1981 American League Division Series
Template:Short description Template:Use mdy dates Template:Infobox LDS The 1981 American League Division Series (ALDS), the opening round of the American League side of the 1981 MLB Postseason, began on Tuesday, October 6, and ended on Sunday, October 11. The Division Series were approved by team owners on August 6 in response to the 1981 Major League Baseball strike,[1] which caused the cancellation of roughly one-third of the regular season between June 12 and August 9; by the time play was resumed, it was decided that the best approach was to have the first-half leaders automatically qualify for postseason play, and allow all the teams to begin the second half with a clean slate.
Overview
Script error: No such module "labelled list hatnote". The first half and second-half champions in both the American League East and American League West divisions would meet in best-of-five series, with the winners advancing to the AL Championship Series (ALCS). If the same team won both halves, a wild card team—the second-place team, based on overall record, in the division—would qualify for the postseason,[2] but this proved unnecessary in both leagues. There were no plans to continue the format in later seasons, although the Division Series returned in Template:Mlby on a permanent basis after MLB realigned to three divisions in each league. The teams in the 1981 ALDS were:
- East Division: New York Yankees (first-half champion, 34–22) vs. Milwaukee Brewers (second-half champion, 31–22): Yankees win series, 3–2.
- West Division: Oakland Athletics (first-half champion, 37–23) vs. Kansas City Royals (second-half champion, 30–23): Athletics win series, 3–0.
The second-half champions played the first two games at home, with the first-half champions hosting all remaining games; this was predetermined in August, independent of team records.[2] Had a team won both halves of the season, they would have hosted all games of the series other than the first game, which the wild card team would host.[2]
The Royals became the first team to reach the MLB postseason with a .500 or worse record, and would be the only team until the 2020 Astros and Brewers reached the 2020 postseason with records of 29–31 (.483). Following a 20–30 first half, Kansas City recovered to win the second half in the AL West, giving them a 50–53 (.485) overall mark. The Royals made a managerial change during the season as well; the team started at 30–40 (.429) under Jim Frey,[3] then went 20–13 (.606) under Dick Howser.[4]
The Yankees and Athletics went on to meet in the AL Championship Series. The Yankees became the American League champion, and lost to the National League champion Los Angeles Dodgers in the 1981 World Series.
Matchups
Oakland Athletics vs. Kansas City Royals
New York Yankees vs. Milwaukee Brewers
Oakland vs. Kansas City
Game 1
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| Oakland | 0 | 0 | 0 | 3 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 1 | 0 | 4 | 8 | 2 | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Kansas City | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 4 | 1 | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
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Mike Norris faced Dennis Leonard and the defending AL Champions in Game 1. Both pitchers were on their game and the game was scoreless through three innings. But in the top of the fourth, the A's got a boost on a three-run home run by Wayne Gross. Then Dwayne Murphy's homer in the eighth put the game away as Norris went on to pitch a four-hit complete game shutout. Game 2
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- Pages with script errors
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- American League Division Series
- 1981 Major League Baseball season
- New York Yankees postseason
- Oakland Athletics postseason
- Milwaukee Brewers postseason
- Kansas City Royals postseason
- 1981 in sports in California
- 1981 in sports in Missouri
- 1981 in sports in New York City
- 1981 in sports in Wisconsin
- 1980s in Kansas City, Missouri
- 1980s in Milwaukee
- 1980s in Oakland, California
- October 1981 sports events in the United States
- 1980s in the Bronx