The1987National League Championship Series took place inMajor League Baseball’s1987 postseason between October 6 and 14 atBusch Memorial Stadium (Games 1, 2, 6, and 7) andCandlestick Park (Games 3, 4, and 5). It matched theEast division championSt. Louis Cardinals (95–67) against theWest division championSan Francisco Giants (90–72), with the Cardinals winning in seven games. The Cardinals would go on to lose the1987 World Series to theMinnesota Twins, also in seven games.

San Francisco'sJeffrey Leonard was named the SeriesMVP despite the fact that his Giants lost the series. Oddly enough, this was the second consecutive year that the NLCS MVP came from the losing team, asMike Scott had won the award with theHouston Astros theprevious year. Leonard, Scott, andFred Lynn (1982) are the only players to win an LCS MVP on a losing team; it hasn't happened since Leonard's win in 1987.

St. Louis won the series, 4–3.

Tuesday, October 6, 1987, atBusch Stadium (II) inSt. Louis, Missouri

The Giants struck first on an RBI groundout byCandy Maldonado, but the Cardinals tied it in the third onVince Coleman's RBI single.Jeffrey Leonard gave the Giants a short-lived lead in the fourth on a homer, as the Cards quickly re-tied it whenOzzie Smith tripled andWillie McGee drove him home with a single.

The Cardinals took control of the game in the sixth by plating three runs off Giants starterRick Reuschel.Terry Pendleton,Curt Ford, and pitcherGreg Mathews all had RBI singles in the rally.Ken Dayley pitched the ninth and got the save.

Wednesday, October 7, 1987, atBusch Stadium (II) inSt. Louis, Missouri

The Giants pulled even in the series on the strength of a complete-game shutout byDave Dravecky. Dravecky got all the runs he needed in the second on aWill Clark two-run homer.Jeffrey Leonard added a homer in the fourth, his second in two NLCS games. Two more runs came across in the eighth for the Giants on a rareOzzie Smith throwing error.

It was in this game that Leonard aroused the ire of the Cardinal fans by going into his "Cadillac home run trot" around the bases. Leonard spread out his arms, airplane-style, but kept his left arm pinned to his side ("flap-down"). To further irritate the fans, Leonard slowed to a walk between third and home.

Friday, October 9, 1987, atCandlestick Park inSan Francisco

In Game 3,Joe Magrane (STL) andAtlee Hammaker (SF) were set to face off. The matchup was not expected to be quite as low scoring as the series had been to date. The predictions were correct, as San Francisco broke first with four runs in the first three innings, looking to take the series lead. In the second inning, consecutive hits fromChili Davis,Will Clark andBob Brenly put the Giants on the board. Yet another home run from Leonard tacked on a fourth run in the third.

On Leonard's next at-bat, however,Bob Forsch, who had relieved starter Magrane, plunked Leonard in the left shoulder with his first pitch, presumably in retaliation for his home-run trot antics. The Giants would load the bases in the inning with one out, but Forsch pitched out of it.

The Cardinals heated things up in the sixth with a two-run home run fromJim Lindeman, who replaced the injuredJack Clark, and then atriple byWillie McGee. But it was in the seventh when they really made their attack, not only tying the game, but scoring four to take the lead, 6–4. The four runs came on a large rally, highlighted by a two-runsingle byleft fielderVince Coleman.

With right-handedTodd Worrell pitching for the Cards,managerRoger Craigpinch hit left-handed batterHarry Spilman forRobby Thompson. Spilman homered to right field, putting new life back in the Giants, even with two down. However,third basemanKevin Mitchell flew out to center field, and the Cards had completed a stunning comeback.

Cardinals sluggerJack Clark made his only appearance in the Series in Game 3. Nursing a sprained ankle, he came up as a pinch-hitter and struck out looking. His injury caused him to be left off the roster for the World Series, so the Cardinals could add another pitcher.

Saturday, October 10, 1987, atCandlestick Park inSan Francisco

The Giants knotted the series at 2–2 by the longball and another complete-game pitching performance, this time byMike Krukow. Krukow was touched for two runs in the second on RBI singles by opposing pitcherDanny Cox andVince Coleman, but then pitched shutout ball the rest of the way.Robby Thompson hit a homer in the fourth,Jeffrey Leonard put the Giants ahead 3–2 in the fifth with his fourth homer in the NLCS, andBob Brenly closed out the scoring with a shot in the eighth.

Sunday, October 11, 1987, atCandlestick Park inSan Francisco

Tom Herr put the Cardinals up 1–0 in the first offRick Reuschel with a sacrifice fly, then the Giants tied it in their half of the first on aKevin Mitchell RBI single.

The Cardinals looked on the verge of breaking it open against Reuschel in the third.Tony Peña and pitcherBob Forsch led off the inning with consecutive singles, and thenVince Coleman beat out a bunt, loading the bases with none out.Ozzie Smith could only produce a sacrifice fly, however, and Herr bounced into a double play to end the threat. Mitchell tied it at 2–2 for the Giants in the third on a homer.

Terry Pendleton then gave the Cards back the lead in the fourth in this nip-and-tuck game by smashing a two-out triple and scoring when Reuschel mishandled a throw byWill Clark on a ground ball hit byJohn Morris.

The Giants answered back in the bottom of the fourth whenJose Uribe drove in two runs with a bases-loaded single for a 4–3 Giants lead.Mike Aldrete then pinch-hit for Reuschel and hit a sacrifice fly andRobby Thompson drove in the last run with a triple.Joe Price then relieved Reuschel and pitched five innings of one-hit, shutout relief.

Thompson's RBI would be the last Giants run of the series.

Tuesday, October 13, 1987, atBusch Stadium (II) inSt. Louis, Missouri

Facing elimination, the Cardinals rolled out their ace,John Tudor, to faceDave Dravecky once again. Tudor was injured for most of the first half of 1987, but rebounded to go 10–2 in the second half of the season. And, like his great 1985 season, Tudor was golden in the postseason. He scattered six hits in seven innings and struck out six before giving way toTodd Worrell.

Tudor got the only run he needed in the second inning whenTony Peña hit what appeared to be a routine fly ball to right, butCandy Maldonado misplayed it and it fell for a triple.José Oquendo then drove Pena home with a sacrifice fly.

Ken Dayley pitched the ninth for his second save of the series.

Wednesday, October 14, 1987, atBusch Stadium (II) inSt. Louis, Missouri

The Cardinals gave starterDanny Cox a quick 4–0 lead by jumping on Giants starterAtlee Hammaker in the second. Singles byTerry Pendleton,Tony Peña andWillie McGee produced the first run andJosé Oquendo, who had hit only one home run during the regular season, drilled a three-run shot to left. St. Louis added two more runs in the sixth on a two-run single byTommy Herr. Cox went the distance, scattering eight hits and striking out five. The victory gave the Cardinals their third pennant in six years and 15th overall.^[8][9] The only downside in the victory was Pendleton suffering a strained ribcage while running the bases, which limited his availability in the World Series to left-handed DH-ing and pinch hitting. As of today, this is the last time the Giants have lost the NLCS.

1987 NLCS(4–3):St. Louis Cardinals overSan Francisco Giants

The Giants did not score another run for the series after the 4th inning of Game 5.

Cardinals Hitting Bests:

• SeriesAB's: Herr (27)
• SeriesRuns: Pena (5)
• SeriesHits: Pena (8)
• SeriesDoubles:Dan Driessen (2)
• SeriesTriples: Pena, McGee,Terry Pendleton,Ozzie Smith (1)
• SeriesHR's: Oquendo, Lindeman (1)
• SeriesRBIs: Coleman, Oquendo (4)
• SeriesBase on Balls: Coleman (4)
• SeriesBatting average (at least 10 at bats): Pena (.381)

Giants Hitting Bests:

• Series AB'S: Mitchell (30)
• Series Runs: Thompson (4)
• Series Hits: Leonard (10)
• Series Doubles: Clark (2)
• Series Triples: Thompson (1)
• Series HR's: Leonard (4)
• Series RBIs: Leonard (5)
• Series Base on Balls: Thompson (5)
• Series Batting average (at least 10 at bats): Leonard (.417)

Cardinals Pitching Bests:

• SeriesWins: Cox, Tudor, Mathews, Forsch (1)
• SeriesSaves: Dayley (2)
• SeriesComplete Games: Cox (2)
• SeriesIP: Cox (17)
• SeriesSO's: Tudor (12)
• SeriesERA (at least 4 innings pitched): Dayley, Worrell (2.66)

Giants Pitching Bests:

• Series Wins: Dravecky, Krukow, Price (1)
• Series Saves: None
• Series Complete Games: Dravecky, Krukow (1)
• Series IP: Dravecky (15)
• Series SO's: Dravecky (14)
• Series ERA (at least 4 innings pitched): Dravecky (0.60)

The Cardinals and Giants developed quite the disdain for each other in the mid-to-late 1980s.^[10][11] One of the more memorable baseball brawls happened between the two clubs during the following season in1988. The first fight was prompted by a hard slide into second byWill Clark that sent Cardinals second basemanJosé Oquendo reeling toward the outfield grass. Oquendo and shortstopOzzie Smith threw a punch at Clark and both benches emptied; Oquendo and Clark were ejected. A second confrontation occurred moments later when the Cardinals'Scott Terry nearly hitMike Aldrete in the head with a pitch. The teams poured onto the field again but were intercepted by the umpires. Terry was ejected, and the ninth inning was played without incident.^[12]

The Cardinals would go on the lose theWorld Series in seven games to the Minnesota Twins. After their defeat in the '87 Series, the Cardinals' reign of dominance in the '80s ended. They did not return to the postseason until1996, did not return to the World Series until2004, and did not win it all until2006. Giants would return to the NLCS in1989, where they beat the Chicago Cubs in five games before losing to the Oakland Athletics in theWorld Series. The Giants did not win a World Series until2010.

The Cardinals and Giants have played each other three more times in the postseason, with the Giants winning all three. Those series wins came in the2002 National League Championship Series, the2012 National League Championship Series, and the2014 National League Championship Series. Coincidentally, a play similar to what sparked Will Clark and José Oquendo brawl in 1988 happened in the 2012 NLCS when Cardinals' left fielderMatt Holliday slid late into Giants' second basemanMarco Scutaro in hopes to break up a double play.^[13] No brawl occurred this time, however.

To date,Jeffrey Leonard is the last person to be named the Most Valuable Player of aLeague Championship Series orWorld Series while a member of the losing team.

• 1987 NLCS at Baseball Reference

• National League Championship Series
• 1987 Major League Baseball season
• St. Louis Cardinals postseason
• San Francisco Giants postseason
• 1987 in sports in California
• 1987 in sports in Missouri
• 1987 in San Francisco
• 1980s in St. Louis
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• Baseball competitions in St. Louis

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