America When The Dodgers and Yankees Last Met In The World Series
A very random World Series article, but still a baseball-related article nonetheless
As soon as we knew the Dodgers were officially moving on to face the Yankees, it got me thinking about how the world looked the last time these two faced off in the World Series (1981). So, I figured why not have some fun and write a quick article about it? Some of you reading this will remember these things fondly (or faintly), while for others this may be a bit of a history lesson in ways - but don’t worry, I won’t break out with a StatsBrad parody version of Billy Joel’s “We Didn’t Start The Fire” (but don’t think I didn’t spend a good 30 minutes considering possible lyrics to open this article with).
Admittedly, this article will be a bit random. I’ll talk about movies, music, some history, and some MLB news with the main connection being focused around that Dodgers/Yankees World Series matchup in 1981. Some things mentioned will have been a few months prior, but it’s just a fun look back into the past to give you all a time comparison of the last Fall Classic featuring both teams. And for me, it’ll be reminiscing about a time I wasn’t even born yet (and wouldn’t be for another 12 years!). Let’s get to it!
I posted this recently with a few things I was able to find quick before the final couple innings of the NLCS. Joe Davis mentioned Reagan being president during the broadcast just before the Dodgers clinched, so that’ll be a popular one you’ll see thrown around. Halloween II released 2 days after game 6, “Start Me Up” had been released a few months prior in August, and what may be my favorite random tidbit in this article is that at the time of the last Yankees and Dodgers Fall Classic meeting, Cheers hadn’t even aired yet!
For movies, 1981 looked like quite a down year. A popular film trilogy had its first installment in June of ‘81, and that would be Indiana Jones with Raiders Of The Lost Ark. A few other popular movies of the time would be Friday the 13th Part 2 (May), Stripes (June), and Escape From New York (July).
I won’t list every single tv show for 1981, but there was some good ones that you likely watched when you were younger, or at least have heard of them over the years. Dallas had aired the back half of season 4 and started season 5, and The Dukes Of Hazzard aired the end of season 3 and the start of season 4. By this time Three’s Company was in the middle seasons of its run, while Magnum, P.I. was airing the end of season 1 and beginning of season 2. I’ll end off here for tv with a few shows that were nearing the end of their run on television; The Jeffersons with seasons 7/8, Happy Days with seasons 8/9, and M*A*S*H with seasons 9/10.
It wouldn’t be a true look back into the past without music, so I’ll list some of the popular songs from the Billboard Hot 100 list for 1981 that I think most will remember or at least know of. I’ll start off with “Jessie’s Girl” by Rick Springfield (you can’t turn on the radio or be in a grocery store without hearing that at least once a week). There’s also “Bette Davis Eyes” by Kim Carnes, “Take It On The Run” by REO Speedwagon, “Just The Two Of Us” by Grover Washington Jr, “Stop Draggin' My Heart Around” by Stevie Nicks and Tom Petty, “Urgent” by Foreigner, “Who's Crying Now” by Journey, “Start Me Up” by The Rolling Stones, “Private Eyes” and “You Make My Dreams” by Hall & Oates, and “Physical” by Olivia Newton-John. Not really a big year for music (at least not for the Billboard Hot 100), but there’s still some good ones in there to give you some nostalgia. I’ll end the music portion here by mentioning “Don't Stop Believin’” by Journey, which was released in October of ‘81 and would a few years later become a rally song for the 1986 Mets World Series run.
Shifting gears here, let’s take a look at some random historical notes you might remember (or have heard of) that happened around/leading into the 1981 World Series:
July 9: Donkey Kong is released
August 1: MTV is launched
On August 24, Mark David Chapman, the man who killed John Lennon, is sentenced to 20 years to life for murder
September 8: Stephen King’s “Cujo” is first published
This was a fun/random one I found, but Canada’s West Edmonton Mall, on Septemeber 18, made the Guinness Book Of World Records as having the largest parking lot in the world at the time
September 22: the first IPO of stock in The Home Depot was made at $12 per share
October 4: Lee Harvey Oswald’s grave was exhumed to check to see if it was actually his body that had been buried there (good ol conspiracy stuff there for ya)
October 8: for the first time in history, 3 former US presidents (Ford, Nixon, and Carter) flew in the same plane together to the White House to meet with president Reagan before leaving for then-assassinated Egyptian president Anwar Sadat’s funeral
Some notable MLB news that happened around/leading into the 1981 World Series:
August 9: the 59-day MLB strike ends
On August 10, Pete Rose notched hit 3,361, passing Stan Musial for the most hits by a National League player
September 17: Dodgers phenom Fernando Valenzuela sets the NL rookie record with his 8th shutout of the season
September 21: Phillies lefty Steve Carlton strikes out Andre Dawson for his NL record 3,118th strikeout
September 26: Nolan Ryan tosses his 5th career no-hitter, beating the Dodgers in Houston
October 3: the Expos and Brewers clinch their first trip to the postseason
October 15: the first documented case of “the wave” was started by “Krazy George” Henderson in an ALCS game in Oakland between the Yankees and Athletics
November 11: Fernando Valenzuela becomes the first rookie in MLB to win the Cy Young Award
So, there you have it. If you’re old enough hopefully this jogged your memory, while for those of you that weren’t alive in 1981, hopefully this provided a good time connection to past news/events to give you an idea of when the Dodgers and Yankees last met in the World Series. I of course didn’t list everything from 1981, but those are just some things I thought were interesting (and in a couple cases, just silly/random things you couldn’t possibly have expected when you opened this article). And if you follow/know me, it’s that I love randomness. Besides, who else do you know that’s able to tie Cheers, Indiana Jones, REO Speedwagon, a random Canadian mall, and the exhumation of Lee Harvey Oswald into a baseball article about the World Series?
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