The Philadelphia Phillies' 1981 season was a season in American baseball. Offseason November 25, 1980: Rick Schu was signed as an amateur free agent by the Phillies. December 8, 1980: George Bell was drafted from the Phillies by the Toronto Blue Jays in the 1980 rule 5 draft. December 22, 1980: Del Unser was signed as a free agent by the Phillies. March 1, 1981: Randy Lerch was traded by the Phillies to the Milwaukee Brewers for Dick Davis. March 25, 1981: Bob Walk was traded by the Phillies to the Atlanta Braves for Gary Matthews. Regular season April 29, 1981: Phillies pitcher Steve Carlton struck out Tim Wallach of the Montreal Expos for the 3000th strikeout of his career. August 10, 1981: First baseman Pete Rose records his 3,631st hit of his career, passing Stan Musial to become the all-time hit leader in the National League. Season standings Record vs. opponents Notable transactions June 8, 1981: Vince Coleman was drafted by the Phillies in the 20th round of the 1981 Major League Baseball draft, but did not sign. July 12, 1981: Mike LaValliere was signed by the Phillies as an amateur free agent. 1981 Game Log |- style="background:#fbb" | 1 || April 8 || @ Reds || 2–3 || Tom Hume (1–0) || Sparky Lyle (0–1) || None || 51,716 || 0–1 |- style="background:#bfb" | 2 || April 11 || @ Cardinals || 5–2 || Dick Ruthven (1–0) || Bob Forsch (0–1) || None || 38,473 || 1–1 |- style="background:#fbb" | 3 || April 12 || @ Cardinals || 3–7 || Lary Sorensen (1–0) || Larry Christenson (0–1) || Bruce Sutter (1) || 21,462 || 1–2 |- style="background:#bfb" | 4 || April 13 || Pirates || 5–1 || Steve Carlton (1–0) || John Candelaria (0–1) || None || 60,404 || 2–2 |- style="background:#bfb" | 5 || April 15 || Pirates || 4–3 (11) || Tug McGraw (1–0) || Enrique Romo (0–1) || None || 27,450 || 3–2 |- style="background:#bfb" | 6 || April 16 || Pirates || 5–3 || Dick Ruthven (2–0) || Don Robinson (0–1) || Tug McGraw (1) || 26,780 || 4–2 |- style="background:#bfb" | 7 || April 17 || Cubs || 6–2 || Larry Christenson (1–1) || Ken Kravec (0–1) || None || 21,948 || 5–2 |- style="background:#bfb" | 8 || April 18 || Cubs || 4–3 (10) || Steve Carlton (2–0) || Lee Smith (0–1)