The Philadelphia Phillies

In a season full of outstanding performances, Mike Schmidt leads the league in home runs with 48 and RBI with 121 while winning the NL MVP. Meanwhile Steve Carlton wins the Cy Young Award for a 3rd time with a 24-9 record. After floundering through the first half of the season, the Phillies caught fire in mid-August, winning 21 of 27 games to catch the first place Montreal Expos. The Phillies would clinch division title on the next to last day of the season as Schmidt's 2-run HR in the 11th inning defeated the Expos, 6-4. In the NLCS the Phillies faced the upstart Houston Astros, and after 3 games were in danger of another disappointment.

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Down 2 games to 1, the Phillies had to win the last 2 games in the hostile Astrodome. After winning Game 4 the Phillies luck looked like had run out trailing the Astros and Nolan Ryan 5-2 in the 8th Inning of Game 5. The Phillies would explode for 5 runs that inning to take a lead, but the Astros battle back and sent the game to extra innings tied at 7. Garry Maddox would give the Phils an 8-7 lead with a RBI single in the 10th that Dick Ruthven was able to nail down for the save, as the Phillies won their first NL Pennant in 30 years. An air of anticipation surrounded the World Series in Philadelphia, as Phillies fans were hungry for their first World Championship in their 97-year existence. Phillies fans could not help but feel the doubts of old creep in as the Kansas City Royals jumped out to a 4-0 lead in the opener. However the Phillies would erupt for 5 runs in the 3rd thanks to a Bake McBride 3-run Homer to take a 5-4 lead, the Phils would go on to win the game 7-6 as Tug McGraw got the save. The Phillies would rally to score 4 runs in the 8th inning off ace reliever Dan Quisenberry to win Game 2 by a score of 6-4. As the series moved to Kansas City the Royals would rebound to take the next 2 and tie the series 2 games apiece. In Game 5 the Royals took a 3-2 lead to the 9th inning and had Quisenberry on the mound to close things out. However a lead off walk by Mike Schmidt would prove the spark as Del Unser drove him home a Pinch Hit double down the 1st Base Line. Unser himself would with 2 outs on an infield single by Manny Trillo. However it looked as if the Phillies themselves would blow the game when Tug McGraw walked the bases loaded, but Tug would buckle down and strike Jose Cardnale out to end the ballgame. Back in Philadelphia Game 6 would be the day Phillies fans waited nearly a century for. With Steve Carlton on the mound the Phillies gripped a 4-0 lead thanks timely hitting from World Series MVP Mike Schmidt. However, the game would not come without its herring moments. With Tug McGraw on to relive the Royals loaded the bases in each of the final 2 innings, but only scored once. In a sign that it was their year the second out of the 9th inning saw 1B Pete Rose catching a ball after it popped out of Catcher Bret Boone's glove. Tug then would strike Willie Wilson out for the final out as the city of Philadelphia went nuts. The Phillies were finally on top of the baseball world for the first time in their 97-year history. .

Under new Coach Bob Johnson the Penguins would face adversity right away as a back injury limited Mario Lemieux to just 26 games. However, the Penguins managed to stay competitive as Mark Recchi notched 113 points as defenseman Paul Coffey, a proven winner added 93. Also contributing was rookie Jaromir Jagr who scored 27 goals while adding 30 assists. Lemieux would return and the Penguins would finish the season on a roll as they obtained Ron Francis, Ulf Samuelsson and Grant Jennings from the Hartford Whalers for John Cullen, Zarley Zalapski and Jeff Parker. The now reinforced Penguins would win their first division title with a record of 41-33-6. In the playoffs the Penguins would be tested right away as they fell behind the New Jersey Devils 3 games to 2. However, the Pens would rally to win Game 6 on the road 4-3, and advanced to the division finals with a 4-0 win at The Igloo. After losing Game in the Patrick Division Finals to the Washington Capitals the Penguins would begin to grab a little momentum as they beat the Capitals 7-6 in overtime on a goal by Kevin Stevens to even the series. After winning the next 2 in Washington 3-1 the Penguins closed out the series at home in Game 5 to advance to the Conference Finals. In the Wales Conference Finals the Penguins had their backs to the wall as they dropped the first 2 games on the road to the Boston Bruins. However, upon arriving back in Pittsburgh the Penguins evened the series with two straight 4-1 wins. After blowing the Bruins out 7-2 in Game 5 in Boston the Penguins made it to their first Stanley Cup Finals with a 5-3 win at the Igloo in Game 6. In the first Stanley Cup match up involving 2 teams that have never won the Stanley Cup in over 50 years the Penguins got off to a shaky start losing Game 1 to the Minnesota North Stars at The Igloo 5-4. After rebounding to win Game 2 at home the Penguins would fall in Game 3 on the road 3-1. Facing the prospect of falling behind 3 games to 1 the Penguins exploded for 3 goals in the first 2:58 in Game to take even the series 2 games apiece with a 5-3 win. The Penguins would take control of the series with a 6-4win at the Igloo in Game 5. In Game 6 in Minnesota the Penguins would end all doubt as the walloped the North Stars 8-0 to win their first ever Stanley Cup, as Mario Lemieux who had 12 points in the Finals earned the Conn Smythe trophy as playoff MVP. Following the season the Penguins would be sold to an ownership group headed by Howard Baldwin, Morris Belzberg and Thomas Ruta.

Philadelphia also cut the cord with prodigal son Scott Rolen in July, trading him to St. Louis when it became obvious they couldn't sign him to a long-term contract. They netted Placido Polanco, Bud Smith and Mike Timlin.