Reading Eagle - April 4, 1980

2 R-Phils Promoted

By John W. Smith, Asst. Sports Editor

CLEARWATER, Fla. – The Philadelphia Phillies are going with youth and promise over experience in 1980.

In a somewhat surprise move this morning, the Phillies finalized their 25-man roster by adding two players who were in Reading all last year – pitcher Scott Munninghoff and outfielder George Vukovich.

Also added were infielder Luis Aguayo, who played at Reading all of 1978, and former Reading Phil John Vukovich, a veteran infielder.

Others opening the season with Philadelphia for the first time will be pitchers Dickie Noles and Kevin Saucier, who were promoted to Philadelphia from Oklahoma City last year at midseason; reliever Lerrin LaGrow, a free-agent pickup from the Dodgers; and catcher Keith Moreland, also up from Oklahoma City.

Noles, Saucier and Moreland are all former Reading Phils.

The other rookie on the team is outfielder Lonnie Smith, who started at Philadelphia last year, but spent most of the season at O.C.

Places for the newcomers were made by cutting pitchers Doug Bird and Rawly Eastwick and outfielder Mike Anderson, and disabling pitchers Nino Espinosa and Warren Brusstar. Still in limbo is 26th man Bud Harrelson, who will either be disabled or cut.

Baseball Meetings Scheduled

NEW YORK (AP) – Outside, on a busy midtown Manhattan street, two models dressed as Easter bunnies handed out chocolate eggs and jelly beans while a Dixieland band serenaded New Yorkers stranded by the city’s mass transit strike.

Inside, negotiators for management and the players attacked the baseball strike without benefit of those springtime goodies.

They did have federal mediator Kenneth Moffett, however, and he presided over two hours of meetings that he called “fruitful.”

Moffett and the two sides set up a schedule of seven meetings over the next three weeks in an effort to settle the dispute that wiped out the final 92 games of the spring training exhibition season and threatens to interrupt the regular season just before Memorial Day.

The first meeting is scheduled for next Tuesday – one day before the start of the regular season. The players, who halted exhibition play starting Wednesday, have agreed to return for the openers but vowed to walk out again if an agreement is not reached by midnight, May 22.

“The mere fact that the parties have agreed to a schedule of meetings is a good sign,” Moffett said. “I’d say we made progress and that it was a fruitful meeting.”

But the two sides did not discuss issues on Thursday, only dates and logistics for future talks.

“This was an agenda-setting day and we look forward to the bargaining,” said Ray Grebey, chief negotiator for management. “You know we said way back before this started that we felt baseball could be played and negotiations could take place in parallel and we’ll go ahead from there.”

Marvin Miller, executive director of the Major League Players Association, seemed hopeful.

“We have seven weeks and we’ll do our best,” Miller said. “The action of the players in Dallas Tuesday set the stage for this.”

Part of the explanation the players offered when they announced their dual-date strike was that they wanted to leave sufficient time for bargaining.

Miller said Thursday’s meeting took the form of updating as well as schedule-setting.

“We reviewed where we are and gave formal notification of the action the board took,” the union leader said. “There was some small discussion of what is going on in spring training now.”

That seems to vary from camp to camp.

Some teams have continued informal workouts with players who remained on hand while others are biding their time, waiting for Opening Day.

The New York Yankees, most of whom remained in the team’s Fort Lauderdale, Fla., base, refused Manager Dick Howser’s request that they play intrasquad games this weekend. The value of such contests is to have pitchers work in game conditions.

“I can understand their feeling,” the manager said. “I never liked intrasquad games because it’s hard to get enthused playing against your own team.”

The 16 Montreal Expos who remained in that team’s Daytona Beach, Fla., base at first refused to work out and then reversed themselves and practiced. A dozen Expos have left camp and catcher Gary Carter thought he knew why.

“It was a confusing time for everyone because I don’t think any of us thought the strike was going to occur like this,” Carter said. “I guess a lot of them had predetermined plans. They had made up their minds that if a strike broke, they were going to go home.”

Injured Andre Thornton and Cliff Johnson were the only Cleveland players to pass up that team’s workout.

“I can’t see coming to spring training for four weeks and then having everything go down the drain,” said Wayne Garland, the Indians’ player representative.

The Chicago White Sox were missing two regulars, outfielder Claudell Washington and infielder Jim Morrison, as well as reserve outfielder Thad Bosley for their workout.

Manager Gene Mauch talked the Minnesota Twins into staying in camp as a unit. “There were no theatrics,” said Mauch. “I told them I thought they’d reached a finely honed edge and that I’d hate to see them lose that.”

After Mauch spoke to them, the Twins decided to remain in their Orlando, Fla., camp.