Notebook Nine – The Best Pennant Races Of The 1980s
The 1980s era of major league baseball was marked by stirring stretch drives and heart-stopping finishes. Here are the nine best.
MLB History
The Seasonal Narrative Of The 1981 Pittsburgh Pirates
The 1981 Pittsburgh Pirates were just two years removed from winning the World Series and ending a decade of tremendous success. Just one year earlier they had been in first place in early September before a late fade did them in. The 1981 team struggled to find its footing early, were interrupted by a players’ […]
1980 Pittsburgh Pirates: The September Fade Of A Champion
The Pittsburgh Pirates were the NL East’s flagship franchise of the 1970s. They won the division six times in that decade. Nine times they won at least 88 games. Two World Series trophies came to the Steel City—a pair of triumphs over the nearby Baltimore Orioles, including one to end the decade in 1979. The […]
The Long Hangover Of The 1987 Boston Red Sox
The Boston Red Sox endured their fair share of heartbreaking finishes through an 86-year championship drought. One thing they often did was make credible bounceback efforts. The one-game playoff loss to the Yankees of 1978 was followed up by 91 wins in 1979. The 2003 devastation at the hands of the Yanks was followed by […]
1984 New York Mets: A New Era Of Winning Starts In Queens
The 1984 New York Mets came into the season as the heir to hard times. The franchise had captivated baseball in 1969 with their miracle run to a World Series title. A subsequent 1973 run to the National League pennant was almost as shocking. But after winning seasons in 1975-76, the franchise had fallen and […]
The 1981 Cincinnati Reds: When Being The Best Wasn’t Enough
Major league baseball endured a strange year in 1981, a season that was torn apart by a strike that started in mid-June and lasted for two months. The result was any number of inequities and historical oddities. But none more so than the fact that the team who won more games than anyone—the 1981 Cincinnati […]
Setting The Stage: The Near-Miss Of The 1978 Pittsburgh Pirates
The city of Pittsburgh owned the National League East in the early 1970s. They won five division titles between 1970-75, including a 1971 World Series title. But in the latter part of the decade, things changed. The Pirates continued to play good baseball, winning 90-plus games, even as they changed managers from Danny Murtaugh to […]
1992 Boston Red Sox: The Ominous Start Of The Butch Hobson Era
The Red Sox made an unpopular decision when they let go of manager Joe Morgan, who had led the team to a successful four-year run that included AL East titles in 1988 and 1990. The 1992 Boston Red Sox would be led by Butch Hobson, who had been a popular player in the late 1970s. […]
A Surprise Season For The 1992 Milwaukee Brewers
The 1992 Milwaukee Brewers represented the start of a new era, with Phil Garner managing the team. The previous five years under Tom Trebelhorn hadn’t been bad—three winning campaigns and another at .500—but there had been a definite decline from the 91-win season in Trebelhorn’s rookie year of 1987. Garner had to turn around the […]
1992 St. Louis Cardinals: Drama Amidst The Mediocrity
Joe Torre’s illustrious managerial career got its start in Atlanta in the early 1980s. It reached its peak with a glorious run at the helm of the New York Yankees that started in 1996. In between those two is a more forgotten part of Torre’s history, the 4-plus years he spent in St. Louis. Torre […]
1992 Baltimore Orioles: Johnny Oates Leads A Comeback Year
Johnny Oates had a nice three-year run as manager in Baltimore. He took over a team that had a couple subpar years in 1990 and 1991, with Cal Ripken’s ‘91 MVP campaign being the only bright spot. Oates won more games than he lost in each of his three seasons and the 1992 Baltimore Orioles […]
The 1992 Cincinnati Reds Return To Contention
The Cincinnati Reds had run the gamut during Lou Piniella’s first two years as manager. In 1990, they won a surprise World Series title. In 1991, they collapsed to 74 wins a fifth-place finish. The 1992 Cincinnati Reds returned to contention. The organization made moves in the offseason. The Reds acquired lefthander starter Greg Swindell […]