Baseball: Thoughts on the 1980 NLCS Phils/Astros

The Houston Astros vs Philadelphia Phillies series this past week evoked memories of the great 1980 National League Championship Series between the two franchises.

Both teams are out of contention this year and are no longer even in the the same league.

Back to 1980:

The Phillies won that best of five NLCS in five games, four going into extra innings including the 10 inning game 5 win by Philadelphia.

Gary Maddox drove in the winning run and caught the last out of that epic series. We lost Ralph Kiner this year, who once said “two thirds of the earth is covered by water and the other third by Garry Maddox.” He was a great fielder.

Del Unser and Manny Trillo also were big heroes for the Phils, with big hits in game 5.

The Phillies would go on to win their first World Series ever.

Philadelphia also won it all in 2008 but a supposed great era with the likes of Jimmy Rollins, Chase Utley and Ryan Howard and “bought pitching” has come up short of great. However, they did win a World Series.

The Astros have never made a World Series. They were switched to the American League and are improved, but still way out of contention.

Oh, but the memories of that 1980 NLCS still resonate as it was arguably one of the most competitive post season series ever.

Click this link for some great moments