past MLB seasons

This page contains links to blog compilations that tell the story of past baseball seasons from the eyes of their best teams. Each seasonal package contains the regular season story of all postseason qualifiers, along with other relevant teams. Then it goes into a game-by-game narrative of the League Championship Series and Division Series.

The modern era is the focal point and that effectively began when free agency was ushered in prior to the 1976 season. Because that’s smack dab in the middle of the Big Red Machine’s back-to-back championships, we just went back one year further and began the compilations in 1975.

1975: It was a transitional year as the Oakland A’s Dynasty gave way to the Big Red Machine. The Boston Red Sox joined the Cincinnati Reds in playing one of the great World Series of all time. Download from Amazon today.

1976: The Reds established their greatness for all-time with a dominating postseason run. The New York Yankees returned to the October stage after a long absence and started what would be an intense postseason rivalry with the Kansas City Royals. Download from Amazon today.

1977: The Yankees and Dodgers renewed a World Series rivalry that went back to the days the Dodgers were in Brooklyn. There was a lot of frustration and heartbreak for the Royals, Phillies and Red Sox. Download from Amazon today.

1978: The AL East race ended with one of the epic baseball games of all time with the Yankees-Red Sox one-game playoff in Fenway Park. The World Series was a rerun the networks loved, as they got New York and Los Angeles again. Download from Amazon today.

1979: After the same four teams reached the postseason in 1977-78 we had all new teams this time around, although the Pirates, Orioles and Reds were familiar with October. Pittsburgh and Baltimore went to the mat in a seven-game Series. Download from Amazon today.

1980: The National League produced two extraordinary division races that ended in head-to-head battles. The American League produced an extraordinary individual performance from Kansas City’s George Brett. The Phillies ultimately beat the Royals in the first all-artificial turf World Series. Download from Amazon today.

1981: It was a bizarre year, with a players’ strike ripping two months out of the summer schedule and a split-season doubling the size of the playoffs. In the end, it was another Yankees-Dodgers Fall Classic and this time Los Angeles won. Download from Amazon today.

1982: The regular season saw a great head-to-head showdown between the Milwaukee Brewers and Baltimore Orioles in the AL East. There was another dramatic finish in the NL West between the Atlanta Braves, San Francisco Giants and Dodgers. But when the dust cleared, it was Whitey Herzog’s St. Louis Cardinals that hoisted the trophy. Download from Amazon today.

1983: Baltimore bounced back from a series of tough finishes to win a World Series with a veteran core. Philadelphia re-assembled key parts of the Big Red Machine and won a pennant of their own. Download from Amazon today.

1984: The Detroit Tigers were a team for all-time. The Chicago Cubs and San Diego Padres played an NLCS for all-time. The Kansas City Royals weren’t any of that—not this year anyway, but they won the most exciting division race. There was a little something for everyone in 1984. Download from Amazon today.

1985: It might have been the greatest baseball season ever. Three division races went to the final weekend and were settled head-to-head. Both LCS matchups saw big comebacks. There were home runs hit that still get replayed today. And the World Series went seven games, marked by comebacks and controversy. Kansas City finally got its long-sought championship. Download from Amazon today.

1986: There was an outstanding regular season from the Mets, a surprise run from the Red Sox, a pennant-clinching no-hitter in Houston and heartbreak in Anaheim. The drama in October was unmatched, starting with the LCS round and continuing through Bill Buckner’s legendary error and finally a World Series Game 7. Download from Amazon today.

1987: An upstart champion, a dramatic pennant race and the derailment of a potential dynasty were all a part of an exciting 1987 baseball season.  The Cardinals and Mets had a good race for the NL East while the Tigers and Blue Jays staged a positively epic battle for the AL East, down to the last day. But when October came, it was time for the Twins. Minnesota upset Detroit and then took out St. Louis in a World Series that saw a lot of home cookin’. Download from Amazon today.