The 2022 World Series begins tomorrow, with the Philadelphia Phillies in town to take on the Houston Astros. It’s the Astros fourth World Series in the last six seasons, and the fifth in the history of the franchise. Meanwhile, the Phillies are in their first World Series since 2009, and their fifth in franchise history, as well.
This is not the first time the Astros and Phillies have met in the postseason. As outlined in this space earlier this week, if a series between the Astros and Phillies has a bit of a familiar feel, it’s because back in 1980, when the Astros were in the National League, the two teams met in the 1980 NLCS. It went down at the time, and remains, one of the most exciting playoff series in MLB history, with four of the five games going to extra innings.
The fifth and deciding game (back then the LCS round was a best of five, unlike today’s best of seven format) was one of the most painful moments in Houston sports history. John McClain, retired writer for the Houston Chronicle, says it was the first truly painful collapse in Houston sports history. Up three runs in the eighth inning, and with Hall of Famer Nolan Ryan on the mound, the Astros blew the lead and lost the game.
The Phillies would go on to win the first World Series in their franchise history. The Astros would go home. Painful indeed. It’s one of the more exciting games in playoff history, and while it’s probably still painful for Astro fans, it is worth reliving just to immerse yourself into a simpler time and place in the baseball world. So here is a condensed version of the game (full version at the bottom of the post), with a running commentary below. Enjoy!
In this Youtube, the game is being broadcast on WPHL Channel 17 in Philadelphia. Back in 1980, the local markets could broadcast the MLB playoff games, along with a national feed on ABC. Today, the local stations (in the case of Houston, it’d be AT&T Sportsnet) are done after the regular season is over.
0:10 — that voice you hear on the broadcast, if it sounds familiar, is the voice of legendary broadcaster, the late Harry Kalas. Kalas’ son is Todd Kalas, the current TV play by play voice of the Houston Astros, and voice doppelgänger for his old man.
9:23 — We get the starting lineups. Worth noting in the Phillies lineup — Pete Rose batted leadoff. This would be years before the gambling allegations that got him banned from baseball would surface, and even more years before the allegations that he had an affinity for high school aged girls would surface.
0:57 — It’s Astros lineup time! We get a Jose Cruz sighting and a Cesar Cedeno sigthing, too! To someone like me, who was lining in New England as a kid at the time of this game, and without cable TV, Cruz and Cedeno were like the Astros Dynamic Duo, a championship tag team with rainbow jersey tights!
1:35 — Nolan Ryan strikes out Pete Rose on a ball that is about six inches outside. Look, Nolan Ryan is the all time strikeout king, so I respect him, but if that all is indicative of the strike zone in 1980, no wonder he has over 5,000 strikeouts. Man.
2:08 — Looking at 1879 Art Howe, it’s even more ridiculous that Phillip Seymour Hoffman played him in “Moneyball.” Seriously, what was that??
2:20 — On a team with Bake McBride and Gary Maddox, the best afro on the Phillies team belongs to white starting pitcher Marty Bystrom.
4:24 — Bob Boone a two run base hit! And somewhere his son Aaron is bragging about being the Yankees manager someday!
5:20 — Holy smokes, that relay throw to the plate from Manny Trillo! You don’t see that from a second baseman anymore!
7:03 — Ok, a couple random thoughts here, as I am seven minutes into this video. First, I love the graphics between innings showing the score and game information. The most rudimentary block font ever, it’s like an Instagram story being done by my dad. Second, how the hell did anyone hit home runs in the Astrodome back then. That place was a cavern!
10:37 — Man, there was some action on the base paths! The Astros were thrown out at the plate twice early in the game. Jose Altuve would have fit perfectly on this 1980 Astros team!
11:42 — Wow, Greg Luzinski needed to be a DH really, really badly. That’s some tough glove work right there.
12:48 — Nothing says “baseball in 1980” quite like a mustachioed middle reliever with unruly dark hair and a golf ball sized chew in his cheek. All hail, Warren Brusstar!
14:24 — Here comes an Astro rally … Terry Pull base hit (again)! Then after two outs, here it comes… Walling an RBI single! Wild pitch, run scored! BATTLESTAR GALACTICA PROMO during the pitching change! Art Howe RBI triple! The Astros are going to the World Series!! … oh wait….
17:00 — Kalas back on the play by play, this is good news for the Phillies. Oh man, infield single, bunt single, bases loaded. Pete Rose, bases loaded walk, and Ryan is chased, wow. Now, a bases loaded fielder’s choice, 5-4. And if you had “Mike Schmidt strikes out, but Del Unser gets the game tying RBI” as a prop bet, you’re probably having fun with the island you still own.
19:45 — Manny Trillo hits a go ahead triple, and my big takeaway is that it looks like Dusty Baker had not invented the high five yet. Lots of two hand low fives in celebration!
20:30 — Hey, it’s Tim McGraw’s dad, blowing a save!
26:00 — AND THAT’S THE BALL GAME … Astros lose, 8-7. But it’s okay, because in 10 years, the Lord will deliver unto us a child by the name of Jose Altuve, and he will deliver us a title.
Full version of the game, if you have a couple hours to kill, is below:
Listen to Sean Pendergast on SportsRadio 610 from 6 a.m. to 10 a.m. weekdays. Also, follow him on Twitter at twitter.com/SeanTPendergast and like him on Facebook at facebook.com/SeanTPendergast.
This article appears in Jan 1 – Dec 31, 2022.
