1980

[futurehalloffamer]

Wow, what a year. George Brett and Mike Schmidt had amazing seasons. The Phillies won their first pennant. Fergie Jenkins was temporarily banned from the game. Tug McGraw was known exclusively as a player and not as the father of a country superstar. And a player named Rickey Henderson had his first Topps card printed. Anyone else have anything to say about the first year of what was, arguably, until recently the craziest decade in the history of baseball.

[Honus Wagner Rules]

Wow, what a year. George Brett and Mike Schmidt had amazing seasons. The Phillies won their first pennant. Fergie Jenkins was temporarily banned from the game. Tug McGraw was known exclusively as a player and not as the father of a country superstar. And a player named Rickey Henderson had his first Topps card printed. Anyone else have anything to say about the first year of what was, arguably, until recently the craziest decade in the history of baseball.
Yes, Willie McCovey retired during the 1980 season.

[brett]

Ken Landreaux had a 30 game hitting streak and batted under .300.

The Royals went 75-42 when Brett played and 22-23 when he sat (ever so gently). Brett had a run of I think 57 games played where he hit .476. The Royals went something like 44-16 during his hottest 60 game run.

Quiz and Gossage both had 33 saves I think and were in the Cy Young race.

In the playoffs, Brett hit a late 3 run home run off of Gossage for a 3 game sweep after the Royals had lost to them 3 times in the playoffs in '76-'78.

Reggie just missed .300 at .2996 or something and hit 41 home runs.

2 30 game hitting streaks-Brett and Landreaux.

[JRB]

The Royals went 75-42 when Brett played and 22-23 when he sat (ever so gently) .

That's good Brett. I guess Bonds and McGwire can argue that Brett was also on "....rhoids"

[Gee Walker]

The NLCS series between Houston and Philadelphia was amazing. Four games went into extra innings, including game 2, won by Houston 1-0 in 11.

Going into game 5, Houston had Nolan Ryan going against Philly's Marty Bystrom. Ryan took a 5-2 lead into the 8th inning, and got NOBODY out in the 8th, as Philly scored 5 runs. The Astros tied it up in the bottom of the 8th when Tug McGraw blew the save opportunity. Finally, Philly won it on doubles by Unser and Maddox in the 10th.

[DTF955]

Phillies end a 97-year drought by finally winning a World Series; did they ever even win a pennant 1883-1900? I know the media wasn't as wild about such streaks as today, with2 4-hour coverage of sports, but still, I suspect that at least in Philadelphia this was, somehow, a "lovable loser" that everyone was excited and maybe even really happy to see finally win.

Super Joe Charboneau wins AL Rookie of Year for Cleveland; and Miguel Dikone led in batting at the break or thereabouts. The Tribe looked to have so much hope some poeple picked them 4th next year! (I know, sounds bad, but that's what Cleveland fans went through then.)

[HDH]

Cecil Cooper's overshadowed and forgotten season.

Cleveland fans travelling stadium to stadium: "Joe Joe Shar-ba-no"

Phillies WS strategy: Shut down Willie Wilson; shut down KC offense. It worked.

[Lin_Kuei_Fighter]

Al Kaline and Duke Snider- two of my favorites, get inducted into the HOF. Santo should've joined them.

[Second Base Coach]

One of my favorite tabletop baseball games was based on the 1980 season. The George Brett, Cecil Cooper, and Ricky Henderson Cards were among the best to have. J. R. Richard and Rudy May (nice ERA) were the top pitcher cards. And Miguel Dilone had his one and only good season, so his card wasn't too shabby, unlike his career.

It really is a shame about James Rodney. That is what I remember most about the 1980 season, his stroke.

That and my Dodgers missing the post season bythismuch.

[The Commissioner]

I'll always remember Willie Mays Aikens' fantastic display of hitting in the World Series that year.

[The Commissioner]

I also forgot Tug McGraw leaping up in the air after clinching game 6 of the World Series and the horrible site J.R. Richard's collapsing on the field. The guy was well on the way to being a Hall of Famer when that happened.