The 1980 edition of the Phillies may not have been the best team, talent-wise, in Phillies history. Both the 1976 and 1977 Phils won more games. The Phillies also won pennants in 1915, 1950, 1983, and 1993. In fact, it took a near miracle (and a six-game winning streak at the end of the year) for the Phillies to even win the division crown over the powerhouse Expos in 1980. Then the Phillies looked at baseball's version of the Grim Reaper against Houston, coming back in the 8th inning of games 4 and 5, winning both in extra innings to go to the World Series. And against the Royals, the Phillies just would not be denied, winning the FIRST World Championship in Phillies history in six games. Yes, other Phillies teams may have had more talent. Other Phillies teams may have won more games. But the 1980 Phillies won, with grit and determination, what no other Phillies team could achieve until 2008: The right to call themselves WORLD CHAMPIONS.

November 2024 Update:  The October articles went faster than anticipated, and I was able to put them all in the site library this month.  I continued to condense the Camden Courier-Post and the Atlantic City Press through the month, but decided to keep them separate for the World Series, as each newspaper had more articles during the Series.  One thing that I began to add was the newspaper masthead, to give a little spice to those pages.

Playoff Crash:  Sadly, the Phillies crashed and burned against the Mets in the playoffs, losing the NLDS three games to one.  The feast-or-famine lineup went hungry, and the bullpen, perhaps the most consistent part of the team for much of the season, collapsed in the spotlight of the playoffs.  And thus the season, that seemed to hold so much promise, instead ended in disappointment.

Offseason:  With the closing of the World Series, the offseason will begin.  Will the Phillies once more “run it back,” and spend another of Bryce Harper’s prime with essentially the same team, or will a few major changes be made to the core?  Only time will tell. 

Thomson Extended:    The Phillies did not allow the disappointing playoff exit to sour their affinity for manager Rob Thomson.   Thomson, whose ascension to the manager role sparked the recent playoff runs for the Phillies, was extended throughout the 2026 season.

Still On the Lookout For:

·   Digital pictures from the 1980 season.  I’ve been putting in a lot of clips from the newspaper I get the articles from, but the quality is often less than optimal.

·   Articles from the Philadelphia Bulletin.  Richie Ashburn used to do a weekly article in that newspaper, but to this point I cannot find it online.  Online, scanned, clipped… most importantly free!

Future Updates:  I should be able to close out The Press of Atlantic City in November.  I will continue as time allows to fix the formatting errors that I have discovered in recent updates.  Then it will be time to begin the next retelling of the story.  Future possibilities for articles include the Asbury Park (NJ) Press, Lancaster (PA) Intelligencer Journal, the Lancaster (PA) New Era, and the Lebanon (PA) Daily News.  I still need to further condense the article pages to give space for these future possibilities:  instead of individual pages for the non-Philly newspapers, I will need to combine the rest into Delaware, New Jersey and Pennsylvania newspapers (with maybe an additional page for Suburban papers).  That process will continue as I work to add to the site.