1984 NLCS
| 1984 National League Championship Series | |||||||||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Teams | |||||||||||||
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| Dates | October 2 – 7 | ||||||||||||
| MVP | Steve Garvey (San Diego) | ||||||||||||
| Umpires | Dick Cavenaugh, Dave Slickenmeyer, Joe Pomponi, Joe Maher (Games 1–2); Terry Bovey, Frank Campagna, Frank Fisher, John Stewart (Games 3–4); John Kibler, Paul Runge, John McSherry, Doug Harvey (Game 5) | ||||||||||||
| Broadcast | |||||||||||||
| Television | ABC | ||||||||||||
| TV announcers | Don Drysdale, Earl Weaver and Reggie Jackson | ||||||||||||
| Radio | CBS | ||||||||||||
| Radio announcers | Harry Kalas and Ross Porter | ||||||||||||
| Team (Wins) | Manager | Season | |
|---|---|---|---|
| San Diego Padres (3) | Dick Williams | 92–70, .568, GA: 12 | |
| Chicago Cubs (2) | Jim Frey | 96–65, .596, GA: 6½ |
The 1984 National League Championship Series was played between the San Diego Padres and the Chicago Cubs from October 2 to 7. San Diego won the series three games to two to advance to the World Series. The 1984 NLCS was the first postseason series ever for the Padres since the franchise's beginning in 1969, and the first appearance by the Cubs in postseason play since the 1945 World Series. The series took a disastrous turn for Chicago after a promising start, which contributed to the popular mythology of the "Curse of the Billy Goat." The series was also the last best-of-five NLCS. In 1985, the League Championship Series changed to a best-of-seven format.
Due to a strike by major league umpires, the first four games of the NLCS were played with replacement umpires.
San Diego won the series, 3–2.
Tuesday, October 2, 1984, at Wrigley Field in Chicago
Bob Dernier led off the game for the Cubs with a homer, and things went steadily downhill for the Padres as Chicago romped to a crushing 13–0 win in their first postseason game since 1945. Gary Matthews also homered in the first and added a three-run shot in Chicago's six-run fifth. Even starting pitcher Rick Sutcliffe went deep, while holding the hapless Padres to two hits over seven strong innings. The Cubs' overwhelming victory had Chicago's long-suffering fans dreaming of the franchise's first World Series championship since 1908.
Wednesday, October 3, 1984, at Wrigley Field in Chicago
Chicago's offense was considerably more subdued in Game 2, though their pitching remained almost as strong. Dernier again opened the scoring for the Cubs in the first, singling to left and coming around to score on two groundouts. The Cubs got two more runs in the third, highlighted by Ron Cey's RBI double. San Diego got one back in the fourth when Tony Gwynn doubled and eventually scored on a sacrifice fly by Kevin McReynolds. But Chicago answered in the bottom of the fourth when Ryne Sandberg doubled in Dernier. San Diego cut the lead to 4-2 in the sixth on a run-scoring single by Steve Garvey, but the Padres could get no closer against the strong pitching of Steve Trout. Lee Smith came on with one out in the ninth to get the save, and the Cubs were just one victory away from the World Series.
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