[Matches]

1970

The Seattle Pilots lasted just one season and moved to Milwaukee for 1970. The Yankees and Reds got off to good starts, playing over .700 ball into mid-May. The Reds cruised in the NL West but the Yankees had to fend off the Senators before taking control in the middle of August. The California Angels won the AL East, while the Pirates held off the Phillies to advance to the postseason for the first time in 20 years.

The Reds, winners of 101 regular season games, swept the Pirates to advance to their sixth World Series in seven years. Meanwhile the California Angels upset the Yankees to win their first AL Pennant in the team’s 10-year history. The Reds looked to sweep the Angels as they took the first three games but the Angels showed gumption and rallied back in the next three to force a game seven. The Reds broke the 3-3 tie in the 7th inning by scoring 3 runs off Marcelino Lopez.

Harmon Killebrew hit 44 homers and had a .298 batting average and won his second straight MVP award. Willie Stargell (.322-51-141) won it in the AL for the Senators.

1971

A big crop of free agents came out in the offseason. Long time Washington Senator and A.L. MVP Willie Stargell signed a four-year contract with the Chicago Cubs. All-star third baseman Dick Allen signed a five-year deal with the Chicago White Sox and veteran Hank Aaron left St. Louis after 17 seasons, signing with Pittsburgh.

The powerhouse Reds did not have a great first half and were four games back of the first place Braves at the all-star break. The AL champion Angels were in a tie for first place with Oakland, while the Yankees had baseball’s best record at 52-23.

The Yankees won a franchise-high 109 wins and won the AL East by 19 games. The Angels held off the White Sox to win the West by one game. The Braves faced the Mets in the NLCS and were upset in a 3-game sweep. That plus the Yankees sweep of the Angels set up a New York versus New York World Series. The Yankees won it in six games with Steve Carlton pitching a complete game in Game 6 to clinch the series. Yankees pitchers finished 1-2-3 in the Cy Young voting with Roger Nelson’s career year (21-7, 1.97) getting the nod. Steve Carlton (19-7, 2.31) finished second and Jerry Koosman (19-9, 2.53) was third.

1972

The Yankees lost Steve Carlton to free agency in the offseason, and faced a challenge from the Red Sox, who behind Sandy Koufax were looking to become contenders again. The Mets found themselves in last place in the NL East as the Cubs were atop that mediocre division. The top team in baseball for much of the year was the Los Angeles Dodgers, led by rookie lefty pitcher Mike Caldwell. The Yankees took over first place in early August and never looked back. Meanwhile in the AL West the Angels picked up their play late in the season to cruise to their second straight division title. The National League saw two ties: The Cubs beat the Pirates in a regular season playoff, and the Dodgers beat the Braves in the West Division.

The Yankees came back from a 2-0 deficit to take down the California Angels in the ALCS for the second straight year. The Dodgers took care of the Cubs in 4 games to reach their first World Series since 1951. The Series went back and forth and all the way to a seventh game. Tom Seaver outpitched Nolan Ryan, giving Los Angeles 9 innings and giving up only one run for his fourth win of the postseason as the Dodgers won 2-1.

1973

The Cleveland Indians bounced back after a 67-win season the prior year and had a 6 game lead on the Yankees at the all-star break thanks to their league-best pitching staff, which featured 22-year old Bert Blyleven as the emerging ace. The Indians weer also lead by Bobby Bonds, who has 27 homers going into the month of July. The NL West was hotly contested as the Braves, Reds and Dodgers all were playing .600 ball or better at the break. The White Sox emerged as the top team in the AL East thanks to another great season by Dick Allen and stellar pitching by Andy Messersmith.

The Yankees took over first place from Cleveland in late July. The hotly contested NL West went was solved in Septmeber as the Braves and Reds played poorly, leaving the Dodgers to return to the NLCS. They faced the Mets, winners of just 85 games, and won in 4 games. Also winning in four games were the Chicago White Sox, who gto great pitching from Messersmith as they took out the New York Yankees.

The Dodgers went on to win their second straight World Series title, taking it in six games. Messersmith won the Cy Young award for the White Sox, finishing with a 25-8 record and a 2.68 ERA. Cleveland’s Bobby Bonds ended up taking the AL MVP award, hitting .314 with 41 homers.

1974

The White Sox lost Andy Messersmith to Detroit in free agency but signed former Indian Bobby Bonds to a huge deal that made him the second-highest paid player in baseball behind veteran Norm Cash, the longtime Red Sox first baseman who was traded to the Reds before the 1973 season.

Despite the loss of Bonds the Indians played good baseball in the first half and were in first place by 7 games. The top team in baseball at the all-star break was the New York Mets, whose offense was mediocre, but had the NL’s best pitching staff. The White Sox were locked in a major race in the AL west with five teams (all but the Texas Rangers) within 2 games of first place.

The AL West race remained that close into the beginning of August. Cleveland opened a 14-game lead on the rest of the East, while in the National League, the Cubs and Mets battled in the East, while the Giants, led by Rod Carew, led in the West. The Kansas City Royals emerged as the winner in the AL West, getting red hot down the stretch and finishing with 103 wins. The Mets edged the Cubs by three games and faced the Giants in the NLCS.

The Royals, 44-14 since August, had the league’s best pitching staff, led by Ken Forsch (18-13, 2.92) and the outstanding pitching of closer Frank Bork, who saved 39 games and posted a 1.10 ERA. They were upset, though, by the Indians, in the ALCS. Cleveland went on to face the Mets in the World Series, but the Mets took the title in six games. It was the Mets’ first World Series win in three trips to the playoffs since 1971.

Hank Aaron and Willie Mays both retired after the season. Aaron spent 20 seasons in the majors, mostly with St. Louis, and finished with 547 home runs, third on the all-time list behind Ted Williams and Mickey Manthle. Mays played 23 seasons and had 458 homers and 416 steals for his career. Both were inducted to the Hall of Fame.

1975

Some big names were paid handsome amounts of money to change uniforms in the offseason. Hal McRae, one of California’s big three hitters, left in free agency and signed with the Pirates to form a potent 3-4 combo with Steve Garvey. The Angels rebounded by signing John Hiller, the game’s best closer last season, to a two year contract. Cleveland added long time Braves third baseman Bobby Murcer to bolster their offense.

The Indians and White Sox were the top teams in the American League, and both had won 50 games at the all-star break. The Indians struggled a bit in the second half while Chicago played even better ball and flirted with a .700 winning percentage as late as Setpember 8 before letting up a bit late. In the National League, the Dodgers again were the team to beat in the West, while the Cubs and Mets battled again for control of the East before a 22-5 September for New York sealed the deal.

The White Sox, winners of 109 games in the regular season, advanced past the Cleveland Indians in 5 games in the ALCS thanks to two strong pitching performances by Bill Lee. The Mets needed all five games to dispatch the Dodgers and earn the right to defend their World Series title. And for the second straight season, the Mets won the World Series in 6 games.

The Dodgers’ Tom Seaver had a phenomenal season, going 27-4 with a 2.55 ERA, winning his 4th Cy Young award in the last 5 years.

Sandy Koufax decided to end his Hall of Fame career after winning 314 games in his 20 seasons. His 4,667 strikeouts were by far the most of any pitcher in baseball history. Second on the all-time list at the time of Koufax’s retirement was Walter Johnson with 3,470 strikeouts.

1976

The White Sox again were looking like the best team in the regular season. They virtually stole Steve Carlton away from Cleveland in a trade and he joined Bill Lee and Jim Palmer in the starting rotation. The National League had a couple of close races shaping up. The Cardinals, Mets and Cubs were contenders in the Eastern Division, while the Dodgers attempted to hold off the Reds and emerging Padres in the West. The Boston Red Sox rose to the top of the AL East with Cleveland and New York not far behind. Cleveland come on strong in the second half and ended up with a 101-61 record, the best in the major leagues. They faced a struggling Chicago team in the ALCS and but lost in four games.

In the National League, it was some new blood in the playoffs for the first time in a while. The Cardinals dethroned the Mets in the East and the Padres, who had never finished above .500, unseated the Dodgers. The NLCS went 5 games with the Cardinals going on to the World Series for the first time since 1967.

The White Sox, who played below .500 ball in the last two months of the season, got their act together and beat the Cardinals four games to two in the World Series.

1977

Two new teams entered the league for the 1976 season: the Toronto Blue Jays and the Seattle Mariners. The Mariners’ biggest name came from free agency as they signed free agent pitcher Vida Blue. Blue seemed to feel at home with expansion clubs, as he entered the league as the first overall pick in the amateur draft by the expansion San Diego Padres in 1969. Just as the Padres began to make some noise, Blue bolted for another expansion team.

The Reds added veteran slugger Carl Yastrzemski in free agency. While Yastrzemski didn’t have a great year the Reds had the best record in the NL after the first three months. The White Sox were on top again in the AL West, thanks to a great season from Jim Palmer (22-10, 2.54). The AL East was dominated by the resurgent Yankees franchise, while the NL East saw the New York Mets back on top. The Reds lost their grip on first place to the Dodgers in mid-September and battled back and forth but in the end it was the Dodgers returning to the playoffs for the 4th time in six years.

The New York Mets were a team that shunned the long ball in favor of speed. The team hit just 77 homers (lowest in the majors), but stole a whopping 317 bases, 98 more than any other. The Dodgers were a poor hitting team but had the best pitching in the National League. But the pitching let them down as the Mets won the NLCS in 5 games. They went on to face the Yankees, who came from behind in Game 5 of the ALCS to upset Chicago.

The second Mets-Yankees World Series of the decade went the same way as the 1971 Series. The Yankees won their fourth world championship, taking the series in five games.

1978

The White Sox were again the pacesetters in the AL West, but the World Champion Yankees found themselves 8 games behind the Cleveland Indians heading into the second half of the season. The Tribe’s pitching was unparalleled in the American League, and led by Bert Blyleven. Offensively, Bake McBride was having his best season since coming into the league 6 years prior. In the NL the Dodgers and Giants battled in the West, while the Phillies took advantage of a struggling Mets team and hoped to make their first postseason since 1955.

Cleveland actually improved it’s play early in the second half and had the division wrapped up in August. Meanwhile the Angels were trying to get back into the championship picture and moved into a tie with Chicago on August 21. San Francisco took over first from the Dodgers thanks to the hitting of batting title winner Rod Carew (.376) and the pure power of Dave Kingman, who hit 45 homers. The Mets, who stole 351 bases as a team, finished the season strong and overtook the Phillies to face the Giants in the NLCS.

Two uncharacteristically bad outings by Jim Palmer in the postseason led to Cleveland winning the ALCS in four games. The Giants beat the Mets in 5 games to reach their first World Series in 56 years, and then took out the Indians in 5 in the Series. It was the Giants’ fifth win in five trips to the fall classic.

1979

The Dodgers were dealt a blow when star third baseman Mike Schmidt, one year removed from an NL MVP season, signed a 4-year contract with the struggling Brewers franchise. But the team managed to hold first place in the NL West at the all-star break. Meanwhile Milwaukee stayed buried in the AL East basement.

The Indians, however, were the story of the first half, as they roared out of the gates and set a blazing pace and maintained it. They held the a 57-18 record at the break, an unprecedented .760 winning percentage. The pitching rotation was the strength of the team with Bert Blyleven, Joe Niekro, Bill Singer and Doc Medich. They also improved their offense, having signed perennial all-star Joe Morgan to a two-year deal at age 35.

The Indians finished with 115 wins, 26 games ahead of the second place Red Sox. The California Angels returned to the postseason after a six season absence. The Dodgers held on for the NL West title and the Mets won the NL East for the third straight year. The defending champion Giants had a rough season, finishing four games under .500. Cleveland, winners of 115 games, was stunned in the ALCS by the Angels, who swept the Indians in three games. The Mets advanced to the World Series by defeating the Dodgers in four games in the NLCS, and then won the World Series in seven over California.