The 1981

American League Championship Series The American League Championship Series (ALCS) is a best-of-seven playoff and one of two League Championship Series comprising the penultimate round of Major League Baseball's (MLB) postseason. It is contested by the two winners of the America ...

was a best-of-five series between the

New York Yankees The New York Yankees are an American professional baseball team based in the New York City borough of the Bronx. The Yankees compete in Major League Baseball (MLB) as a member club of the American League (AL) East division. They are one ...

and the

Oakland Athletics The Oakland Athletics (often referred to as the A's) are an American professional baseball team based in Oakland, California. The Athletics compete in Major League Baseball (MLB) as a member club of the American League (AL) West division. The t ...

Background

Due to a strike-shortened season, each team had to win two playoff series to reach the World Series. Oakland had swept the

Kansas City Royals The Kansas City Royals are an American professional baseball team based in Kansas City, Missouri. The Royals compete in Major League Baseball (MLB) as a member club of the American League (AL) Central division. The team was founded as an expans ...

three games to zero and the Yankees had beaten the

Milwaukee Brewers The Milwaukee Brewers are an American professional baseball team based in Milwaukee. They compete in Major League Baseball (MLB) as a member club of the National League (NL) National League Central, Central division. The Brewers are named for t ...

three games to two in the

1981 American League Division Series The 1981 American League Division Series (ALDS), the opening round of the 1981 American League playoffs, began on Tuesday, October 6, and ended on Sunday, October 11. The Division Series were approved by team owners on August 6 in response to the ...

. The Yankees swept the Athletics three games to zero in the ALCS and moved on to the

1981 World Series The 1981 World Series was the championship series of Major League Baseball's (MLB) 1981 season. The 78th edition of the World Series, it was a best-of-seven playoff played between the American League (AL) champion New York Yankees and the Nati ...

, where they would lose to the

Los Angeles Dodgers The Los Angeles Dodgers are an American professional baseball team based in Los Angeles. The Dodgers compete in Major League Baseball (MLB) as a member club of the National League (NL) National League West, West division. Established in 1883 i ...

Summary

Oakland Athletics vs. New York Yankees

Game summaries

Game 1

Billy Martin Alfred Manuel Martin Jr. (May 16, 1928 – December 25, 1989), commonly called "Billy", was an American Major League Baseball second baseman and manager who, in addition to leading other teams, was five times the manager of the New York Yan ...

's return to Yankee Stadium (for the first time since the Yankees fired him in 1979), the Yankees drew first blood in front of their old skipper. Graig Nettles' three-run bases-loaded double in the first inning was all the run support that

Tommy John Thomas Edward John Jr. (born May 22, 1943), nicknamed "The Bionic Man," is an American retired professional baseball pitcher who played in Major League Baseball (MLB) for 26 seasons between 1963 and 1989. He played for the Cleveland Indians, ...

needed. John gave way to Ron Davis after six innings. Davis had an easy seventh, but the A's mounted a threat in the eighth where Martin tried some of his "Billyball" tactics. After

Dwayne Murphy Dwayne Keith Murphy (born March 18, 1955) is an American former player who spent most of his career playing for the Oakland Athletics of Major League Baseball (MLB) as an outfielder. During much of his time in Oakland, Murphy batted second in t ...

walked with one out, Davis ran up a 1–2 count on the next batter, Cliff Johnson. During the at-bat, Johnson stepped in and out of the batter's box (on Martin's orders) on each pitch to break Davis' rhythm. After fouling off a pitch, Johnson showed his bat to plate umpire

Nick Bremigan Nicholas Gregory Bremigan (April 4, 1945 – March 28, 1989) was an American umpire in Major League Baseball who worked in the American League from 1974 until his death. Biography Born in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, Bremigan grew up in Rochester, ...

and asked to get a new one. Johnson walked slowly to and from the A's dugout in the process, and Bremigan ordered him to get back to the plate more quickly. This prompted an argument from Johnson and Yankee manager

Bob Lemon Robert Granville Lemon (September 22, 1920 – January 11, 2000) was an American right-handed pitcher and manager in Major League Baseball (MLB). Lemon was elected to the National Baseball Hall of Fame in 1976. Lemon was raised in Californi ...

came out of the dugout as well. Bremigan then ordered Johnson into the batter's box, but also ordered Davis to resume pitching immediately. This, in turn, infuriated Davis, who was angry that Johnson had delayed the game so long. Both Graig Nettles and Lemon tried to calm Davis down, and Bremigan exacerbated the situation by charging Lemon with a mound visit. A clearly rattled Davis threw two pitches well out of the strike zone, after which Yankee catcher Rick Cerone came out to talk to Davis. Davis then threw ball four to walk Johnson and called Cerone out again to talk (presumably to give closer

Goose Gossage Richard Michael "Goose" Gossage (born July 5, 1951) is an American former baseball pitcher who played 22 seasons in Major League Baseball (MLB) between 1972 and 1994. He pitched for nine different teams, spending his best years with the New Y ...

time to warm up). Martin then stormed out of the dugout to protest Davis' actions. Lemon then returned from the dugout to the mound and removed Davis (as MLB rules require on a second mound visit in an inning) and brought in Gossage earlier than expected to face Tony Armas. Armas, the A's leading home run and RBI man in 1981, was now at bat with the tying runs on base with less than 2 outs. Gossage retired Armas and

Wayne Gross Wayne Dale Gross (born January 14, 1952), is an American former professional baseball player who played in Major League Baseball (MLB) primarily as a third baseman from 1976-1986. Gross was named to the All-Star Game as a rookie in 1977 as a las ...

to end the inning and closed out the win the rest of the way.

Game 2

The Yankees struck first in Game 2 on

Reggie Jackson Reginald Martinez Jackson (born May 18, 1946) is an American former professional baseball right fielder who played 21 seasons in Major League Baseball (MLB) for the Kansas City / Oakland Athletics, Baltimore Orioles, New York Yankees, and Cali ...

's RBI groundout in the bottom of the first with runners on first and second off of American League ERA leader

Steve McCatty Steven Earl McCatty (born March 20, 1954) is an American former professional baseball pitcher who played for the Oakland Athletics of Major League Baseball (MLB) from 1977 to 1985. He graduated from Troy High School in Troy, Michigan, in 197 ...

, but Oakland tied the score in the third when

Rick Bosetti Richard Alan Bosetti (born August 5, 1953) is an American former professional baseball outfielder, who played in Major League Baseball (MLB) from to for the Philadelphia Phillies, St. Louis Cardinals, Toronto Blue Jays, and Oakland Athletics. ...

hit a leadoff double and scored on

Rickey Henderson Rickey Nelson Henley Henderson (born December 25, 1958) is an American retired professional baseball left fielder who played his 24 seasons in Major League Baseball (MLB) for nine teams from 1979 to 2003, including four separate tenures with hi ...

's one-out triple. Next inning, three consecutive one-out singles put Oakland up 2–1 and knock Yankees' starter

Rudy May Rudolph May, Jr. (born July 18, 1944) is an American former professional baseball player. He played in Major League Baseball as a left-handed pitcher in and from to for the California Angels, New York Yankees, Baltimore Orioles and Montreal Expo ...

out of the game.

George Frazier George Francis Frazier Jr. (June 10, 1911 – June 13, 1974) was an American journalist. Frazier was raised in South Boston, attended the Boston Latin School, and was graduated from Harvard College (where he won the Boylston Prize for Rhetoric) in ...

intentionally walked Keith Drumright before Fred Stanley's RBI single made it 3–1 Oakland, who were poised to tie the series going home. It could have been worse, but

Dave Winfield David Mark Winfield (born October 3, 1951) is an American former Major League Baseball (MLB) right fielder. He is the special assistant to the executive director of the Major League Baseball Players Association. Over his 22-year career, he play ...

made a leaping catch in the second to rob Tony Armas of a homer. But, Graig Nettles led off the bottom of the fourth with a single and Rick Cerone was hit by a McCatty pitch with one out. After Willie Randolph singled in Nettles, Jerry Mumphrey walked. Dave Beard came on in relief and proceeded to give up an RBI single to

Larry Milbourne Lawrence William Milbourne (born February 14, 1951) is an American former professional baseball utility infielder whose career spanned 15 seasons, 11 of which were spent in Major League Baseball (MLB) with the Houston Astros (1974–76), Seattle ...

, a two-run double to Winfield, and a three-run homer to

Lou Piniella Louis Victor Piniella ( usually ; born August 28, 1943) is a former professional baseball player and manager. An outfielder, he played 16 seasons in Major League Baseball (MLB) with the Baltimore Orioles, Cleveland Indians, Kansas City Royals and ...

. Beard gave up two more hits and loaded the bases after that, but Cerone flied out to end the disastrous inning. The Yankees now led 8–3. In the sixth, the Yankees added another run on an RBI single by

Bob Watson Robert José Watson (April 10, 1946May 14, 2020) was an American professional baseball player, coach and general manager. He played in Major League Baseball as a first baseman and left fielder from 1966 to 1984, most prominently as a membe ...

off of Jeff Jones after a walk and hit-by-pitch. Next inning, they loaded the bases on three singles with one out off of

Brian Kingman Brian Paul Kingman (born July 27, 1953) is a former Major League Baseball pitcher from 1979 to 1983 for the Oakland Athletics and San Francisco Giants. He attended the University of California, Santa Barbara before signing with the Athletics in ...

Oscar Gamble Oscar Charles Gamble (December 20, 1949 – January 31, 2018) was an American professional baseball outfielder and designated hitter, who played in Major League Baseball (MLB) for 17 seasons, from to , for seven teams: the Chicago White Sox ...

's sacrifice fly scored a run off of Bob Owchinko before Graig Nettles capped the scoring with a three-run home run to make it 13–3 Yankees. Frazier pitched innings in relief to earn the win as the Yankees took a 2–0 series lead.

Game 3

Prior to the game,

inexplicably dropped Willie Randolph from the leadoff spot in the batting order to ninth. Randolph kept any ill feelings to himself and broke a scoreless pitching duel between

Dave Righetti David Allan Righetti (born November 28, 1958), nicknamed "Rags", is an American professional baseball coach and former player. A left-handed pitcher, Righetti played in Major League Baseball from 1979 through 1995 for the New York Yankees, San F ...

and

Matt Keough Matthew Lon Keough ( ; July 3, 1955 – May 1, 2020) was an American professional baseball player. He played in Major League Baseball (MLB) as a right-handed pitcher from through for the Oakland Athletics (1977–1983), New York Yankees (1983 ...

with a homer in the sixth. That run would be all Righetti would need through six innings. Series MVP Graig Nettles plated three more runs in the ninth with a bases-loaded double resulting when A's center fielder

turned the wrong way on his fly ball.

pitched six shutout innings and Ron Davis pitched two scoreless innings before giving way to

, who retired the side in the ninth to clinch the pennant. The most widely accepted debut of "the wave" occurred during Game 3, led by Krazy George Henderson.

Composite box

1981 ALCS (3–0):

over

References

External links

1981 ALCS at Baseball-Reference
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