1981 MLB NL West standings

The Cincinnati Reds won the 1981 MLB NL West division race at 66-42, 4 games ahead of the Los Angeles Dodgers. The strike split the season into two halves, and the division title went to the Los Angeles Dodgers, who won the first half and then beat the Houston Astros, the second-half winners, in a playoff.

The 1981 playoffs, series by series

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NL West standings, 1981

Team	W	L	Pct	GB	L10	Streak
Cincinnati Reds (CIN) z	66	42	.611	-	6-4	W1
Los Angeles Dodgers (LA) x	63	47	.573	4	4-6	L1
Houston Astros (HOU) x	61	49	.555	6	5-5	W1
San Francisco Giants (SF)	56	55	.505	11.5	6-4	W1
Atlanta Braves (ATL)	50	56	.472	15	4-6	L1
San Diego Padres (SD)	41	69	.373	26	5-5	L1

Final standings.

Clinch key

x: clinched a playoff place
z: clinched the best record in the National League

Turning points

The lead changed hands 5 times.
The Cincinnati Reds trailed by as many as 6.5 games on May 23, 1981.
The Cincinnati Reds took first place for good on September 19, 1981.
The Houston Astros won 9 games in a row from August 28, 1981 to September 4, 1981, the longest run of the race.
The Los Angeles Dodgers led by 6.5 games as late as May 26, 1981.
The Cincinnati Reds went 16-4 from September 9, 1981 to September 30, 1981, turning a deficit of 4 games into a lead of 5 games.
Three teams held or shared first place.
The Los Angeles Dodgers held first place for 130 straight days, the season's longest run. That spell runs either side of the Players' strike.
The Cincinnati Reds spent 22 of the season's 181 charted days in first place. The season's charted days include the Players' strike.