Los Angeles Dodgers: Five biggest enemies of the 1970s

3. Mike Schmidt and the Philadelphia Phillies

Another bitter playoff rival, we saw the Los Angeles Dodgers square off against the Philadelphia Phillies in consecutive years in the 1970s. In 1977 and 1978 the Dodgers took home the NL Pennant, defeating the Phillies in both years to do so. While the Phillies may not have prevented the Dodgers from making it to the fall classic, they were a constant stepping stone in the path of Los Angeles.

The Philadelphia Phillies were a team that had so much promise in the 1970s, a team that easily could have created a dynasty with the talent they had. Led by the Hall of Fame duo of Steve Carlton and Mike Schmidt, this Phillies team had all the potential in the world to bring home their first-ever World Series. Yet, that did not happen until the year 1980.

It had to have been frustrating for the Phillies that they could never get by their NL West opposition. In 1977 the team won 102 games, in ’78 they won 90. Both are formidable years and are easily impressive enough to make it to the World Series. However, as we know, they managed to fall three games to one to the Dodgers in both years.

While the Dodgers may have gotten the best of them both times they faced them, squaring off against the same team in consecutive National League Championship series is enough to garner a rivalry. Don’t worry though, the Phillies did get revenge. The two teams again squared off in the NLCS in 2008 and 2009, with the Phillies advancing both times in only five games.