Wilmington Morning News - August 6, 1980
All Wet at the Vet
A rare rainout forces Dallas Green to juggle his pitching staff
By Hal Bodley, Sports Editor
PHILADELPHIA - While hundreds of whacky fans turned Veterans Stadium into the world's largest swimming pool last night, Phillies' Manager Dallas Green had more important things on his mind.
Should he hold Steve Carlton out for the four-game weekend series in Pittsburgh, or let the National League's winningest pitcher (16-6) take his regular turn tomorrow?
Normally, Green would not have considered making the change, but when it became obvious last night's game with St. Louis would be rained out, the manager did some soul searching.
In the end, he decided to let Carlton face the Cardinals tomorrow night which means he will not work in the important Pirate series.
Instead, Dick Ruthven, who was supposed to face John Fulgham last night, will open the series in Pittsburgh, followed by Nino Espinosa on Saturday, with Randy Lerch and a big question mark going into Sunday's doubleheader.
Bob Walk will put his 8-1 record on the line tonight against the Cards' Bob Sykes, who along with teammate Pete Vuckovich, joined the fans in their sliding show when the monsoon hit a few minutes after 8 o'clock.
"When the heavy rains came and it was almost certain the game would be called off, I entertained some thoughts of dropping Lefty back for Pittsburgh," said Green after one of the heaviest rains in the history of the Vet made play impossible. "Ruthven had thrown very hard warming up and was ready to pitch, so there was no way he could come back tomorrow night. I decided it was best to keep Carlton on his regular schedule."
With dark, thunderclouds hovering over, the field was covered prior to the scheduled 7:35 p.m. start. ' After a light shower passed, it was announced the game would start at 8:05. The cover was taken off, but moments later the deluge started and for the next hour several inches of rain fell.
As the field became a swamp, hundreds of young, soaked fans swarmed onto the artificial surface. They dove into the water, slid on the plastic tarp and turned the stadium into one, giant swimming pool.
Meanwhile, the dugouts were flooded and water poured from the overhanging upper decks.
Bill Giles, the club's vice president, kept getting weather reports that said the isolated storm would pass, but when the field became flooded even if the rain had stopped, it would have been impossible to get the surface ready for baseball.
So, after waiting an hour and 25 minutes, it was postponed until Friday night, Sept. 12, as part of a doubleheader.
"I've never seen rain like that hit this area in a long time," said Green. "Bill Giles' radar wasn't working too good tonight."
Earlier in the day, Green watched right-hander Larry Christenson, who has been on the disabled list since May 26, throw in a simulated game.
"His fastball was popping," said Green, "In fact, it is good enough right now for him to pitch in a game. I think, however, he was holding back on his breaking balls. He threw some sliders and some change-ups."
Then, Green came up with an interesting thought: When Christenson, who had elbow surgery, is ready to come off the disabled list, Green is considering using him in short relief.
"Even before he had the elbow problem I had thought about him being a reliever," said Green. "With that fastball he has, he would be a good man to come in and get a couple of quick outs.
"I thought about this before spring training, but down there it looked like we needed starting pitchers, so I put it in the back of my mind. Then, Dickie Noles made the transition to the bullpen and it was not necessary."
Green has not talked to Christenson about his plan.
"He would probably cringe if it was mentioned to him," said Dallas. "He would think of the abuse to his arm and get alarmed."
Green said that when Christenson comes off the disabled list the team will still go with 11 pitchers.
"I think we are comfortable with 11 right now," he said. "Warren Brusstar is still feeling his way along and Espinosa is just getting over the hump. We've got a double-header in Pittsburgh on Sunday and one in New York the following weekend. Doubleheaders can use up a lot of pitchers in a hurry."
EXTRA POINTS - The Cardinals had scheduled to start John Fulgham last night, but will use him tomorrow... Sykes has a 4-8 record... More than 30,000 fans were in the stands for the start of the game and after the rains came a mammoth traffic jam occurred... The off-ramp of the Girard Point Bridge was flooded, causing a long back-up for the Platt Memorial Bridge... Fans heading for Delaware were held up for hours... The Saturday afternoon game in Pittsburgh will be carried nationally by NBC, but not seen in Philadelphia... Since coming off the disabled list on July 17, Tug McGraw has been in seven games, working 9 innings and allowing five hits and no runs. He has three saves. The Phils and Cardinals share the National League lead in team batting average with .269.
