1980 World Series
The 1980 World Series was the championship series of Major League Baseball's (MLB) 1980 season. The 77th edition of the World Series, it was a best-of-seven playoff played between the National League (NL) champion Philadelphia Phillies and the American League (AL) champion Kansas City Royals.[1][2][3]
1980 World Series
October 14–21
Veterans Stadium (Philadelphia)
Royals Stadium (Kansas City)
Mike Schmidt (Philadelphia)
Harry Wendelstedt (NL), Don Denkinger (AL), Paul Pryor (NL), Bill Kunkel (AL), Dutch Rennert (NL), Nick Bremigan (AL)
Phillies:
Steve Carlton
Mike Schmidt
Royals:
George Brett
Kansas City Royals over New York Yankees (3–0)
Philadelphia Phillies over Houston Astros (3–2)
The Phillies defeated the Royals in six games to secure the teams first World Series championship in their franchise history.[1][4][5] Third baseman Mike Schmidt was named the World Series MVP.[6] The series concluded with Game 6 in Philadelphia, which ended with closer Tug McGraw striking out Willie Wilson at 11:29 pm EDT on Tuesday, October 21. Wilson set a World Series record by striking out 12 times in the six-game set (after 230 hits (and 81 strikeouts) in the regular season).
Game 6 is also significant because it stands as the most-watched game in World Series history, with a television audience of 54.9 million viewers.[7]
The Kansas City Royals became the second expansion team, and the first from the American League, to appear in the World Series. The AL had to wait until 1985 before one of their expansion teams—the Royals—won a World Series.
This was the first of five World Series played entirely on artificial turf (1985, 1987, 1993, 2020).
This was also the first World Series since 1920, and the most recent, in which neither team had a previous World Series title. As of 2023, this can only happen again if the Tampa Bay Rays or Seattle Mariners face the Milwaukee Brewers, San Diego Padres, or Colorado Rockies in a future series.
With their victory, the Phillies became the final team out of the original 16 MLB teams to win a World Series. However, a Philadelphia team had won a World Series before, the last being the Athletics in 1930, exactly a half-century earlier; in a twist of fate, the Athletics played 13 years in Kansas City (1955–1967) before relocating to Oakland.
Broadcasting[edit]
NBC broadcast the Series on television, with play-by-play announcer Joe Garagiola, color commentators Tony Kubek and Tom Seaver, and field reporter Merle Harmon. Bryant Gumbel anchored the pre- and post-game shows, while former pitching great Bob Gibson and umpire Ron Luciano also contributed to NBC's coverage.
Independent station WPHL-TV in Philadelphia, the Phillies' television rights holder, simulcast NBC's broadcast to its local viewers. Phillies broadcasters Richie Ashburn, Harry Kalas, Tim McCarver, and Andy Musser hosted a locally produced pregame show prior to each of the six games.
CBS Radio also carried the Series nationally, with Vin Scully handling the play-by-play and Sparky Anderson the color commentary. Win Elliot anchored the pre-and post-game shows for the network.
At this time, CBS Radio held total broadcast exclusivity for the World Series, including in each team's market. Thousands of Phillies fans were outraged that they could not hear their local team announcers call the games. They deluged the team, the networks, and the Commissioner's office with angry letters and petitions. The following year, Major League Baseball changed its broadcast contract to allow the flagship radio stations for participating World Series teams to produce and air their own local Series broadcasts, beginning in 1982. The CBS Radio feed could potentially be heard in those markets on another station which held CBS's rights.[43][44] WPHL did a "re-creation" of the game with Harry Kalas, Richie Ashburn, and Andy Musser using the NBC video, which aired in November along with the National League East division clinching game in Montreal and three games from the NLCS against Houston. When the Phillies next won a World Series, in 2008, Kalas was able to make the call of the final out.
This Series is tied with the 1978 World Series for the highest overall television ratings to date, with the six games averaging a Nielsen rating of 32.8 and a share of 56.[45]
Aftermath[edit]
Minutes after the final out, Pennsylvania Governor Dick Thornburgh issued a proclamation declaring the next day "Philadelphia Phillies Day" in the state.[46][47] That day, a parade down Broad Street celebrated the Phillies win.[48] About half a million attended the parade, the first ticker-tape parade down Broad Street since the Flyers won the Stanley Cup in 1975,[48] as it made its way to John F. Kennedy Stadium.[48] Another 800,000 gathered around the stadium.[48] The parade was part of a day of statewide celebrations throughout Pennsylvania, per Thornburgh's proclamation.[48]
In 1980, all four of Philadelphia's major professional sports teams played for the championship of their respective sports, but only the Phillies were victorious. The Sixers lost to the Los Angeles Lakers in mid-May, eight days later the Flyers lost to the New York Islanders, and the Eagles would lose to the Oakland Raiders in Super Bowl XV in January 1981. In conjunction with championships won by two teams from Pittsburgh (the Pirates won the World Series a year before, and the Steelers won Super Bowls XIII and XIV), the state of Pennsylvania as a whole had three title teams in a span of two years.
Soon after the World Series, members of both teams played for a week on Family Feud with host Richard Dawson. The week of shows was billed as a World Series Rematch Week. The Royals won three out of the five games played, with all the money going to charity.
The 1980 World Series was the first of numerous World Series that journeyman outfielder Lonnie Smith (then with the Phillies) participated in. He was also a part of the 1982 World Series (as a member of the St. Louis Cardinals), 1985 World Series (as a member of the Kansas City Royals), and the 1991 and 1992 World Series as a member of the Atlanta Braves. The two Braves seasons were the only years in which he played for the losing team in the Series.
Another playoff matchup involving Philadelphia and Kansas City would not take place until Super Bowl LVII in the 2022 NFL season, pitting the Chiefs against the Eagles. With no Kansas City-based team in either the NBA or the NHL (both leagues previously had a Kansas City-based team in the Kings and Scouts respectively), and with the cities' other respective sports teams also being in opposing conferences, the only currently possible Philadelphia vs. Kansas City playoff matchups would be for the respective league championships, these being either the World Series, the Super Bowl, or in the case of Sporting Kansas City against the Philadelphia Union of Major League Soccer, the MLS Cup.