1980 National League West tie-breaker game
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| Date | October 6, 1980 | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
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| Venue | Dodger Stadium | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| City | Los Angeles, California | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Umpires | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Attendance | 51,127 | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Television | ABC KRIV-TV (HOU) KTTV (LAD) | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| TV announcers | ABC: Al Michaels and Bob Uecker KRIV-TV: Gene Elston, Dewayne Staats and Larry Dierker KTTV: Vin Scully, Jerry Doggett and Ross Porter | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Radio | CBS KPRC (HOU) KABC (LAD) | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Radio announcers | CBS: Lindsey Nelson and Jerry Coleman KPRC: Elston, Staats and Dierker KABC: Scully, Doggett and Porter | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
The 1980 National League West tie-breaker game was a one-game extension to Major League Baseball's (MLB) 1980 regular season, played between the Houston Astros and Los Angeles Dodgers to decide the winner of the National League's (NL) West Division. The game was played on October 6, 1980, at Dodger Stadium in Los Angeles, California. It was necessary after the Dodgers overcame a three-game deficit in the final three games of the season and both teams finished with identical win–loss records of 92–70. The Dodgers won a coin flip late in the season which, by rule at the time, awarded them home field for the game.
The Astros won the game, 7–1, with Houston starter Joe Niekro throwing a complete game. This victory advanced the Astros to the 1980 NL Championship Series (NLCS), in which they lost to the Philadelphia Phillies, ending the Astros' season. In baseball statistics, the tie-breaker counted as the 163rd regular season game for both teams, with all events in the game added to regular season statistics.
The Cincinnati Reds had won the West Division in 1979, with the Astros finishing 1.5 games back in second and the Dodgers 11.5 back in third.[1] However, Cincinnati went on to lose the 1979 NLCS in three games to the eventual World Series champion Pittsburgh Pirates, ending their season.[1] The Astros acquired Joe Morgan and Nolan Ryan via free agency during the offseason and the Dodgers signed Dave Goltz.[2][3][4] Dave Kindred of The Washington Post, George Vecsey of The New York Times, and Astros' relief pitcher Joe Sambito all credited Houston's success in 1980 to Morgan's leadership.[5][6][7]
The Reds attained early success in 1980 with an eight-game winning streak to open the season, and held at least a share of first place in the division until April 30.[8] They were not as successful over the remainder of the season, only occasionally taking the division lead and last holding it on August 16.[8] The Astros held the lead for the majority of the season thereafter, including a three-game lead over Los Angeles entering the final series of the season. The series matched the Astros with the Dodgers for three games at Dodger Stadium. The Dodgers won all three games, all by a single run, stopping the Astros from clinching a division championship as the two teams sat tied at 92–70.[5] Kindred described the Astros as losing each game of the series by "fail[ing] to make elementary fielding plays."[5] The final game included a run-scoring pinch hit single by Manny Mota, who had almost exclusively been a coach and not a player that season, and a home run by Ron Cey which scored Steve Garvey, who had reached base in the previous at bat on an error.[5][9] The Dodgers needed each of these runs as they won the game 4–3.[9]
