"Go crazy, folks, go crazy!" Jack Buck said on the air as fans in St. Louis watched Ozzie Smith deliver what, 20 years later, would be voted as the greatest moment in old Busch Stadium history. It happened in Game 5, Smith's first home run from the left side of the plate, a liner over the wall in right off reliever Tom Niedenfuer to snap a 2-2 tie and give the Cardinals a walk-off victory and a 3-2 lead in an expanded NLCS.

It was the first year that the LCS round went to a best-of-seven format, though, so this series had to go back to Dodger Stadium. The home team had won each game so far. Although Smith's homer would be remembered for the ages, Game 6 was the best game in the series and one of the best playoff games in years.

It came down to Niedenfuer vs. Smith again in the ninth inning, with the reliever in to protect a 5-4 lead and possibly exact perfect revenge and force a Game 7 to be played on the next day. This time Niedenfuer was told by manager Tommy Lasorda to walk Smith, and after a groundout left runners on second and third with two out, it brought up Jack Clark. Niedenfuer had struck out Smith in the seventh, so Lasorda took his chances by pitching to Clark rather than walking the bases full for a force. The move backfired, as Clark responded with a 450-foot, three-run blast to win the pennant for St. Louis and set up the first I-70 Series back in the Midwest.

Path to the NLCS: St. Louis (101-61) won the NL East by three games; Los Angeles (95-67) won the NL West by 5.5 games

Managers: Whitey Herzog, STL; Tommy Lasorda, LAD

MVP: Ozzie Smith