This post is part of a series of sports history articles commemorating under-the-radar teams and moments in a given year. This article about the 1981 Milwaukee Brewers marks a breakthrough pennant race win for the franchise and set the stage for the more renowned team that would follow one year later.
The city of Pittsburgh was already riding high in the early part of 1979. In January of that year the Steelers became the first NFL team to win three Super Bowls, defeating the Dallas Cowboys 35-31. The baseball Pirates had contended to the season’s penultimate day the previous fall and were one of the National League’s model franchises in the 1970s. Little did the good people of Pittsburgh know that even better times were still ahead and it would be the Pirates and Steelers leading the way.
… it’s not unusual for a sports fan in the southern part of the Hoosier state to cheer for IU hoops and Cincinnati Reds’ baseball. And for fans as these, 1976 must have been nirvana.