The 1983 National League Championship Series was a best-of-five matchup between the West Division champion

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) West division. Established in 1883 in the city of Brooklyn ...

and the East Division champion

Philadelphia Phillies The Philadelphia Phillies are an American professional baseball team based in Philadelphia. They compete in Major League Baseball (MLB) as a member of the National League (NL) National League East, East division. Since 2004, the team's home sta ...

. It was the 15th NLCS in all. The Phillies beat the Dodgers, three games to one, and would go on lose the

World Series The World Series is the annual championship series of Major League Baseball (MLB) in the United States and Canada, contested since 1903 between the champion teams of the American League (AL) and the National League (NL). The winner of the World ...

to the

Baltimore Orioles The Baltimore Orioles are an American professional baseball team based in Baltimore. The Orioles compete in Major League Baseball (MLB) as a member club of the American League (AL) American League East, East division. As one of the American L ...

Background

The Phillies post-season roster had nine players 30 years of age or over and three rookies, Charlie Hudson, Kevin Gross, and Juan Samuel. The Dodgers entered the series as favorites after winning 11 of 12 games against the Phillies in the regular season. The Dodgers had shut out the Phillies five times, allowed only 15 runs total, and held Phillies hitters to a .187 batting average. However, Philadelphia came into the NLCS torrid, having won 23-8 games in September/October. They were nicknamed the "Wheeze Kids" because of the numerous veteran players on the team and it was also a play off the 1950 National League pennant winning

Phillies The Philadelphia Phillies are an American professional baseball team based in Philadelphia. They compete in Major League Baseball (MLB) as a member of the National League (NL) East division. Since 2004, the team's home stadium has been Citize ...

, who had been nicknamed the " Whiz Kids", due to their youth. This was the third NLCS meeting between the Dodgers and Phillies, with Los Angeles winning both prior meetings in four games in 1977 and

1978 Events January * January 1 – Air India Flight 855, a Boeing 747 passenger jet, crashes off the coast of Bombay, killing 213. * January 5 – Bülent Ecevit, of Republican People's Party, CHP, forms the new government of Turkey (42nd go ...

Summary

Philadelphia Phillies vs. Los Angeles Dodgers

Game summaries

Game 1

Tuesday, October 4, 1983, at

Dodger Stadium Dodger Stadium is a baseball stadium in the Elysian Park neighborhood of Los Angeles, California. It is the home stadium of Major League Baseball's Los Angeles Dodgers. Opened in 1962, it was constructed in less than three years at a cost of ( ...

Los Angeles, California Los Angeles ( ; es, Los Ángeles, link=no , ), often referred to by its initials L.A., is the largest city in the state of California and the second most populous city in the United States after New York City, as well as one of the world' ...

Mike Schmidt Michael Jack Schmidt (born September 27, 1949) is an American former professional baseball third baseman who played his entire 18-season career in Major League Baseball (MLB) for the Philadelphia Phillies. Schmidt was a 12-time All-Star and a ...

hit a two-out homer off

Jerry Reuss Jerry Reuss (born June 19, 1949)—pronounced "royce"—is a former left-handed pitcher in Major League Baseball, best known for his years with the Los Angeles Dodgers. Reuss played for eight teams in his major league career; along with the Dodge ...

in the first, and the Phillies made it hold up as Steve Carlton and

Al Holland Alfred Willis Holland (born August 16, 1952) is a former professional baseball relief pitcher, who played Major League Baseball (MLB) for the Pittsburgh Pirates, San Francisco Giants, Philadelphia Phillies, California Angels, and New York Yankees ...

combined to scatter seven Dodger hits. The Dodgers' only threats came in the sixth, when

Steve Sax Stephen Louis Sax (born January 29, 1960) is an American former professional baseball player and coach. He played as a second baseman in Major League Baseball from 1981 to 1994, most notably as a member of the Los Angeles Dodgers with whom he w ...

singled,

Bill Russell William Felton Russell (February 12, 1934 – July 31, 2022) was an American professional basketball player who played as a center for the Boston Celtics of the National Basketball Association (NBA) from 1956 to 1969. A five-time NBA Most V ...

sacrificed Sax to second, and Sax went to third on a Carlton wild pitch. Carlton retired the last two hitters, however. Another threat came in the eighth when singles by Sax and

Dusty Baker Johnnie B. "Dusty" Baker Jr. (born June 15, 1949) is an American baseball manager and former player who is the manager of the Houston Astros in Major League Baseball (MLB). He previously played in the MLB for 19 seasons, most notably with the L ...

and a walk to Pedro Guerrero loaded the bases, chasing Carlton. Holland came in and retired Mike Marshall for the third out and finished the game.

Game 2

Wednesday, October 5, 1983, at

The Dodgers drew first blood with a

Ken Landreaux Kenneth Francis Landreaux (born December 22, 1954) is an American former professional baseball center fielder. He played in Major League Baseball for the California Angels, Minnesota Twins, and Los Angeles Dodgers from 1977 through 1987. Pla ...

RBI single in the first with two on.

Gary Matthews Gary Nathaniel Matthews Sr. (born July 5, 1950), nicknamed Sarge, is an American former professional baseball left fielder, who played in Major League Baseball (MLB) from through for the San Francisco Giants, Atlanta Braves, Philadelphia Phill ...

tied it for the Phils in the second with a home run off

Fernando Valenzuela Fernando Valenzuela Anguamea (, born November 1, 1960) is a Mexican former professional baseball pitcher. Valenzuela played 17 Major League Baseball (MLB) seasons, from to and to . While he played for six MLB teams, he is best remembered f ...

. Valenzuela and Cy Young Award winner

John Denny John Allen Denny (born November 8, 1952) is an American former professional baseball right-handed pitcher, who played in Major League Baseball (MLB) for the St. Louis Cardinals, Cleveland Indians, Philadelphia Phillies, and Cincinnati Reds, from ...

would continue dueling until the Dodger half of the fifth. Valenzuela led off and reached third when

Garry Maddox Garry Lee Maddox (born September 1, 1949) is an American former professional baseball player and business entrepreneur. He played in Major League Baseball as a center fielder from to . Maddox began his career with the San Francisco Giants but, ...

misplayed a fly-ball. However, with one out, Valenzuela was thrown out at the plate on a Greg Brock ground ball (Brock reached first). Seemingly out of the inning, Denny walked

and then gave up a tie-breaking two-run triple to Pedro Guerrero. The Dodgers' final run came in the eighth when

walked with two outs, stole second, and scored on an RBI single by catcher Jack Fimple. Valenzuela and Tom Niedenfuer would combine to scatter seven hits for the win.

Game 3

Friday, October 7, 1983, at

Veterans Stadium Veterans Stadium was a multi-purpose stadium in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, United States, at the northeast corner of Broad Street and Pattison Avenue, part of the South Philadelphia Sports Complex. The seating capacities were 65,358 for footb ...

Philadelphia, Pennsylvania Philadelphia, often called Philly, is the largest city in the Commonwealth of Pennsylvania, the sixth-largest city in the U.S., the second-largest city in both the Northeast megalopolis and Mid-Atlantic regions after New York City. Sinc ...

With the series shifting to Philadelphia, Dodgers starter Bob Welch was pulled from the game in the second after walking two with one out. A wild pitch and passed ball by reliever Alejandro Pena scored the game's first run. After Bo Diaz walked, Ivan de Jesus's RBI groundout made it 2–0 Phillies. Next inning,

Joe Lefebvre Joseph Henry Lefebvre ( ; born February 22, 1956) is an American former professional baseball player and coach. He played all or parts of six seasons in Major League Baseball with the New York Yankees (1980), San Diego Padres (1981–83) and Phila ...

's sacrifice fly with two on made it 3–0 Phillies. In the top of the fourth, rookie Charles Hudson allowed a leadoff single, then a two-out two-run homer by Mike Marshall to cut the Phillies' lead to 3–2. However, Hudson only allowed two other hits and pitched a complete game.

's leadoff home run in the bottom of the inning extended the Phillies' lead to 4–2. Next inning, Dodgers reliever

Rick Honeycutt Frederick Wayne Honeycutt (born June 29, 1954) is an American former professional baseball coach and pitcher. Honeycutt pitched in Major League Baseball (MLB) for six different teams over 21 years, from 1977 to 1997. He pitched in 30 post-season ...

allowed a one-out single and double, then Matthews's two-run single off of

Joe Beckwith Thomas Joseph Beckwith (January 28, 1955May 22, 2021) was an American baseball pitcher who played seven seasons in Major League Baseball (MLB). He played for the Los Angeles Dodgers and Kansas City Royals from 1979 to 1986. He threw right-hand ...

made it 6–2 Phillies. Matthews hit another RBI single in the seventh off of

Pat Zachry Patrick Paul Zachry (born April 24, 1952) is a former professional baseball pitcher. He pitched in Major League Baseball from to , and is likely best remembered as one of the players the Cincinnati Reds sent to the New York Mets in the infamous ...

in the seventh that capped the scoring at 7–2 Phillies, giving them a 2–1 series lead.

Game 4

Saturday, October 8, 1983, at

Series MVP

hit a three-run homer in the first off

after two straight two-out singles.

's leadoff home run in the fourth off of Steve Carlton put the Dodgers on the board. In the fifth,

Pete Rose Peter Edward Rose Sr. (born April 14, 1941), also known by his nickname "Charlie Hustle", is an American former professional baseball player and manager. Rose played in Major League Baseball (MLB) from 1963 to 1986, most prominently as a membe ...

hit a leadoff single and scored on

's double to knock Reuss out of the game. Schmidt then moved to third on a groundout and after an intentional walk, scored on

's fielder's choice off of

Sixto Lezcano Sixto Joaquin Lezcano Curras (born November 28, 1953) is a Puerto Rican former professional baseball outfielder, who played in Major League Baseball (MLB) for 12 seasons (1974–1985). He played for five MLB teams and won a Gold Glove during ...

added a two-run homer in the sixth off of

after a two-out single. Baker drove in the Dodgers' other run in the eighth with an RBI single off of

Ron Reed Ronald Lee Reed (born November 2, 1942) is a former two-sport star who spent two seasons as a power forward in the National Basketball Association (NBA) before spending nearly two decades as a Major League Baseball pitcher. Early life and educa ...

after a leadoff single. One Dodger fan could be heard screaming "It was a whole new ballgame!" but the Dodger rally was short-lived as Steve Carlton pitched his second win, scattering 10 hits with relief help from Reed and

. The Phillies moved to their second

in four seasons. Out of the 14 postseason series that

played in, this was the only one in which he did not record an RBI. He did hit well in the series, compiling six hits and one walk in 17 plate appearances. Oddly enough, in the 13 series in which Rose had an RBI, he never drove in more than two runs in any of them.

Composite box

1983 NLCS (3–1):

over

Broadcasting

1983 marked the last time that local telecasts of League Championship Series games were allowed. In 1982, Major League Baseball recognized a problem with this due to the emergence of cable superstations such as WTBS in

Atlanta Atlanta ( ) is the capital and most populous city of the U.S. state of Georgia. It is the seat of Fulton County, the most populous county in Georgia, but its territory falls in both Fulton and DeKalb counties. With a population of 498,715 ...

and

WGN-TV WGN-TV (channel 9) is an Independent station (North America), independent television station in Chicago, Chicago, Illinois, United States. Owned by Nexstar Media Group, it is sister station, sister to the company's sole radio property, talk ra ...

Chicago (''City in a Garden''); I Will , image_map = , map_caption = Interactive Map of Chicago , coordinates = , coordinates_footnotes = , subdivision_type = Country , subdivision_name ...

. When TBS tried to petition for the right to do a "local"

Braves The Atlanta Braves are an American professional baseball team based in the Atlanta metropolitan area. The Braves compete in Major League Baseball (MLB) as a member club of the National League (NL) National League East, East division. The Braves ...

broadcast of the 1982 NLCS, Major League Baseball got a Philadelphia federal court to ban them on the grounds that as a cable superstation, TBS couldn't have a nationwide telecast competing with

ABC ABC are the first three letters of the Latin script known as the alphabet. ABC or abc may also refer to: Arts, entertainment, and media Broadcasting * American Broadcasting Company, a commercial U.S. TV broadcaster ** Disney–ABC Television ...

's.

References

External links

1983 NLCS at Baseball-Reference
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National League Championship Series The National League Championship Series (NLCS) 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 winners of the two National ...

Los Angeles Dodgers postseason Philadelphia Phillies postseason

1980s in Philadelphia