Phillies World Series Teams - 1980 World Champions - Happy Anniversary

28 Years ago Today...
1981 Fleer #645 Triple Threat Mike Schmidt Pete Rose Larry Bowa

The Phillies defeated the Kansas City Royals 4-1 in game 6 of the 1980 World Series.

Team Phungo is hoping that the 2008 Phillies will be joining them as the Phillies next World Champion.

Game 5 Phillies @ Dodgers

The first game 5 the Philadelphia Phillies ever won was the deciding game of the 1980 NLCS versus the Houston Astros. In 1980 the NLCS was only five games, and the Phillies v Astros match-up is surely one of the all-time classics. The series had everything - it featured future Hall of Famers Mike Schmidt, Nolan Ryan, Steve Carlton and Joe Morgan and also Pete Rose - The last four games all went to extra innings - Both teams blew 8th inning leads in the final game.

Since Game 5 was an all hands on deck game both teams played out their benches - and both teams had to send in starting pitchers in relief. I doubt many folks remember that the winning pitcher of the 1980 NLCS game 5 was starter turned reliever Dick Ruthven, who pitched two spotless innings after Tug McGraw had relinquished the lead in the 8th.


Tonight the Phils face the Dodgers in game 5 of the 2008 NLCS. This will be a whatever it takes game for the Dodgers, but if Cole Hamels goes out and gives the Phillies 7 or 8 strong innings it may not matter.

Brush Backs - Shane Victorino - Dickie Noles

2006 Upper Deck #750 Shane Victorino

There has been a little bit of inside pitching during the entire NLCS this year. The Phils need to pitch inside to hitters like Manny Ramirez and Russell Martin. Similarly the Phils have batters like Chase Utley who like to stand right on top of the plate and will find inside pitches coming at them.

During game 3 the Dodgers and Phils almost found themselves in a brawl when a ball was thrown near Shane Victorino's head. Victorino saved his best response to the purpose pitch for a crucial at-bat the following night - a game tying homer in the 8th inning. This homer turned around game four and was followed by Matt Stairs mammoth go-ahead home run a few batters later.

Head hunting is nothing new to Phillies Playoff Baseball. During the Phillies Royals World Series in 1980, Dickie Noles only got into one game, a loss in game 4, but he is forever remembered in Phillies lore as the man who knocked down George Brett. Yes, The Phils did lost game 4, but they would take games 5 and 6 to win the pennant. Perhaps it was Noles inside heat that fired up the Phils and pushed them on to the Series victory.

2004 Upper Deck Legends Timeless Teams #193 Memorable Moments - Dickie Noles