1983 National League Championship Series

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1983 National League Championship Series
Team (Wins) Manager(s)
Joe Garagiola
KTTV: Ross Porter and Jerry Doggett
WTAF-TV: Harry Kalas, Andy Musser and Richie Ashburn
RadioCBS
Radio announcersDuke Snider and Jerry Coleman
← 1982 NLCS 1984 →

The 1983 National League Championship Series was a best-of-five matchup between the West Division champion Los Angeles Dodgers and the East Division champion Philadelphia Phillies. It was the 15th NLCS in all. The Phillies beat the Dodgers, three games to one, and would go on to lose the World Series to the Baltimore Orioles.

Background

The Phillies post-season roster had nine players 30 years of age or over and three rookies, Charlie Hudson, Kevin Gross, and Juan Samuel. The Dodgers entered the series as favorites after winning 11 of 12 games against the Phillies in the regular season. The Dodgers had shut out the Phillies five times, allowed only 15 runs total, and held Phillies hitters to a .187 batting average. However, Philadelphia came into the NLCS torrid, having gone 23–8 in September/October. They were nicknamed the "Wheeze Kids" because of the numerous veteran players on the team and it was also a play off the 1950 National League pennant winning Phillies, who had been nicknamed the "Whiz Kids", due to their youth.

This was the third NLCS meeting between the Dodgers and Phillies, with Los Angeles winning both prior meetings in four games in 1977 and 1978.

Summary

Philadelphia Phillies vs. Los Angeles Dodgers

Philadelphia won the series, 3–1.

Game Date Score Location Time Attendance 
1 October 4 Philadelphia Phillies – 1, Los Angeles Dodgers – 0 Dodger Stadium 2:17 55,254[1] 
2 October 5 Philadelphia Phillies – 1, Los Angeles Dodgers – 4 Dodger Stadium 2:44 55,967[2] 
3 October 7 Los Angeles Dodgers – 2, Philadelphia Phillies – 7 Veterans Stadium 2:51 53,490[3] 
4 October 8 Los Angeles Dodgers – 2, Philadelphia Phillies – 7 Veterans Stadium 2:50 64,494[4]

Game summaries

Game 1

Tuesday, October 4, 1983, at

Los Angeles, California

Team 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 R H E
Philadelphia 1 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 1 5 1
Los Angeles 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 7 0
WP: Steve Carlton (1–0)   LP: Jerry Reuss (0–1)   Sv: Al Holland (1)
Home runs:
PHI: Mike Schmidt (1)
LAD: None

Pedro Guerrero loaded the bases, chasing Carlton. Holland came in and retired Mike Marshall
for the third out and ultimately finished the game.

Game 2

Wednesday, October 5, 1983, at

Los Angeles, California

Team 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 R H E
Philadelphia 0 1 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 1 7 2
Los Angeles 1 0 0 0 2 0 0 1 X 4 6 1
WP: Fernando Valenzuela (1–0)   LP: John Denny (0–1)   Sv: Tom Niedenfuer (1)
Home runs:
PHI: Gary Matthews (1)
LAD: None

The Dodgers drew first blood with a

Pedro Guerrero
.

The Dodgers' final run came in the eighth when Bill Russell walked with two outs, stole second, and scored on an RBI single by catcher Jack Fimple. Valenzuela and Tom Niedenfuer would combine to scatter seven hits for the win.

Game 3

Friday, October 7, 1983, at

Philadelphia, Pennsylvania

Team 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 R H E
Los Angeles 0 0 0 2 0 0 0 0 0 2 4 0
Philadelphia 0 2 1 1 2 0 1 0 X 7 9 1
WP: Charles Hudson (1–0)   LP: Bob Welch (0–1)
Home runs:
LAD: Mike Marshall (1)
PHI: Gary Matthews (2)

With the series shifting to Philadelphia, Dodgers starter

Ivan de Jesus's RBI groundout made it 2–0 Phillies. Next inning, Joe Lefebvre's sacrifice fly with two on made it 3–0 Phillies. In the top of the fourth, rookie Charles Hudson allowed a leadoff single, then a two-out two-run homer by Mike Marshall to cut the Phillies' lead to 3–2. However, Hudson only allowed two other hits and pitched a complete game. Gary Matthews's leadoff home run in the bottom of the inning extended the Phillies' lead to 4–2. Next inning, Dodgers reliever Rick Honeycutt allowed a one-out single and double, then Matthews's two-run single off of Joe Beckwith made it 6–2 Phillies. Matthews hit another RBI single in the seventh off of Pat Zachry
in the seventh that capped the scoring at 7–2 Phillies, giving them a 2–1 series lead.

Game 4

Saturday, October 8, 1983, at

Philadelphia, Pennsylvania

Team 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 R H E
Los Angeles 0 0 0 1 0 0 0 1 0 2 10 0
Philadelphia 3 0 0 0 2 2 0 0 X 7 13 1
WP: Steve Carlton (2–0)   LP: Jerry Reuss (0–2)
Home runs:
LAD: Dusty Baker (1)
PHI: Gary Matthews (3), Sixto Lezcano (1)

Series MVP Gary Matthews hit a three-run homer in the first off Jerry Reuss after two straight two-out singles. Dusty Baker's leadoff home run in the fourth off of Steve Carlton put the Dodgers on the board. In the fifth, Pete Rose hit a leadoff single and scored on Mike Schmidt's double to knock Reuss out of the game. Schmidt then moved to third on a groundout and after an intentional walk, scored on Garry Maddox's fielder's choice off of Joe Beckwith. Sixto Lezcano added a two-run homer in the sixth off of Rick Honeycutt after a two-out single. Baker drove in the Dodgers' other run in the eighth with an RBI single off of Ron Reed after a leadoff single. One Dodger fan could be heard screaming "It was a whole new ballgame!" but the Dodger rally was short-lived as Steve Carlton pitched his second win, scattering 10 hits with relief help from Reed and Al Holland. The Phillies moved to their second World Series in four seasons.

Out of the 14 postseason series that Pete Rose played in, this was the only one in which he did not record an RBI. He did hit well in the series, compiling six hits and one walk in 17 plate appearances. Oddly enough, in the 13 series in which Rose had an RBI, he never drove in more than two runs in any of them.

Composite box

1983 NLCS (3–1): Philadelphia Phillies over Los Angeles Dodgers

Team 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 R H E
Philadelphia Phillies 4 3 1 1 4 2 1 0 0 16 34 5
Los Angeles Dodgers 1 0 0 3 2 0 0 2 0 8 27 1
Total attendance: 223,914   Average attendance: 55,979

Broadcasting

1983 marked the last time that local telecasts of League Championship Series games were allowed. In 1982, Major League Baseball recognized a problem with this due to the emergence of

TBS tried to petition for the right to do a "local" Braves broadcast of the 1982 NLCS,[5] Major League Baseball got a Philadelphia federal court[6][7] to ban[8] them on the grounds that as a cable superstation, TBS couldn't have a nationwide telecast competing with ABC
's.

References

  1. ^ "1983 NLCS Game 1 - Philadelphia Phillies vs. Los Angeles Dodgers". Retrosheet. Retrieved October 12, 2015.
  2. ^ "1983 NLCS Game 2 - Philadelphia Phillies vs. Los Angeles Dodgers". Retrosheet. Retrieved September 13, 2009.
  3. ^ "1983 NLCS Game 3 - Los Angeles Dodgers vs. Philadelphia Phillies". Retrosheet. Retrieved September 13, 2009.
  4. ^ "1983 NLCS Game 4 - Los Angeles Dodgers vs. Philadelphia Phillies". Retrosheet. Retrieved September 13, 2009.
  5. ^ "Kuhn Out to Stop Braves Broadcasts". Tuscaloosa News. Associated Press. October 1, 1982. p. 14.
  6. ^ United Press International (October 5, 1982). "Judge Bars WTBS From Braves Games". Sarasota Herald-Tribune. p. 10B.
  7. ^ "Turner Is Denied Review of Order". New York Times. Associated Press. October 6, 1982.
  8. ^ United Press International (October 5, 1982). "Turner Telecasts Enjoined by Court". New York Times.

External links