Here's what the world looked like the last time the Dodgers and Astros met in the postseason
The year was 1981. President Carter finished up his lone term in the Oval Office and Ronald Reagan took over, ushering in an era of great hardcore punk bands.
Meanwhile, the Dodgers -- led by Ron Cey, Dusty Baker and a 20-year-old sensation by the name of Fernando Valenzuela -- reached the postseason on the strength of their first-half 36-21 record during the strike-shortened split season. They then went on to defeat the Yankees in six games for their first World Series title since 1965.
To get to that point, the Dodgers had to defeat the Houston Astros in the NLDS -- the first and, until Tuesday night when the World Series begins, only time they've faced off in the postseason. Though the Astros offense wasn't powerful -- no hitter topped 13 home runs in the regular season -- their rotation was loaded. The team had five starters finish with ERAs below 3, with Nolan Ryan leading the way at 1.69.
That rotation was nearly strong enough to get the team past the Dodgers. Houston took a 2-0 NLDS lead after Ryan threw a complete game to outduel Valenzuela in Game 1 and Denny Walling's 11th-inning RBI single gave the Astros a 1-0 victory in Game 2.
But the Dodgers would win the next three and closed out the series behind a complete game shutout from prankster Jerry Reuss in Game 5, defeating -- who else? -- Nolan Ryan.
You won't see many series-ending outs that are weirder than this one:
But what was going on in the rest of the world? Glad you asked.
Baseball
The Brewers' Rollie Fingers and the Phillies' Mike Schmidt took home the AL and NL MVP Awards, while Fingers and Valenzuela would win their leagues' respective Cy Young Awards.
Meanwhile, one of the craziest baseball games of all-time was played that summer: On April 18, the Rochester Red Wings and the Pawtucket Red Sox started a historic and record-breaking 33-inning game.
Naturally, first pitch was already delayed by 30 minutes due to a problem with stadium lights. The game would then go until 4:07 a.m. when it was finally halted -- after players had reportedly burned broken bats and wooden benches for warmth -- with the final innings played on June 23. Wade Boggs collected four hits that day ... though he needed 12 at-bats to do it. And when he tied the game in the 21st inning not everyone was thrilled:
"A lot of people were saying, 'Yeah, yeah, we tied it, we tied it,'" Boggs recalled. "And then they said, 'Oh, no, what did you do? We could have gone home!'"
Birthdays
There were two players born in 1981 that have played this October: the Dodgers'
There were a few non-ballplayers born this year that have made an impact in the world, too, like Britney Spears, Justin Timberlake, Pitbull and, most importantly, Beyonce.
Money
Want to empty out your savings account and head back in time? If you're trying to make a budget and see how far your money would go, you're in luck. Here are the average prices for some essentials:
(Current costs via Numbeo)
Movies
1981 was a banner year for movies, with the greatest hat-wearing, Nazi-destroying adventurer of all-time making his debut in "Indiana Jones and the Raiders of the Lost Ark."
The year was also defined by horror franchises: The second part of both the Jason and Michael Myers series both came out with "Friday the 13th Part 2" and "Halloween II," as well as "The Evil Dead" and "An American Werewolf in London."
However, none of these films won the Oscar for Best Picture: That honor belonged to the film about a bunch of guys running slowly on the beach, "Chariots of Fire."
Music
If you're tired of hearing "Don't Stop Believing" every time you go out to karaoke, 1981 is your enemy. Journey's album "Escape" was released this year with the now infamous song as the lead track. It was also a big year for the Rolling Stones, who released "Tattoo You," that stayed on the Billboard music charts for 58 weeks, while REO Speedwagon's "Hi Infidelity" also proved massively popular.
However, Billboard's top single of the year belongs to Kim Carnes with the '80s pop jam, "Bette Davis Eyes."
Of course, the biggest piece of music news may have been the creation of MTV, which reshaped pop culture as we know it.
TV
"Dallas" was the most watched show on TV, with an average rating of 28.4, which along with top-rated comedy "The Jeffersons" made CBS the king of network television this year.
As for new shows, "Dynasty" would go on to have the greatest impact, while the horrifying "Trollkins" -- described as a cross between "Dukes of Hazzard" and "Smurfs" -- also premiered.
Toys
What were the kids into? Wonder no more. "Star Wars" action figures were highly sought after, there was a Barbie perfume maker and, most terrifying of all, a "Krazy Clone Laboratory." That this toy didn't lead to a horrifying world of David Cronenberg-esque monsters is truly a miracle.
