1983 NLCS recap
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Steve Carlton won both of his starts and Gary Matthews was named NLCS MVP as the Phillies took care of a Dodgers club that had won 11 of their 12 regular-season meetings.
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It was especially sweet for the Phillies and their fans, because over the previous couple of decades, the Dodgers usually won when these clubs played big games. These Phillies became known as the "Wheeze Kids," a play on the 1950 "Whiz Kids" Phillies, as they got some career bonus time out of veterans Pete Rose, Joe Morgan and Tony Perez. Those players had known what it was like to put the Dodgers away.
When this one was over in four games, many of the Dodger players remained in their dugout, seemingly stunned and watching as the outfield scoreboard read, "Wheeze Did It!" and showed Phillies players already spraying champagne in their clubhouse -- a new technology wrinkle for the time.
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Path to the NLCS: Philadelphia (90-72) won the NL East by six games; Los Angeles (91-71) won the NL West by three games
Managers: Paul Owens, PHI; Tommy Lasorda, LAD
MVP: Gary Matthews