Eigh teams left, three from 1980 with the possibility of an all 1980 match-up in the N.L. side of the Final Four. Here's a recap of the National League region/division finals.

 

N.L. East Finals: (14) 1980 Montreal Expos vs. (4) 1985 St. Louis Cardinals

 

Game 1: Cardinals 8, Expos 4

 

Cardinals jumped out to a 6-0 lead after three innings and Darrell Porter went 3 for 4 with a homerun (6th out the tournament) and 4 rbi.

 

Game 2: Cardinals 6, Expos 1

 

Andy Van Slyke hit a three-run homer in the first and Danny Cox pitched a complete game.

 

Game 3: Expos 4, Cardinals 1

 

Bill Gullickson and Woodie Fryman combined to keep the Cardinals bats in check and snap their nine game tournament winning streak.

 

Game 4: Expos 1, Cardinals 0

 

Steve Rogers out duels John Tudor as the two staff aces surrender a combined seven hits. The lone run comes in the 2nd on an Ellis Valentine triple.

 

Game 5: Cardinals 5, Expos 2

 

Another strong outing by Cox (8 IP, 4 H, 2 ER) and another big game for Porter (4 for 4, HR, 4 RBI) help in handing the Expos their first home loss of the tournament.

 

Game 6: Expos 6, Cardinals 4

 

Rodney Scott hit a two out, bases loaded single off of Ricky Horton in the top of the 9th to break 4-4 tie and force a deciding Game 7.

 

Game 7: Expos 10, Cardinals 2

 

Expos hammer Tudor for 8 runs in 6 innings and Rogers strikes out 10 in a complete game victory as the 1980 Expos shock the world as a 14 seed to win the N.L. East Region to advance the 80's Final Four.

 

Expos win series 4 games to 3

 

N.L. East All-Region Team

 

C: Darrell Porter, '85 Cardinals

1B: Jack Clark, '85 Cardinals

2B: Tom Herr, '85 Cardinals

3B: Mike Schmidt, '83 Phillies

SS: Chris Speier, '80 Expos

LF: Barry Bonds, '88 Pirates

CF: Andre Dawson, '80 Expos

RF: Ellis Valentine, '80 Expos

SP: Steve Rogers, '80 Expos

RP: Woodie Fryman, '80 Expos

 

Region MVP: Andre Dawson - .368/.394/.655, 87 AB, 14 R, 32 H, 6 2B, 2 3B, 5 HR, 18 RBI, 3 SB

 

 

N.L. West Finals: (9) 1987 San Francisco Giants vs. (7) 1980 Houston Astros

 

Game 1: Astros 6, Giants 4

 

A four run 3rd for the Astros off of Dave Dravecky does the damage here.

 

Game 2: Astros 10, Giants 2

 

Enos Cabell goes 3-5 with a homerun and Joe Niekro pitches a complete game as the Astros cruise to the 2-0 lead.

 

Game 3: Astros 7, Giants 5 16 innings

 

After the Giants blew 4-2 lead in the 9th, in the 12th Jose Cruz hit an rbi double to give the Astros a 5-4 lead. In the bottom of the inning Chili Davis would answer with a solo homerun to tie the game back up. Finally in the 16th the Astros ended it with two runs, the critical blow coming on a Cesar Cedeno triple.

 

Game 4: Astros 5, Giants 2

 

Eight strong innings from J.R. Richard wraps up the sweep for the Astros as they go an amazing 16-3 through the N.L. West region.

 

Astros win series 4 games to 0

 

N.L. West All-Region Team

 

C: Alan Ashby, '80 Astros

1B: Will Clark, '89 Giants

2B: Joe Morgan, '80 Astros

3B: Kevin Mitchell, '87 Giants

SS: Jose Uribe, '87 Giants

LF: Kevin Mitchell, '89 Giants

CF: Chili Davis, '87 Giants

RF: Dave Parker, '85 Reds

SP: Vern Ruhle, '80 Astros

RP: Ted Power, '85 Reds

 

Region MVP: Joe Morgan - .370/.453/.765, 81 AB, 17 R, 30 H, 9 2B, 7 HR, 24 RBI, 13 BB, 4 SB

 

 

Soooo, was there something in the water in 1980? I'm going to have to chalk this up to just a bizarre fluke but with the way the Astros dominated and the way the 1980 Yankees have dominated so far I am wondering about the 1980 Strat-O-Matic set.

 

Final Four: N.L. Finals

'80 Expos vs. '80 Astros

 

Up Next: A.L. Elite Eight