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1985 MLB season
LeagueMajor League Baseball
SportBaseball
DurationApril 8 – October 27, 1985
Number of games162
Number of teams26
TV partner(s)ABC, NBC
Draft
Top draft pickB. J. Surhoff
Picked byMilwaukee Brewers
Regular season
Season MVPNL: Willie McGee (STL)
AL: Don Mattingly (NYY)
League postseason
AL championsKansas City Royals
  AL runners-upToronto Blue Jays
NL championsSt. Louis Cardinals
  NL runners-upLos Angeles Dodgers
World Series
ChampionsKansas City Royals
  Runners-upSt. Louis Cardinals
World Series MVPBret Saberhagen (KC)
MLB seasons

The 1985 Major League Baseball season ended with the Kansas City Royals defeating the St. Louis Cardinals in the seventh game of the I-70 World Series. Bret Saberhagen, the regular season Cy Young Award winner, was named MVP of the Series. The National League won the All-Star Game for the second straight year.

The League Championship Series playoffs were expanded to a best-of-seven format beginning this year,[1] and both leagues ended up settling their pennant winners in more than five games, with the Royals beating the Toronto Blue Jays in seven games, and the Cardinals beating the Los Angeles Dodgers in six games.

Standings

Postseason

Bracket

  League Championship Series
(ALCS, NLCS) 		World Series
                 
East Toronto 3  
West Kansas City 4  
    AL Kansas City 4
  NL St. Louis 3
East St. Louis 4
West Los Angeles 2  

Managers

The Oakland Athletics hosting a game at the Oakland–Alameda County Coliseum in 1985.
The Oakland Athletics hosting a game at the Oakland–Alameda County Coliseum in 1985.

American League

Team Manager Notes
Baltimore Orioles Joe Altobelli, Cal Ripken, Sr., Earl Weaver
Boston Red Sox John McNamara
California Angels Gene Mauch
Chicago White Sox Tony La Russa
Cleveland Indians Pat Corrales
Detroit Tigers Sparky Anderson
Kansas City Royals Dick Howser Won World Series
Milwaukee Brewers George Bamberger
Minnesota Twins Billy Gardner, Ray Miller
New York Yankees Yogi Berra, Billy Martin
Oakland Athletics Jackie Moore
Seattle Mariners Chuck Cottier
Texas Rangers Doug Rader, Bobby Valentine
Toronto Blue Jays Bobby Cox

National League

Team Manager Notes
Atlanta Braves Eddie Haas, Bobby Wine
Chicago Cubs Jim Frey
Cincinnati Reds Pete Rose
Houston Astros Bob Lillis
Los Angeles Dodgers Tommy Lasorda
Montreal Expos Buck Rodgers
New York Mets Davey Johnson
Philadelphia Phillies John Felske
Pittsburgh Pirates Chuck Tanner
St. Louis Cardinals Whitey Herzog Won National League Pennant
San Diego Padres Dick Williams
San Francisco Giants Jim Davenport, Roger Craig

Awards and honors

Further information: 1985 Baseball Hall of Fame balloting

Statistical leaders

Statistic American League National League
AVG Wade Boggs BOS .368 Willie McGee STL .353
HR Darrell Evans DET 40 Dale Murphy ATL 37
RBI Don Mattingly NYY 145 Dave Parker CIN 125
Wins Ron Guidry NYY 22 Dwight Gooden NYM 24
ERA Dave Stieb TOR 2.48 Dwight Gooden NYM 1.53
SO Bert Blyleven CLE/MIN 206 Dwight Gooden NYM 268
SV Dan Quisenberry KC 37 Jeff Reardon MTL 41
SB Rickey Henderson NYY 80 Vince Coleman STL 110

All-Star game

Milestones

Home Field Attendance & Payroll

Team Name Wins %± Home attendance %± Per Game Est. Payroll %±
Los Angeles Dodgers[6] 95 20.3% 3,264,593 4.1% 40,304 $10,967,917
New York Mets[7] 98 8.9% 2,761,601 49.9% 34,094 $10,834,762
St. Louis Cardinals[8] 101 20.2% 2,637,563 29.5% 32,563 $11,817,083
California Angels[9] 90 11.1% 2,567,427 6.8% 32,499 $14,427,894
Toronto Blue Jays[10] 99 11.2% 2,468,925 17.0% 30,862 $9,329,217
Detroit Tigers[11] 84 -19.2% 2,286,609 -15.5% 28,230 $10,348,143
New York Yankees[12] 97 11.5% 2,214,587 21.6% 27,682 $14,238,204
San Diego Padres[13] 83 -9.8% 2,210,352 11.4% 27,288 $11,191,583
Kansas City Royals[14] 91 8.3% 2,162,717 19.5% 26,375 $10,565,346
Chicago Cubs[15] 77 -19.8% 2,161,534 2.6% 26,686 $12,702,917
Baltimore Orioles[16] 83 -2.4% 2,132,387 4.2% 26,326 $12,085,712
Cincinnati Reds[17] 89 27.1% 1,834,619 43.8% 22,650 $8,359,917
Philadelphia Phillies[18] 75 -7.4% 1,830,350 -11.3% 22,597 $10,644,966
Boston Red Sox[19] 81 -5.8% 1,786,633 7.5% 22,057 $10,897,560
Chicago White Sox[20] 85 14.9% 1,669,888 -21.9% 20,616 $9,846,178
Minnesota Twins[21] 77 -4.9% 1,651,814 3.3% 19,664 $5,764,821
Montreal Expos[22] 84 7.7% 1,502,494 -6.5% 18,549 $9,470,166
Milwaukee Brewers[23] 71 6.0% 1,360,265 -15.4% 17,003 $11,284,107
Atlanta Braves[24] 66 -17.5% 1,350,137 -21.7% 16,668 $14,807,000
Oakland Athletics[25] 77 0.0% 1,334,599 -1.4% 16,894 $9,058,606
Houston Astros[26] 83 3.8% 1,184,314 -3.7% 14,621 $9,993,051
Seattle Mariners[27] 74 0.0% 1,128,696 29.7% 13,599 $4,613,000
Texas Rangers[28] 62 -10.1% 1,112,497 0.9% 13,906 $7,676,500
San Francisco Giants[29] 62 -6.1% 818,697 -18.3% 10,107 $8,221,714
Pittsburgh Pirates[30] 57 -24.0% 735,900 -4.9% 9,199 $9,267,500
Cleveland Indians[31] 60 -20.0% 655,181 -10.7% 8,089 $6,551,666

Television coverage

Network Day of week Announcers
ABC Monday nights
Sunday afternoons 		Al Michaels, Jim Palmer, Howard Cosell,[n1 1] Tim McCarver, Don Drysdale
NBC Saturday afternoons Vin Scully, Joe Garagiola, Bob Costas, Tony Kubek

References

  1. ^ ABC replaced Howard Cosell with Tim McCarver in the booth alongside Al Michaels and Jim Palmer for the 1985 World Series due to the controversy surrounding Cosell's book, I Never Played the Game.
  1. ^ "League playoffs expand to seven games". Spokesman-Review. (Spokane, Washington). staff and wire reports. April 4, 1985. p. C2.
  2. ^ "AL is kept at arm's length". Spokesman-Review. (Spokane, Washington). Knight-Ridder. July 17, 1985. p. C1.
  3. ^ a b "Carew, Seaver have a Super Sunday". Spokesman-Review. (Spokane, Washington). Associated Press. August 5, 1985. p. C1.
  4. ^ Richmond, Peter (September 12, 1985). "Rose finally breaks the Ty". Spokesman-Review. (Spokane, Washington). (Cincinnati Herald). p. C1.
  5. ^ "Niekro blanks Jays for 300th". Spokesman-Review. (Spokane, Washington). Associated Press. October 7, 1985. p. C1.
  6. ^ "Los Angeles Dodgers Attendance, Stadiums and Park Factors". Baseball-Reference.com. Retrieved September 8, 2020.
  7. ^ "New York Mets Attendance, Stadiums and Park Factors". Baseball-Reference.com. Retrieved September 8, 2020.
  8. ^ "St. Louis Cardinals Attendance, Stadiums and Park Factors". Baseball-Reference.com. Retrieved September 8, 2020.
  9. ^ "Los Angeles Angels Attendance, Stadiums and Park Factors". Baseball-Reference.com. Retrieved September 8, 2020.
  10. ^ "Toronto Blue Jays Attendance, Stadiums and Park Factors". Baseball-Reference.com. Retrieved September 8, 2020.
  11. ^ "Detroit Tigers Attendance, Stadiums and Park Factors". Baseball-Reference.com. Retrieved September 8, 2020.
  12. ^ "New York Yankees Attendance, Stadiums and Park Factors". Baseball-Reference.com. Retrieved September 8, 2020.
  13. ^ "San Diego Padres Attendance, Stadiums and Park Factors". Baseball-Reference.com. Retrieved September 8, 2020.
  14. ^ "Kansas City Royals Attendance, Stadiums and Park Factors". Baseball-Reference.com. Retrieved September 8, 2020.
  15. ^ "Chicago Cubs Attendance, Stadiums and Park Factors". Baseball-Reference.com. Retrieved September 8, 2020.
  16. ^ "Baltimore Orioles Attendance, Stadiums and Park Factors". Baseball-Reference.com. Retrieved September 8, 2020.
  17. ^ "Cincinnati Reds Attendance, Stadiums and Park Factors". Baseball-Reference.com. Retrieved September 8, 2020.
  18. ^ "Oakland Athletics Attendance, Stadiums and Park Factors". Baseball-Reference.com. Retrieved September 8, 2020.
  19. ^ "Boston Red Sox Attendance, Stadiums and Park Factors". Baseball-Reference.com. Retrieved September 8, 2020.
  20. ^ "Chicago White Sox Attendance, Stadiums and Park Factors". Baseball-Reference.com. Retrieved September 8, 2020.
  21. ^ "Minnesota Twins Attendance, Stadiums and Park Factors". Baseball-Reference.com. Retrieved September 8, 2020.
  22. ^ "Washington Nationals Attendance, Stadiums and Park Factors". Baseball-Reference.com. Retrieved September 8, 2020.
  23. ^ "Milwaukee Brewers Attendance, Stadiums and Park Factors". Baseball-Reference.com. Retrieved September 8, 2020.
  24. ^ "Atlanta Braves Attendance, Stadiums and Park Factors". Baseball-Reference.com. Retrieved September 8, 2020.
  25. ^ "Oakland Athletics Attendance, Stadiums and Park Factors". Baseball-Reference.com. Retrieved September 8, 2020.
  26. ^ "Cleveland Indians Attendance, Stadiums and Park Factors". Baseball-Reference.com. Retrieved September 8, 2020.
  27. ^ "Seattle Mariners Attendance, Stadiums and Park Factors". Baseball-Reference.com. Retrieved September 8, 2020.
  28. ^ "Texas Rangers Attendance, Stadiums and Park Factors". Baseball-Reference.com. Retrieved September 8, 2020.
  29. ^ "San Francisco Giants Attendance, Stadiums and Park Factors". Baseball-Reference.com. Retrieved September 8, 2020.
  30. ^ "Pittsburgh Pirates Attendance, Stadiums and Park Factors". Baseball-Reference.com. Retrieved September 8, 2020.
  31. ^ "Cleveland Indians Attendance, Stadiums and Park Factors". Baseball-Reference.com. Retrieved September 8, 2020.

External links

1985 MLB season by team
Major League Baseball seasons
1985 Major League Baseball postseason
Categories