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.
Silence the hometown crowd and then roll to the victory.
It took a few innings, but the only celebrating in the 80s Diamond Gems Tournament championship game at Baltimore’s Memorial Stadium was in the dugout of the 1981 Los Angeles Dodgers.
By the fifth inning, the Dodgers were well on their way to a 13-2 win over the 1983 Baltimore Orioles to claim the title.
The Dodgers banged out 15 hits that included five homers with two coming from Rick Monday.
Monday finished with four hits and four runs scored, while driving in six.
It was Monday who scored the first run of the contest off Baltimore starter Scott McGregor in the second inning on a RBI single by Bill Russell.
In the fourth, Mike Scioscia smacked a long drive that ended up being a triple that scored Monday following his double. Davey Lopes bashed a two-run homer and it was 4-0.
Monday drilled a three-run homer in the fifth against new Baltimore pitcher Storm Davis and the Dodgers were up by seven runs.
Baltimore finally got to Los Angeles starter Fernando Valenzuela in the sixth.
Rich Dauer had a RBI double and then is scored on a single by Todd Cruz, but that’s all the Orioles could muster the rest of the way, while Dodgers were just warming up.
Jim Palmer, who worked a scoreless sixth for the Orioles, got tagged by Monday in the seventh for a two-run homer.
Things got worse for the Orioles in the eighth as the Dodgers added their final four runs.
Sammy Stewart, who got the last three outs of the seventh, gave up solo homers to Ken Landreaux and Dusty Baker to begin the eighth.
Stewart was replaced by Allan Ramirez, who didn’t record an out and eventually walked Monday with the bases loaded.
Tippy Martinez took over on the mound and Scioscia hit a sacrifice fly to end the scoring.
Valenzuela earned the victory as he gave up seven hits and fanned six. Bob Welch finished for the Dodgers as he entered the game with the bases jammed in the eighth with one out. He retired the last five hitters to set off the party for the Dodgers.
Championship Game
(6) 1981 Los Angeles Dodgers 13, (4) 1983 Baltimore Orioles 2
Semifinals
(4) 1983 Baltimore Orioles 5, (16) 1986 Houston Astros 4, (10)
(6) 1981 Los Angeles Dodgers 4, (10) 1986 Boston Red Sox 3
Second Round Results
(16) 1986 Houston Astros 7, (9) 1985 St. Louis Cardinals 4
(4) 1983 Baltimore Orioles 5, (12) 1981 New York Yankees 2
(10) 1986 Boston Red Sox 6, (15) 1984 Chicago Cubs 5 (14)
(6) 1981 Los Angeles Dodgers 6, (14) 1983 Chicago White Sox 4
First Round Results
(16) 1986 Houston Astros 5, (1) 1986 New York Mets 3
(9) 1985 St. Louis Cardinals 4, (8) 1987 Minnesota Twins 2
(4) 1983 Baltimore Orioles 2, (13) 1985 Toronto Blue Jays 1
(12) 1981 New York Yankees 5, (5) 1988 Los Angeles Dodgers 3 (11)
(15) 1984 Chicago Cubs 7, (2) 1984 Detroit Tigers 2
(10) 1986 Boston Red Sox 5, (7) 1985 Kansas City Royals 1
(14) 1983 Chicago White Sox 4, (3) 1989 Oakland A’s 2
(6) 1981 Los Angeles Dodgers 12, (11) 1982 Milwaukee Brewers 6