1981

1981 in baseball
Cuban National League
Japanese baseball
American League
National League
<< 1980 1982 >>

Championships, events, culture, births, and deaths that occurred in 1981.

Club competitions

Professional

Asia and Australia

• Nippon Professional Baseball
  • Nippon Series: Yomiuri Giants (CL) over the Nippon Ham Fighters (PL), 4 - 2 - 0 (Details)
    • Central League: Yomiuri Giants (Details)
    • Pacific League: Nippon Ham Fighters (Details)
• Claxton Shield: Victoria

Europe

• European Cup: Parmalat Parma, Serie A1 (Details)
  • Division Élite: Nice Université Club
  • Hoofdklasse Honkbal: Kok Juwelier Neptunus Rotterdam
  • Serie A1: Parmalat Parma

North America

• Major League Baseball
  • World Series: Los Angeles Dodgers (NL) over the New York Yankees (AL), 4 - 2 (Details)
    • American League: New York Yankees (Details)
    • National League: Los Angeles Dodgers (Details)

• Minor League Baseball
  • American Association: Denver Bears (Details)
  • Appalachian League: Paintsville Yankees
  • California League: Lodi Dodgers
  • Carolina League: Hagerstown Suns
  • Eastern League: Bristol Red Sox
  • Florida State League: Daytona Beach Astros
  • Gulf Coast League: GCL Royals Gold
  • International League: Columbus Clippers (Details)
  • Midwest League: Wausau Timbers
  • New York-Penn League: Oneonta Yankees
  • Northwest League: Medford A's
  • Pacific Coast League: Albuquerque Dukes (Details)
  • Pioneer League: Butte Copper Kings
  • South Atlantic League: Greensboro Hornets
  • Southern League: Orlando Twins
  • Texas League: Jackson Mets

• Liga Mexicana de Béisbol: Diablos Rojos del México defeated the Broncos de Reynosa in the finals, 4 - 3

• Cuban Serie Nacional: Vegueros (Details)

Winter Leagues

• • Liga de Béisbol Profesional de la República Dominicana: Leones del Escogido defeated the Águilas Cibaeñas in the finals, 5 - 4
  • Liga Mexicana del Pacífico: Yaquis de Obregón
  • Liga de Béisbol Profesional de Puerto Rico: Criollos de Caguas
  • Liga Venezolana de Béisbol Profesional: Leones del Caracas defeated the Cardenales de Lara in the finals, 4 - 0

Amateur

• National Collegiate Athletic Association
  • College World Series (Division I): Arizona State University defeated Oklahoma State University in the finals, 7 - 4 (Details)
  • Division II Baseball Championship: Florida Southern College over the Eastern Illinois University, 9 - 0 in the finals
  • Division III Baseball Championship: Marietta College over the Ithaca College, 14 - 12 (12 inn.) in the finals
• NAIA College World Series: Grand Canyon College over the Winthrop University, 11 - 4 in the finals
  • NJCAA Baseball World Series: Miami-Dade Community College
• Community College League of California: College of the Canyons over Los Angeles Harbor College 4 - 1 in the finals
• National Baseball Congress World Series: Clarinda A's (Details)
• All-Japan University Baseball Championship Series: Meiji University defeated the Kinki University in the final, 8 - 2 (Details)
• Japan High School Baseball Federation
  • National High School Baseball Invitational Tournament: PL Gakuen High School (Osaka) defeat Inba High School (Chiba), 2 - 1 in the championship (Details)
  • National High School Baseball Championship: Hotoku Gakuen High School (Hyogo) defeat Kyoto Shogyo High School (Kyoto), 2 - 0 in the championship (Details)
• Little League
  • Little League World Series: Tai-Ping (Taichung, Taiwan) defeat Belmont Heights (Tampa, FL), 4 - 2 in the championship (Details)

International competitions

• Intercontinental Cup in Canada (Details)
  • United States (Gold); Cuba (Silver); Dominican Republic (Bronze)
• World Games in San Jose, CA, United States (Details)
  • United States (Gold); South Korea (Silver); Australia (Bronze)
• World Junior Championship in Newark, Ohio, United States (Details)
  • South Korea (Gold); United States (Silver); Australia (Bronze)
• European Championship in Haarlem, Netherlands (Details)
  • The Netherlands (Gold); Italy (Silver); Sweden (Bronze)

Events

• June 12 - Major League Baseball players go on strike in the middle of the regular season.
• July 31 - After the cancellation of 713 games, the 1981 Major League Baseball strike ends. Due to the number of games not played, the league decides to play a split schedule with an additional round of playoffs.

Culture

Literature

• The 100 Greatest Baseball Players of All Time, by Donald Honig and Lawrence Ritter
• The Unforgettable Season, by G.H. Fleming

Song

• Talkin' Baseball (Willie, Mickey and the Duke), by Terry Cashman

Births

Further information: Births in 1981

Deaths

Further information: Deaths in 1981

Further Reading

• J. David Herman: Almost Yankees: The Summer of ’81 and the Greatest Baseball Team You’ve Never Heard Of, University of Nebraska Press, Lincoln, NE, 2019. ISBN 978-1-4962-0889-7
• Jeff Katz: Split Season: 1981: Fernandomania, the Bronx Zoo, and the Strike that Saved Baseball, Thomas Dunne Books, New York, NY, 2015. ISBN 978-1-2500-4521-8
• Will Leitch: "A season split in two: Revisiting '81 in baseball", mlb.com, June 24, 2020. [1]
• Erik Sherman: Daybreak at Chavez Ravine: Fernandomania and the Remaking of the Los Angeles Dodgers, University of Nebraska Press, Lincoln, NE, 2023. ISBN 978-1-4962-3101-7