How much do you know about World Series: The 1980s?

Quiz Answer Key and Fun Facts

1. The World Series was brought in with style in the 1980s decade by seeing the Philadelphia Phillies win their first World Series in 1980. They were led during the season by third baseman Mike Schmidt who won was the NL MVP. Which team that experienced their first-ever World Series appearance did the Phillies defeat in six games?

Answer: Kansas City Royals

Schmidt was also the World Series MVP in 1980. The series experienced three one-run games along with two two-run games. The Phillies won the series four games to two, despite the Royals clubbing eight home runs, and out-hitting the Phillies 60-59. The Phillies' Steve Carlton won two games with 17 strikeouts, while the Royals' reliever Dan Quisenberry lost two games.

2. The 1981 season was a split season. It saw the Dodgers and Yankees go at it in the World Series. The Yankees had the AL Rookie of the Year in pitcher Dave Righetti, while the Dodgers had their own Rookie of the Year pitcher in who?

Answer: Fernando Valenzuela

The others weren't Dodgers. Valenzuela also won the NL Cy Young Award in 1981. Fernando would throw one complete game in the third game and come away with the win. The Dodgers would win the series four games to two, and for the first time in Major League history, more than one player won the World Series MVP award.

They were Ron Cey, Pedro Guerrero, and Steve Yeager of the Dodgers. Dodger pitchers Jerry Reuss, Burt Hooton, and Steve Howe won the team's other games.

3. The St. Louis Cardinals won their first World Series in 15 years in 1982. In a close series, which team did they defeat four games to three, off-setting two wins by Mike Caldwell, and two saves by Bob McClure?

Answer: Milwaukee Brewers

The Brewers were in their first World Series since their franchise began in 1969 as the Seattle Pilots. Cardinal catcher Darrell Porter was the series MVP with this eight hits, and Joaquin Andujar won two games also. There were two blowouts in the series.

The Brewers won game one 10-0, then the Cardinals won game six 13-1. Willie McGee of the Cardinals and Ted Simmons of the Brewers both hit two home runs in the series.

4. 1983 saw Mike Schmidt and the Phillies still on a roll, going to their second World Series in four seasons. But the Phillies would not have the same result as 1980 and lost the series four games to one. Which team would stymie their hopes?

Answer: Baltimore Orioles

The Orioles were led by Cal Ripken Jr. who won the season MVP, but would only bat .167 in the series. Oriole Rick Dempsey took the MVP honors. The Phillies batted a team .195 average, and Mike Schmidt batted .050 in the series. Pete Rose and Bo Diaz were the only Phillies to hit over .300.

5. The 1984 World Series found the Detroit Tigers in the promised land, going against a team that had never been to a World Series before. Which NL team was this?

Answer: San Diego Padres

Led by Dick Williams in his third season at the helm of San Diego, the team won a franchise-high 92 games in 1984. Tiger Cy Young winner Willie Hernandez helped the Padre dream come to a poor reality. Detroit won the series four games to one, with Jack Morris winning two games for the Tigers, and Alan Trammell winning the series MVP.

The Padres out-hit the Tigers 44-40. Tiger manager Sparky Anderson became the first manager in history to win a World Series in both leagues, winning his first in 1975 with the Reds.

6. Manager Dick Howser took which team to its first World Series crown in 1985?

Answer: Kansas City Royals

It was the Royals' second World Series in the decade, and this time they walked away with a four games to three win over the Cardinals. The Royals' pitching staff threw a 1.98 ERA, led by series MVP Bret Saberhagen who had two complete game wins. The Royals had 28 more hits than the Cardinals, but ironically, the Cardinals struck out 56 Royals in the five games. John Tudor led them with 14.

7. The 1986 Mets were the only team to win 100 games in the season, going 108-54. They took their momentum into the World Series, and tried to stop AL Cy Young and MVP winner Roger Clemens. Which team did the Mets go up against in this series?

Answer: Boston Red Sox

Clemens was a Bostonian until 1997 when he went to the Blue Jays. Roger went 24-4 in the season, but came away with two no-decisions after being chased from games two and six. The Mets had five pitchers win between 14 and 18 games in the season, and would be ample enough to strike out 53 Red Sox hitters.

The Mets won the series four games to three, and the historical moment of the series came in game six with the ground ball that Bill Buckner misjudged.

8. The Minnesota Twins brought Minneapolis fans their first World Series bragging rights in 1987, by putting down the St. Louis Cardinals four games to three. Which Minnesota pitcher was the series MVP?

Answer: Frank Viola

Both Tudor and Worrell were both Cardinals. 1986 saw Blyleven set a Major League record for allowing 50 home runs in a season, and Bert encored it with 46 in 1987. Viola went 17-10 in the season and went 2-1 in the series. The Cardinals did bring their bats as Terry Pendleton batted .342, Tony Pena .409, and Willie McGee .370 in the series.

There were two blowouts in the series, both provided by the Twins. In game one, they beat the Cardinals 10-1, then in game six by a score of 11-5.

9. 1988 was a west coast World Series when the Dodgers went up against the Athletics. The historical moment in the series was provided in game one, and with his only at-bat, this injured player hit a pinch-hit home run for the Dodgers to win the game, which seemed to set the stage for the series outcome. Which player was this?

Answer: Kirk Gibson

The others were never Dodgers. Gibson, bad knees and all who could barely walk up to the plate, entered the game upon Tommy Lasorda's direction as a pinch-hitter. Kirk hit this historical walk-off two-run shot in the bottom of the ninth inning with two outs, and propelled the Dodgers to a 5-4 game one win.

The Athletics would never rebound, and lose the series four games to one. Dodger Orel Hershiser was the series MVP for his two wins and 17 strikeouts.

10. 1989 was originally known as the "Bay Bridge Series", but before the series would end, it became known as the "Earthquake Series". It found the Oakland Athletics in their second consecutive World Series, going head-to-head against the San Francisco Giants. The Athletics pummeled the Giants in the four game series. Which game was interrupted due to the earthquake?

Answer: 3

The 1989 series was the first World Series sweep since 1976 when the Reds blanked the Yankees. The Loma Prieta earthquake struck on October 17, 1989, at 5:04pm PST. Game three was interrupted for 10 days, with the series resuming on October 27. The Athletics shook the Giants up before the quake by shutting them out in game one, then defeating them 5-1 in game two, then continued after the resumption. Oakland outscored San Francisco 32-14. Both Dave Stewart and Mike Moore won two games for the Athletics, with Stewart picking up the MVP.

Source: Author Nightmare

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How much do you know about World Series: The 1980s? | Quiz

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