April 8, 1981: Reds Opening Day
Reds 3 Phillies 2
Box score HERE
This is outstanding. Listen to Marty and Joe on the call!
Trailing 2-1 in the bottom of the 9th, the Reds rallied with two runs to win it 3-2.
Ken Griffey Sr. singled in Dave Collins to tie the game and Dan Driessen later walked with the bases loaded to force in Griffey with the winning run.
The 1981 season was interrupted by a work stoppage/player strike on June 12. The strike canceled 713 games, or 38% of the regular season.
An agreement between owners and players was reached on July 31 and the season resumed with the All-Star game on August 9.
Owners opted to play a split season to spark interest after the season resumed. The Reds finished 66-42, the best overall record in MLB.
However, they failed to win either half of the season and missed the playoffs.
The Reds were 35-21 in the first half, finishing one half game back of the NL West winning Dodgers.
The Reds were 31-21 in the second half, finishing 1.5 games back of the NL West winning Houston Astros. Still hard to believe.