1980 Philadelphia Phillies (91-71)
Manager: Dallas Green
Out of the 16 MLB teams that joined the league at or before 1901, only one of those teams have not won a single championship. That team was the Philadelphia Phillies. Between 1976 and 1978, the Phils won the NL Eastern Division, but always lost in the National League Championship Series. When the Phillies acquired Pete Rose in 1979, they expected great things from him, but not from the team. So in 1980, they hoped that all the pieces of the puzzle would work. That season, 3rd baseman Mike Schmidt hit 48 homers and 121 RBI's that led him to an MVP trophy. Also, Steve Carlton wins his 3rd Cy Young Award. After a slow start, the Phils won 21 of 27 games in August. On the penultimate day of the season, Schmidt delivered the final blow to the Expos in the 11th to clinch their fourth NL East in 5 years. The Phillies finished the season with a 91-71 record, 1 game ahead of 2nd place Montreal.
The NLCS against Houston was remembered as a classic. In the series opener, outfielder Greg Luzinski hit a homer to win that game. However, Houston won the next two games. The 4th contest was the turning point. First, Houston's Gary Woods scored a sacrifice fly. However, he tried to score before Garry Maddox caught the ball. So he was ruled out. Next, the Phillies were caught in an unbelievable double play. The pitcher caught the ball after it got hit. Then, the first baseman tagged the base. The Phils ended up winning that game. In the 5th game, the Phils took advantage of a weak Nolan Ryan in the 8th inning, exploding for 5 runs. But Houston came back to force the game into extras. In the 10th, Garry Maddox hit the game-winning RBI to enable Dick Ruthven to save the game and the pennant.
In their first World Series in 30 years, the Phillies met some series debutantes in the Kansas City Royals. At first, the Royals would explode for 4 runs. But Bake McBride's 3-run shot gave the Phils some confidence to win that game 7-6. In the 8th inning of game 2, Dan Quisenberry gave up 4 runs to the Phillies to give them a 2-0 lead heading west. In the first World Series game hosted in Kansas City, the Royals would win that game as well as the 4th contest too. In the 9th inning of game 5, with the Quis on the mound, he gave up a leadoff walk to Mike Schmidt. Then, Del Unser hit a pinch-hit double. With 2 outs, Manny Trillo would bring in Unser. In the bottom of the frame, Phillies' closer Tug McGraw would strike Jose Cardenal out to give the Phils a 3-2 lead heading back to the Vet. In the 6th contest, Steve Carlton was on the mound. The Phils would take a 4-0 lead thanks to a homer from Schmidt. In the 9th, with McGraw on the mound, a ball fouled to the 1st base side. First, catcher Bob Boone dropped it. However, Pete Rose would catch it. Then, McGraw struck out speedster Willie Wilson to give the Phillies their first title.