Hardly anyone expected the Phillies to win them all in 1980. Many baseball writers predicted Philadelphia would finish fourth in the NL East after losing in the NLCS three years in a row in 1976-78, after finishing fourth with 84 wins in ’79. They seemed to have made the right decision as the Phillies hovered around .500 before kicking off a hot streak to finish the season. They needed to beat the Expos in two of three games to finish the season and win NL East by one game over Montreal.
Meanwhile, the Astros were at their peak and many expected them to succeed in the 80’s. Tal Smith was rehired as GM after the Astros lost 97 games in 1975 and spent the following years rebuilding the roster. He instilled young talent into the prom club before signing with Joe Morgan and Nolan Ryan to strengthen the prom club over the winter.
But Houston went cold as we entered October, losing the last three games of the regular season to draw with the Dodgers for NL West, requiring Game 163 tiebreaks. Joe Niekro, who won 20 games that year, set up a full game against LA, giving up just one run in the Astros’ win.
“It didn’t help that we had to play because we had to use Joe Niekro, who was probably our ace that year,” said Astros outfielder Terry Puhl. Said. “It was as automatic as anyone else. We could have gotten two starts from Joe in the playoffs where we only have one right now.”
No one could have predicted it at the time, but it set the stage for what might be the best postseason series in history. Comebacks, exploding leaders, flashbacks on exploding leaders, non-existing triples… and the last four games of the five-game series have all gone to extra innings.
“I obviously had a personal interest, so maybe it’s fair to say I’m a little biased, but I still think it’s the most exciting postseason series ever made,” Smith told MLB.com in a recent phone call.
“This, to me, was probably one of the greatest playoffs ever,” Larry Bowa, the Phillies shortstop at the time, said recently on MLB Network.
Game 1 gave no indication of the madness to come. The Phillies won 3-1 at home, with seven solid innings from Steve Carlton, two goalless shots from Tug McGraw and one point from Greg “The Bull” Luzinski. It would be the only number in the entire series — something hard to understand when watching baseball today.
Game 2 went 7-4 in the Astros’ way, with Houston scoring four points at the start of the 10th inning to tie the series in 1.
The series was shifted to Houston for Game 3 when Niekro landed a 10-game knockout before Dave Smith won the W on a walk and landed a hit in the 11th to keep the game at 0. Morgan led the bottom half of the half. Trio before scoring on Denny Walling’s sacrifice fly.
With a two-on-one game and the final two games to be played at the Astrodome with loud fans, Houston had to relish the chance to advance to the World Series.
“The Astrodome was a closed building and the sound had nowhere to go,” said Del Unser, pinching the Phillies. “It was so loud, it hurt his ears. They ran after him. That’s probably why I have hearing aids now.”
Then came Game 4, one of the weirdest and craziest competitions in postseason history.
There were five doubles games – four started by an outfielder. When the Phillies objected that the Astros had Luis Pujols leaving third base early, there was a sacrifice fly off the board. In fact, after a 20-minute discussion between the referees, the fourth inning triple game turned into a double game, which caused both teams to protest the game.
Against all odds, when Philadelphia hit the eighth inning, the Astros were up 2-0, just six ahead of the World Series. The Phillies then scored three points in four straight singles circuits and naturally took a 3-2 sacrifice flight from Manny Trillo.
Fans were given more free baseball treatment after Puhl hit an RBI single to tie the game at the end of the ninth place.
Two outs and Pete Rose took first place at the top of the 10th row, while Luzinski doubled the wall and Rose ignored the stop signal and rushed to third base to collide with host Bruce Bochy and took a 4-3 lead.
“When I got to third, I saw the catcher struggling with the shot,” Rose said. “The shot wasn’t good. It would be hard for anyone to handle it. So I went in every way I could.”
“He keeps saying that this is the first time he’s missed this and passed a sign,” Luzinski said Wednesday, disbelieving Rose and his baseball instincts. “I said to him, ‘Well, this was a good time to do it!’ It was a game winner.”
Trillo then doubled down to add an insurance round at Luzinski, and Tug McGraw closed for the Phillies’ 5-3 win.
“There has never been a game to compare to this,” McGraw later said. “There has never been a game I’ve ever witnessed more exciting, more controversial, more interesting than any game I’ve seen before. It was like riding a motorcycle in an art museum… remembering what you saw.”
The series was now tied in knots, but still the Astros weren’t nervous: Nolan Ryan was on the mound for Game 5
Ryan was his usual dominant self, taking eight innings and giving up just two runs as Houston took a 5-2 lead as he entered the eighth inning. Once again, Houston was just six away from her first trip to the World Series.
“You almost have to warn yourself about looking ahead, but that’s just the normal trend,” Smith said. “Six exits away, he’s one of the best shooters in the game and you feel pretty good. But it’s all just resolved in a series of incidents.”
Somehow, the Phillies weren’t worried. Rose told Bowa that Philadelphia would win the game if they landed. Naturally, Bowa went ahead with a single.
“Well, you have to be confident or you’re done,” Luzinski said of the team’s mentality. “That was it. Staying together in the 80s could possibly be our last effort as a team. We’ve been there before and we lost a couple of times to the Reds and the Dodgers. This was our fourth try, so it was very important for us. Win these games.”
Bob Boone then hit a ball that Ryan couldn’t lift.
“It’s a tough game in some cases. If you’ve done this 100 times, it can often turn into a double game,” Smith recalled.
Greg Gross then released a bunt single, and Rose went for a jog and hike to finish Ryan’s night out.
“The biggest thing people want to know [is] Why wasn’t Ryan taken off that hit,” said Bowa. … We loaded the bases. I got the base hit. Boonie hit a ball from Nolan Ryan’s glove that could have been a double play. It would be a difficult game. But it was an on-court single, and Greg Gross took the first step to the third baseline. We loaded the bases before you snapped your fingers.”
Keith Moreland then hit an RBI field and Mike Schmidt was out. When Unser came out on the plate, the Astros were one to dodge the shot. The long-time MLB veteran is now 35 years old and playing in the first post-season of his career.
Earlier in the series, Unser wasn’t feeling very well about his shot, so he asked his batting coach Billy DeMars to come down into the tunnel and help him.
He said, ‘Man, we have 162 games. [and you’re not ready?]Unser remembered. “He agreed and we went down into the tunnel. I hit it until it felt right. I didn’t have anything specific. I wanted everything to be as it should be. He helped me there and then it paid off.”
On the first field of at-bat, Unser tied the match with Ken Forsch’s fast ball hitting the second baseman’s head.
“I was just trying to get something off the plate to drive the middle,” Unser said. Said. “I knew if I tried to shoot the ball, it would punch a lot of holes in my shot. And we just needed base runners. We needed to go back. I didn’t want to wait too long at the count. I don’t want to. I don’t even know what the number is. Some of these guys remember the chapter and the verse. I’m not like that – – the situation that dictates what you do. I just tried to get a hit.”
Manny Trillo followed with two threes and the Phillies were up 7-5.
Naturally, the Astros weren’t finished yet.
To kick off the frame, they zipped two singles around one strike, including Puhl’s record-breaking 10th hit in the series. Even so, even with a trip to the World Series, Rose took a moment to congratulate her opposition.
“So I’m on the first stage and Pete Rose congratulates him,” Puhl recalls. “‘What’s going on?’ I look at the scoreboard and I read that I broke Pete Rose’s record. I tell him, ‘This is great. You compete with him, but there is still enough competitive and sportsmanship to say: “Records are made to be broken.”
RBI singles from Rafael Landestoy and Jose Cruz tied the match at 7, and the NLCS went to extra innings for game four, after both teams were goalless in Game ninth.
“You’re working with your body standing up and with a very limited amount of sleep,” Puhl said. “I woke up early in the morning. All of our games were in the evenings. But it didn’t seem to affect me at all. I was ready to roll. It’s a very exciting moment.”
Smith enjoyed it less as GM sat upstairs and watched.
“It’s very, very intense and there’s nothing you can do. It’s out of your control,” Smith said. “It’s kind of painful to watch because there’s so much at stake. I’ve heard managers and other people say it’s easier to play the game than to watch it.”
After Schmidt was out to start at the top of the 10th place, Unser tied a double. Trillo then fled, and the Astros were one to dodge the shot. But Maddox hit a dying midfielder that Puhl failed to catch. Unser ran home with what would prove to be the series-winning run.
“What I remember is going to the bunker and beating me badly. It was exciting,” Unser said. “Pete Rose patting my back and stuff like that was so exciting. It was really special for me and my family to be a part of it after all the years I’ve played.”
Dick Ruthven then came to finish the game at the end of the 10th row and retired the side in turns – including preventing Puhl from taking his 11th inning in the series.
“I remember my last shot was probably the hardest ball I’ve hit in the whole series,” Puhl said. Said. “Gary Maddox ran right center. It was just a time when I was on top of everything.”
Even though they lost, everyone kept their heads up after such a remarkable series.
“You can’t convince me which team is better,” said Joe Sambito, who helped out after the match. “This is the least TV show you can find. Some guys might take it harder than others but I’m proud to be an Astro.”
“After the game I went to the clubhouse and had very private, individual, very short conversations with most of the team,” Smith said. “Many players were in tears and I wasn’t far from it. Just a pat on the back, a handshake and a thank you. I was so proud of them.”
While the style of play is very different these days, teams are not. The 2022 Astros may be post-season regulars in the way the 1980 team isn’t, but they’re still a powerhouse expected to take their second World Series title. Meanwhile, the 2022 Phillies attacked the World Series after a strong second half — just like that prom club in the 80s — and a feverish postseason to find them four wins away from a World Series title.
“It was really electric. It’s very similar to the current team – except they did it with the long ball,” Unser said. “But we moved on. Someone gets in, someone knocks them down, someone lets him in. … He’ll take the Phillies if you want, so he’ll take the whole team.”
As for the question of who will win? Luzinski has an idea.
“It’s about getting the ball to bounce right for you,” said Luzinski. “You can feel it happening — that mojo, that momentum is going your way. Keep Mo on your side. A smaller ballpark in Houston, a good hitting ballpark in Philadelphia, so I think that’s the team that hits the hardest. running — they’ll probably win this Series.”
.
Aucun commentaire
Enregistrer un commentaire