1985 Major League Baseball season

This article is about the 1985 Major League Baseball season only. For information on all of baseball, see 1985 in baseball.

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.

1985 MLB season
League	Major League Baseball
Sport	Baseball
Duration	April 8 – October 27, 1985
Number of games	162
Number of teams	26
TV partner(s)	ABC, NBC
Draft
Top draft pick	B. J. Surhoff
Picked by	Milwaukee Brewers
Regular season
Season MVP	NL: Willie McGee (STL) AL: Don Mattingly (NYY)
Postseason
AL champions	Kansas City Royals
AL runners-up	Toronto Blue Jays
NL champions	St. Louis Cardinals
NL runners-up	Los Angeles Dodgers
World Series
Champions	Kansas City Royals
Runners-up	St. Louis Cardinals
World Series MVP	Bret Saberhagen (KC)

Angels

White Sox

Royals

Twins

     Athletics

Mariners

Rangers

Orioles

Red
Sox

Indians

Tigers   

Brewers

Yankees

Blue
Jays

Locations of teams for the 1982–1988 American League seasons
West   East

Braves

Reds

Astros

Dodgers

Padres

  Giants

Cubs

Expos

Mets

     Phillies

Pirates  

Cardinals

Locations of teams for the 1977–1992 National League seasons
West   East

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. This was the first full season for Peter Ueberroth as commissioner.

There was a brief interruption during the regular season. The 1985 Major League Baseball strike occurred August 6 and 7, lasting only two days. The 25 cancelled games were for the most part made up later on in the season on open dates or parts of doubleheaders.

Standings

American League

• v
• t
• e

AL East

Team	W	L	Pct.	GB	Home	Road
Toronto Blue Jays	99	62	.615	—	54‍–‍26	45‍–‍36
New York Yankees	97	64	.602	2	58‍–‍22	39‍–‍42
Detroit Tigers	84	77	.522	15	44‍–‍37	40‍–‍40
Baltimore Orioles	83	78	.516	16	45‍–‍36	38‍–‍42
Boston Red Sox	81	81	.500	18½	43‍–‍37	38‍–‍44
Milwaukee Brewers	71	90	.441	28	40‍–‍40	31‍–‍50
Cleveland Indians	60	102	.370	39½	38‍–‍43	22‍–‍59

• v
• t
• e

AL West

Team	W	L	Pct.	GB	Home	Road
Kansas City Royals	91	71	.562	—	50‍–‍32	41‍–‍39
California Angels	90	72	.556	1	49‍–‍30	41‍–‍42
Chicago White Sox	85	77	.525	6	45‍–‍36	40‍–‍41
Minnesota Twins	77	85	.475	14	49‍–‍35	28‍–‍50
Oakland Athletics	77	85	.475	14	43‍–‍36	34‍–‍49
Seattle Mariners	74	88	.457	17	42‍–‍41	32‍–‍47
Texas Rangers	62	99	.385	28½	37‍–‍43	25‍–‍56

National League

• v
• t
• e

NL East

Team	W	L	Pct.	GB	Home	Road
St. Louis Cardinals	101	61	.623	—	54‍–‍27	47‍–‍34
New York Mets	98	64	.605	3	51‍–‍30	47‍–‍34
Montreal Expos	84	77	.522	16½	44‍–‍37	40‍–‍40
Chicago Cubs	77	84	.478	23½	41‍–‍39	36‍–‍45
Philadelphia Phillies	75	87	.463	26	41‍–‍40	34‍–‍47
Pittsburgh Pirates	57	104	.354	43½	35‍–‍45	22‍–‍59

• v
• t
• e

NL West

Team	W	L	Pct.	GB	Home	Road
Los Angeles Dodgers	95	67	.586	—	48‍–‍33	47‍–‍34
Cincinnati Reds	89	72	.553	5½	47‍–‍34	42‍–‍38
Houston Astros	83	79	.512	12	44‍–‍37	39‍–‍42
San Diego Padres	83	79	.512	12	44‍–‍37	39‍–‍42
Atlanta Braves	66	96	.407	29	32‍–‍49	34‍–‍47
San Francisco Giants	62	100	.383	33	38‍–‍43	24‍–‍57

Postseason

Main article: 1985 MLB 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.

American League

Team	Manager	Notes
Baltimore Orioles	Joe Altobelli, Cal Ripken, Sr., Earl Weaver
Boston Red Sox	John McNamara	First season as Red Sox manager
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	First season as Brewers manager
Minnesota Twins	Billy Gardner, Ray Miller
New York Yankees	Yogi Berra, Billy Martin
Oakland Athletics	Jackie Moore
Seattle Mariners	Chuck Cottier	Cottier's final season as a Major League manager
Texas Rangers	Doug Rader, Bobby Valentine
Toronto Blue Jays	Bobby Cox	Won AL East

National League

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

Umpires

American League Umpires Name G HP 1B 2B 3B LF RF (#22) Larry Barnett 147 39 37 33 39 0 0 (#2) Nick Bremigan 125 32 33 31 29 0 0 (#15) Joe Brinkman 145 37 25 34 39 0 0 (#24) Al Clark 139 35 36 34 34 0 0 (#37) Drew Coble 139 36 34 35 35 0 0 (#12) Terry Cooney 135 35 35 31 34 0 0 (#13) Derryl Cousins 147 37 37 36 37 0 0 (#11) Don Denkinger 144 37 34 34 39 0 0 (#3) Jim Evans 150 39 37 36 38 0 0 (#20) Dale Ford 152 39 40 35 38 0 0 (#19) Rich Garcia 144 36 36 36 36 0 0 (#35) Ted Hendry 149 37 38 37 37 0 0 (#17) John Hirschbeck 100 24 26 26 24 0 0 Rich Humphrey 16 5 5 3 3 0 0 (#25) Mark Johnson 92 23 22 24 23 0 0 (#21) Ken Kaiser 144 36 36 36 36 0 0 (#18) Greg Kosc 145 36 36 36 37 0 0 Tom Leppard 29 6 7 8 8 0 0 (#36) Tim McClelland 144 36 35 37 36 0 0 (#10) Larry McCoy 150 38 37 38 37 0 0 (#8) Jim McKean 137 34 36 35 32 0 0 (#33) Durwood Merrill 148 37 38 32 41 0 0 (#34) Dan Morrison 149 37 38 36 38 0 0 (#6) Jerry Neudecker 152 39 39 36 38 0 0 (#14) Steve Palermo 150 37 38 37 38 0 0 (#7) Dave Phillips 150 38 37 37 38 0 0 (#23) Rick Reed 147 36 37 37 37 0 0 (#31) Mike Reilly 145 36 37 37 35 0 0 (#27) Rocky Roe 148 37 37 35 39 0 0 Dale Scott 1 0 0 0 1 0 0 (#29) John Shulock 115 28 31 28 28 0 0 (#4) Marty Springstead 150 38 38 35 39 0 0 Tim Tschida 27 6 6 9 6 0 0 (#26) Vic Voltaggio 126 33 31 32 30 0 0 (#30) Tim Welke 127 33 32 30 32 0 0 (#28) Larry Young 86 22 21 22 21 0 0

National League Umpires Name G HP 1B 2B 3B LF RF Greg Bonin 24 7 5 6 6 0 0 (#28) Fred Brocklander 150 38 38 38 36 0 0 (#2) Jerry Crawford 139 34 34 35 36 0 0 (#3) Jerry Dale 17 5 4 4 4 0 0 (#31) Bob Davidson 148 37 37 38 36 0 0 (#12) Gerry Davis 127 32 31 32 32 0 0 (#32) Dana DeMuth 84 21 19 22 22 0 0 (#5) Bob Engel 150 39 37 37 37 0 0 (#6) Bruce Froemming 147 37 39 35 36 0 0 (#7) Eric Gregg 132 33 34 33 32 0 0 (#33) Scott Grinder 36 9 8 8 11 0 0 (#20) Tom Hallion 31 8 8 9 6 0 0 (#29) Lanny Harris 98 23 26 26 23 0 0 (#8) Doug Harvey 145 37 38 34 36 0 0 (#9) John Kibler 135 34 33 33 35 0 0 (#30) Randy Marsh 149 36 37 38 38 0 0 (#10) John McSherry 152 38 38 38 38 0 0 (#11) Ed Montague 151 37 38 39 37 0 0 (#26) Dave Pallone 143 34 37 35 37 0 0 Larry Poncino 7 2 2 2 1 0 0 (#14) Frank Pulli 146 37 36 36 37 0 0 (#15) Jim Quick 145 36 37 35 37 0 0 (#16) Dutch Rennert 151 38 39 36 38 0 0 (#27) Steve Rippley 84 21 21 21 21 0 0 (#17) Paul Runge 147 37 36 37 37 0 0 (#18) Dick Stello 149 37 37 37 38 0 0 (#19) Terry Tata 145 36 37 36 36 0 0 (#21) Harry Wendelstedt 143 37 36 33 37 0 0 (#22) Joe West 150 37 37 37 39 0 0 (#23) Lee Weyer 152 39 36 38 39 0 0 (#24) Bill Williams 154 38 38 38 40 0 0 (#25) Charlie Williams 151 38 39 40 34 0 0

Awards and honors

• Baseball Hall of Fame
  • Lou Brock
  • Enos Slaughter
  • Arky Vaughan
  • Hoyt Wilhelm

Further information: 1985 Baseball Hall of Fame balloting

Baseball Writers' Association of America Awards
BBWAA Award	National League	American League
Rookie of the Year	Vince Coleman (STL)	Ozzie Guillen (CWS)
Cy Young Award	Dwight Gooden (NYM)	Bret Saberhagen (KC)
Manager of the Year	Whitey Herzog (STL)	Bobby Cox (TOR)
Most Valuable Player	Willie McGee (STL)	Don Mattingly (NYY)
Gold Glove Awards
Position	National League	American League
Pitcher	Rick Reuschel (PIT)	Ron Guidry (NYY)
Catcher	Tony Peña (PIT)	Lance Parrish (DET)
First Baseman	Keith Hernandez (NYM)	Don Mattingly (NYY)
Second Baseman	Ryne Sandberg (CHC)	Lou Whitaker (DET)
Third Baseman	Tim Wallach (MTL)	George Brett (KC)
Shortstop	Ozzie Smith (STL)	Alfredo Griffin (OAK)
Outfielders	Andre Dawson (MTL)	Dwight Evans (BOS)
	Willie McGee (STL)	Dwayne Murphy (OAK)
	Dale Murphy (ATL)	Gary Pettis (CAL) Dave Winfield (NYY)
Silver Slugger Awards
Pitcher/Designated Hitter	Rick Rhoden (PIT)	Don Baylor (NYY)
Catcher	Gary Carter (NYM)	Carlton Fisk (CWS)
First Baseman	Jack Clark (STL)	Don Mattingly (NYY)
Second Baseman	Ryne Sandberg (CHC)	Lou Whitaker (DET)
Third Baseman	Tim Wallach (MTL)	George Brett (KC)
Shortstop	Hubie Brooks (MTL)	Cal Ripken Jr. (BAL)
Outfielders	Willie McGee (STL)	George Bell (TOR)
	Dale Murphy (ATL)	Rickey Henderson (NYY)
	Dave Parker (CIN)	Dave Winfield (NYY)

Other awards

• Outstanding Designated Hitter Award: Don Baylor (NYY)
• Roberto Clemente Award (Humanitarian): Don Baylor (NYY)
• Rolaids Relief Man Award: Dan Quisenberry (KC, American); Jeff Reardon (MTL, National).

Player of the Month

Month	American League	National League
April	Mike Davis	Dale Murphy
May	George Brett	Dave Parker
June	Rickey Henderson	Pedro Guerrero
July	George Brett	Keith Hernandez
August	Don Mattingly	Willie McGee
September	Don Mattingly	Gary Carter

Pitcher of the Month

Month	American League	National League
April	Charlie Leibrandt	Fernando Valenzuela
May	Dave Stieb	Andy Hawkins
June	Jay Howell	John Tudor
July	Bret Saberhagen	Fernando Valenzuela
August	Dave Righetti	Shane Rawley
September	Charlie Leibrandt	Dwight Gooden

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

• All-Star Game, July 16 at the Metrodome in Minneapolis: National League, 6–1; LaMarr Hoyt, MVP.^[2]

Milestones

• On August 4, at Yankee Stadium, Tom Seaver won his 300th game as a member of the Chicago White Sox.^[3]
• On August 4, at Anaheim Stadium, Rod Carew got his 3000th hit as a member of the California Angels.^[3]
• On September 11, Pete Rose reached 4,192 hits, breaking Ty Cobb's all-time major league career hits record.^[4]
• On October 6, Phil Niekro won his 300th game and became the oldest pitcher (age 46) to record a shutout as a member of the New York Yankees.^[5]

Home field attendance and 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[18]	77	0.0%	1,334,599	-1.4%	16,894	$9,058,606
Houston Astros[25]	83	3.8%	1,184,314	-3.7%	14,621	$9,993,051
Seattle Mariners[26]	74	0.0%	1,128,696	29.7%	13,599	$4,613,000
Texas Rangers[27]	62	-10.1%	1,112,497	0.9%	13,906	$7,676,500
San Francisco Giants[28]	62	-6.1%	818,697	-18.3%	10,107	$8,221,714
Pittsburgh Pirates[29]	57	-24.0%	735,900	-4.9%	9,199	$9,267,500
Cleveland Indians[30]	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. "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. "Cleveland Indians Attendance, Stadiums and Park Factors". Baseball-Reference.com. Retrieved September 8, 2020.
26. "Seattle Mariners Attendance, Stadiums and Park Factors". Baseball-Reference.com. Retrieved September 8, 2020.
27. "Texas Rangers Attendance, Stadiums and Park Factors". Baseball-Reference.com. Retrieved September 8, 2020.
28. "San Francisco Giants Attendance, Stadiums and Park Factors". Baseball-Reference.com. Retrieved September 8, 2020.
29. "Pittsburgh Pirates Attendance, Stadiums and Park Factors". Baseball-Reference.com. Retrieved September 8, 2020.
30. "Cleveland Indians Attendance, Stadiums and Park Factors". Baseball-Reference.com. Retrieved September 8, 2020.

External links

• 1985 Major League Baseball season schedule at Baseball Reference