1980 World Series

Philadelphia Phillies

The Phillies seemed to have it all, including eventual 1980 Most Valuable Player, third-baseman Mike Schmidt (48 HR, 121 RBI, .286 BA) and Cy Young Award winner, lefty Steve Carlton (24–9, 2.34 ERA). This mostly veteran club finished between first and third in almost all offensive categories in the National League. Thirty-nine-year-old Pete Rose led the club in hits (185) and doubles (42), while speedsters center fielder Garry Maddox and utility outfielder Lonnie Smith combined for 68 steals. The pitching staff was just good enough, led by Carlton and 17-game-winner Dick Ruthven. In the bullpen was the ever enthusiastic screwballer Tug McGraw, who was making his third trip to the Series, having ridden the bench with the New York Mets, winning in 1969 and losing in 1973. Third time was the charm for both the cheerleading McGraw and the bad-luck Phillies.

Kansas City Royals

The Royals had a Most Valuable Player of their own in the indomitable superstar, third-baseman George Brett, who flirted with the sacred .400 mark all summer with an average above .400 as late as September 19, before settling for a .390 batting average. The unquestioned heart and soul of the Royals was surrounded by a solid corps including veteran Royals, Amos Otis, super-designated-hitter, Hal McRae, solid second-baseman, Frank White and switch-hitter Willie Wilson who finished the season with 230 hits and 79 stolen bases. The pitching staff had six players with ten or more wins, led by twenty-game-winner Dennis Leonard (20–11, 3.79) and left-hander Larry Gura (18–10, 2.95). Submariner Dan Quisenberry won twelve games out of the bullpen and accumulated 33 saves, tied for best in the American League with Rich Gossage.^[2]

Game 1

The Royals jumped on Phillies rookie starter Bob Walk (who became the first rookie to start the first game of a World Series since Joe Black of the Brooklyn Dodgers in 1952) early with a pair of two-run home runs, one by Amos Otis in the second and another by Willie Aikens in the third. In their half of the third, the Phils rallied off of Dennis Leonard. Larry Bowa singled with one out, stole second and scored on Bob Boone's double. Lonnie Smith's RBI single then cut the Royals' lead to 3–2, but Smith was tagged out at second. After a walk and hit-by-pitch, a three-run home run by Bake McBride put the Phillies up 5–4. Next inning, Manny Trillo singled and later scored on Boone's double to knock Leonard out of the game. After loading the bases in the fifth on a single, hit-by-pitch, and walk off of Renie Martin, Garry Maddox's sacrifice fly made it 7–4 Phillies. Despite Aikens' hitting another two-run home run in the eighth off of Walk to cut the lead to one, Tug McGraw was able to hold on for a 7–6 Phillies victory. Prior to 1980, the Phillies had not won a World Series game since Game 1 of the 1915 World Series against the Boston Red Sox.

Game 2

Game 2 was a pitchers' duel between left-handers Larry Gura and Steve Carlton. After a one-out single and subsequent double in the fifth, Manny Trillo's sacrifice fly and Larry Bowa's RBI single put the Phillies up 2–0. The Royals cut it to 2–1 when Amos Otis scored from second on Trillo's error on Willie Aikens's ground ball in the sixth. Carlton looked in control until, acting on a complaint from Kansas City manager Jim Frey that Carlton was using a foreign substance on the ball, the umpires made Carlton wash his hands.^[9] In the seventh, Carlton then loaded the bases on three walks and Amos Otis ripped a double into the left-field corner to drive in two, then John Wathan's sacrifice fly extended the Royals' lead to 4–2. The Phillies rallied to go up on the Royals in the eighth. After a leadoff walk, Del Unser's RBI double off of Dan Quisenberry cut the Royals' lead to 4–3. After a groundout, an RBI single by Bake McBride past the drawn-in infield tied the game, then Mike Schmidt drove in the go-ahead run with a double off the right-center-field wall, and Keith Moreland added an insurance run with an RBI single. Ron Reed picked up the save in the ninth as Philadelphia went up 2–0 heading to Kansas City.

Game 3

K.C. got back in the series with a thrilling extra inning victory in Game 3. George Brett, having returned from minor surgery after Game 2, began the scoring with a Home Run into the right-field stands in the first off of Dick Ruthven. The Phillies loaded the bases in the second off of Rich Gale with one out on two singles and a walk, but only scored once on Lonnie Smith's groundout. In the fourth, Willie Aikens tripled with one out and scored on Hal McRae's single, but Mike Schmidt's home run in the fifth again tied the game. Amos Otis gave the Royals a 3–2 lead in the seventh with a home run, but Pete Rose's RBI single with two on in the eighth off of Renie Martin again tied the game.. The game headed into extra innings and in the bottom of the tenth, Willie Aikens drove in Willie Wilson with a single to left-center for the game-winning run off of Tug McGraw.

Game 4

A beautiful Saturday afternoon was the setting for Game 4. The Royals jumped all over Phillies starter Larry Christenson in the bottom of the first. Willie Wilson doubled, George Brett tripled him in, and Willie Aikens smashed his third home run of the series. The onslaught continued when Amos Otis doubled in Hal McRae, who had also doubled, to give the Royals a 4–0 lead right out of the gate. After the Phillies scored a run in the second on Larry Bowa's RBI single off of Dennis Leonard, Aikens hit his second home run of the game in the bottom half and became the first player in World Series history to have a pair of two-home run games. The Phillies cut away at the Royals' lead on sacrifice flies by Bob Boone off of Leonard in the seventh and Mike Schmidt off of Dan Quisenberry in the eighth (the run charged to Leonard), but fell short as the Royals won 5–3 to tie the series. Despite the Royals victory, Game 4 is best remembered for Dickie Noles' fourth-inning brushback pitch under Brett's chin that ultimately prompted the umpires to issue warnings to each team. Brett told Baseball Digest in March 1998 that he had "no idea if that [brushback pitch by Noles] turned the Series around. All I know is we lost." Mike Schmidt, in his book Clearing The Bases, called it "the greatest brushback in World Series history." Aikens later said that he had been expecting it to happen to him, in retaliation for his two home runs.^[10]

Game 5

Game 5 would be the pivotal game as the Phillies went up 3 games to 2. The game was scoreless until the fourth when Mike Schmidt hit a two-run home run to right-center off of Larry Gura. After two leadoff singles and a sacrifice bunt, George Brett's RBI groundout in the fifth off of Marty Bystrom cut the Phillies' lead to 2–1. Next inning, the red-hot Amos Otis tied the game with a leadoff home run. After two singles, Bystrom was replaced by Ron Reed, who allowed a sacrifice fly to U L Washington to put the Royals up 3–2. After the Phillies threw out a K.C. runner at the plate to keep the game a one-run affair, they marched to victory by coming back in the ninth off of Dan Quisenberry. Schmidt led off the inning with a single, and Del Unser drove him home all the way from first with a double down the right-field line. After a bunt moved Unser to third, Manny Trillo drove in the go-ahead run with a line shot that ricocheted off pitcher Dan Quisenberry for an infield hit. In the bottom of the ninth, the Royals threatened by loading the bases with two out. The Royals Stadium crowd were standing hoping for a dramatic K.C. win. But Tug McGraw silenced the crowd by striking out José Cardenal with a high fastball to end the game.

Game 6

Game 6 would be the culmination of the first Phillies championship ever. After loading the bases in the third on a single, error, and walk off of Rich Gale, Philadelphia scored two on a Mike Schmidt single. In the fifth, Renie Martin allowed a double and walk, then Bake McBride's RBI groundout off of Paul Splittorff made it 3–0 Phillies. Next inning, Larry Bowa doubled with two outs and scored on Bob Boone's single, making it 4–0 Phillies. Steve Carlton pitched seven innings while Tug McGraw pitched two for the save. Kansas City threatened by loading the bases in the eighth and the ninth, but only scored one run, on UL Washington's sacrifice fly in the eighth. In the final frame, a foul popup by Frank White near the first base dugout came out of Phillies catcher Bob Boone's glove only to be caught by Pete Rose, who came right by Boone's side. Then McGraw struck out Willie Wilson for the third and final out. It was the 12th time Wilson struck out in this Series, setting a new World Series record. The previous mark had been eleven, jointly held by Eddie Mathews and Wayne Garrett in 1958 and 1973, respectively. Ryan Howard would break Wilson's record by striking out 13 times in the 2009 World Series, ironically on a Phillies team which lost to the New York Yankees.

Boone's knees were so sore by the end of the World Series that he could barely make it to the mound after the final out was recorded.

When the modern-day World Series began in 1903, the National and American Leagues each had eight teams. With their victory in the 1980 World Series, the Phillies became the last of the "Original Sixteen" franchises to win a Series (although it should be noted that the St. Louis Browns never won a Series in St. Louis, having to wait until 1966, twelve years after they had become the Baltimore Orioles).

While Mike Schmidt was the official MVP of the 1980 World Series, the Babe Ruth Award (another World Series MVP) was given to Tug McGraw.