1981 National League Championship Series

The 1981 National League Championship Series was a best-of-five series to end the 1981 National League season. The series featured the first-half West Division champion Los Angeles Dodgers and the second-half East Division champion Montreal Expos. The Dodgers won the series three games to two over the Expos, thanks to a ninth-inning home run in Game 5 by Rick Monday in what has ever since been referred to as "Blue Monday" by Expos fans.

1981 National League Championship Series
Teams
Team (Wins) Manager Season
Los Angeles Dodgers (3) Tommy Lasorda 36–21, .632, GA: ½ (1st half)
27–26, .509, GB: 6 (2nd half)
Montreal Expos (2) Jim Fanning 30–25, .545, GB: 4 (1st half)
30–23, .566, GA: ½ (2nd half)
DatesOctober 13–19
MVPBurt Hooton (Los Angeles)
UmpiresPaul Pryor
Eric Gregg
Paul Runge
Dutch Rennert
Harry Wendelstedt
Joe West
NLDS
Broadcast
TelevisionNBC
CBC
SRC (French-language broadcast)
KTTV (Dodgers' broadcast)
TV announcersNBC: Dick Enberg and Tom Seaver
CBC: Dave Van Horne and Duke Snider
SRC: Jean-Pierre Roy and Guy Ferron
KTTV: Vin Scully, Jerry Doggett and Ross Porter
RadioCBS
Radio announcersJack Buck and Jerry Coleman

The Dodgers would go on to defeat the New York Yankees in the World Series.

Background

Due to the 1981 Major League Baseball strike, a team had to win two postseason series in order to go to the World Series. Teams that finished first in their division in the first and second halves of the season advanced to the postseason. This was the first year the baseball postseason had three rounds, an arrangement that would permanently return beginning with the 1995 season. The Expos advanced to the NLCS after defeating the defending world champion Philadelphia Phillies in the NL Division Series three games to two, and the Dodgers made their way to the NLCS after beating the Houston Astros three games to two in the NLDS.

This was also the first NLCS since 1973 that did not feature either the Philadelphia Phillies or their cross-state rival Pittsburgh Pirates, and only the third since the NLCS was first played in 1969.

Summary

Montreal Expos vs. Los Angeles Dodgers

Los Angeles won the series, 3–2.

GameDateScoreLocationTimeAttendance 
1October 13Montreal Expos – 1, Los Angeles Dodgers – 5Dodger Stadium2:4751,273[1] 
2October 14Montreal Expos – 3, Los Angeles Dodgers – 0Dodger Stadium2:4853,463[2] 
3October 16Los Angeles Dodgers – 1, Montreal Expos – 4Olympic Stadium2:2754,372[3] 
4October 17Los Angeles Dodgers – 7, Montreal Expos – 1Olympic Stadium3:1454,499[4] 
5October 19Los Angeles Dodgers – 2, Montreal Expos – 1Olympic Stadium2:4136,491[5]

Game summaries

Game 1

Tuesday, October 13, 1981, at Dodger Stadium in Los Angeles, California

Team123456789RHE
Montreal000000001190
Los Angeles02000003X580
WP: Burt Hooton (1–0)   LP: Bill Gullickson (0–1)
Home runs:
MTL: None
LAD: Pedro Guerrero (1), Mike Scioscia (1)

The Dodgers took the first game of the series behind the strong pitching of starter Burt Hooton. For the first seven innings the game stayed close, with the only scoring coming in the second inning when the Dodgers got two runs on an RBI double by Ron Cey and a squeeze bunt by Bill Russell. Hooton and reliever Bob Welch made the 2–0 lead stand up until the eighth when the Dodgers broke the game open with three more runs on back-to-back homers by Pedro Guerrero and Mike Scioscia. The Expos got one run back in the ninth when Larry Parrish doubled home Gary Carter. But reliever Steve Howe came on for the Dodgers and got the final three outs to preserve Los Angeles' victory.

Game 2

Wednesday, October 14, 1981, at Dodger Stadium in Los Angeles, California

Team123456789RHE
Montreal0200010003101
Los Angeles000000000051
WP: Ray Burris (1–0)   LP: Fernando Valenzuela (0–1)

Montreal's Ray Burris helped even the series with a masterful complete game shutout in Game 2. The Dodgers managed only five singles against Burris, and their only real threats, in the sixth and ninth, were foiled by double plays. Typically in what would be a very low-scoring series, the Expos didn't do much more hitting against Dodger starter Fernando Valenzuela. But Montreal did manage to push across two runs in the second on RBI hits by Warren Cromartie and Tim Raines. Montreal added another run in the sixth, aided by Dusty Baker's error in left. Burris did the rest to notch his 3–0 victory.

Game 3

Friday, October 16, 1981, at Olympic Stadium in Montreal, Quebec

Team123456789RHE
Los Angeles000100000170
Montreal00000400X471
WP: Steve Rogers (1–0)   LP: Jerry Reuss (0–1)
Home runs:
LAD: None
MTL: Jerry White (1)

Montreal got another superb pitching performance in Game 3, this time from Steve Rogers, to take a 2–1 lead in the series. Rogers allowed only a single run on a Ron Cey groundout after singles by Dusty Baker and Steve Garvey in the fourth. For a while it looked like Dodger starter Jerry Reuss might make that 1–0 score hold up. But Montreal finally rallied for four runs in the sixth on a run-scoring single by Larry Parrish and a three-run homer by Jerry White. Rogers easily preserved the 4–1 lead over the final three innings, and Montreal was now only one victory away from the World Series.

Game 4

Saturday, October 17, 1981, at Olympic Stadium in Montreal, Quebec

Team123456789RHE
Los Angeles0010000247121
Montreal000100000151
WP: Burt Hooton (2–0)   LP: Bill Gullickson (0–2)
Home runs:
LAD: Steve Garvey (1)
MTL: None

For the first seven innings Game 4 followed the usual pattern of the series, with dominant performances from both starting pitchers. Montreal's Bill Gullickson allowed an unearned run in the third, after Bill Russell reached on Larry Parrish's error and scored on Dusty Baker's double. Los Angeles' Burt Hooton gave up the game-tying run in the fourth on another unearned tally, when Gary Carter reached on Ron Cey's error and scored on a single by Warren Cromartie. The starters yielded nothing more until the eighth, when Steve Garvey's two-run homer put the Dodgers up 3–1 and chased Gullickson. The Dodgers blew the game open with four more runs in the ninth, highlighted by Baker's two-run single. Hooton finally tired in the eighth but the Dodger bullpen got the last five outs and the series was even.

Game 5

Monday, October 19, 1981, at Olympic Stadium in Montreal, Quebec

Team123456789RHE
Los Angeles000010001260
Montreal100000000131
WP: Fernando Valenzuela (1–1)   LP: Steve Rogers (1–1)   Sv: Bob Welch (1)
Home runs:
LAD: Rick Monday (1)
MTL: None

After a rainout (actually a snow/cold out) on Sunday, October 18, Olympic Stadium was only two-thirds full for Game 5 on a cold and drizzly Monday afternoon, which turned out to be the series' most dramatic contest. As usual in the series, the starting pitchers dominated, with the Dodgers' Fernando Valenzuela and the Expos' Ray Burris. Montreal broke on top with a single run in the first when Tim Raines led off with a double and eventually scored on a double play. The Dodgers tied the game in the fifth after Rick Monday singled, went to third on a Pedro Guerrero single, and scored on a groundout. Burris finally left the game in the eighth when the Expos pinch-hit for him. Montreal brought on their ace Steve Rogers to pitch the ninth, and with two out in the inning, he gave up a homer to Monday on a 3–1 count to put the Dodgers up 2–1. The Expos got a couple of two-out walks in the bottom of the ninth off Valenzuela, but Bob Welch came on to get the final out and send the Dodgers to the World Series. It would be the final postseason game played in Montreal and it would take another 31 seasons until the franchise returned to the postseason again as the Washington Nationals.

The date came to be known as "Blue Monday" by Expos' fans.[6][7] Expos' broadcaster Dave Van Horne described the loss as one of the lowest points in team history.[8]

Composite box

1981 NLCS (3–2): Los Angeles Dodgers over Montreal Expos

Team123456789RHE
Los Angeles Dodgers02111005515382
Montreal Expos12010500110344
Total attendance: 250,098   Average attendance: 50,020

Aftermath

The Dodgers went on to defeat the New York Yankees four games to two in the 1981 World Series.

This was the only postseason appearance for the Montreal Expos, before the franchise moved to Washington, D.C. and became the Washington Nationals.

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References
  1. "1981 NLCS Game 1 – Montreal Expos vs. Los Angeles Dodgers". Retrosheet. Retrieved September 13, 2009.
  2. "1981 NLCS Game 2 – Montreal Expos vs. Los Angeles Dodgers". Retrosheet. Retrieved September 13, 2009.
  3. "1981 NLCS Game 3 – Los Angeles Dodgers vs. Montreal Expos". Retrosheet. Retrieved September 13, 2009.
  4. "1981 NLCS Game 4 – Los Angeles Dodgers vs. Montreal Expos". Retrosheet. Retrieved September 13, 2009.
  5. "1981 NLCS Game 5 – Los Angeles Dodgers vs. Montreal Expos". Retrosheet. Retrieved September 13, 2009.
  6. CBC: 2004
  7. NBC: 2004. Monday, October 19, 1981. It was cold, it was damp — and it was the end of the Expos' most successful season. In Montreal, everybody just calls it Blue Monday.
  8. Cowan: 2011. "Everybody who followed the Expos will remember the National League Championship Series of 1981 when they lost out on Blue Monday to the Los Angeles Dodgers," Van Horne said. "That was a low point for all of us because the team had reached an elevated stature within the National League and we were within one game of going to the World Series."
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