This 1981 HBO Race for the Pennant episode takes place right before the World Series between the Yankees verses the Dodgers takes place…..as host Barry Tompkins conducts a round table discussion with Orioles Mgr Earl Weaver and OF Frank Robinson and sportscaster Tim McCarver…..regarding all things New York Yankees and Los Angeles Dodgers prior to their meeting in the 1981 World Series.
The 1981 World Series was the championship series of the 1981 MLB season….which matched the New York Yankees against the Los Angeles Dodgers….as it marked their third meeting in the Series in five years….as well as a record eleventh Series meeting overall….as well as the last Series meeting to date. The Dodgers won the Series in six games in a mirror image of the two teams’ last Series meeting in 1978…..as this was the Dodgers first title since 1965…..as well as their first victory over the Yankees since 1963….and third World Series win over the Yankees, overall.
This is the last World Series that a team won after losing the first two games on the road. This also was the last meeting between teams from New York City and Los Angeles for a major professional sports championship until the Los Angeles Kings and New York Rangers reached the NHL’s 2014 Stanley Cup Finals….and also the last meeting between the Dodgers and the Yankees in the World Series to date….and still the two teams have met 11 times in the World Series….thus making it the most frequent matchup in World Series history.
