I talk a lot about the 1980 Phillies. Recent events notwithstanding, Philadelphia is not terribly accustomed to winning championships, and the first World Series win in Phillies history made a big impression on me at age 4-going-on-5 (that is, the Phillies won Game 6 a few days before my fifth birthday). I've posted several times about commemorating this team in my collection with:
Even if you just restrict to players who played in the postseason with the Phillies, there are a few players left out of the 1980 Burger King Set and the 1981 Coca-Cola set, so they don't do a perfect job of celebrating the Phils' win. Bob Walk, for example, is one; he's pretty notable, too, as he started and won Game 1 of the World Series, and that's why I already featured him. So, in this post, we'll look at additional players and additional cards of that 1980 postseason.
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| 1981 Topps ALCS card. |
To start off, the 1981 Topps set did feature a few postseason cards. Topps wasn't very consistent on this front, as the 1979 Pirates didn't get the same treatment in the 1980 set. Anyway, there's no World Series without an AL team, so this card commemorates the Royals sweeping the Yankees, showing George Brett swinging away.
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| 1981 Topps NLCS card. |
In the NLCS, the Phillies beat the Astros in five games. The fifth game went to the 10th inning, and the Phils won 8-7. In fact, Games 2, 3, and 4 also went to extra innings. It was a close series, as the card indicates.
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| Two copies of a 1981 Topps World Series card. |
I have two of this 1981 Topps card of the 1980 World Series, showing Larry Bowa in a cloud of dust. I don't know the Royals players well enough to say who he's sliding into. In Game 6, Bowa did hit a double off Paul Splittorff in the 6th inning, and then scored when Bob Boone hit a single.
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| Another 1981 Topps World Series card. |
I think Tug McGraw and Mike Schmidt had planned that Schmidt would run to McGraw when they had the final out. Tug started jumping up and down, and then looked around for Schmidt. Schmidt jumped into McGraw's arms just after this photo was snapped. McGraw was beloved in Philly after this.
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| Ramon Aviles. |
Ramon Aviles did not appear in the World Series, but did play in the NLCS. In Game 5 he was used as a pinch runner in the 8th inning, replacing catcher Keith Moreland. Del Unser then hit a single to move Aviles to second base, and Manny Trillo hit a triple to score both Aviles and Unser. Aviles debuted in the majors in 1977 with the Red Sox, and next played with the Phillies in 1979, 1980, and 1981. After the 1981 season, he was traded to the Rangers, but never appeared in the majors again.
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| George Vukovich. |
George Vukovich played in four of the five NLCS games, batting 0-for-3. In Games 2, 3, and 5, he was a pinch hitter, going 0-for-1 all three times. In Game 4, he played right field in the bottom of the 10th inning, after Greg Luzinski had pinch hit for Bake McBride and Luzinski didn't stay in the game. He did not play at all in the World Series. Vukovich played with the Phillies from 1980-1982, then with the Indians from 1983-1985. He played briefly in Japan afterwards.
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| Phillies Future Stars, including Marty Bystrom. |
Marty Bystrom played with the Phillies from 1980-1984, and then with the Yankees from 1984-1985. I couldn't find any cards of Bystrom for this post (I do have a 1984 Topps set, but it's not easily accessible), so I bought this, his rookie card, to be able to complete this post. In the NLCS, Bystrom started Game 5, pitching 5-1/3 innings, giving up one earned run and one unearned run, and taking a no-decision. In the World Series, he was also the starting pitcher for Game 5, again taking no decision, having pitched 5 innings and giving up 3 runs, all earned. Tug McGraw went on to be the winning pitcher.
These other two guys, Jay Loviglio and Jim Wright, were not in the postseason. Loviglio played in 16 games with the Phils in 1980, then played with both Chicago clubs from 1981-1983. Wright never played with the Phillies, but did appear in the majors with the Royals in 1981 and 1982.
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| 1978 Topps Warren Brusstar. |
Pitcher Warren Brusstar was with the Phillies from 1975-1982, and was with both Chicago clubs afterwards, until retiring in 1985. He pitched in the NLCS with the Phils in 1977 and 1978. In the 1980 NLCS, he appeared in relief in two games, winning Game 4 for a 1-0 record. In the World Series, he appeared in relief once, going 2-1/3 innings to finish Game 4, which the Royals won. He also participated in the postseason in the 1981 NLDS, and with the Cubs in the 1984 NLCS. This 1978 is his rookie card; I don't have his 1980 or 1981 cards.
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| Two copies of 1982 Fleer Dickie Noles. |
The earliest cards I seem to have of pitcher Dickie Noles are these, two extremely beat-up 1982 Fleer cards. Noles had a bit of a longer career than some of these others, pitching in the majors from 1979 through 1990 for a variety of teams; he was with Philadelphia 1979-1981, and again in 1990. In the NLCS, he pitched a total of 2-2/3 innings of relief in two games, and in the World Series, he pitched 4-2/3 innings of relief in one game, famously brushing back George Brett.
Between the older posts listed at the top, and Aviles, Vukovich, Bystrom, Brusstar, and Noles, that accounts for all of the 1980 Phillies who played in the postseason. Thanks for reading!
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