| 1981 National League Championship Series | ||||||||||
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| Dates | October 13–19 | |||||||||
| MVP | Burt Hooton (Los Angeles) | |||||||||
| Umpires | Paul Pryor Eric Gregg Paul Runge Dutch Rennert Harry Wendelstedt(crew chief) Joe West | |||||||||
| Broadcast | ||||||||||
| Television | NBC KTTV (LAD) CBC (MON – English) SRC (MON – French) | |||||||||
| TV announcers | NBC:Dick Enberg andTom Seaver KTTV:Vin Scully,Jerry Doggett andRoss Porter CBC:Dave Van Horne andDuke Snider SRC:Jean-Pierre Roy and Guy Ferron | |||||||||
| Radio | CBS KABC (LAD) CFCF (MON – English) CKAC (MON – French) | |||||||||
| Radio announcers | CBS:Jack Buck andJerry Coleman KABC:Vin Scully,Jerry Doggett andRoss Porter CFCF:Dave Van Horne,Duke Snider andRon Reusch CKAC:Claude Raymond andJacques Doucet | |||||||||
| NLDS |
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The1981 National League Championship Series was a best-of-five playoff series inMajor League Baseball’s1981 postseason to end the 1981 National League season. It was the 13thNLCS in all. The series featured the first-halfWest Division championLos Angeles Dodgers and the second-halfEast Division championMontreal Expos. The Dodgers won the series three games to two over the Expos, thanks to a ninth-inning home run in Game 5 byRick Monday in what has ever since been referred to as "Blue Monday" by Expos fans.
The Dodgers would go on to defeat theNew York Yankees in theWorld Series.
Due to the1981 Major League Baseball strike, a team had to win two postseason series in order to go to theWorld Series. Teams that finished first in their division in the first and second halves of the season advanced to the postseason. This was the first year the baseball postseason had three rounds, an arrangement that would permanently return beginning with the 1995 season. The Expos advanced to the NLCS after defeating the defending World Series championPhiladelphia Phillies in theNL Division Series three games to two, and the Dodgers made their way to the NLCS after beating theHouston Astros three games to two in the NLDS.
This was also the first NLCS since1973 that did not feature either thePhiladelphia Phillies or their cross-state rivalPittsburgh Pirates, and only the third since the NLCS was first played in1969.
Los Angeles won the series, 3–2.
| Game | Date | Score | Location | Time | Attendance |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | October 13 | Montreal Expos – 1,Los Angeles Dodgers – 5 | Dodger Stadium | 2:47 | 51,273[1] |
| 2 | October 14 | Montreal Expos – 3, Los Angeles Dodgers – 0 | Dodger Stadium | 2:48 | 53,463[2] |
| 3 | October 16 | Los Angeles Dodgers – 1,Montreal Expos – 4 | Olympic Stadium | 2:27 | 54,372[3] |
| 4 | October 17 | Los Angeles Dodgers – 7, Montreal Expos – 1 | Olympic Stadium | 3:14 | 54,499[4] |
| 5 | October 19 | Los Angeles Dodgers – 2, Montreal Expos – 1 | Olympic Stadium | 2:41 | 36,491[5] |
| Team | 1 | 2 | 3 | 4 | 5 | 6 | 7 | 8 | 9 | R | H | E | |||||||||||||||||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Montreal | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 1 | 1 | 9 | 0 | |||||||||||||||||||||
| Los Angeles | 0 | 2 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 3 | X | 5 | 8 | 0 | |||||||||||||||||||||
| WP:Burt Hooton (1–0) LP:Bill Gullickson (0–1) Home runs: MTL: None LAD:Pedro Guerrero (1),Mike Scioscia (1) | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
The Dodgers took the first game of the series behind the strong pitching of starterBurt Hooton. For the first seven innings the game stayed close, with the only scoring coming in the second inning when the Dodgers got two runs on an RBI double byRon Cey and a squeeze bunt byBill Russell. Hooton and relieverBob Welch made the 2–0 lead stand up until the eighth when the Dodgers broke the game open with three more runs on back-to-back homers byPedro Guerrero andMike Scioscia. The Expos got one run back in the ninth whenLarry Parrish doubled homeGary Carter. But relieverSteve Howe came on for the Dodgers and got the final three outs to preserve Los Angeles' victory.
| Team | 1 | 2 | 3 | 4 | 5 | 6 | 7 | 8 | 9 | R | H | E | |||||||||||||||||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Montreal | 0 | 2 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 3 | 10 | 1 | |||||||||||||||||||||
| Los Angeles | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 5 | 1 | |||||||||||||||||||||
| WP:Ray Burris (1–0) LP:Fernando Valenzuela (0–1) | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
Montreal'sRay Burris helped even the series with a masterful complete game shutout in Game 2. The Dodgers managed only five singles against Burris, and their only real threats, in the sixth and ninth, were foiled by double plays. Typically in what would be a very low-scoring series, the Expos didn't do much more hitting against Dodger starterFernando Valenzuela. But Montreal did manage to push across two runs in the second on RBI hits byWarren Cromartie andTim Raines. Montreal added another run in the sixth, aided byDusty Baker's error in left. Burris did the rest to notch his 3–0 victory.
| Team | 1 | 2 | 3 | 4 | 5 | 6 | 7 | 8 | 9 | R | H | E | |||||||||||||||||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Los Angeles | 0 | 0 | 0 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 1 | 7 | 0 | |||||||||||||||||||||
| Montreal | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 4 | 0 | 0 | X | 4 | 7 | 1 | |||||||||||||||||||||
| WP:Steve Rogers (1–0) LP:Jerry Reuss (0–1) Home runs: LAD: None MTL:Jerry White (1) | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
Montreal got another superb pitching performance in Game 3, this time fromSteve Rogers, to take a 2–1 lead in the series. Rogers allowed only a single run on aRon Cey groundout after singles byDusty Baker andSteve Garvey in the fourth. For a while it looked like Dodger starterJerry Reuss might make that 1–0 score hold up. But Montreal finally rallied for four runs in the sixth on a run-scoring single byLarry Parrish and a three-run homer byJerry White. Rogers easily preserved the 4–1 lead over the final three innings, and Montreal was now only one victory away from the World Series.
| Team | 1 | 2 | 3 | 4 | 5 | 6 | 7 | 8 | 9 | R | H | E | |||||||||||||||||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Los Angeles | 0 | 0 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 2 | 4 | 7 | 12 | 1 | |||||||||||||||||||||
| Montreal | 0 | 0 | 0 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 1 | 5 | 1 | |||||||||||||||||||||
| WP:Burt Hooton (2–0) LP:Bill Gullickson (0–2) Home runs: LAD:Steve Garvey (1) MTL: None | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
For the first seven innings Game 4 followed the usual pattern of the series, with dominant performances from both starting pitchers. Montreal'sBill Gullickson allowed an unearned run in the third, afterBill Russell reached onLarry Parrish's error and scored onDusty Baker's double. Los Angeles'Burt Hooton gave up the game-tying run in the fourth on another unearned tally, whenGary Carter reached onRon Cey's error and scored on a single byWarren Cromartie. The starters yielded nothing more until the eighth, whenSteve Garvey's two-run homer put the Dodgers up 3–1 and chased Gullickson. The Dodgers blew the game open with four more runs in the ninth, highlighted by Baker's two-run single. Hooton finally tired in the eighth but the Dodger bullpen got the last five outs and the series was even.
| Team | 1 | 2 | 3 | 4 | 5 | 6 | 7 | 8 | 9 | R | H | E | |||||||||||||||||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Los Angeles | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 1 | 2 | 6 | 0 | |||||||||||||||||||||
| Montreal | 1 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 1 | 3 | 1 | |||||||||||||||||||||
| WP:Fernando Valenzuela (1–1) LP:Steve Rogers (1–1) Sv:Bob Welch (1) Home runs: LAD:Rick Monday (1) MTL: None | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
After a rainout (actually a snow/cold out) on Sunday, October 18, Olympic Stadium was only two-thirds full for Game 5 on a cold and drizzly Monday afternoon, which turned out to be the series' most dramatic contest. As usual in the series, the starting pitchers dominated, with the Dodgers'Fernando Valenzuela and the Expos'Ray Burris. Montreal broke on top with a single run in the first whenTim Raines led off with a double and eventually scored on a double play. The Dodgers tied the game in the fifth afterRick Monday singled, went to third on aPedro Guerrero single, and scored on a groundout. Burris finally left the game in the eighth when the Expos pinch-hit for him. Montreal brought on their ace Steve Rogers to pitch the ninth, and with two out in the inning, he gave up a homer to Monday on a 3–1 count to put the Dodgers up 2–1. The Expos got a couple of two-out walks in the bottom of the ninth off Valenzuela, but Bob Welch came on to get the final out and send the Dodgers to the World Series. It would be the final postseason game played in Montreal and it would take another 31 seasons until the franchise returned to the postseason again as theWashington Nationals.
The date came to be known as "Blue Monday" by Expos' fans.[6][7] Expos' broadcasterDave Van Horne described the loss as one of the lowest points in team history.[8]
1981 NLCS(3–2):Los Angeles Dodgers overMontreal Expos
| Team | 1 | 2 | 3 | 4 | 5 | 6 | 7 | 8 | 9 | R | H | E | |||||||||||||||||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Los Angeles Dodgers | 0 | 2 | 1 | 1 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 5 | 5 | 15 | 38 | 2 | |||||||||||||||||||||
| Montreal Expos | 1 | 2 | 0 | 1 | 0 | 5 | 0 | 0 | 1 | 10 | 34 | 4 | |||||||||||||||||||||
| Total attendance: 250,098 Average attendance: 50,020 | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
The Dodgers went on to defeat theNew York Yankees four games to two in the1981 World Series, their only championship in theGarvey-Lopes-Russell-Cey era. From 1973–1981, the historic infield combined for 21 All-Star selections, with each man receiving at least three.
According to “The Colorful Montreal Expos” episode ofMLB Network Presents, Monday himself was left unaware of “Blue Monday” until he tried eating at a restaurant in Montreal withSteve Yeager during the Dodgers’ first road series in 1982 against the Expos and were asked by the manager to leave since six of the patrons were wanting to instigate a fight with him, with Monday commenting that “The winters are long in Montreal and they don’t forget anything” in response.
This was the only postseason appearance for the Montreal Expos before the franchise moved to Washington, D.C., and became theWashington Nationals. The 1981 NLCS was covered briefly in theNetflix series, titleWho Killed the Montreal Expos?.