1981 American League Division Series
| 1981 American League Division Series | |||||||||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Teams | |||||||||||||
|
|||||||||||||
| Dates | October 6 – 9 | ||||||||||||
| Television | ABC | ||||||||||||
| TV announcers | Al Michaels and Jim Palmer | ||||||||||||
| Umpires | George Maloney, Joe Brinkman, Steve Palermo, Don Denkinger, Jim Evans, Jim McKean | ||||||||||||
| Teams | |||||||||||||
|
|||||||||||||
| Dates | October 7 – 11 | ||||||||||||
| Television | ABC | ||||||||||||
| TV announcers | Keith Jackson, Don Drysdale and Howard Cosell | ||||||||||||
| Radio announcers | Ernie Harwell and Curt Gowdy | ||||||||||||
| Umpires | Larry McCoy, Dale Ford, Ken Kaiser, Dave Phillips, Al Clark, Mike Reilly | ||||||||||||
| Team (Wins) | Manager | Season | |
|---|---|---|---|
| Oakland Athletics (3) | Billy Martin | 37–23, .617, GA: 1½ (1st half) 27–22, .551, GB: 1 (2nd half) |
|
| Kansas City Royals (0) | Dick Howser | 20–30, .400, GB: 12 (1st half) 30–23, .566, GA: 1 (2nd half) |
| Team (Wins) | Manager | Season | |
|---|---|---|---|
| New York Yankees (3) | Bob Lemon | 34–22, .607, GA: 2 (1st half) 25–26, .490, GB: 5 (2nd half) |
|
| Milwaukee Brewers (2) | Buck Rodgers | 31–25, .554, GB: 3 (1st half) 31–22, .585, GA: 1½ (2nd half) |
The 1981 American League Division Series (ALDS), the opening round of the 1981 American League playoffs, began on Tuesday, October 6, and ended on Sunday, October 11. The Division Series were created on August 6 in response to the 1981 Major League Baseball strike, which caused the cancellation of roughly one-third of the regular season between June 12 and August 9; by the time play was resumed, it was decided that the best approach was to have the first-half leaders automatically qualify for postseason play, and allow all the teams to begin the second half with a clean slate.
The first half and second-half champions in both the East and West divisions would meet in best-of-five series, with the winners advancing to the AL Championship Series (ALCS). If the same team won both halves, a wild card team—the second-place team, based on overall record, in the division—would qualify for the postseason, but this proved unnecessary in both leagues. There were no plans to continue the format in later seasons, although the Division Series resumed in 1995 after both major leagues realigned into three divisions. The teams in the 1981 ALDS were:
The second-half champions played the first two games at home, with the first-half champions potentially hosting the last three; the first-half champions all posted better records in their half of the season than the second-half champions did.
The Yankees and Athletics went on to meet in the AL Championship Series. The Yankees became the American League champion, and lost to the National League champion Los Angeles Dodgers in the 1981 World Series.
Oakland won the series, 3–0.
New York won the series, 3–2.
Royals Stadium in Kansas City, Missouri
Mike Norris faced Dennis Leonard and the defending AL Champions in Game 1. Both pitchers were on their game and the game was scoreless through three innings. But in the top of the fourth, the A's got a boost on a three-run home run by Wayne Gross. Then Dwayne Murphy's solo homer in the eighth put the game away as Norris went on to pitch a four-hit complete game shutout.
...
Wikipedia