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The 1981 Houston Astros. They would qualify for the at the time one-time-only National League Divisional Series by winning the second half of the strike plagued 1981 season.
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It would be a playoff of a different kind, one-time only to fit a
unique situation.
Division playoff ‘80s style
The National and American League Divisional Series have become a
regular part of the Major League Baseball post-season, but in the 1980s,
divisional series meant something entirely different.
It was a one-time thing until expansion and realignment created the
divisional playoff in 1995.
In 1981, it was truly divisional as two teams in each of the four
divisions squared off to determine each of the four division champions, who
would then meet in the League Championship Series.
It was all because of a 50-day players’ strike in the middle of the
season.
The Houston Astros were one of the teams qualifying for the 1981
divisional series.
Changes
After their division championship in 1980, the Astros made several
changes to their roster. Second baseman Joe Morgan left for the San Francisco
Giants, pitcher Joaquin Andujar was traded to the St. Louis Cardinals for
outfielder Tony Scott, pitcher Ken Forsch was traded to the California Angels
for infielder Dickie Thon, and third baseman Enos Cabell was traded to the
Giants for pitcher Bob Knepper. The Astros also added second baseman Phil
Garner from the Pittsburgh Pirates and pitcher Don Sutton from the Dodgers.
The first half
The Astros started slow, losing 12 of their first 15 games, slowly
improving, but still trailing the Dodgers by eight games, with a record of 28
wins and 29 losses, when a player strike halted the season on June 12.
When the dispute was settled, Commissioner Bowie Kuhn announced the
four teams leading their respective divisions would be considered first-half
champions and automatically qualify for a divisional playoff. When play
resumed, every team’s record would go back to zero, and the division leaders in
the second half would advance to play the first half champions. If the same
team won both halves, the second-place team in the second half advanced to the
divisional series.
That meant the Dodgers were in, and all Houston had to do was beat out
the best of the rest.
Second half
Seizing this second chance, the Astros played much better, led by their
pitching staff featuring Nolan Ryan, Joe Niekro and the newly-acquired Knepper
and Sutton.
The main competition was Cincinnati and San Francisco. The Astros had
a slim lead on the Reds with a week to go in the season. They went to
Cincinnati for two games, leading the Reds by 1.5 games. Cincinnati won the
opener but Houston rebounded in the second game, as Ryan pitched a complete
game for the win, restoring a 1.5 game lead.
The Astros would conclude their season in Los Angeles, where they
needed just one win to clinch the second half title. They lost the opener, but
Cincinnati lost to Atlanta. The next day, Houston again lost, but so did the
Reds, giving the Astros the second half title. They did end the season with a
5-3 win, and a record of 33-20 in the second half and 61-49 overall.
Now it was the Dodgers in a post-season playoff once more, a best of
five to advance to the National League Championship Series.
History is made
The teams opened their series in Houston as the Astros sent their ace
Nolan Ryan up against rookie sensation Fernando Valenzuela. The teams battled
to a scoreless draw through five innings before the Astros broke through for a
run in the bottom of the sixth, only to have L.A. tie it 1-1 in the top of the
seventh. The Astros then won the game with a walk-off two run home run by
catcher Alan Ashby, as Ryan went the distance for the win.
The teams returned to the diamond at noon the next day and locked into
an epic pitchers’ duel between Houston’s Joe Niekro and L.A.’s Jerry Reuss.
Niekro would pitch eight scoreless innings, and Reuss would pitch nine. The
game was 0-0 right to the bottom of the 11th inning, when Houston
won it when Denny Walling singled Phil Garner home for the winning run.
The Astros were now one win away from winning the division and going
back to the National Championship Series for the second straight year. They had
history on their side too, because no team had ever come back from a 2-0
deficit in a best-of-five series.
Game 3 was in Los Angeles were the Dodgers jumped on Bob Knepper for
three runs in the first inning and Dodger starter Burt Hooton kept the Astros
at bay, allowing one run, in the third, over seven innings. The Dodgers tacked
on three more runs in the bottom of the eighth and won 6-1 going away.
Rookie sensation Fernando Valenzuela got the start again in Game 4 for
L.A. against Vern Ruhle, and they pitched a masterpiece. They both went the
distance in nine innings, pitching complete games. Only the Dodgers got a solo
home run from Pedro Guerrero in the fifth inning and the Dodgers made it 2-0 in
the seventh. Houston rallied for a run in the top of the ninth, but got no
closer. The Dodgers won the game 2-1, and tied the series 2-2.
The final game was the next afternoon at Dodgers Stadium. Houston sent
their ace Nolan Ryan up against Jerry Reuss. The game was scoreless until the
sixth when L.A. struck for three runs. They added one more run in the seventh,
and Reuss pitched a five-hit, complete game shut out.
The Dodgers had come back from down 2-0 to win the series.
They had made history, and avenged their playoff loss to the Astros
the year before.
Parting thoughts
Second chances are rare in sports, especially Major League Baseball,
but the Astros got one and made the most of it. They put together a second half
good enough to get them into the playoffs, and played well enough to win.
However, they ran into the Los Angeles Dodgers, who appeared to be a team of
destiny. They not only came back from 2-0 against the Dodgers, but beat
Montreal in the National League Championship Series, where they also came back,
and won the World Series against the New York Yankees.
Yet the Astros had shown 1980 was not a fluke. But, within a year,
much of that team was gone, and the team would need a makeover before they
returned to contention, but they would do just that.
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