When the Houston Astros<\/a> left the National League following the 2012 season, it opened the possibility to the potential rekindling of various rivalries that the Astros had on the World Series stage.\u00a0 And such is the case this year as they will\u00a0 face the Los Angeles Dodgers<\/a>, a team that the Astros faced in a Play-In Game for the 1980 NL West title, and in the 1981 NL West Divisional Series<\/p>\n While the Astros have integrated themselves well into the AL West, and an interstate rivalry with the Texas Rangers<\/a>\u00a0has blossomed over the years, the franchise had spent over 50 seasons in the National League, 25 of them in the NL West, and 19 in the NL Central.<\/p>\n In the mid-1970s, the Astros started to become West contenders, coinciding with the decline of the Cincinnati Reds<\/a> as the Dodgers top divisional rival.<\/p>\n Following a pair of third place finishes in 1976 and 1977, the Astros fell all the way to fifth place in 1978, but rebounded to an 89-73 record, and a second-place finish in the division.\u00a0 The Astros ended up outpacing the two-time defending NL Champion Dodgers by 10 games, but lost the division by a game and a half to the Reds\u2019 last gasp of 1970s glory.<\/p>\n In the off-season, the Astros made sure they\u2019d had more than enough horses in their pitching staff to last through a long October.\u00a0 Free agent Nolan Ryan<\/strong><\/a> was added to a rotation that featured rising star J.R. Richard<\/a><\/strong> and veteran Joe Niekro<\/a><\/strong>.<\/p>\n 1980 would see the Astros win 90 games for the first time in franchise history.\u00a0 The division race with the Dodgers was a close one all summer, and would come down to the final weekend of the regular season with the Dodgers sweeping the Astros three straight to finish in a tie with both teams having a 92-70 record.<\/p>\n The one-game playoff in Los Angeles though, was all Astros.\u00a0 Astro batters jumped over Dodger starter Dave Goltz<\/a><\/strong> early with four runs, on eight hits through the first three innings.\u00a0 Goltz\u2019s replacement Rick Sutcliffe<\/a><\/strong> would be roughed up for three runs in the fourth inning.\u00a0 Niekro did the job on the mound for the Astros, winning his 20th<\/sup> game of the season in a complete game as the Astros clinched their first postseason appearance in franchise history.\u00a0 They would then lose to the Philadelphia Phillies<\/a> in a classic\u00a0 five game NLCS.<\/p>\n The following season the Astros again tried to solidify their rotation by signing former Dodger free agent Don Sutton<\/a><\/strong>.\u00a0 The Astros were sputtering out of the gate in 1981 though, going 28-29 by the time of the June 11th<\/sup> Player\u2019s Strike.\u00a0 That was good for third in the NL West, a full eight games in-back of the division leading Dodgers.\u00a0 When baseball started up again, it was decided to freeze the standings, play out the rest of the way, and the division leaders at the time of the strike, would end up playing the division winners at the end of the second half in a best of five game series.\u00a0 Following a .632 start, the Dodgers ended up in the second half with a slightly above .500 record.\u00a0 Meanwhile the Astros played to a .623 clip, and ended up the second half winners.<\/p>\n The series went a full five games, with the Astros winning the first two games at The Astrodome, including an 11-inning 1-0 shutout in Game 2.\u00a0 The Dodgers though would come back to win the final three games at home.\u00a0 The Dodgers would go on to defeat the Montreal Expos<\/a> in the NLCS, and the New York Yankees<\/a> in the World Series.<\/p>\n The Astros would fall back to the middle of the pack with a 77-85 record in 1982, and with the exceptions of finishing second to the San Diego Padres<\/a> in 1984, and their 1986 division winning season, would finish no better than 3rd<\/sup> through the rest of their time in the NL West.\u00a0 Moving to the newly formed NL Central in 1994, the Astros would enjoy a run of success that included six postseason appearances in nine years.\u00a0 This coincided with the Dodgers\u2019 decline years of the 1990s through early 2000s, and so during this stretch (1997-2005) the two teams were in the postseason only once, 2004 (Dodgers lost their NLDS in 4 games to the St. Louis Cardinals<\/a> and the Astros beat the Atlanta Braves<\/a> in their NLDS in 4 games).<\/p>\n Main PhotoAstros in the 70s<\/h3>\n
Playoffs Against the Dodgers<\/h3>\n
1981<\/h3>\n
Last Word<\/h3>\n
\nEmbed from Getty Images<\/a>