1976 National League Championship Series
| 1976 National League Championship Series | ||||||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| ||||||||||
| Dates | October 9–12 | |||||||||
| Umpires | Ed Sudol (crew chief) Jerry Dale Dick Stello Ed Vargo Doug Harvey Terry Tata | |||||||||
| Broadcast | ||||||||||
| Television | ABC WLWT (Reds' broadcast) WPHL-TV (Phillies' broadcast) | |||||||||
| TV announcers | ABC: Al Michaels, Warner Wolf and Tom Seaver WLWT: Ken Coleman and Bill Brown WPHL-TV: Harry Kalas, Richie Ashburn and Andy Musser | |||||||||
| Radio | CBS | |||||||||
| Radio announcers | Ralph Kiner and Jerry Coleman | |||||||||
| ||||||||||
The 1976 National League Championship Series was a postseason series between the two division champions of the National League in the Cincinnati Reds and the Philadelphia Phillies. This was the eighth NLCS held in baseball history. For the fourth time in seven seasons, the Reds won the best-of-five series to reach the World Series. They did so in a three game sweep, winning easily in the first two games before ending the series in their last at bat in Game 3.
Stars of the series for the Reds included
Summary
Cincinnati Reds vs. Philadelphia Phillies
Cincinnati won the series, 3–0.
| Game | Date | Score | Location | Time | Attendance |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | October 9 | Cincinnati Reds – 6, Philadelphia Phillies – 3 | Veterans Stadium | 2:39 | 62,640[1] |
| 2 | October 10 | Cincinnati Reds – 6, Philadelphia Phillies – 2 | Veterans Stadium | 2:24 | 62,651[2] |
| 3 | October 12 | Philadelphia Phillies – 6, Cincinnati Reds – 7 | Riverfront Stadium |
2:43 | 55,047[3] |
Game summaries
Game 1
| Team | 1 | 2 | 3 | 4 | 5 | 6 | 7 | 8 | 9 | R | H | E | |||||||||||||||||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Cincinnati | 0 | 0 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 2 | 0 | 3 | 0 | 6 | 10 | 0 | |||||||||||||||||||||
| Philadelphia | 1 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 2 | 3 | 6 | 1 | |||||||||||||||||||||
| WP: Don Gullett (1–0) LP: Steve Carlton (0–1) Home runs: CIN: George Foster (1) PHI: None | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
Reds starter
Game 2
| Team | 1 | 2 | 3 | 4 | 5 | 6 | 7 | 8 | 9 | R | H | E | |||||||||||||||||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Cincinnati | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 4 | 2 | 0 | 0 | 6 | 6 | 0 | |||||||||||||||||||||
| Philadelphia | 0 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 2 | 10 | 1 | |||||||||||||||||||||
| WP: Pat Zachry (1–0) LP: Jim Lonborg (0–1) Sv: Pedro Borbón (1) Home runs: CIN: None PHI: Greg Luzinski (1) | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
Buoyed by an RBI single by
Game 3
| Team | 1 | 2 | 3 | 4 | 5 | 6 | 7 | 8 | 9 | R | H | E | |||||||||||||||||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Philadelphia | 0 | 0 | 0 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 2 | 2 | 1 | 6 | 11 | 0 | |||||||||||||||||||||
| Cincinnati | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 4 | 0 | 3 | 7 | 9 | 2 | |||||||||||||||||||||
| WP: Rawly Eastwick (1–0) LP: Gene Garber (0–1) Home runs: PHI: None CIN: George Foster (2), Johnny Bench (1) | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
Once again, the Phillies got a strong starting pitching performance that went for naught. Jim Kaat held the Reds to one hit after six innings. Meanwhile, his teammates provided him a 3–0 lead via a consecutive doubles in the fourth by Mike Schmidt and Greg Luzinski off of Gary Nolan and RBI doubles by Garry Maddox and Schmidt in the seventh after a leadoff walk off of Manny Sarmiento.
But in the bottom of the seventh, Kaat began to lose it.
In the eighth, the Phillies rallied against Reds closer Rawly Eastwick. Jay Johnstone led off with a double and went to third on a wild pitch as Bob Boone walked. Larry Bowa doubled in Johnstone and Dave Cash hit a sacrifice fly to give the Phillies the lead at 5–4. The Phillies added another run in the top of the ninth on an RBI triple by Johnstone to make it 6–4.
With Reed still on the mound in the ninth, Foster and Bench hit back-to-back homers to tie the game. Gene Garber relieved and promptly gave up a single to Concepción. Tom Underwood came on to surrender a walk to Geronimo. Pinch-hitter Ed Armbrister sacrificed the runners to second and third. Underwood then intentionally walked Pete Rose to load the bases. With the infield drawn in, Griffey hit a high bouncer toward Bobby Tolan playing first. Tolan charged, but the ball got past him and Concepción scored to send the Reds to their second straight World Series; they would sweep the Yankees in four games, becoming the only team in the divisional era (to date) to go undefeated in the postseason.
Composite box
1976 NLCS (3–0): Cincinnati Reds over Philadelphia Phillies
| Team | 1 | 2 | 3 | 4 | 5 | 6 | 7 | 8 | 9 | R | H | E | |||||||||||||||||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Cincinnati Reds | 0 | 0 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 6 | 6 | 3 | 3 | 19 | 25 | 2 | |||||||||||||||||||||
| Philadelphia Phillies | 1 | 1 | 0 | 1 | 1 | 0 | 2 | 2 | 3 | 11 | 27 | 2 | |||||||||||||||||||||
| Total attendance: 180,338 Average attendance: 60,113 | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
References
- ^ "1976 NLCS Game 1 – Cincinnati Reds vs. Philadelphia Phillies". Retrosheet. Retrieved September 13, 2009.
- ^ "1976 NLCS Game 2 – Cincinnati Reds vs. Philadelphia Phillies". Retrosheet. Retrieved September 13, 2009.
- ^ "1976 NLCS Game 3 – Philadelphia Phillies vs. Cincinnati Reds". Retrosheet. Retrieved September 13, 2009.
