Astrike during April 1–8 caused the final eight days ofspring training to be canceled, but did not impact the regular season schedule.[1]
Umpire uniforms in both leagues were standardized, the American League's red blazer and blue pants and the National League's blue coats and pants were discarded and the uniforms became blue blazers, light blue short sleeved shirts, gray pants, and blue hats with "AL" or "NL" to show which league they were in. The American League umpires adopted numbers on their uniforms for the first time; National League umpires had numbers on the uniforms since 1970, though the numbers were now white on the blazers and blue on the short-sleeved shirts.
January 24 – TheNew York Mets are sold to a group headed byNelson Doubleday, Jr. andFred Wilpon for an estimated $21.1 million. It was, at the time, the highest amount ever paid for an American professional sports franchise.
February 12 – The Board of theOakland Coliseum and theOakland City Council both reject an attempt to buy out the remainder of theOakland Athletics' lease to the stadium. This blocks an attempt to sell the team and a possible move toDenver.
March 12 – SluggerChuck Klein and formerBoston Red Sox ownerTom Yawkey are elected to the Hall of Fame by the Special Veterans Committee. Yawkey is the first club owner selected who never served as a player, manager or general manager.
May 23 –Texas Rangers pitcherFerguson Jenkins wins his 250th game against theOakland Athletics. Jenkins pitched a complete game for the Rangers, striking out eight batters in the victory.
Houston Astros pitcherNolan Ryan strikes outCésar Gerónimo of theCincinnati Reds, to become the fourth major league pitcher ever to reach 3,000 career strikeouts. Gerónimo was alsoBob Gibson's 3,000th career strikeout victim six years earlier. Despite the milestone, Ryan allows six runs in 4.1 innings and Houston loses, 8–1.
During the first-ever fireworks night hosted atShea Stadium,Montreal Expos RookieBill Gullickson sailed a pitch overNew York Metsfirst basemanMike Jorgensen's head in the second game of adoubleheader. Jorgensen did not appreciate this as he had been the victim of one of the worstbeanball injuries in baseball history the previous season with theTexas Rangers, and motioned toward Gullickson his disapproval. MetscatcherJohn Stearns, who was not even in the line-up for this game, charged out of the dugout and welcomed Gullickson to the majors by slamming him to the ground.
July 6 –Philadelphia Phillies pitcherSteve Carlton becomes the major leagues' left-handed strikeout king, fanning sevenCardinals in an 8–3 Phillies win to bring his career total to 2,836.Mickey Lolich had held the record with 2,832.
July 30 –Houston Astros pitcherJ. R. Richard suffers a stroke during his first attempt to pitch since being hospitalized for tests weeks earlier. He would not play again.
George Brett goes 0-for-4 dropping hisbatting average below .400. It will not climb above .400 again, and he finishes the season with a .390batting average, the closest any player had come to a .400 batting average sinceTed Williams in 1941. OnlyTony Gwynn will come closer than that before the twentieth century ends.
September 24 – TheAtlanta Braves reach the 1,000,000 mark in attendance. It marks the first time that everyNational League team has drawn at least 1,000,000 fans for a season.
October 4
In a 17–1 rout of theMinnesota Twins,Willie Wilson of theKansas City Royals becomes the first major league player ever to be credited with 700 at-bats in a single season, and ends the year with 705 at bats. He also sets theAL record for singles in a season with 184, eclipsing the markSam Rice set in 1925. Wilson also becomes only the second player in major league history to collect 100 hits from each side of the plate, matching the feat accomplished byGarry Templeton in 1979.
Philadelphia'sMike Schmidt hits a 2-run home run in the top of the 11th inning to give the Phillies a 6–4 win over theMontreal Expos atOlympic Stadium, clinching the National League East title. The home run is Schmidt's 48th of the season, breakingEddie Mathews' single-season record for third basemen set in 1953.
October 5 and 6 – On October 3, theLos Angeles Dodgers had been down three games to theHouston Astros to tie for theNational League West Division title. Needing a sweep of the Astros, the Dodgers complete just such a sweep on that Sunday; each of the wins by a single run. They would play aone-game playoff the next day, asJoe Niekro would win his twentieth game of the season to earn a win for the Astros, 7–1, clinching their first Division Title.
October 10 – In Game 3 of the1980 ALCS, and with theNew York Yankees leading 2–1,Kansas City Royals' George Brett delivered a three-run home run off Yankees' relieverRich Gossage, and with it total revenge for the Royals, who won the pennant after being second best to the Yankees in the ALCS in 1976, 1977 and 1978. Kansas City won the pennant inYankee Stadium.
October 12 – ThePhiladelphia Phillies capture their first pennant since 1950 with a 10-inning, 8–7 win over theHouston Astros at theAstrodome, in the fifth and final game of the1980 NLCS. Three of the last four games were decided in extra innings. The Phillies, down by three runs toNolan Ryan in the 8th inning, rally and go ahead onGarry Maddox's double in the 10th inning.
October 21 – ThePhiladelphia Phillies win theWorld Series, the first WS Championship in their 98-year history, by beating theKansas City Royals, 4–1, in Game Six.Steve Carlton earns the win, though the most memorable moment may beTug McGraw on the mound jumping for joy as he earns the save after loading the bases with no outs. Another equally memorable moment comes with one out in the bottom of the ninth whenFrank White's pop-up is bobbled byBob Boone, only to be tipped into the glove ofPete Rose. Philadelphia'sMike Schmidt is named MVP, hitting .381 with two home runs and seven RBI, while KC'sWillie Wilson is the "goat", striking out a WS-record 12 times, including the final out of the Series with the bases loaded, and hitting only .154. Of the original 16 Major League franchises from 1901, the Phillies are the last to win their first World Series.
November 4 –Sadaharu Oh announces his retirement as a player from Japanese baseball. His 868 documented careerhome runs remain an unapproached world record among professional baseball players.
November 25 –Gene Michael becomes the 25th manager inNew York Yankees history, replacing a resigningDick Howser, who led the team to the American League East Division title with a 103–59 mark.
November 26 –Philadelphia Phillies third basemanMike Schmidt, who hit .286 with career highs of 48 home runs and 121 RBI, is a unanimous choice as National League Most Valuable Player.
December 9 – TheChicago Cubs send relief pitcherBruce Sutter to their arch-rivals, theSt. Louis Cardinals, in exchange for first basemanLeon Durham. Sutter will go on to save many more games for the Cardinals, including the1982 World Series clincher, while Durham's critical error in Game 5 of the1984 NLCS will doom the Cubs.
January 10 –Hughie Critz, 79, second baseman for the Cincinnati Reds and New York Giants who led NL in fielding four times and double plays three times
January 21 –Gene Rye, 73, outfielder for the 1931 Boston Red Sox
February 1 –Fred Walters, 67, catcher for the 1945 Boston Red Sox, and one of many players who only appeared in the majors during World War II
February 2 –Jack Rothrock, 74, center fielder for four different teams from 1925 to 1937, who led the victorious St. Louis Cardinals with six RBI in the 1934 World Series
March 1 –Emmett Ashford, 65, the major leagues' first black umpire, who worked in the American League from 1966 to 1970 and in the 1970 World Series
March 1 –Johnny Watwood, 74, center fielder who played from 1929 to 1939 for the Chicago White Sox, Boston Red Sox and Philadelphia Phillies
April 7 –Buck Canel, 74, Spanish-language broadcaster of 42 World Series, as well as many years of New York Yankees games
April 21 –Ray Dobens, 73, pitcher for the 1929 Boston Red Sox
April 21 –Joe Page, 62, All-Star relief pitcher for the New York Yankees who set single-season record with 27 saves in 1949, led AL in saves and appearances twice each
April 28 –Bob Porterfield, 56, All-Star pitcher who was namedThe Sporting News AL Pitcher of the Year in 1953 after a 22–10 season with the Senators
June 1 –Rube Marquard, 93, Hall of Fame pitcher who retired with 201 wins and the NL record for career strikeouts by a left-hander (1593); had 19 consecutive wins for the Giants in 1912 for a modern major league record
June 3 –Fred Lieb, 92, sportswriter who covered every World Series from 1911 to 1958
June 9 –Odell Hale, 71, infielder for the Cleveland Indians in the 1930s, who hit .300 three times and collected two 100-RBI seasons
July 4 –Jack Martin, 93, shortstop who played from 1912 to 1914 for the New York Highlanders, Boston Braves and Philadelphia Phillies
July 23 –Wally Snell, 91, catcher for the 1913 Boston Red Sox, who later went on to a distinguished career as a college botany professor and athletic coach at Brown University for four decades
July 30 –Joe Lucey, 83, infielder/pitcher for the New York Yankees and Boston Red Sox between 1920 and 1925
August 4 –Lefty Jamerson, 80, pitcher for the 1924 Boston Red Sox
August 27 –John Wilson, 77, pitched briefly for the Red Sox from 1927 to 1928
September 24 –Ernie Shore, 89, pitcher who relievedBabe Ruth with a man on first in a 1917 game and proceeded to retire the runner and all 26 remaining batters
October 1 –Pat Veltman, 74, utility player best known for his 1928 season, where his only hit was a triple
November 29 –Bill Dunlap, 71, outfielder for the Boston Braves from 1929 to 1930
December 5 –Don Padgett, 69, backup catcher/outfielder who hit .288 in 699 games with the Cardinals, Dodgers, Braves and Phillies from 1937 to 1948
December 14 –Elston Howard, 51, nine-time All-Star catcher for the New York Yankees who was that team's first black player and the AL's 1963 MVP; later a coach
December 31 –Bob Shawkey, 90, pitcher who had four 20-win seasons for the Yankees, later was coach at Dartmouth
