Allentown Morning Call - August 23, 1980

Phils give one to Giants, 4-3

By Dan Shope, Call Sports Writer

PHILADELPHIA – The Philadelphia Phillies gave away a game last night. And it cost almost as much as their multi-million dollar contracts. 

As 38,837 Veterans Stadium fans booed their hearts out, the Phils' muffed their way to a 4-3, 10-inning loss to the San Francisco Giants. 

It cost them a pretty penny in the scalding hot National League East pennant race, where they fell into third place, 2½ games behind division-leading Pittsburgh.

Even worse, it cost Steve Carlton (19-7) , who struck out 13 batters to move to the 2,907 career total, his 20th victory of the season. 

In the top of the 10th, the Phils threw the game away after Bill North walked and Joe Pettini sacrifice bunted.

Former Gold Glove winners Larry Bowa and Mike Schmidt then did the dirty deeds. 

Jim Wolford grounded to Bowa, who pumped and threw late to first base. Then Mike Ivie grounded to Schmidt, who also bobbled the baseball. He threw it past first baseman Pete Rose and into the seats, allowing the eventual winning run to score. 

The Phils allowed the Giants to knock Carlton around early, scoring a pair of first-inning runs on an infield single by North, a triple by Wolford and an error by Schmidt on a grounder by Mike lvie.

But the Phils bounced back with a run in the bottom of the inning when Rose slapped a single off pitcher Ed Whitson's right ankle and Schmidt followed with a RBI double. Whitson was replaced in the next inning after his ankle stiffened. 

And the Giants gave the Phils the tying run in the bottom of the fourth. First, Manny Trillo was handed an infield hit when his grounder bounced off third baseman Pettini 's glove. Then shortstop Johnnie LeMaster muffed an easy popup by Garry Maddox. The run scored when Bowa grounded to pitcher Tom Griffin, who did not hold Trillo on third while throwing to second base to force Maddox. 

Griffin quickly put the Giants back in the lead with a solo homer in the following inning. 

And Trillo tied the game in the bottom of the sixth with a home run to left field, his fourth in the last eight games.

Give Lonnie credit for reincarnating Phillies

By Gordon Smith, Call Sports Writer

Who said the Phillies were dead? 

What's that you say? Oh, just about everybody said they were dead. Hummm, you have a strong point there. 

What I want to know, however, is: Who said they weren't talking? And, how were they reincarnated? 

Isn't it amazing what a sniff of first place can do for such an overpaid, overly sensitive bunch of primadonnas? 

Thursday, after the Phils pulled even with Pittsburgh in the all-important loss column, Bake McBride came out of his caccoon. 

And, last night, after failing to record his 20th victory of the season, Steve Carlton even talked. 

He said, "I'm not talking." What the hell, it's a start.

What's going to be amusing as the divisional title-chase plot thickens is how much these silent-runners open up and become front-runners. 

I can hear them now. Garry Maddox will say, "We never thought we were out of the race. It's you sports writers who buried us." 

And Mike Schmidt. "Dullsville." He'll bull his neck, smile and say, "The season is never over until the final out." Mike always has been shockingly original.

Larry Bowa, that genial little guv who can find more ways to use four-letter no-no's than the "Galloping Gourmet" can find for wine, will, of course, be the verbal leader. 

He'll give out with one of his patent-pending statements for all the kids who worship him to read. It will be something like, "You bleep-heads could have given us a bleeping chance. But, bleep, no, you had to bleeping jump all over our bleeping backs. " 

Good ol' Larry. He always makes so much sense. When his baseball talents slip away, he'll have a golden opportunity to become a smash-hit in the bad-B movie world. From idol of millions of kids to idol of the trench coat-clad movie-goers. 

What is happening to the Phillies is, of course, exciting. They were, in fact, written off as also-rans a month ago and even before. Now they are in position to take over the National League East. With the Expos slipping and with the Pirates minus the services of "Pops" Stargell, the horizon is bright for the Phillies. 

But one has to sit back and understand how this has happened before he can fully understand it. And it's happened, really, through the emergence of a kid called Lonnie Smith, unfortunately no relation of mine. 

When regular centerfielder Greg Luzinski was shelved with bad wheels, the Phillies were sliding well down into the pack. Without the "Bull," but with Smith, they have climbed within one rung of the top. It doesn't qualify for Ripley, but it has been dramatic. 

Lonnie Smith, above anything else, makes things happen. He doesn't have to hit home runs. He excites players as well as fans. His presence on base causes frenzy rivaled only by beanballs among opposing pitchers, in-fielders and catchers. 

Million-dollar wonderboys like Bowa, McBride, Maddox and on down the line suddenly have realized something everybody should know – anybody can be replaced. 

A rookie came along and swiped a job from a veteran. Not only a veteran, but also a guy everybody figured had to be in the lineup for the Phils to do well. Suddenly players who know even before spring training that they have a job realize nothing is forever.

Enthusiasm a kid like Smith injects catches even the most reserved of players. When McBride tripled in the winning run Thursday, he leaped on the bag then skyward with arms raised. Then he danced around like somebody with disco fever. Now, that just isn't McBride's style. 

The Phillies will restore Luzinski to the active roster within a few days. However, there's no assurance he'll be starting again. "He might not start the rest of the way," manager Dallas Green told a reporter after Thursday's game. 

Green, of course, is rejoicing more than anybody about the exploits of Smith. A few days before Luzinski was injured, then again a week or so ago, the "Bull" blasted Green publicly. "Bull" felt Green wasn't sensitive to the sensitive. Players like Maddox, Luzinski said, shouldn't be blasted. It hurts their feelings too deeply. Tsk... Tsk. 

Where are some more rookies like Lonnie Smith?