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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.
 

The 1978 Philadelphia Phillies Survive & Hold On In The NL East

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The 1978 Philadelphia Phillies won the franchise’s third straight NL East title, but it didn’t come easy, as they held off a final push by the Pittsburgh Pirates before clinching and moving on to the National League Championship Series.

READ ABOUT THE 1978 BASEBALL SEASON

Book about the 1978 baseball season

Philadelphia’s offense was down a little bit from its NL-leading form of 1977, a reason why the Phils slipped from 101 wins to a more pedestrian (at least by first-place standards in the days each league was two divisions apiece) 90. But they were still third in the league in runs scored, and the pitching was pretty good too, coming in fourth the NL in ERA.

Mike Schmidt had the best career of any player in the regular lineup and he had a good year, with 21 home runs and 78 RBIs. But the best hitter in 1978 was left fielder Greg Luzinski, with an on-base percentage of .388, 35 home runs and 101 RBIs.

The Phils got further contributions from Richie Hebner at first base (.369 OBP/.464 slugging percentage), and catcher Bob Boone (.347/.425). It was an off-year from rightfielder Bake McBride, a horrible year for second baseman Ted Sizemore that explained the dip in production.

One man who never needed too many runs to win games was Steve Carlton. The future Hall of Fame lefty won 16 and posted a 2.47 ERA to lead the staff. Larry Christenson and Randy Lerch were effective starters, the former with a 3.96 ERA the latter at 3.24.

The two aging veterans at the back end—Jim Kaat and Jim Lonborg struggled, but the Phils swung a deal in June to acquire Dick Ruthven, who made 20 starts in Philadelphia and went 13-5 with a 2.99 ERA. Ruthven came at a cost—a good reliever in Gene Garber—but the Phils had depth in the pen, with Ron Reed, Tug McGraw and Warren Brusstar all having good years.

Philadelphia started the season slowly, sitting on .500 at Memorial Day, but no one in the NL East could really got hot. The Chicago Cubs were in first place, but after the Cubs had sizzled and then faded in the summer of 1977, the Phils had to be confident only being 3 ½ games out.

June was an up-and-down month. There was an eight-game win streak at home, when the swept the best two teams in the NL West, the Los Angeles Dodgers and the San Francisco Giants. There was a tough return trip out west, where the Phillies lost six of seven. But the month ended with a four-game sweep of the Cubs at old Veterans Stadium in Philadelphia. By the All-Star break, Philadelphia had moved past Chicago, enjoying a 4 ½ game lead, while the Pirates were seven games back.

By rights, Philadelphia should have put this race to bed in August. They beat Pittsburgh six times in seven games, but the inconsistency in other games allowed the Pirates that ground back and more. The Cubs were also still hanging around. On Labor Day, Philadelphia led by only two games over Pittsburgh and 3 ½ over Chicago.

The Cubs were up first, with two-game sets at each time’s park over a one-week span. The Phils took the first two games, one in which they trailed 2-0 in the seventh, but rallied to win 5-3. Ruthven also got a big win, and McBride made the biggest mark on an otherwise disappointing year when he hit a home run and had three RBIs in an 11-5 win. Chicago faded from the picture.

Philadelphia continued to go up and down, letting the lead over Pittsburgh get down to a single game at one point, the answering with a six-game win streak. As the Phils tested the stress levels of their fans, they entered the final weekend of the season with an 89-69 record. The Pirates were 85-72. The teams would play four games against each other in Pittsburgh, starting with a Friday doubleheader. The stakes were simple—Philly was in with a win. If they lost, the Pirates would be a ½ game ahead and have to play a Monday makeup game to try and clinch.

Friday’s doubleheader was tailor-made for a team that only needed to win once, but it ended with the markings of disaster written over it. With the first game tied 4-4 in the ninth, Pittsburgh catcher Ed Ott hit a triple and then kept coming all the way home, scoring on an error by Garry Maddox—only one of the best defensive centerfielders in the game.

Carlton was on the mound in the nightcap and pitched extremely well, but the bats went quiet and the score was 1-1 in the ninth. A double by Pittsburgh rightfielder Dave Parker was followed by two intentional walks. Brusstar, on to pitch, balked in the winning run.

Yes, the Phillies lost consecutive games on the catcher circling the bases and a bases loaded balk. Anyone in Philadelphia that could see the collapse coming, couldn’t be blamed. Especially when Pittsburgh opened up on Saturday by scoring four times in the first inning.

The Phils then showed their mettle. Lerch got settled down on the mound, and then he got things turned around with his bat. He homered twice, further adding to the weird quality of this whole series. Luzinski blasted a three-run shot. McBride and Maddox each had three-hit games. Philadelphia led 10-4 in the ninth.

It wouldn’t be the 1978 Philadelphia Phillies if they simply closed the door. Pittsburgh scored four more times and had two chances with the tying run at the plate. The last one was by Willie Stargell. One year later, “Pops” Stargell would be an October hero with a big home run in Game 7 of the World Series. But that would be next year. This time Reed struck him out and the Phils had another NL East title.

The results of the National League Championship Series were a little too familiar. For the second straight year, Philadelphia lost in four games (of what was still a best-of-five round through 1984) to the Los Angeles Dodgers. It marked three straight trips to October, but never a pennant. But at least the Phils kept getting there, and their final vindication—the 1980 World Series title—wasn’t far around the corner.

The 1977 Philadelphia Phillies Pound Out Another NL East Crown

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The Philadelphia Phillies were a young and talented team that had arrived in 1976, when they won 101 games and the NL East. The Phils were swept out of the NLCS by Cincinnati’s Big Red Machine, but the future was bright in Philly. The optimism was validated by the 1977 Philadelphia Phillies when they again won 101 games and made it back to the National League Championship Series.

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The power tandem of third baseman Mike Schmidt and leftfielder Greg Luzinski anchored the best offense in the National League. They combined for 77 home runs and 231 RBIs. Each had an on-base percentage over .390 and a slugging percentage over .570. Though Schmidt would have a much better career, it was “The Bull”, as Luzinski was nicknamed, that was actually a little bit better with the bat.

Two key personnel additions further strengthened the lineup. Philly signed first baseman Richie Hebner away from the Pittsburgh Pirates in the offseason, and Hebner had a .381 OBP/.484 slugging. And in June, a trade with the St. Louis Cardinals brought rightfielder Bake McBride to Philly. McBride’s numbers were .392/.564 after the trade.

Further contributions came from outfielder Jay Johnstone, second baseman Ted Sizemore and catcher Bob Boone. Defensively, the Phils were strong up the middle with Larry Bowa at short and rangy Gary Maddox in center.

Pitching was more of a question mark. The staff ERA was fourth in the National League, but there was a lot of uncertainty in the rotation. Four of the five starters finished with ERAs over 4 and two were over 5. Jim Kaat and Jim Lonborg were each into their late thirties and in obvious decline.

It put a lot of pressure on the Phillie bullpen, and four key relievers helped pick up the slack. Gene Garber and Ron Reed combined for the saves. Tug McGraw and Warren Brusstar all helped carry the load. All four pitchers had ERAs at 2.75 or lower.

The work of the pen, along with the offense helped cover for the four weak spots in the rotation. And the one strong spot, at the top of the rotation cured even more ills. Steve Carlton, 32-years-old, with a nasty slider, went 23-10 with a 2.64 ERA in 283 innings of work. Carlton was a runaway Cy Young Award winner.

It was anything but an easy ride for manager Danny Ozark though. Four straight losses started the season and the Phils were seven games back on May 12. They didn’t get over .500 for good until May 21. The Pirates were off to a hot start, but Philadelphia was able to take a series from their rivals, part of an 8-3 stretch that moved the Phils past Pittsburgh…only now the Chicago Cubs were catching fire.

From June 17 to July 7, Philadelphia played excellent baseball, going 15-4 and cutting the Cubbie lead to three games. The Phils were in second place and had the Pirates in the rearview mirror, with a 5 ½ game lead on the rival who had dominated the NL East prior to Philadelphia’s run of 1976.

In early July, a weekend visit to Pittsburgh was a disaster. The Phils led the opener 7-3 in the eighth inning, but McGraw, Garber and Brusstar all combined to cough it up in an 8-7 loss. On Saturday, Philadelphia lost 9-8 in 12 innings—the winning hit coming with two outs off the bat of Mario Mendoza, the same player whose hitting ineptitude remains legendary today with use of “the Mendoza line” to mark the line a hitter dare not sink below.

Sunday’s doubleheader went even worse. Pittsburgh rolled to a 5-1 victory in the opener. Then the Phillie pitching problems cost them in the nightcap. They led a slugfest 10-7 after seven innings, but Reed melted down and the Pirates completed a sweep with a 12-10 win.

Philadelphia was still a manageable five games back of Chicago when the wipeout ended, but now Pittsburgh was right back in it, and hungry to show that 1976 was just an aberration.

Things started to turn for the better in mid-July, as the Cubs came to Philadelphia for another four-game weekend set, including a Saturday doubleheader. The Phils trailed the opener 2-0 in the sixth when Luzinski hit a two-out, two-run blast to left and Philadelphia went on to win 4-2. Then they took the opener of the doubleheader 9-2, with six players getting multiple hits.

Chicago grabbed the second game of the twinbill, but Carlton was lying in wait for Sunday. The lefthander gave eight strong innings, Johnstone homered twice and the 4-2 win moved the Phillies to within 2 ½ games of the lead for the All-Star break.

August was when Philadelphia finally got firm control over both the Cubs and Pirates. The Phils won 19 of 20, and that included a devastating four-game sweep of the Cubs in Wrigley. Philadelphia unloaded for ten runs in each of the first three games, hitting a combined 11 home runs in the process. Then they won a 4-2 game behind Lonborg to finish the sweep that broke the backs of Chicago. By the time the 19-1 streak was over, the Phillies had a 7 ½ game lead.

Pittsburgh didn’t go as quietly, and they chipped the lead down to 3 ½ games by the end of August. Fans could look ahead to a three-game set between the two teams starting on Labor Day in Pittsburgh, and then a return trip to Philadelphia the following week. But sometimes in baseball, what happens before and after the hyped showdowns is what proves decisive.

The Phils won five straight leading into Labor Day and the Pirates weren’t able to answer, pushing the lead out to seven games. Even though Pittsburgh won two of three head-to-head, the Phils came right back with six straight wins. Their lead was at nine games and the NL East race was all but over.

It’s fitting that this offensive-minded team clinched in a wild slugfest. It came on the Tuesday of the season’s final week, on an afternoon in Wrigley Field. The Phils broke open a 4-2 game with seven runs in the seventh inning, a grand slam by starting pitcher Larry Christenson being the big blow. McGraw didn’t make his life easy—he gave five runs back in the bottom of the eighth, but when “the Tugger” got Dave Rosello to tap back into a 1-6-3 double play in the ninth, the 15-9 win—and the NL East race—were in the books.

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

Philadelphia went into the 1977 NLCS with more expectations this time around. They were no longer novices to October, and the Big Red Machine no longer loomed over the sport. The Phils met up with the Los Angeles Dodgers and when Philly took the opening game on the road, good things seemed ahead. But that proved to be the last win of the year, as Philadelphia lost a crushing Game 3 at home and were closed out in the fourth game of what was then a best-of-five LCS round.

There’s no sugar-coating how tough that NLCS loss was—not so much the defeat itself, but the heartbreaking game that swung the series and then losing Game 4 with Carlton on the mound at home. But the 1977 Philadelphia Phillies had clearly shown that their takeover of the NL East the previous year was no one-time affair and they were going to be around for a while.

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.

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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.

The 1980 Philadelphia Phillies Bring An End To Frustration

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The 1980 Philadelphia Phillies carried the banner for a franchise and a fan base that was marked with frustration, both short-term, long-term and even beyond the baseball diamond. The Phillies had never won the World Series. They had lost the National League Championship Series each year from 1976-78.

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And within the framework of 1980 in Philadelphia sports, the 76ers in the NBA and the Flyers in the NHL had each reached their respective Finals and come up short (and if we could look ahead, the Eagles were on their way to losing the Super Bowl). Somebody in Philadelphia had to win a title didn’t they?

It was up to the Phillies. They had moved aggressively prior to 1979, signing Pete Rose away from Cincinnati, but terrible pitching let Philadelphia down. They came back in 1980 with mostly the same cast, but a new manager in Dallas Green who had taken over for the final month of ’79 and gone 19-11.

Hitting was the Phils’ cornerstone, and they were second in the National League in runs scored, excelling equally at getting men on base and hitting for power. No one was better than third baseman Mike Schmidt who hit 48 home runs drove in 121 runs and won the NL MVP award.

Schmidt’s big numbers supported an array of other players who had various areas of strength, but no standout stars. Rose, now 39-years-old, finished with a .352 on-base percentage. Bake McBride posted respectable numbers of .342 OBP/.453 slugging. Greg Luzinski, the big leftfielder, saw his power dip, but still hit 19 home runs.

Philadelphia was very good defensively. Veteran catcher Bob Boone, standout centerfielder Garry Maddox, shortstop Larry Bowa and second baseman Manny Trillo made the Phillies the classic team that’s strong up the middle. None of them hit very well, though Trillo’s .334 OBP was respectable, but when you look back on how many close games the Phillies won it’s hard not to look at this consistent defense.

The pitching made a big leap forward, jumping from 11th in the National League in ERA in 1979 to 3rd in 1980. When you have one of the great pitchers of your generation, it goes a long way toward making improvement.

Steve Carlton was now 35-years-old, but the lefthander still had the nasty slider that ultimately took him to the Hall of Fame. And in 1980 he won 24 games, worked over 300 innings and posted a 2.34 ERA. It was good enough for the Cy Young Award, as the Phils swept the two major individual awards.

The back end of the bullpen was in the hands of another capable 35-year-old. Tug McGraw had the best year of his career, with a 1.46 ERA and saving 20 games.

With Carlton and McGraw as his anchors, Green was able to piece the rest of the staff together. Dick Ruthven was a reliable #2 starter, winning 17 games and finishing with a 3.55 ERA. The bullpen was aided by one young arm, Kevin Saucier and one veteran, Ron Reed.

The rotation was filled out by mostly mediocre performances from Bob Walk, Randy Lerch, Nino Espinosa and Larry Christenson. But the Phillies got a big lift from 21-year-old Marty Bystrom who came up late in the season, made six starts and went 5-0 with buck-fifty ERA.

It took a month and a half for the team to get untracked. Philadelphia was under .500 on May 13 when they won seven of nine games against the Cincinnati Reds and Houston Astros, each contenders in the NL West. By Memorial Day, the Phillies were 20-15 and just a game out of first place.

The pace in the NL East was being set by the defending World Series champion Pittsburgh Pirates and not far behind was the Montreal Expos, who had chased Pittsburgh to the final weekend in 1979.

Philadelphia then lost nine of sixteen games and fell four games back. A six-game win streak against NL West competition stabilized the Phils and they pulled into a first-place tie on June 18. They hovered within a game or two of first place and they reached the All-Star break with a pedestrian 41-35 record, but one that was only a half-game back of the Expos with the Pirates just one game out. The NL East race was red-hot.

The period right after the All-Star break was not kind to the Phillies. They had a 4-7 stretch against the Reds and a poor Atlanta Braves team. Philadelphia went to Pittsburgh for a four-game set and got it handed to them, losing all four games and by a combined score of 21-8. On August 10, the Phils were six games out before a 9-2 stretch—highlighted by a five-game sweep of the lowly Mets in old Shea Stadium pulled Philly back to within 1 ½ games.

On Labor Day, the basic dynamic of the race had not changed. Montreal was in first place, Philadelphia was one game out and Pittsburgh was in hot pursuit, only two back.

The Phillies beat the Pirates in a two-game set, the second a 14-inning walkoff. It started the fade of the defending champs and the race narrowed to Philadelphia and Montreal. They met in Philly on the season’s penultimate weekend for a three-game set, with the Phils up by a half-game.

Ruthven pitched the opener and went seven solid innings, departing with the game tied 1-1. McGraw held the fort for two innings and McBride won it with a walkoff blast. But the rest of the weekend didn’t go quite as well.

Carlton took the mound with a chance to put his team firmly in control of the race, but gave up four runs in seven innings, losing 4-3. And Walk was hit hard in the finale, with Saucier and Dickie Noles unable to stop the bleeding out of the bullpen. The 8-3 loss left Philadelphia a half-game back with a week to go.

The good news was that at least the Phillies controlled the half-game. So even though the Expos swept the Cardinals in a three-game sweep, the Phils were able to counter with a four-game sweep of the Cubs. The NL East race was tied, with Philadelphia and Montreal poised to settle it head-to-head with a three-game series north of the border.

Ruthven again pitched a Friday opener and again pitched well, though he came out in the sixth inning with a 2-1 lead, keyed by two hits from Rose and a home run by Schmidt. Sparky Lyle, a veteran lefty and former Cy Young winner with the Yankees in 1977 had been acquired in September for games like this.

Lyle got four big outs when the Expos were threatening, and McGraw threw two more shutout innings. The 2-1 lead stood up. Philadelphia needed just one more win and they had Carlton reserve for Sunday.

Christenson started on Saturday and pitched six good innings, though he trailed 2-1. In the top of the seventh, Rose, McBride and Schmidt all singled to load the bases with one out. Luzinski delivered a two-run single to give the Phils the lead, but in a bizarre baserunning circumstance, both he and Schmidt were thrown out on the bases on the same play.

The game stayed at 3-2 and it looked like that might be costly, because Ron Reed and Lyle gave the lead back in the bottom of the inning. Philadelphia still trailed 4-3 in the bottom of the ninth.

Rose drew a walk to start the inning and was replaced on the bases by McBride after a force out. McBride moved up to second on a groundball out, and with two down Boone singled in the tying run.

The game stretched to the 11th inning and one more time Rose was in the middle of things. He led off with a single. Schmidt came to the plate with one out and put the punctuation mark on his MVP campaign. He homered to left. McGraw slammed the door in the bottom of the inning and the Phillies were NL East champs.

The drama was just beginning for the Phillies. They met the Houston Astros and the National League Championship Series ended up being arguably the greatest postseason ever played. What was then a best-of-five series went the full five games. The last four games went to extra innings. In Games 4 & 5, the lead changed hands in the last two innings. It was an epic and the Phillies survived.

It was fitting that the Kansas City Royals were the opponent in the World Series. The Royals were partners in frustration with the Phils through the late 1970s, with each team losing the LCS in 1976-78, then having a disappointing year in 1979. Each finally broke through to the Fall Classic in the game year.

The World Series wasn’t one for the ages, like the NLCS had been, but it was still pretty good. The Phillies won come-from-behind games at home in Games 1 & 2, and then won an exciting Game 5 in Kansas City to put themselves on the brink. A victory behind Carlton in Game 6 brought the long-awaited Series title to Philly.

Philadelphia continued to be good in the early part of the 1980s. They won the “second half” NL East title in 1981, when a players strike resulted in MLB using a system that took the first place teams before and after the strike and had them meet in the first-ever Division Series round. The Phils lost to the Expos.

The Phillies returned to the World Series in 1983 and 1993, but it would be 28 years before they won it all again. At least the 1980 Phils had provided enough memories to last a generation.