| Tournament details | |
|---|---|
| Dates | October 5–20, 1982 [1] |
| Teams | 4 |
| Final positions | |
| Champions | St. Louis Cardinals (9th title) |
| Runners-up | Milwaukee Brewers (1st World Series appearance) |
| Awards | |
| MVP | Darrell Porter (STL) |
The 1982 Major League Baseball postseason was the playoff tournament of Major League Baseball for the 1982 season. The winners of each division advance to the postseason and face each other in a League Championship Series to determine the pennant winners that face each other in the World Series.
In the American League, the California Angels made their second postseason appearance in the past four years, and the Milwaukee Brewers made their second straight postseason appearance and last as a member of the American League. This would be Milwaukee’s last postseason appearance until 2008.
In the National League, the St. Louis Cardinals made their first postseason appearance since 1967 and first of the divisional era, and the Atlanta Braves made their first postseason appearance since 1969. This was the last postseason appearance for the Braves until 1991, when the team would start a streak of fourteen consecutive postseason appearances.
The playoffs began on October 5, 1982, and concluded on October 20, 1982, with the Cardinals defeating the Brewers in seven games in the 1982 World Series. This was the first title since 1967 for the Cardinals and their ninth overall.
The following teams qualified for the postseason:
| League Championship Series (ALCS, NLCS) | World Series | |||||||
| East | Milwaukee | 3 | ||||||
| West | California | 2 | ||||||
| AL | Milwaukee | 3 | ||||||
| NL | St. Louis | 4 | ||||||
| East | St. Louis | 3 | ||||||
| West | Atlanta | 0 | ||||||
Milwaukee won the series, 3–2.
| Game | Date | Score | Location | Time | Attendance |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | October 5 | Milwaukee Brewers – 3, California Angels – 8 | Anaheim Stadium | 2:31 | 64,406 [6] |
| 2 | October 6 | Milwaukee Brewers – 2, California Angels – 4 | Anaheim Stadium | 2:06 | 64,179 [7] |
| 3 | October 8 | California Angels – 3, Milwaukee Brewers – 5 | County Stadium | 2:31 | 50,135 [8] |
| 4 | October 9 | California Angels – 5, Milwaukee Brewers – 9 | County Stadium | 3:10 | 51,003 [9] |
| 5 | October 10 | California Angels – 3, Milwaukee Brewers – 4 | County Stadium | 3:01 | 54,968 [10] |
This was the first playoff matchup between two expansion teams, and the first ALCS to not feature either the Baltimore Orioles, Oakland Athletics or Kansas City Royals. Down two games to none, the Brewers rallied to defeat the Angels in five games and advance to the World Series for the first time in franchise history.
In Game 1, Tommy John pitched a complete game as the Angels blew out the Brewers. Game 2 was a pitchers’ duel between Milwaukee’s Pete Vuckovich and California’s Bruce Kison, which was won by the latter as Kison pitched yet another complete game for the Angels as they won to take a 2–0 series lead heading to Milwaukee. There, the Brewers responded. Don Sutton pitched seven innings of shutout ball and closer Pete Ladd held off a late rally by the Angels to get the Brewers on the board in the series. Game 4 was an offensive slugfest which was won by the Brewers as they evened the series. In Game 5, the Brewers overcame a late Angels lead to win as Cecil Cooper drove in two runs with an RBI single, clinching the pennant. The Brewers became the first team in LCS history to come back from a two games to none deficit to win the pennant. This would be the last playoff series win by the Brewers until 2011.
The Angels returned to the ALCS in 1986, but they would blow a 3–1 series lead and lose to the Boston Red Sox. They would eventually win the pennant in 2002 over the Minnesota Twins in five games en route to a World Series title.
As of 2025, this is the only time the Brewers won a pennant. The only teams with a longer league pennant drought are the Pittsburgh Pirates - who last won one in 1979, and the Seattle Mariners - the only franchise left that hasn’t won a pennant.
St. Louis won the series, 3–0.
| Game | Date | Score | Location | Time | Attendance |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | October 7 | Atlanta Braves – 0, St. Louis Cardinals – 7 | Busch Stadium (II) | 2:25 | 53,008 [11] |
| 2 | October 9 | Atlanta Braves – 3, St. Louis Cardinals – 4 | Busch Stadium (II) | 2:46 | 53,408 [12] |
| 3 | October 10 | St. Louis Cardinals – 6, Atlanta Braves – 2 | Atlanta–Fulton County Stadium | 2:51 | 52,173 [13] |
This was the first LCS since 1969 to not feature a team from Ohio, Pennsylvania, or California.
This was the first postseason meeting between the Cardinals and Braves. The Cardinals swept the Braves and returned to the World Series for the first time since 1968.
This series was heavily lopsided in favor of the Cardinals - Bob Forsch pitched a complete-game shutout as the Cardinals blew out the Braves in Game 1. In Game 2, the Braves held a 3–2 lead after seven innings, but the Cardinals rallied with two unanswered runs across the eighth and ninth innings respectively to take a 2–0 series lead headed to Atlanta. In Game 3, the Cardinals jumped out to a big lead early and maintained it, as Joaquín Andújar and closer Bruce Sutter held the Braves' offense at bay to help the Cardinals win 6–2 and clinch the pennant.
This was the first of three NL pennants won by the Cardinals during the 1980s - they would win it again in 1985 against the Los Angeles Dodgers in six games, and in 1987 against the San Francisco Giants in seven games, but they would fall in the World Series each time afterwards.
The Braves would eventually win the NL pennant again in 1991 over the Pittsburgh Pirates in seven games before falling in the World Series.
The Braves and Cardinals would meet again in the NLCS in 1996, where the Braves defeated the Cardinals in seven games after trailing three games to one before falling in the World Series that year.
St. Louis won the series, 4–3.
| Game | Date | Score | Location | Time | Attendance |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | October 12 | Milwaukee Brewers – 10, St. Louis Cardinals – 0 | Busch Stadium | 2:30 | 53,723 [14] |
| 2 | October 13 | Milwaukee Brewers – 4, St. Louis Cardinals – 5 | Busch Stadium | 2:54 | 53,723 [15] |
| 3 | October 15 | St. Louis Cardinals – 6, Milwaukee Brewers – 2 | County Stadium | 2:53 | 56,556 [16] |
| 4 | October 16 | St. Louis Cardinals – 5, Milwaukee Brewers – 7 | County Stadium | 3:04 | 56,560 [17] |
| 5 | October 17 | St. Louis Cardinals – 4, Milwaukee Brewers – 6 | County Stadium | 3:02 | 56,562 [18] |
| 6 | October 19 | Milwaukee Brewers – 1, St. Louis Cardinals – 13 | Busch Stadium | 2:21 | 53,723 [19] |
| 7 | October 20 | Milwaukee Brewers – 3, St. Louis Cardinals – 6 | Busch Stadium | 2:50 | 53,723 [20] |
This was the first World Series since 1968 to not feature a team from New York, Pennsylvania, Maryland, Ohio, or California.
This was the first postseason meeting between the Brewers and Cardinals. The Cardinals narrowly defeated the Brewers in seven games to win their first title since 1967. This marked the fourth consecutive World Series win by the National League.
In St. Louis, the Brewers blew out the Cardinals to take Game 1 as Mike Caldwell pitched a three-hit complete-game shutout. The Cardinals narrowly won Game 2 after using four different pitchers to even the series going to Milwaukee. Joaquín Andújar pitched seven solid innings as the Cardinals took Game 3 and the series lead. Then, things went south for the Cardinals again. In Game 4, the Cardinals led 5-1 going into the bottom of the seventh, but the Brewers put up six unanswered runs to take the lead for good and even the series. Caldwell pitched eight solid innings as the Brewers won to take a 3-2 series lead headed back to St. Louis. Game 5 was the last postseason game ever played at Milwaukee County Stadium. In Game 6, the Cardinals blew out the Brewers by a whopping twelve runs to force a Game 7, with John Stuper pitching a complete game for the Cardinals. The Cardinals’ twelve-run margin of victory in Game 6 was the largest in a World Series game since Game 2 of the 1960 World Series, and is tied for the third largest margin of victory in a World Series game overall. [21] In Game 7, the Brewers led 3–1 going into the bottom of the sixth, until Brewers' manager Harvey Kuenn pulled starting pitcher Pete Vuckovich after the Cardinals got men on first and third bases with one out. This decision proved to be fatal for the Brewers, as the Cardinals scored three runs to take the lead, and then scored two more unanswered runs in the bottom of the eighth to secure the title.
This would be the final postseason appearance by the Brewers as a member of the American League. They would return to the postseason in 2008 as a member of the National League. As of 2025, this remains Milwaukee’s only appearance in the World Series, and was the last appearance by a Milwaukee-based team in the championship round of the four major leagues until the NBA’s Milwaukee Bucks made and won the 2021 NBA Finals.
The Cardinals would make two more World Series appearances during the decade, in 1985 and 1987, losing both to the Kansas City Royals and Minnesota Twins respectively. They would also return to the World Series in 2004, but were swept by the Boston Red Sox. The Cardinals’ next championship would come in 2006, where they upset the Detroit Tigers in five games.
The Brewers and Cardinals would meet again in the 2011 NLCS, which the Cardinals also won en route to a World Series title.
ABC televised both LCS nationally in the United States. Under MLB's broadcasting rules at the time, each team's local broadcaster was allowed to also televise coverage of LCS games. However, the Atlanta Braves' broadcaster was a cable superstation, WTBS, that was available nationally. When the channel tried to petition for the right to do a "local" Braves broadcast of the NLCS, [22] MLB got a Philadelphia federal court [23] [24] to ban [25] them on the grounds that as a cable superstation, WTBS could not have a nationwide telecast competing with ABC.
NBC aired the World Series.
