Reading Eagle - April 13, 1980

Phillies Are 2-0

 

PHILADELPHIA (AP) – Phillies Manager Dallas Green said he got just what he wanted from pitcher Dick Ruthven – “Six good innings.”

 

Green was reminded that Ruthven went seven innings in a 6-2 victory over the Montreal Expos, featuring three hits by Garry Maddox including a double, home run and two RBI.

 

“I didn’t like the way he was throwing in the seventh,” said Green of the right-handed pitcher who is coming back after an operation in which 10 chips were removed from his elbow.

 

“I wasn’t looking for nine innings,” Green explained.  “So, rather than have him struggle and push him I felt he had enough and looked to the future.

 

“I went to the bullpen because they are supposed to get ‘em out,” said Green, who followed Ruthven with veterans Ron Reed and Tug McGraw.

 

The relievers almost gave the manager the start of an ulcer.  Reed walked two, they advanced on an infield out, and one run scored on a sacrifice fly.  Then, he walked another.

 

McGraw Ends It

 

That was the signal for McGraw, who got the final out in the eighth.  McGraw, however, after retiring the first two batters in the ninth, gave up a single and two walks to load the bases.

 

The mind stirred with memories of 1979 when McGraw threw four bases-loaded home run balls.  But the left-hander got Ellis Valentine to fly out and end the game.

 

Ruthven, who had a 7.88 ERA in spring training, observed that he was throwing low rather than high as he did in Florida.

 

“I was far from sharp.  I made some good pitches when I had to, and when I made some bad ones, the defense helped out,” he said.

 

Three DP’s

 

The defense turned over three double plays, including a controversial one in the fifth inning that provoked the Expos.

 

With one out, pinch-hitter Rowland Office walked and reached second on a single by Ron LeFlore.  Rodney Scott walked to load the bases.

 

Andre Dawson hit a shot to shortstop Larry Bowa, who started a double play via second baseman Ranny Trillo.  The Expos thought Dawson was safe, but umpire Paul Runge didn’t see it that way.

 

Ruthven said the important thing is that he feels fine physically, and it’s just a matter of refining his stuff to become the excellent pitcher he has been in recent seasons.

 

“I had lousy location… didn’t throw as many in a row where I wanted them.  I’ve got to develop consistency,” he said.

 

In the third, with two out, Maddox touched off a two-run inning with his first home run.  A double by Mike Schmidt and Greg Luzinski’s single scored the other.

 

The Phillies added single runs in the fourth, sixth and seventh.  The first coming on triples by Bowa and Trillo, who had three hits.  The second on Trillo’s single, a sacrifice and Pete Rose’s first hit of the season, a double to left.  The third run came on Bob Boone’s RBI single.

 

Maddox, who is in the midst of a contract negotiation with owner Ruly Carpenter, has disciplined himself not to let the off-field problems interfere with his baseball.

 

He’s Concentrating

 

“Ruly told me to concentrate on baseball and I will as long as I’m here,” said Maddox, obviously referring to reports he would be traded if not signed.

 

“It’s his (Carpenter’s) team and I can see his logic.  That’s what I should do,” said Maddox.

 

Record Tied

 

Scott walked five times, tying a National League record held by many.  The major league mark is six, by Jimmy Foxx of the Boston Red Sox in 1938.

 

Rose played in his 2,670th game, tying Walter “Rabbit” Maranville for sixth place on the NL all-time list.  The two are deadlocked for 13th place on the all-time list.

 

When Bowa tripled in the fourth, it was his 1,553rd hit in his 10 years with the Phillies, tying him with Cy Williams for sixth place.  Williams played in 1,463 games.

Phillies in Tune

 

Broadcasting magazine e, the bible of the broadcasting industry, reports the Phillies will collect $5.26 million for their radio and television rights this season.  It is the highest figure in the major leagues.

 

The total includes the $1.76 million each of the 26 teams will receive from network TV.  The other $3.5 million will come from Channel 17 and the radio network anchored by KYW.

 

The Phillies’ local radio-TV income last year was $2.95 million, also tops in the majors.

 

According to the magazine, the Yankees and the Blue Jays are tied for second in total radio-TV income with $4.76 million apiece.

 

For the kind of money the Phillies are getting, couldn’t they give us somebody with a little more pizzazz than Andy Musser?

 

 Compiled by Tony Zonca