1980 Tournament Preview

Philadelphia pitcher Tug McGraw celebrates the first world championship for the Phillies.

Editor’s note: The 1980 Tournament games are being played with Strat-o-Matic cards and dice. The designated hitter will be used for any games involving American League teams. Injuries will only be used during the game when they occur. For this tournament, the rules include a three-man pitching rotation using the best lineups available.

Three visits to the post-season during the 1970s set the stage for the 1980 Philadelphia Phillies as the squad made their first appearance in the World Series since 1950.

The Phillies lost to the New York Yankees during the 1950 Fall Classic, but 30 years later, the result would be difference for the club’s long-suffering fans.

Philadelphia defeated the Kansas City Royals in six games to win the first world championship in franchise history.

There are many great players that fans will recognize during this single elimination tourney it progresses.

The Phillies featured National League Most Valuable Player Mike Schmidt and Cy Young Award winner Steve Carlton.

George Brett, who batted .390 that season, helped the Royals reach the World Series as he was the AL MVP.

Baltimore’s Steve Stone won the Cy Young Award in the AL, while Oakland’s Rickey Henderson announced his presence with 100 stolen bases.

While the tournament is single elimination, there will be a seven-game World Series between the final two teams.

The brackets will be broken down by AL and NL as they will be seeded by overall record.

Here are the seeds for event based on record with ties broken by head-to-head results.

In the AL, the New York Yankees are the top seed and the Baltimore Orioles are in the two spot. Because of the 14-team bracket, those two teams will gets byes in the opening round.

The Houston Astros was the No. 1 team in the NL. With a 12-team bracket, the Astros, Los Angeles Dodgers, Phillies and Montreal Expos are the top seeds that receive a bye into the second round.

1980 AL Tournament
First Round Pairings

(1) New York Yankees (103-59), bye
(9) Minnesota Twins (77-84) at (8) Oakland Athletics (83-79)
(13) California Angels (65-95) at (4) Milwaukee Brewers (86-76)
(12) Toronto Blue Jays (67-95) at (5) Boston Red Sox (83-77)
(2) Baltimore Orioles (100-62), bye
(10) Texas Rangers (76-85) at (7) Cleveland Indians (79-81)
(14) Seattle Mariners (59-103) at (3) Kansas City Royals (97-65)
(11) Chicago White Sox (70-90) at (6) Detroit Tigers (84-78)

1980 NL Tournament
First Round Pairings

(1) Houston Astros (93-70), bye
(9) St. Louis Cardinals (74-88) at (8) San Francisco Giants (75-86)
(4) Montreal Expos (90-72), bye
(12) Chicago Cubs (64-98) at (5) Cincinnati Reds (89-73)
(2) Los Angeles Dodgers (92-71), bye
(10) San Diego Padres (73-89) at (7) Atlanta Braves (81-80)
(3) Philadelphia Phillies (91-71), bye
(11) New York Mets (67-95) at (6) Pittsburgh Pirates (83-79)