1977 Major League Baseball postseason

The 1977 Major League Baseball postseason was the playoff tournament of Major League Baseball for the 1977 season. The winners of each division advance to the postseason and face each other in a League Championship Series to determine the pennant winners that face each other in the World Series.

1977 Major League Baseball postseason
Tournament details
DatesOctober 4–18, 1977[1]
Teams4
Final positions
ChampionsNew York Yankees
(21st title)
Runners-upLos Angeles Dodgers
(15th World Series appearance)
Most valuable playerReggie Jackson
(NYY)

In the American League, both the New York Yankees and the Kansas City Royals returned for the second year in a row. In the National League, the Philadelphia Phillies made their second consecutive appearance, and the Los Angeles Dodgers returned for the second time in four years. This was the first of two consecutive postseasons to feature the Yankees, Royals, Phillies, and Dodgers. The former three teams would again appear in the postseason in 1980, and all four would appear again in the expanded 1981 postseason.

The playoffs began on October 4, 1977, and concluded on October 18, 1977, with the New York Yankees defeating the Los Angeles Dodgers in the 1977 World Series. It was the Yankees' first championship since 1962.

Playoff seeds

The following teams qualified for the postseason:

American League

National League

Playoff bracket

League Championship Series
(ALCS, NLCS) 		World Series
      
East NY Yankees 3
West Kansas City 2
AL NY Yankees 4
NL Los Angeles 2
East Philadelphia 1
West Los Angeles 3

American League Championship Series
Main article: 1977 American League Championship Series

Kansas City Royals vs. New York Yankees

New York won the series, 3–2.

GameDateScoreLocationTimeAttendance 
1October 5Kansas City Royals – 7, New York Yankees – 2Yankee Stadium2:4054,930[6] 
2October 6Kansas City Royals – 2, New York Yankees – 6Yankee Stadium2:5856,230[7] 
3October 7New York Yankees – 2, Kansas City Royals – 6Royals Stadium2:1941,285[8] 
4October 8New York Yankees – 6, Kansas City Royals – 4Royals Stadium3:0841,135[9] 
5October 9New York Yankees – 5, Kansas City Royals – 3Royals Stadium3:0441,133[10]

This was the second straight ALCS to feature the Yankees and Royals. The Yankees took the previous series in five games on a Chris Chambliss home run in the ninth inning of Game 5. The Yankees again defeated the Royals in 5 games to advance to the World Series for the second year in a row.

Both teams split the first two games at Yankee Stadium - the Royals blew out the Yankees in Game 1 thanks to stellar pitching from starting pitcher Paul Splittorff and closer Doug Bird. In Game 2, the Yankees evened the series with a 6-2 victory as starting pitcher Ron Guidry pitched a complete game. When the series moved to Kansas City, Royals' starter Dennis Leonard pitched a four-hit complete game as the Royals won 6-2, and were now one win away from clinching their first World Series berth in front of their home fans. However, the Yankees narrowly took Game 4 as they held off a late rally by the Royals. In Game 5, the Royals held a 3-2 lead going into the ninth, but the Yankees yet again defeated the Royals in their last at bat, scoring three unanswered runs to take the lead for good and secure the pennant.

Both teams would meet again in the ALCS the next year, which the Yankees also won. It would be in 1980 that the Royals would finally break through against the Yankees.

National League Championship Series
Main article: 1977 National League Championship Series

Philadelphia Phillies vs. Los Angeles Dodgers

Los Angeles won the series, 3–1.

GameDateScoreLocationTimeAttendance 
1October 4Philadelphia Phillies – 7, Los Angeles Dodgers – 5Dodger Stadium2:3555,968[11] 
2October 5Philadelphia Phillies – 1, Los Angeles Dodgers – 7Dodger Stadium2:1455,973[12] 
3October 7Los Angeles Dodgers – 6, Philadelphia Phillies – 5Veterans Stadium2:5963,719[13] 
4October 8Los Angeles Dodgers – 4, Philadelphia Phillies – 1Veterans Stadium2:3964,924[14]

This was the first postseason meeting between the Dodgers and Phillies. The Dodgers defeated the Phillies in 4 games to advance to the World Series for the second time in four years.

Game 1 was a slugfest with the Phillies narrowly won in the top of the ninth off RBI singles from Mike Schmidt and Larry Bowa. The Dodgers blew out the Phillies in Game 2 off a complete game performance from Don Sutton, evening the series headed to Philadelphia. Game 3 went down in Phillies' baseball lore as "Black Friday."[15] The Phillies held a 5-3 lead going into the top of the ninth, but the Dodgers scored three unanswered runs to prevail and take a 2-1 series lead. It was the first time since Game 4 of the 1947 World Series that the Dodgers won a postseason game when trailing going into the ninth. Tommy John pitched a complete game for the Dodgers in Game 4 as they secured the pennant.

Both teams would meet each other again in the NLCS again in 1978, 1983, 2008, and 2009, with the Dodgers winning in the former series, and the Phillies taking the latter three series.

1977 World Series
Main article: 1977 World Series

New York Yankees (AL) vs. Los Angeles Dodgers (NL)

New York won the series, 4-2.

GameDateScoreLocationTimeAttendance 
1October 11Los Angeles Dodgers – 3, New York Yankees – 4 (12)Yankee Stadium3:2456,668[16] 
2October 12Los Angeles Dodgers – 6, New York Yankees – 1Yankee Stadium2:2756,691[17] 
3October 14New York Yankees – 5, Los Angeles Dodgers – 3Dodger Stadium2:3155,992[18] 
4October 15New York Yankees – 4, Los Angeles Dodgers – 2Dodger Stadium2:0755,995[19] 
5October 16New York Yankees – 4, Los Angeles Dodgers – 10Dodger Stadium2:2955,955[20] 
6October 18Los Angeles Dodgers – 4, New York Yankees – 8Yankee Stadium2:1856,407[21]

This was the ninth World Series meeting in the history of the Dodgers-Yankees rivalry. In this World Series between the two historic rivals, the Yankees defeated the Dodgers in six games to capture their first championship since 1962.

The first two games were split between both teams - the Yankees prevailed in a 12-inning battle in Game 1, while the Dodgers convincingly took Game 2 off a five-hit complete game performance from starter Burt Hooton to even the series. When the series moved to Los Angeles, the Yankees took Game 3 off a complete game performance from Mike Torrez, and ace Ron Guidry pitched yet another complete game for the Yankees in Game 4 as they went up 3-1 in the series. In Game 5, the Dodgers, thanks to a complete game performance from Don Sutton, blew out the Yankees, 10-4, to send the series back to the Bronx. In Game 6, the Yankees prevailed by four runs, capped off by a solo home run from Reggie Jackson in the bottom of the eighth which sealed the title for New York.

The Dodgers and Yankees would meet each other again the next year, and in 1981, with the Yankees winning the former and the Dodgers winning the latter.

Broadcasting

NBC televised both LCS nationally in the United States. Each team's local broadcaster also televised coverage of LCS games. ABC aired the World Series.

References
  1. "1977 Major Leagues Schedule". Baseball-Reference.com. Archived from the original on May 20, 2022. Retrieved July 11, 2022.
  2. "1977 New York Yankees Statistics". Baseball-Reference.com. Retrieved July 11, 2022.
  3. "1977 Kansas City Royals Statistics". Baseball-Reference.com. Retrieved July 11, 2022.
  4. "1977 Philadelphia Phillies Statistics". Baseball-Reference.com. Archived from the original on March 26, 2022. Retrieved July 11, 2022.
  5. "1977 Los Angeles Dodgers Statistics". Baseball-Reference.com. Archived from the original on April 30, 2022. Retrieved July 11, 2022.
  6. "1977 ALCS Game 1 – Kansas City Royals vs. New York Yankees". Retrosheet. Archived from the original on October 20, 2020. Retrieved July 11, 2022.
  7. "1977 ALCS Game 2 – Kansas City Royals vs. New York Yankees". Retrosheet. Archived from the original on October 18, 2020. Retrieved July 11, 2022.
  8. "1977 ALCS Game 3 – New York Yankees vs. Kansas City Royals". Retrosheet. Archived from the original on September 24, 2015. Retrieved July 11, 2022.
  9. "1977 ALCS Game 4 – New York Yankees vs. Kansas City Royals". Retrosheet. Archived from the original on September 24, 2015. Retrieved July 11, 2022.
  10. "1977 ALCS Game 5 – New York Yankees vs. Kansas City Royals". Retrosheet. Archived from the original on September 24, 2015. Retrieved July 11, 2022.
  11. "1977 NLCS Game 1 – Philadelphia Phillies vs. Los Angeles Dodgers". Retrosheet. Archived from the original on July 14, 2021. Retrieved July 11, 2022.
  12. "1977 NLCS Game 2 – Philadelphia Phillies vs. Los Angeles Dodgers". Retrosheet. Archived from the original on July 15, 2021. Retrieved July 11, 2022.
  13. "1977 NLCS Game 3 – Los Angeles Dodgers vs. Philadelphia Phillies". Retrosheet. Archived from the original on March 8, 2021. Retrieved July 11, 2022.
  14. "1977 NLCS Game 4 – Los Angeles Dodgers vs. Philadelphia Phillies". Retrosheet. Archived from the original on July 14, 2021. Retrieved July 11, 2022.
  15. Fitzpatrick, Frank (2004). You Can't Lose 'Em All: The Year the Phillies Finally Won the World Series. ISBN 9781589790865. Retrieved November 21, 2022.
  16. "1977 World Series Game 1 – Los Angeles Dodgers vs. New York Yankees". Retrosheet. Archived from the original on October 31, 2021. Retrieved July 11, 2022.
  17. "1977 World Series Game 2 – Los Angeles Dodgers vs. New York Yankees". Retrosheet. Archived from the original on November 4, 2021. Retrieved July 11, 2022.
  18. "1977 World Series Game 3 – New York Yankees vs. Los Angeles Dodgers". Retrosheet. Archived from the original on November 4, 2021. Retrieved July 11, 2022.
  19. "1977 World Series Game 4 – New York Yankees vs. Los Angeles Dodgers". Retrosheet. Archived from the original on July 11, 2022. Retrieved July 11, 2022.
  20. "1977 World Series Game 5 – New York Yankees vs. Los Angeles Dodgers". Retrosheet. Archived from the original on October 31, 2021. Retrieved July 11, 2022.
  21. "1977 World Series Game 6 – Los Angeles Dodgers vs. New York Yankees". Retrosheet. Archived from the original on July 11, 2022. Retrieved July 11, 2022.
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