second on a home run by Keith Moreland, but the Expos peppered Carlton again the second, with consecutive doubles from Tim Wallach and Chris Speier. Wallach had the chance to do more damage in the third when he came to the plate with the bases loaded and one out, but he popped out and Carlton escaped with the score still 2-1.

Montreal just kept coming in the fourth. Speier drew a walk, was bunted over by Rogers and scored on a double by Cromartie. In the fifth, they had a chance to add to the lead when Andre Dawson led off with a triple. But Carlton got Carter and Larry Parrish, escaped the inning and it was still 3-1.
The missed chances might have haunted Montreal, given Carlton finally settled down and the Expos didn’t threaten again. But Rogers was locked in.

Not until two outs in the ninth, when Moreland and George Vuckovich each singled, did the pitcher finally lose it. He was lifted for the talented young closer in Jeff Reardon, who got Manny Trillo to line out to left. It was another 3-1 final, again going to the home team.

GAME 2

Los Angeles-Houston: The names changed on the mound, with two veterans, Jerry Reuss for the Dodgers and Joe Niekro for the Astros. But the results didn’t change. The pitchers kept dominating. Nothing even resembling a threat happened until the seventh, when LA’s Davey Lopes doubled to lead off and was bunted to third. But Niekro got Dusty Baker and Garvey to ground out, and the game went to extra innings scoreless.

It went to the 11th inning and the Dodgers again went to Stewart. By the end of the decade, Stewart would be renowned as one of baseball’s great big-game pitchers. Right now, he was still learning, and Garner and Scott each touched him for singles and there were runners on the corners.

Veteran Terry Forster was summoned to create a lefty-lefty matchup with Jose Cruz. Forster got Cruz on a fly ball too short to pick up the run. Los Angeles manager Tom Lasorda again made a pitching change, calling in Tom Niedenfuer to deal with the right-handed Art Howe.

Niedenfuer got a strike out and the Dodgers were poised to escape. But Denny Walling—a lefty hitter, with no response move left for Lasorda—singled to right and Houston was one win from the NL West title.

Philadelphia-Montreal: The Expos had a deep rotation in 1981 and Bill Gullickson had an even better ERA than Rogers when he took the mound for Game 2. The Phils’ #2 was Dick Ruthven, who had a good career, but ’81 was a rougher year for him.

Montreal capitalized on an error by Mike Schmidt and the pesky Speier drove in an unearned run in the second inning. In the third, Cromartie doubled, Carter homered and the Expos had an early 3-0 lead.

Gullickson picked up where Rogers left off and dominated. Not until the eighth did the Phils start to mount a threat. With two outs, Lonnie Smith doubled and scored on a single by Pete Rose. Bake McBride doubled, and with runners on second and third, Expo fans had reason to be nervous.

Reardon was again summoned. After intentionally walking Schmidt—the MVP third baseman was so feared that it was worth putting him aboard as the lead run—Reardon got Gary Matthews to pop out. The ninth went without incident and it was another 3-1 final.

Both of the home teams, Montreal and Houston, now needed just one road victory in three tries to triumph over the teams that had, for the most part, set the pace in these divisions starting in the late 1970s.

GAME 3

Houston-Los Angeles: The Dodgers played like a desperate team in front of their home fans and wasted little time getting after Astro lefty Bob Knepper. Lopes walked and was bunted up to start the game. Baker doubled the run in, and then Garvey unloaded with a home run. It was 3-0 and that was all Burt Hooton needed.

Houston got a solo shot from Art Howe in the third, but never scored again. Knepper settled in, but in the eighth, Los Angeles broke it open with four singles that produced three wins. The series had its first drama-free ending as the Dodgers stayed alive 6-1.

Montreal-Philadelphia: The Expos looked ready to continue their momentum when they scored first, in the second inning off Larry Christenson. Once again, the normally light-hitting Speier came through, with an RBI single that followed a double by Carter. But in the bottom of the inning, the Phils began to awaken.

Matthews and Moreland started with singles off of Ray Burris. Trillo tied it with a one-out single, and a throwing error on Dawson brought in a second run. The game settled in and went to the sixth still at 2-1 Philadelphia. The Phils then got some breathing room.

Moreland singled, after which a bunt and intentional walk ended Burris’ day. Montreal went to veteran lefthander Bill Lee, once a cornerstone of the rotation for the 1975 Boston Red Sox. Lee couldn’t get Vuckovich in the lefty-lefty matchup, as a single made it 3-1. Rose tacked on another base hit for a 4-1 lead.

Montreal threatened in the seventh, getting two on with one out against Sparky Lyle, a former Cy Young winner for the New York Yankees, but now nearing the end of his career. Lyle still had some veteran moxie and he got a double play ball to escape the inning
Schmidt doubled in the bottom of the seventh off Elias Sosa and it started a two-run inning that put the game out of reach. Montreal got a run in the eighth, but never made it interesting in a 6-2 final.

GAME 4

Houston-Los Angeles: Valenzuela was back on three days’ rest. The Astros, with breathing room, went to their #4 starter Vern Ruhle, although we should note that the Houston rotation was deep and Ruhle, while not having the career of a Ryan or Niekro, was at or close to their level in 1981. And he pitched like it matching Fernando with goose eggs for four innings.

Los Angeles finally broke through in the fifth, with Pedro Guerrero hit a two-out homer. It stayed 1-0 into the seventh when Garvey singled, was bunted up and scored on another big two-out hit, this one a single from Bill Russell.

Houston made a little noise in the ninth, when Puhl doubled. With two outs, Scott kept the game alive with a single that got the Astros a run. But Jose Cruz fouled out. This series was going to a Game 5.

Montreal-Philadelphia: In an NLDS round that produced a lot of good games, but mostly pitchers’ duels. Game 4 of the Expos-Phillies was the best back-and-forth game of this round, a great matchup on a beautiful Saturday afternoon in Philly.

The Phils got after Scott Sanderson quickly, doing everything after two outs in the first inning. McBride singled and Schmidt homered for a 2-zip lead. Philadelphia got two more in the third. After Rose singled and Schmidt walked, a double play grounder appeared ready to get Sanderson out of it. But second baseman Jerry Manuel didn’t handle the exchange and while he got one out at first, there were runners on second and third. Moreland, never a great player in his career, but having a great series, singled with two outs and it was 4-0.

Montreal began coming back off Dickie Noles in the fourth when Carter homered. When two walks followed, Philly manager Dallas Green quickly went to his bullpen and Warren Brusstar kept it 4-1. Speier made things happen in the fifth, hitting a leadoff double and scoring a sac fly from White.

The Expos pulled even in the sixth. Parrish singled and then Speier—who else—singled with two outs. John Milner came on to pinch-hit and cut the lead to 4-3 with a base hit. Lyle came out of the bullpen, but another pinch-hit single, this one by Wallace Johnson, tied the game 4-4.

Philadelphia got the lead back in the sixth. Montreal was already on their fourth pitcher, Woodie Fryman, who had been brilliant all year long. But Matthews got Fryman for a solo home run. Montreal immediately tied it when White drew a walk off Ron Reed and scored on a double from Carter.

The Phils looked ready to get the lead right back in the seventh with a runner on third, one out and Schmidt at the plate. But Reardon came out of the pen and got Schmidt to pop out.

Reardon stayed in, while Phils’ closer Tug McGraw came on in the eighth. McGraw worked three scoreless innings and it was still 5-5 in the bottom of the 10th. Reardon had worked 2.2 IP of scoreless ball himself when the Vuckovich came to the plate. This was too much to ask, and Vuckovich lined a home run into the rightfield seats and with the 6-5 win, another Game 5 on Sunday would go down.

Major league baseball had been playing pre-World Series playoff rounds since 1969 in a best-of-five format and no team had ever lost the first two and come back to win. Both the Phillies and Dodgers—along with the Milwaukee Brewers who would attempt the same thing on Sunday in the 1981 ALDS—had the chance.

GAME 5

Houston-Los Angeles: Nolan Ryan had the best year of his career in 1981 and it was left to him to try and save the Astros, with Reuss pitching for the Dodgers. It was another pitchers’ duel—Ryan escaped a jam in the third when he got Baker to pop out with one out and Lopes on third-but the game went to the sixth inning scoreless.

Los Angeles broke through when Baker drew a one-out walk and Garvey singled, setting up runners on the corners. With two outs, Rick Monday singled for the game’s first run. It was all Reuss was going to need, but the Dodgers got more. Mike Scioscia singled in another run, and then an error brought in a third run.

The Houston bats, never very good to begin with, were completely silence and they never put together anything that could be called a serious threat. Garvey tripled in an insurance run in the seventh and with their 4-0 win, Los Angeles had made history.

Montreal-Philadelphia: It was a Rogers-Carlton matchup. Over the scope of their careers, there was no question that Carlton was the vastly superior pitcher, but in the specific year of 1981, it was much closer and this was Rogers’ moment.

In the top of the fourth, after a leadoff single by Parrish and walks by Wallach and Manuel, Rogers came to the plate with one out. It was Carlton’s chance to get a punch-out and escape. But Rogers slapped a single back through the middle it was 2-0.

That was all Rogers was going to need, as he put his team on his back. In the sixth, the Expos added another run to make it 3-0. The Phils mounted their one threat in the bottom of that inning, with two on one out and Schmidt at the plate.

Rogers got the MVP to hit into a double play ball. It was all over but the shouting. Montreal turned back Philadelphia’s bid at history and with the 3-0 win, the Expos were NL East champs for the first time.

1981 DIVISION SERIES MVPS

Major league baseball has never given an official Division Series MVP award, either then or after this round was permanently instituted in the realignment of 1994. It’s an omission I think should be rectified, and that’s what we’ll do here.

Let’s start with the easy one—Steve Rogers would have to be the choice for Montreal. The Expos ace won two games against the best starting pitcher of his generation in Carlton, including the decisive game on the road, and got Game 5’s biggest hit to boot.

There’s three worthwhile candidates for the Dodgers. Garvey went 7-for-19 and homered twice, an in a series that was starving for offense that certainly stands out. But it seems to me that since Houston only scored six runs in five games and Los Angele starters worked deep into games, perhaps we should look at the starting rotation.

That leads us Valenzuela and Reuss. Fernando worked 17 innings, allowed just one run and won Game 4. But Reuss was even better—18 innings, no runs and a shutout against Ryan in the decisive Game 5. I’d take Reuss for this honor.

AFTERMATH FOR THE VANQUISHED

Houston fell off the radar following the collapse of 1981, went into rebuilding mode and didn’t return to contention until they won the NL West again five years later. Philadelphia continued to contend, and returned to the World Series in 1983, though they never won it all again until 2008.

AFTERMATH FOR THE VICTORS

Los Angeles and Montreal continued the five-game fun in the 1981 NLCS, and the Dodgers continued the comeback pattern. They trailed 2-1 in games and were on the road in Montreal for the final two games. Both games were tied in the eighth inning, and a big home run was the difference each time.

Garvey went deep in the eighth inning of Game 4 to break that one open. Rick Monday’s shot in Game 5 was even bigger—it broke a 1-1 tie with two outs in the top of the ninth and won the pennant.

The Dodgers met the New York Yankees in the World Series, and it was one more round of comebacks for Lasorda’s Dodgers. They lost the first two games in the Bronx, and then never lost again. Three straight one-run wins followed at home, and then Los Angeles blew out New York in Yankee Stadium to seal a title in Game 6.

1981 ALDS: The Yankees & Billy Martin Earn A Fight With Each Other

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The Division Series, the best-of-five round that takes place among the last four teams left in both leagues, came about by design in the realignment of the 1994 season. But more than a decade prior, the first Division Series came about by accident and it produced an ironic result–not only did the New York Yankees advance, but so did their old manager, who moved on with the Oakland A’s.

GREAT 1980s SPORTS MOMENTS
Start reading today. 


A players’ strike from mid-June to mid-August called for some creativity. MLB decided to have teams leading at the strike play those that won the post-strike period after starting from scratch. Out of the blue, everyone was told an extra round was added to the playoffs. Here’s a look back at the 1981 ALDS, who got there, and how it unfolded day-by-day.

The Yankees and A’s led their divisions when the strike began on June 12—with no Central Division in existence yet, there was just an East & West. After play resumed in August, the Milwaukee Brewers won the AL East’s second-half and the Kansas City Royals took the other berth in the AL West.

You can read more about all four teams regular season paths, the key players and decisive moments in their push to October at the links below. This article will focus on going day-by-day through the Division Series.

READ MORE ABOUT THE 1981 NEW YORK YANKEES
READ MORE THE 1981 OAKLAND A’S
READ MORE ABOUT THE 1981 MILWAUKEE BREWERS
READ MORE ABOUT THE 1981 KANSAS CITY ROYALS

TUESDAY, OCTOBER 6

The 1981 ALDS began on a Tuesday afternoon in Kansas City, as the Royals hosted the A’s. Kansas City, who had won the AL West four times in the previous five years, and the pennant in 1980, sent their ace, Dennis Leonard to the mound. Oakland had been the superior team in 1981, with a workhorse starting rotation and Billy Martin as their manager. The A’s countered with young Mike Norris on the hill.

Kansas City got the first threat of Game 1, loading the bases with one out. Norris, pitching like a postseason veteran, got two Royal vets, Frank White and George Brett, to escape unscathed. Oakland quickly made KC play. Dwayne Murphy drew a one-out walk in the fourth, and then Brett committed a two-out error. Oakland third baseman Wayne Gross ripped a three-run blast and the A’s had a 3-0 lead.

Norris was only challenged one more time, when Kansas City loaded the bases with none out in the fifth. Norris got leadoff hitter Willie Wilson to pop up, and then a White line drive went right at Gross, who turned it into a double play. Murphy gave Oakland some insurance in the eighth with a solo home run.

WEDNESDAY, OCTOBER 7

Both series would be in action today and Oakland-KC, being two small market teams, again got stuck playing a weekday afternoon game. The A’s sent Steve McCatty to face KC righthander Mike Jones. The Royals had gotten decent work from Jones in 1981, but turning to him in this spot underscored that both Rich Gale and Paul Splittorff had struggled during the season and why Kansas City wasn’t quite as good as in previous years.

Murphy again got Oakland going, this time right away in the first, with a one-out single. He scored on a double by DH Cliff Johnson. The inning might have been bigger, but Johnson mysteriously only advanced one base on a subsequent double, and Kansas City was only behind 1-0.

It looked like Oakland’s failure to make the first inning bigger would hurt them. Both pitchers settled in, and with two outs in the fifth, the Royals tied it on successive singles from John Wathan, U.L. Washington and Wilson.

But Murphy once again came through, this time in the eighth inning for Oakland. He singled to lead off, was bunted up by Johnson and scored on a double by Tony Armas. McCatty delivered a complete-game six-hitter and Oakland had come into KC’s house and taken the first two games.

The focus of the American League stayed in the heartland, but went several hours north, as the Yankees and Brewers met in the old Milwaukee County Stadium in prime-time. New York had a former Cy Young winner, lefty Ron Guidry, while Milwaukee would rely on Moose Haas, a consistent, if unspectacular righthander.

Milwaukee could hit, and they got after Guidry in the second, with a two-out double from Sal Bando and an RBI base hit from Charlie Moore. In the third, Jim Gantner doubled off Guidry to start the inning. Paul Molitor laid down a sac bunt that was flubbed and the Brewers had runners on the corners.

It might have been a big inning, but Guidry settled down. Robin Yount picked up Gantner with a sac fly, but at 2-0, the Yankees had the bats to bet back into it. And that’s what they did immediately, starting in the top of the fourth.

After Haas walked Reggie Jackson, Oscar Gamble went deep and the game was quickly tied. Then Bob Watson singled and pesky Larry Milbourne beat out an infield hit. Rick Cerone doubled to clear the bases. Haas was gone and the Brewers were staring at a 4-2 hole.

Milwaukee’s offense got Guidry out of the game in the fifth, when the sequence of a Yount single, a walk of Cecil Cooper and a base hit by Ted Simmons made it 4-3. New York manager Bob Lemon called in his hard-throwing young reliever Ron Davis.
The move paid off—Davis got out of the inning with the one-run lead intact and he worked 2.2 innings of perfect baseball. Milwaukee never threatened again, and New York picked up an insurance run in the ninth to win it 5-3.

THURSDAY, OCTOBER 8

Oakland and Kansas City were traveling, and New York and Milwaukee got it going in an afternoon game. Both teams sent lefthanders to the hill, although that was about all Dave Righetti and Mike Caldwell had in common. New York’s Righetti was a hard-throwing young arm. Milwaukee’s Caldwell was a veteran finesse pitcher. Both were brilliant on this day.

The Yankees’ Lou Piniella got to Caldwell for a two-out home run in the fourth inning and into the seventh inning, the 1-0 game stood up, with nary a threat from either side. In the bottom of the seventh, Davis came on, but lacked the control of the previous night. Two walks and a single loaded the bases.

New York was stacked in the bullpen, and Lemon simply upgraded to closer Goose Gossage, a future Hall of Famer. With one out, Gossage got Yount to pop up and struck out Cooper. In the top of the ninth, the Yankees got a two-run blast from Jackson. The insurance runs weren’t technically needed, although they undoubtedly improved Lemon’s peace of mind when the Brewers got singles from Bando and Molitor with one out in the ninth. But Yount again popped out, Gossage slammed the door and with the 3-0 win, the Yankees joined the A’s in taking the first two games on the road.

FRIDAY, OCTOBER 9

There was no travel day for Brewers-Yanks, so this would be a doubleheader day in the ALDS. The Royals and A’s started with a 2:10 PM local start that was early evening on the East Coast, meaning it could swing into the Brewers-Yankees at 8:20 PM local time in the Bronx.

Kansas City turned to their veteran lefty Larry Gura to try and keep the season alive, with Oakland countering with Rick Langford, who’d pitched as well all year as Norris and McCatty. And Langford continued the trend of great A’s starting pitching.

The A’s gave Langford a quick run when Rickey Henderson drew a walk, stole second with two outs and scored on a single by Armas. In the third, Henderson singled and again took off for second—this time he was out…but for an error by Washington at short that kept Henderson on the basepaths. Then Wathan, the KC catcher, dropped a foul-ball out on Murphy. Then Murphy beat out in an infield hit, and Henderson kept on chugging all the way home.

It was 2-0 and Kansas City did not look like the experienced veteran team. Oakland loaded the bases with no outs, but consecutive strikeouts by the A’s weak bottom of the order forced Martin to try something improbable—Murphy took off on a steal of home, but it didn’t work. The Royals weren’t playing well, but they were breathing.

White led off the KC fourth with a single. Willie Aikens singled to right. White took third on the hit and scored on an RBI grounder by Amos Otis. But as quickly as Kansas City got on the board, Oakland had an answer, and once again Murphy was in the middle of it.

It began with a solo home run by Dave McKay. With two outs, Henderson again singled and Murphy slashed an RBI double and it was 4-1.

Kansas City didn’t go quietly—they got four singles in the top of the fifth, but the combination of Clint Hurdle being picked off, runners moving up just one base at a time and a couple infield popouts, meant no runs. In the top of the eighth, the Royals put two on with one out. Martin summoned Tom Underwood in relief of Langford, and he struck out the power-hitting Aikens who represented the tying run. Martin then turned to Dave Beard to get Otis.

That was the last shot for the Royals. Beard slammed the door in the ninth and for the first time since 1975, the Oakland A’s were AL West champs.

Could Friday be a day of a sweep on both coasts? The pitching matchup certainly suggested it. The Yankees had their terrific veteran lefty Tommy John, while the Brewers put their season into the hands of journeyman Randy Lerch.

But Lerch was terrific. New York got a run in the fourth when Bob Watson delivered a two-out RBI single, but even with John pitching great, the Yankee lead was only 1-0 into the seventh. And then the Brewer offense awoke.

It started small, with an infield hit by Cooper, but quickly went big, as Simmons homered for a 2-1 Milwaukee lead. Gorman Thomas singled, and was sacrificed up by Ben Ogilvie. Bando drove in the run with a single and Milwaukee had a 3-1 lead, with the league MVP—closer Rollie Fingers—in reserve.

But Fingers struggled in the seventh, and New York got four straight one-out singles from Watson, Milbourne, Cerone and Willie Randolph to immediately tie the game back up. Milwaukee could have been forgiven for folding—but they didn’t—Molitor homered to start the eighth and put his team right back on top.

Yount beat out an infield hit. John was removed, and Simmons again had a big RBI, this time a double for a 5-3 lead. Given a reprieve, Fingers rolled through the eighth and ninth. We would come back to Yankee Stadium on Saturday.

SATURDAY, OCTOBER 10

Milwaukee’s Pete Vuckovich was a year away from an 18-win Cy Young season. He shouldered his team’s fate against New York’s Rick Reuschel, who had been the ace of some disappointing Cubs’ teams in the late 1970s and now had the chance to be on the October stage.

Both pitchers rolled through three innings and the Brewers began chipping away in the fourth. Molitor and Yount both singled. A sac fly from Cooper plated the first run and Ogilvie’s two-out double staked Vuckovich to a 2-zip lead.

An error and a double by Dave Winfield gave the Yankees second and third with no outs in the sixth. Vuckovich was removed for lefthander Jamie Easterly. It wasn’t a long or noteworthy career for Easterly, but this is at or near the top of his greatest moments.

He struck out Jackson, and even though Piniella picked up one run with an RBI groundout, Easterly had maintained the lead.
And a Brewer tag-team of Jim Slaton from the right side, Bob McClure from the left and eventually Fingers, slammed the door. Milwaukee won 2-1 and this strange series, with the road team winning every game, would go to a decisive finale on Sunday night.

SUNDAY, OCTOBER 11

It was a Hass-Guidry rematch and the Brewers again showed they could hit the renowned Yankee ace. Thomas homered in the second. In the third, utility man Ed Romero singled, Molitor walked, Young legged out an infield hit, Cooper picked up the RBI with a sac fly and it was 2-0…just like it had been in Game 1.

And just like the opener, Haas couldn’t hold the lead and it was the fourth inning, with the Jackson/Gamble duo doing the Brewer pitcher in. It began with a leadoff single from Milbourne. Jackson then went deep tie the game and Gamble immediately followed with a home run to put New York on top.

Haas was gone and Caldwell was in, but the Brewer lefty didn’t have the stuff of Game 2. Graig Nettles and Watson each singled and with runners on the corners, Rick Cerone picked up the RBI with a productive groundball.

It was still only 4-2, and just like Game 1, the Brewers got a run back. In the seventh inning, with Righetti on for Guidry, Yount tripled and came in on a Cooper base hit. But New York immediately answered when Cerone took Slaton deep.

In a battle of teams with great closers, it was New York who turned a lead over to Gossage, while Fingers could only watch. The Goose gave up a couple walks in the eighth, but got Don Money to fly out and keep the 5-3 lead. New York tacked on two insurance runs in the bottom of the inning, and it was all over, but the shouting, ending 7-3.

Both series of the 1981 ALDS had been taken by the first-half winners, as the New York Yankees and Oakland A’s advanced to the American League Championship Series.

1981 DIVISION SERIES MVPS

This wasn’t an official award then, nor is it today, but it should be. So let’s rectify the omission and give out some hardware. In the Oakland-KC series, Dwayne Murphy is an easy choice. He was 6-for-11 and there was no significant A’s rally that Murphy didn’t have his hands in.

The New York-Milwaukee series has three worthwhile candidates. Gamble went 5-for-9 and hit two home runs, both in decisive spots of the series opener and closer. Righetti won two games—he came on in the fifth inning of Game 5 and got the win in that game and pitched brilliantly in nine total innings.

But the overriding factor in this series was the dominance of the New York bullpen. Gossage saved all three New York victories and they were all legitimate saves (i.e., none of this stuff were you get three easy outs with a three-run lead). The Goose pitched multiple innings in close games. In 6.2 IP of work, he shut out a great offensive team and only gave up three hits. He would be my choice.

THE AFTERMATH FOR THE VANQUISHED

Milwaukee and Kansas City would each be back. The Brewers built on the postseason experience gained, won the AL East in 1982 and reached the World Series, losing a good seven-game Fall Classic to the St. Louis Cardinals. The Royals were a steady organization and though it took a couple more years, they again won the AL West in 1984. One year later, Kansas City saw its dreams come true, with a World Series victory over St. Louis.

THE AFTERMATH FOR THE VICTORIOUS

New York and Oakland’s ALCS matchup featured two good games, but the Yankees won both of those, and took home the pennant in a three-game sweep.

The Yankees then won the first two games of the World Series at home against the Los Angeles Dodgers. But the trip west proved their undoing. New York lost three consecutive one-run games and then were blown out on their home field in Game 6.

Most surprising is that the Yankees and A’s disappeared from the October stage for several years. New York fielded pretty good teams in the coming years, but not up to the usual standards of this franchise and they didn’t make the postseason until the new alignment and wild-card era began in 1995.

Oakland fell completely off the map, as their starting pitching burned out, Martin burned out and the A’s disappeared until a new cast of characters emerged later in the decade. Neither disappearing act would have been expected when the Yankees and A’s were pouring champagne at the end of the 1981 ALDS.