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| Date | October 6, 1980 | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
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| Venue | Dodger Stadium | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| City | Los Angeles,California | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Umpires | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Attendance | 51,127 | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Television | ABC KRIV-TV (HOU) KTTV (LAD) | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| TV announcers | ABC:Al Michaels andBob Uecker KRIV-TV:Gene Elston,Dewayne Staats andLarry Dierker KTTV:Vin Scully,Jerry Doggett andRoss Porter | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Radio | CBS KPRC (HOU) KABC (LAD) | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Radio announcers | CBS:Lindsey Nelson andJerry Coleman KPRC: Elston, Staats and Dierker KABC: Scully, Doggett and Porter | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
The1980 National League West tie-breaker game was aone-game extension toMajor League Baseball's (MLB)1980 regular season, played between theHouston Astros andLos Angeles Dodgers to decide the winner of theNational League's (NL)West Division. The game was played on October 6, 1980, atDodger Stadium inLos Angeles, California. It was necessary after the Dodgers overcame a three-game deficit in the final three games of the season and both teams finished with identicalwin–loss records of 92–70. The Dodgers won a coin flip late in the season which, by rule at the time, awarded themhome field for the game.
The Astros won the game, 7–1, with Houston starterJoe Niekro throwing acomplete game. This victory advanced the Astros to the1980 NL Championship Series (NLCS), in which they lost to thePhiladelphia Phillies, ending the Astros' season. Inbaseball statistics, the tie-breaker counted as the 163rd regular season game for both teams, with all events in the game added to regular season statistics.
TheCincinnati Reds had won the West Division in 1979, with the Astros finishing 1.5games back in second and the Dodgers 11.5 back in third.[1] However, Cincinnati went on to lose the1979 NLCS in three games to the eventualWorld Series championPittsburgh Pirates, ending their season.[1] The Astros acquiredJoe Morgan andNolan Ryan via free agency during the offseason and the Dodgers signedDave Goltz.[2][3][4] Dave Kindred ofThe Washington Post,George Vecsey ofThe New York Times, and Astros'relief pitcherJoe Sambito all credited Houston's success in 1980 to Morgan's leadership.[5][6][7]
The Reds attained early success in 1980 with an eight-game winning streak to open the season, and held at least a share of first place in the division until April 30.[8] They were not as successful over the remainder of the season, only occasionally taking the division lead and last holding it on August 16.[8] The Astros held the lead for the majority of the season thereafter, including a three-game lead over Los Angeles entering the final series of the season. The series matched the Astros with the Dodgers for three games at Dodger Stadium. The Dodgers won all three games, all by a single run, stopping the Astros from clinching a division championship as the two teams sat tied at 92–70.[5] Kindred described the Astros as losing each game of the series by "fail[ing] to make elementary fielding plays."[5] The final game included a run-scoringpinch hit single byManny Mota, who had almost exclusively been acoach and not a player that season, and ahome run byRon Cey which scoredSteve Garvey, who had reached base in the previousat bat on anerror.[5][9] The Dodgers needed each of these runs as they won the game 4–3.[9]
| Team | 1 | 2 | 3 | 4 | 5 | 6 | 7 | 8 | 9 | R | H | E | |||||||||||||||||||||
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| Houston Astros | 2 | 0 | 2 | 3 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 7 | 12 | 1 | |||||||||||||||||||||
| Los Angeles Dodgers | 0 | 0 | 0 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 1 | 6 | 2 | |||||||||||||||||||||
| WP:Joe Niekro (20–12) LP:Dave Goltz (7–11) Home runs: HOU:Art Howe LAD: None Attendance: 51,127 | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
The Astros took the lead early, scoring in the top of the first inning.Terry Puhl led off the game reaching base on an error by Los Angeles second basemanDavey Lopes.Enos Cabell followed Puhl with a single and, while Joe Morgan batted,stole second base to put runners at second and third. Morganstruck out andJosé Cruz appeared to hit into afielder's choice, but an error by catcherJoe Ferguson allowed Puhl to score, Cabell to advance to third base, and Cruz to reach safely, all with no out recorded. Cabell then scored on aCésar Cedeño ground out to make the score 2–0.Art Howe singled to advance Cruz to third, but Dodgers'starting pitcherDave Goltz escaped the inning without further scoring.[9]
The Astros'Joe Niekro retired the Dodgers in order in the first and second innings. The Astros added to their lead in the top of the third as Cedeño singled, stole second (after Cruz had beencaught stealing earlier in the inning), and scored on Art Howe's home run to make the game 4–0. Niekro allowed two successive singles to lead off the bottom of the inning, but proceeded to retire three straight Dodgers without allowing either runner to score. The Astros further added to their lead in the fourth, as Puhl singled on abunt to third base and then stole second and third base while Cabell batted. Both he and Morganwalked toload the bases with one out. Puhl scored on a Cruzsacrifice fly, Cedeño walked to re-load the bases, and finally a Howe single gave the Astros another two runs to make the game 7–0.[9]
The Dodgers scored their only run in the bottom of the fourth asDusty Baker singled, advanced to second on an error, and scored on another single. They threatened again in the sixth inning, loading the bases, though they failed to score. That was the only inning after the fourth in which a Dodgers' runner reachedscoring position. Niekro steadied again after the sixth, allowing just one baserunner on a two-out ninth-inning single over the remaining three innings beforeDave Bergman fielded the final out on a groundball near first base to clinch the first division title in Astros history.[9]
Houston's win clinched the team's first postseason berth in franchise history.[10] The Astros lost the five-game NLCS to the Phillies 3–2, ending their season.[11] Due to the1981 Major League Baseball strike, the following season was split into halves and the winner of each half advanced to the postseason. The Dodgers won the first half and the Astros the second and so met in the firstNational League Division Series. The Dodgers won the series 3–2 after Houston held a 2–0 series lead heading to Los Angeles (reminiscent to Los Angeles needing all three games at home during this season to force this tiebreaker), and went on to win the1981 World Series.[12] The Astros did not return to the NLCS until 1986 and did not win aNL pennant until 2005, leading to a loss in the2005 World Series.[10]
Inbaseball statistics, tie-breakers counted as regular season games, with all events in them added to regular season statistics. Niekro, for example, reached his 20th win to break a tie withJim Bibby for the second most wins in the NL that season.[13] Similarly, Steve Garvey played in his 163rd game of the season, leading the league with a figure which could not have been equaled by anyone not on the Astros or Dodgers.[14] Dusty Baker won aSilver Slugger Award andSteve Howe, who pitched the final two scoreless innings of the tie-breaker for the Dodgers in relief, won theRookie of the Year Award for their performances in the regular season.[15] Additionally six Dodgers (Garvey,Davey Lopes,Bill Russell,Reggie Smith,Jerry Reuss, andBob Welch) and two Astros (J. R. Richard and Cruz) were named to the National League'sAll-Star team.[15]
In later years, after his retirement in 1996, Lasorda stated he regretted using a 19-year oldFernando Valenzuela out of the bullpen during the October 5 game vs. the Astros, thinking he could have saved Fernando to start in a potential tie-breaker game instead.[16] This decision caused the team to startDave Goltz in the tie-breaker game. Goltz recorded double-digit wins for six straight seasons in Minnesota, but his first season in Dodger Blue was a disappointment. He entered the most important game of the season with a 7–10 record. Nevertheless, Valenzuela still pitched in the tie-breaker game and threw two scoreless innings, though at that point, the score was 7–1. A year later, Valenzuela would have a breakout season, helping lead the Dodgers to aWorld Championship.
Due to tiebreaker games being abolished in 2022, this would end up being the only time that two teams had played each other in a tiebreaker game and a regularly scheduled series at the same stadium back to back.