1980 Season

The 1980 season in brief

The best record in the 1980 standings belonged to the New York Yankees, who finished 103-59. The weakest record belonged to the Seattle Mariners, 59-103. Race by race in 1980, the Philadelphia Phillies (91-71) edged the Montreal Expos (90-72) in the National League East, the Houston Astros (93-70) edged the Los Angeles Dodgers (92-71) in the National League West, American League East honors went to the New York Yankees, whose 103-59 beat the Baltimore Orioles's 100-62, and the Oakland Athletics (83-79) finished a distant second to the Kansas City Royals (97-65) in the American League West. The Kansas City Royals reached the 1980 World Series and lost it to the Philadelphia Phillies, 4 games to 2. Before that, the bracket shows the Kansas City Royals over the New York Yankees in the AL Championship Series (3-0) and the Philadelphia Phillies over the Houston Astros in the NL Championship Series (3-2). On the home run tile, Mike Schmidt sat first with 48, ahead of Reggie Jackson with 41. Among qualified hitters, George Brett had the top batting average, .390, with Cecil Cooper next at .352. The board counts only hitters with 502 or more plate appearances, which is what 162 team games require. The ERA board, limited to qualified pitchers, starts with Don Sutton at 2.20; Steve Carlton followed at 2.34. Beyond the top five in each tile, the 1980 leaders page ranks the whole 1980 field.