1980 American League Championship Series

==Background==

==Background==

[[1980_National_League_Championship_Series#Background|Three of the four division races]] came down to the last week of the season. This set the stage for the fourth Royals versus Yankees ALCS in five seasons. While the Yankees had won each of the previous three meetings, each postseason series between the two clubs was a classic, with the [[1976 American League Championship Series|1976]] and [[1977 American League Championship Series|1977]] ALCS' coming down to a winner-take-all ([[Chris Chambliss]] hit a walk-off home run in 1976 and the Yankees scored three runs in the ninth against closer [[Mark Littell]] to win in Kansas City in 1977).<ref>{{cite web |title=Chris Chambliss' 1976 Pennant-Clinching Home Run {{!}} New York Yankees |url=https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=onSG4Xu0xYQ |website=Youtube.com |access-date=4 July 2025 |date=25 January 2024}}</ref><ref>{{cite web |title=1977 ALCS recap |url=https://www.mlb.com/news/1977-alcs-recap |website=MLB.com |access-date=4 July 2025 |language=en}}</ref> In the [[1978 American League Championship Series|1978]] match-up, the Royals failed to get a leadoff double home in the ninth inning to tie the score and potentially force another winner-take-all, as well.<ref>{{cite web |title=1978 ALCS recap |url=https://www.mlb.com/news/1978-alcs-recap |website=MLB.com |access-date=4 July 2025 |language=en}}</ref>

[[1980_National_League_Championship_Series#Background|Three of the four division races]] came down to the last week of the season. In the [[National League East]], it took a two-run home run in the top of the 11th inning in the second to last game of the season to propel the [[1980 Philadelphia Phillies season|Philadelphia Phillies]], the [[1980 Montreal Expos season|Montreal Expos]] by one game. In the [[National League West]], the [[1980 Los Angeles Dodgers season|Los Angeles Dodgers]] went into the final series of the season needing to sweep the division leading [[1980 Houston Astros season|Houston Astros]], and they did just that, winning each game by one run which forced a [[1980 National League West tie-breaker game|one-game playoff]]. The Astros prevailed in the playoff game, 7-1, to earn the first division title in the team’s history.

In the [[American League East]], the [[1980 New York Yankees season|New York Yankees]] needed 103 wins to best the runner up [[1980 Baltimore Orioles season|Baltimore Orioles]], who stayed home despite having the second-best record in all of baseball at 100-62. The only division that did not generate any late summer heat was the [[American League West]], where the Royals, powered by the virtuoso performance of [[George Brett]] easily outdistanced the [[1980 Oakland Athletics season|Oakland Athletics]], winning the West by a 14-game margin.<ref>{{cite web |last1=Lee |first1=Bradford |title=A look back at the 1980 American League Championship Series |url=https://www.royalsreview.com/2019/8/2/20700784/a-look-back-at-the-1980-american-league-championship-series |website=Royals Review |access-date=4 July 2025 |language=en |date=2 August 2019}}</ref>

This set the stage for the fourth Royals versus Yankees ALCS in five seasons. While the Yankees had won each of the previous three meetings, each postseason series between the two clubs was a classic, with the [[1976 American League Championship Series|1976]] and [[1977 American League Championship Series|1977]] ALCS' coming down to a winner-take-all ([[Chris Chambliss]] hit a walk-off home run in 1976 and the Yankees scored three runs in the ninth against closer [[Mark Littell]] to win in Kansas City in 1977).<ref>{{cite web |title=Chris Chambliss' 1976 Pennant-Clinching Home Run {{!}} New York Yankees |url=https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=onSG4Xu0xYQ |website=Youtube.com |access-date=4 July 2025 |date=25 January 2024}}</ref><ref>{{cite web |title=1977 ALCS recap |url=https://www.mlb.com/news/1977-alcs-recap |website=MLB.com |access-date=4 July 2025 |language=en}}</ref> In the [[1978 American League Championship Series|1978]] match-up, the Royals failed to get a leadoff double home in the ninth inning to tie the score and potentially force another winner-take-all, as well.<ref>{{cite web |title=1978 ALCS recap |url=https://www.mlb.com/news/1978-alcs-recap |website=MLB.com |access-date=4 July 2025 |language=en}}</ref>

==Summary==

==Summary==