ANGELS: ONE GAME FOR THE TITLE : Major League Showdowns

The Angels’ one-game playoff today with Seattle for the American League West championship is the eighth such playoff for a league or division title, including five involving the Dodgers. Here are highlights of previous playoffs:

1946

Cardinals vs. Dodgers

Tied at: 96-58

St. Louis swept two games, 4-2 and 8-4, in the best-of-three format used by the National League before 1969. Joe Garagiola, a 20-year-old catcher, had three hits and drove in a pair of runs for the Cardinals in the opener.

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1948

Indians vs. Red Sox

Tied at: 96-58

Rookie Gene Bearden pitched a five-hitter for Cleveland in the one-game playoff at Fenway Park, beating Boston, 8-3. Lou Boudreau, the Indians’ player-manager, homered twice and Ken Keltner added a three-run home run

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1951

Giants vs. Dodgers

Tied at: 96-58

The Giants, 13 1/2 games back on Aug. 11, tied for first by winning 12 of their final 13 games, then beat Brooklyn, 3-1, in the playoff opener at Ebbets Field on homers by Bobby Thomson and Monte Irvin. Brooklyn won, 10-0, the next afternoon at the Polo Grounds on Clem Labine’s six-hitter and home runs by Jackie Robinson, Gil Hodges, Andy Pafko and Rube Walker. Then, on Oct. 3, came Thomson’s “Shot Heard Round the World.” With the Giants trailing, 4-2, and one out in the ninth, Thomson hit a three-run home run off Ralph Branca, one of the most famous home runs in baseball history.

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1959

Dodgers vs. Braves

Tied at: 86-68

Los Angeles won the opener, 3-2, on John Roseboro’s home run off Carl Willey. The Braves took a 5-2 lead into the ninth inning of the second game, but the Dodgers tied it on Norm Larker’s two-run single off Don McMahon and Carl Furillo’s sacrifice fly off Warren Spahn. The Dodgers then won it, 6-5, in the 12th when Furillo reached on an infield hit and Gil Hodges scored from second as second baseman Felix Mantilla made a poor throw that skipped past Frank Torre at first.

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1962

Giants vs. Dodgers

Tied at: 101-61

San Francisco won the opener, 8-0, on a three-hitter by Billy Pierce and a pair of home runs by Willie Mays. Los Angeles tied the series the next day, winning, 8-7, on a ninth-inning sacrifice fly by Ron Fairly. The Dodgers led the third game, 4-2, in the ninth, but Mays’ run-scoring single and a bases-loaded walk to Jim Davenport by Stan Williams highlighted a four-run inning in the Giants’ 6-4 victory.

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1978

Yakees vs. Red Sox

Tied at: 99-53

After overcoming a 14-game deficit on July 19, New York won the playoff, 5-4, at Fenway Park when Bucky Dent stunned Mike Torrez with a three-run home run in the seventh inning.

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1980

Astros vs. Dodgers

Tied at: 92-70

The Dodgers fell behind by seven runs in the first four innings and Joe Niekro held them in check in a 7-1 Houston victory.

Source: Associated Press