How Many 80s Baseball Stars Can You Name?
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In the 1970s there was a seven-year stretch that saw only three teams win the World Series. The New York Yankees and the Cincinnati Reds each won back-to-back championships, while the Oakland Athletics completed a three-peat from 1972-1974.
In the 1980s things went a bit differently. Parody is the best word to describe the MLB at the time. Only one team, the Los Angeles Dodgers, managed to win multiple World Series, and their two championships came seven years apart. Nine different teams raised the Commissioner’s Trophy, and for the first time since the 1910s, the New York Yankees failed to win a World Series within the decade.
But, parody does not mean that the 1980s were uneventful. More than any other sport, baseball is all about statistics, and four of baseball’s most prestigious records went down in the ‘80s.
The decade was marked by dominant pitchers. During the 1983 season, three different pitchers all moved past Walter Johnson on the top of the career strikeouts list, where he had stood since 1921. Two of them would go back and forth atop the list before one pitcher finally pulled away late in 1984. Do you know which pitcher still holds the record for career strikeouts?
A few years later In 1988, we saw one of the most decorated seasons ever recorded by a pitcher. He won the National League Cy Young, a Gold Glove, and both NLCS and World Series MVPs. But, the real story was that he threw 59 consecutive scoreless innings to end the season and break Don Drysdale’s previous record. Can you name this long-time Los Angeles Dodger?
The hitters got in on the record-breaking action too. In 1982, a member of the Oakland Athletics recorded 130 stolen bases, a modern-era record still stands today. Do you remember who?
And of course, we would be remiss to talk about 1980s baseball without mentioning perhaps THE star of the decade. After winning two World Series as a member of the “Big Red Machine” Cincinnati Reds mentioned earlier, this player became one of two in MLB history to reach 4,000 hits on April 13, 1984. Then, in 1985 he went on to break Ty Cobb’s career hits record. ANd although he produced two of the most memorable moments in baseball history, the '80s ended with him striking out when he received a lifetime ban from baseball in August 1989. That ban remains in effect today, meaning that he, the MLB’s all-time leading hitter, along with Barry Bonds, the MLB’s all-time leading home run hitter, don’t yet have a spot in Cooperstown.
Can you became a Hall-of-Famer by knocking it out of the park and naming these 1980s baseball stars?
In the 1980s things went a bit differently. Parody is the best word to describe the MLB at the time. Only one team, the Los Angeles Dodgers, managed to win multiple World Series, and their two championships came seven years apart. Nine different teams raised the Commissioner’s Trophy, and for the first time since the 1910s, the New York Yankees failed to win a World Series within the decade.
But, parody does not mean that the 1980s were uneventful. More than any other sport, baseball is all about statistics, and four of baseball’s most prestigious records went down in the ‘80s.
The decade was marked by dominant pitchers. During the 1983 season, three different pitchers all moved past Walter Johnson on the top of the career strikeouts list, where he had stood since 1921. Two of them would go back and forth atop the list before one pitcher finally pulled away late in 1984. Do you know which pitcher still holds the record for career strikeouts?
A few years later In 1988, we saw one of the most decorated seasons ever recorded by a pitcher. He won the National League Cy Young, a Gold Glove, and both NLCS and World Series MVPs. But, the real story was that he threw 59 consecutive scoreless innings to end the season and break Don Drysdale’s previous record. Can you name this long-time Los Angeles Dodger?
The hitters got in on the record-breaking action too. In 1982, a member of the Oakland Athletics recorded 130 stolen bases, a modern-era record still stands today. Do you remember who?
And of course, we would be remiss to talk about 1980s baseball without mentioning perhaps THE star of the decade. After winning two World Series as a member of the “Big Red Machine” Cincinnati Reds mentioned earlier, this player became one of two in MLB history to reach 4,000 hits on April 13, 1984. Then, in 1985 he went on to break Ty Cobb’s career hits record. ANd although he produced two of the most memorable moments in baseball history, the '80s ended with him striking out when he received a lifetime ban from baseball in August 1989. That ban remains in effect today, meaning that he, the MLB’s all-time leading hitter, along with Barry Bonds, the MLB’s all-time leading home run hitter, don’t yet have a spot in Cooperstown.
Can you became a Hall-of-Famer by knocking it out of the park and naming these 1980s baseball stars?