1981 in baseball
The following are the baseball events of the year 1981 throughout the world.
Contents |
Champions
Major League Baseball
- World Series: Los Angeles Dodgers over New York Yankees (4-2); Ron Cey, Pedro Guerrero, and Steve Yeager, co-MVPs
Division Series | League Championship Series | World Series | |||||||||||
East 1 | New York Yankees | 3 | |||||||||||
East 2 | Milwaukee Brewers | 2 | |||||||||||
East | New York Yankees | 3 | |||||||||||
West | Oakland Athletics | 0 | |||||||||||
West 1 | Oakland Athletics | 3 | |||||||||||
West 2 | Kansas City Royals | 0 | |||||||||||
AL | New York Yankees | 2 | |||||||||||
NL | Los Angeles Dodgers | 4 | |||||||||||
East 1 | Philadelphia Phillies | 2 | |||||||||||
East 2 | Montreal Expos | 3 | |||||||||||
East | Montreal Expos | 2 | |||||||||||
West | Los Angeles Dodgers | 3 | |||||||||||
West 1 | Los Angeles Dodgers | 3 | |||||||||||
West 2 | Houston Astros | 2 |
NOTE: Due to a strike in mid-season, the season was divided into a first half and a second half. The division winner of the first half (denoted East 1, West 1) played the division winner of the second half (denoted East 2, West 2).
- American League Championship Series MVP: Graig Nettles
- National League Championship Series MVP: Burt Hooton
- All-Star Game, August 9 at Cleveland Stadium: National League, 5-4; Gary Carter, MVP
Other champions
- College World Series: Arizona State
- Japan Series: Yomiuri Giants over Nippon Ham Fighters (4-2)
- Little League World Series: Tai-Ping, Taichung, Taiwan
Awards and honors
- Most Valuable Player
- Rollie Fingers, Milwaukee Brewers, P (AL)
- Mike Schmidt, Philadelphia Phillies, 3B (NL)
- Cy Young Award
- Rollie Fingers, Milwaukee Brewers (AL)
- Fernando Valenzuela, Los Angeles Dodgers (NL)
- Rookie of the Year
- Dave Righetti, New York Yankees, P (AL)
- Fernando Valenzuela, Los Angeles Dodgers, P (NL)
MLB statistical leaders
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Major League Baseball final standings
First half of season
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Second half of season
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Overall record
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Events
January-March
- January 15 - In his first year of eligibility, former St. Louis Cardinals pitcher Bob Gibson is the only person elected to the Hall of Fame by the Baseball Writers Association of America. Players falling short of the 301 votes needed for election include Don Drysdale (243), Gil Hodges (241), Harmon Killebrew (239), Hoyt Wilhelm (238) and Juan Marichal (233).
- March 11 - Johnny Mize and Rube Foster are elected to the Hall of Fame by the Special Veterans Committee. Mize hit .312 with 359 home runs in 15 seasons for the Cardinals and New York Giants, while Foster was a star pitcher, manager and pioneer of the Negro Leagues during the first quarter of the 20th century.
April-June
- April 18 - Tom Seaver of the New York Mets records his 3000th career strikeout.
- April 29 - Steve Carlton of the Philadelphia Phillies records his 3000th career strikeout. April of 1981 is the only month in history to have two pitchers reach this milestone.
- May 25 - Carl Yastrzemski plays in his 3,000th major league game, scoring the winning run in Boston's 8–7 triumph over Cleveland. Yaz joins Ty Cobb, Stan Musial and Hank Aaron as the only major leaguers to appear in 3,000 games.
- May 15 - Len Barker of the Cleveland Indians pitches a perfect game against the Toronto Blue Jays, 3-0, at Cleveland Municipal Stadium. He struck out 11, all swinging, after the third inning and never had a 3-ball count on any batter on a misty, rain-soaked night where only 7,290 fans took in the game. Current Indians broadcaster Rick Manning caught the 27th out of the night on a fly ball to center field.
- June 12 - After meeting with major league owners for most of the previous day, players' union chief Marvin Miller announces, "We have accomplished nothing. The strike is on," thus beginning the longest labor action to date in baseball history. By the time the season resumes on , 706 games (38 percent of the season schedule) will have been canceled.
July-September
- August 6 - As a result of the nearly two-month interruption in play because of the strike, major league owners elect to split the 1981 season into two halves, with the first-place teams from each half in each division (or a wild card team if the same club wins both halves) meeting in a best-of-five divisional playoff series. The last time the major leagues played a split season was 1892. The Oakland Athletics, New York Yankees, Philadelphia Phillies and Los Angeles Dodgers suddenly find themselves guaranteed playoff spots as first-half champions (a problem noted at this time is that those teams will not have much left to play for in that year's regular season).
- August 9 - At Cleveland Stadium, the National League wins its tenth consecutive All-Star Game over the American League, 5-4. Gary Carter hits two home runs and is selected the MVP. The 1981 Midsummer Classic becomes the second All-Star Game ever played during the month of August, the first having taken place on August 3, 1959.
- September 4 - In the conclusion of the longest game in Fenway Park history, the Seattle Mariners beat the Boston Red Sox 8–7 in 20 innings. The game began on September 3, but was suspended after 19 innings with the score tied 7-7.
- September 6 - Despite having won the first-half American League East title, New York Yankees manager Gene Michael is replaced by Bob Lemon, who managed the club in 1978-79. The Yankees are under .500 in the second half of the season.
- September 6 - The Los Angeles Dodgers' Fernando Valenzuela beats the St. Louis Cardinals 5-0 to tie the National League record of seven shutouts by a rookie pitcher.
October-December
- October 3 - Bob Horner hits two home runs and scores the winning run to give the Atlanta Braves a 4–3 win over the Cincinnati Reds, and give the Houston Astros the second-half title in the NL West division. Cincinnati, which lost the first-half title to the Dodgers by one-half game, will finish with the best overall record (66-42) in the major leagues, but misses the playoffs due to not winning either half's division title.
- October 3 - The Milwaukee Brewers (playing since 1970) and Montréal Expos (since 1969) clinch their first-ever postseason appearances. Milwaukee beats Detroit 2–1 to wrap up the second-half title in the AL East division, while Montréal edges the Mets 5–4 to win the NL East division's second playoff spot. (St. Louis finishes with the best overall record in the NL East but misses the playoffs for the same reason as the Cincinnati Reds.)
- October 5 - The Kansas City Royals shut out Cleveland 9–0 in the first game of a scheduled doubleheader to clinch the second-half title in the AL West division. The second game is canceled as irrelevant.
- October 28 - Pedro Guerrero drives in five runs, and pitcher Burt Hooton and the Los Angeles Dodgers beat the New York Yankees 9–2 to win the 1981 World Series in six games. In a remarkable postseason, the Dodgers rallied from a 2-0 deficit against the Astros in the division series, they rallied from a 2 games to 1 deficit against the Expos in the National League Championship series, and they rallied from a 2-0 deficit against the Yankees in the World Series. Guerrero, Ron Cey and Steve Yeager are named co-MVPs.
Movies
- (TV)
Births
January- March
- January 4 - Jailen Peguero
- January 5 - Andy Cavazos
- January 8 - Jeff Francis
- January 13 - José Capellán
- January 21 - Wilfredo Ledezma
- January 25 - Andy Machado
- January 28 - Doug Waechter
- February 7 - Seth McClung
- February 12 - Chris Snyder
- February 14 - Brad Halsey
- February 16 - Sergio Mitre
- February 18 - Alex Ríos
- March 9 - Clay Rapada
- March 14 - Bobby Jenks
- March 16 - Curtis Granderson
- March 19 - José Castillo
April-June
- April 3 - Ryan Doumit
- April 5 - Jorge de la Rosa
- April 21 - Ronny Paulino
- April 27 - Joey Gathright
- May 8 - John Maine
- May 15 - Justin Morneau
- May 21 - Josh Hamilton
- June 2 - Jared Burton
- June 8 - Kevin Mahar
July-September
- August 5 - Carl Crawford
- August 15 - Oliver Pérez
- August 31 - Dennis Dove
- September 6 - Mark Teahen
- September 10 - Kameron Loe
- September 25 - Rocco Baldelli
October-December
- October 24 - Ben Francisco
- October 31 - Mike Napoli
- October 30 - Ian Snell
- November 22 - Oscar Villarreal
- November 29 - Guillermo Quiroz
- November 30 - Rich Harden
- December 4 - Jerome Williams
- December 8 - Kory Casto
- December 10 - Víctor Díaz
- December 14 - Ángel Guzmán
- December 15 - Andy González
- December 25 - Willy Taveras
- December 26 - Omar Infante
Deaths
- January 26 - Ray Oyler, 42, shortstop known for excellent glovework with the Detroit Tigers' 1968 champions, afterwards taken in the expansion draft by the Seattle Pilots
- March 10 - Bob Elson, 76, broadcaster for the Chicago White Sox from 1931 to 1970; also worked with the Cubs and Oakland Athletics
- March 17 - Paul Dean, 67, pitcher who joined his older brother Dizzy on the St. Louis Cardinals, winning 19 games in each of his first two seasons; the brothers each won two games in the 1934 World Series
- March 19 - Frank Lane, 85, general manager of the White Sox, Indians, Brewers and Cardinals known for his numerous trades
- April 16 - Effa Manley, 84, owner of the Negro Leagues' Newark Eagles from 1935 to 1948
- July 1 - Dan Daniel, 91, sportswriter for The Sporting News and various New York newspapers for over 50 years; also a member of baseball's Rules Committee
- July 8 - Merl Combs, 61, shortstop for the Boston Red Sox, Washington Senators and Cleveland Indians between 1947 and 1952
- August 9 - Sammy T. Hughes, 70, 6-time All-Star second baseman of the Negro Leagues, mainly with the Elite Giants
- October 4 - Freddie Lindstrom, 75, Hall of Fame third baseman for the New York Giants who batted .311 lifetime, twice collecting 230 hits and batting .333 in the 1924 World Series at age 18; later coach at Northwestern
- October 25 - Pete Reiser, 62, All-Star center fielder for the Brooklyn Dodgers who led the NL in batting and four other categories in 1941 and in steals twice, but whose fearless defensive style led to numerous injuries
- December 10 - John F. Kieran, 89, New York sportswriter and radio and television personality who authored books on numerous subjects
- December 28 - John Bischoff, 87, catcher for the Chicago White Sox and Boston Red Sox in the 1920s, and one of the first foreign ballplayers to play in Cuban baseball