1980 in baseball

The following are the baseball events of the year 1980 throughout the world.

Major League Baseball

 * World Series: Philadelphia Phillies over Kansas City Royals (4-2); Mike Schmidt, MVP
 * American League Championship Series: Kansas City Royals (West) over New York Yankees (East) (3-0); Frank White, MVP
 * National League Championship Series: Philadelphia Phillies (East) over Houston Astros (West) (3-2); Manny Trillo, MVP
 * All-Star Game, July 8 at Dodger Stadium: National League, 4-2; Ken Griffey, MVP

Other champions

 * Caribbean World Series: Tigres de Licey (Dominican Republic)
 * College World Series: Arizona
 * Japan Series: Hiroshima Toyo Carp over Kintetsu Buffaloes (4-3)
 * Little League World Series: Long Kuong, Hua Lian, Taiwan

Awards and honors

 * Most Valuable Player
 * George Brett (AL)
 * Mike Schmidt (NL)
 * Cy Young Award
 * Steve Stone (AL)
 * Steve Carlton (NL)
 * Rookie of the Year
 * Joe Charboneau (AL)
 * Steve Howe (NL)

January-June

 * January 9 - Al Kaline and Duke Snider are elected to the Hall of Fame by the Baseball Writers Association of America. Kaline is the 10th player to be elected in his first year of eligibility, while Snider is making his 11th appearance on the ballot.


 * March 12 - Slugger Chuck Klein and former Boston Red Sox owner Tom Yawkey are elected to the Hall of Fame by the Special Veterans Committee. Yawkey is the first club owner selected who never served as a player, manager, or general manager.

July-December

 * July 4 - Houston Astros pitcher Nolan Ryan strikes out César Gerónimo of the Cincinnati Reds, to become the fourth major league pitcher ever to reach 3,000 career strikeouts. Ironically, Gerónimo was also Bob Gibson's 3,000th career strikeout victim six years earlier. Despite the milestone, Ryan allows six runs in four 1/3 innings and Houston loses, 8–1.


 * July 6 - Philadelphia Phillies pitcher Steve Carlton becomes the major leagues' lefthanded strikeout king, fanning seven Cardinals in an 8–3 Phillies win to bring his career total to 2,836. Mickey Lolich had held the record with 2,832.


 * July 8 - At Dodger Stadium, the National League battles back to win its ninth consecutive All-Star Game over the American League, 4-2. Ken Griffey goes 2-for-3 with a solo home run to win the MVP honors.


 * September 10 - Bill Gullickson strikes out 18, the most by a major league rookie pitcher, as the Montréal Expos beat the Chicago Cubs 4–2.


 * October 4 - In a 17–1 rout of the Minnesota Twins, Willie Wilson of the Kansas City Royals becomes the first major league player ever to be credited with 700 at-bats in a single season, and ends the year with 705 at bats. He also sets the AL record for singles in a season with 184, eclipsing the mark Sam Rice set in 1925. Wilson also becomes only the second player in major league history to collect 100 hits from each side of the plate, matching the feat accomplished by Garry Templeton in 1979.


 * October 4 - Philadelphia's Mike Schmidt hits a 2-run home run in the top of the 11th inning to give the Phillies a 6-4 win over the Montréal Expos at Olympic Stadium, clinching the National League East title. The home run is Schmidt's 48th of the season, breaking Eddie Mathews' single-season record for third baseman set in 1953.


 * October 12 - The Phillies capture their first National League pennant since 1950 with a 10-inning 8-7 win over the Houston Astros at the Astrodome, in the 5th and final game of the National League Championship Series. Each of the last four games was decided in extra innings. The Phils, down by 3 runs to Nolan Ryan in the 8th inning, rally and go ahead on Garry Maddox's double in the 10th inning.


 * October 21 - The Philadelphia Phillies win the World Series, the first World Championship in their 98-year history, by beating the Kansas City Royals 4–1 in Game Six. Philadelphia's Mike Schmidt is named MVP, hitting .381 with two home runs and seven RBI, while KC's Willie Wilson is the "goat", striking out a WS-record 12 times, including the final out of the Series with the bases loaded, and hitting only .154.

Deaths

 * January 10 - Hughie Critz, 79, second baseman for the Cincinnati Reds and New York Giants who led NL in fielding four times and double plays three times
 * March 1 - Emmett Ashford, 65, the major leagues' first black umpire, who worked in the American League from 1966 to 1970 and in the 1970 World Series
 * April 7 - Buck Canel, 74, Spanish-language broadcaster of 42 World Series, as well as many years of New York Yankees games
 * April 21 - Joe Page, 62, All-Star relief pitcher for the New York Yankees who set single-season record with 27 saves in 1949, led AL in saves and appearances twice each
 * April 28 - Bob Porterfield, 56, All-Star pitcher who was named The Sporting News AL Pitcher of the Year in 1953 after a 22-10 season with the Senators
 * June 1 - Rube Marquard, 93, Hall of Fame pitcher who retired with 201 wins and the NL record for career strikeouts by a lefthander (1593); had 19 consecutive wins for the Giants in 1912 for a modern major league record
 * June 3 - Fred Lieb, 92, sportswriter who covered every World Series from 1911 to 1958
 * September 24 - Ernie Shore, 89, pitcher who relieved Babe Ruth with a man on first in a 1917 game and proceeded to retire the runner and all 26 remaining batters
 * December 14 - Elston Howard, 51, 9-time All-Star catcher for the New York Yankees who was that team's first black player and the AL's 1963 MVP; later a coach
 * December 31 - Bob Shawkey, 90, pitcher who had four 20-win seasons for the Yankees, later was coach at Dartmouth