Dodgers, Atlanta led Los Angeles 6–3 going into the bottom of the ninth during an afternoon game on at Dodger Stadium on Sunday September 11th. However, in what turned out to be one of the games of the season, Los Angeles rallied to win 7–6, thanks to an R.J. Reynolds' walk-off suicide squeeze and thus extending their division lead to three games. This effectively won the Dodgers the NL West, as the Braves were not able to make up the three games in the standings the rest of the way. Atlanta did not seriously compete again for the NL West until 1991, where they would this time best Los Angeles in a close race to the last weekend of the season. The collapse of the Braves '83 season was not the fault of Dale Murphy, who hit .327 in September with 10 home runs. He was rewarded with his 2nd straight National League MVP award, solidifying himself as one of the best hitters in the early 1980s. From 1991-2005, they made the postseason every year. In comparison, in the Braves first 24 years in Atlanta (1966-1990), they made the postseason just twice (1969 and 1982). Joe Torre would later manage the Cardinals from 1990-1995, before leading the Yankees to four World Series championships from 1996-2007. For his success with the Yankees, Torre was inducted into the National Baseball Hall of Fame in 2014. The Braves would avenge their 1982 National League Championship Series loss 14 years later during the 1996 National League Championship Series when Atlanta became just the sixth team in MLB history to come back from a 3-1 series deficit in the postseason. The two teams met again three other times during the postseason, during the 2000 National League Division Series, 2012 National League Wild Card Game, and 2019 National League Division Series, with the Cardinals winning all three match-ups. References External links 1982 NLCS at Baseball Reference National League Championship Series National League Championship Series St. Louis Cardinals postseason Atlanta Braves postseason National League Championship Series National League Championship Series 1980s in Atlanta 1980s in St. Louis National League Championship Series