New Jersey Newspapers - July 12, 1980
Camden Courier-Post
Phillies beat Cubs, 7-2, tie for lead
By Rusty Pray of the Courier-Post
PHILADELPHIA – Sometime somewhere in the storied past of baseball, a left fielder has had a worse game than the one played by the Chicago Cubs' Jesus Figueroa last night.
The 23-year-old rookie butchered three catchable balls, costing the Cubs three runs and helping the Phillies to a 7-2 victory that put them in a tie with Montreal for first place in the National League East Division standings. It is the first time since May 28 that the Phils have held such a lofty position in the standings.
A season-high crowd of 58,151 (50,209 paid) fireworks aficionados watched in bemusement as the Phillies rallied around Figueroa's ineptitude to win, for the eighth time in the last 11 games and make righthander Bob Walk a 5-0 pitcher.
The only reason Figueroa had to spend the evening chasing runaway balls in the outer reaches of the Veterans Stadium outfield was because Dave Kingman, himself a suspect glove, was on the disabled list.
Despite Figueroa's fielding faux pas, the Phils managed to keep their heads, using some alert baserunning and a daring two-out squeeze bunt by Larry Bowa to take an early 2-0 lead off righthander Lynn McGlothen, who shut out the Phils the last time he pitched against them June 8.
Pete Rose twice picked on poor Figueroa, sending a sinking line drive that befuddled the left fielder and went for a double that scored catcher Bob Boone with the game's first run in the second. In the seventh, with the Phils nursing a 3-2 lead and Lonnie Smith on third by way of a single, a stolen base and a throwing error by catcher Mike O'Berry, Rose popped a ball to shallow left that Figueroa managed to avoid for the second of three Rose doubles and a 4-2 Phillies lead.
Just as important as that run was one manufactured in the fourth by the foot speed of Bowa and centerfielder Garry Maddox, who singled with one out and went all the way to third when Manny Trillo bounced a hit-and-run pitch to the left side of the mound. McGlothen threw Trillo out at first for the inning's second out, but Bowa beat out a perfectly-placed bunt to make it 2-0.
"We talked to Bowa about using that play," said Manager Dallas Green, "especially with Garry, or Lonnie Smith, or somebody fast on third. It utilizes two guys' speed – Bowa and Maddox. It's a good play."
Figueroa figured in the second of Mike Schmidt's two triples during a three-run seventh that broke the game open. Schmidt had opened the sixth by tripling over the head of right fielder Mike Vail and scoring to make it 3-2 on a line drive to center by Maddox.
The shock of Rose's double had hardly worn off when Schmidt hit a line drive to left. Figueroa went for the shoestring catch. He should have known better. The ball bounced well in front of him and rolled to the wall, producing another run and setting the stage for an RBI single by Maddox.
Walk's first stroll through the Chicago lineup was a study in stutter stepping. Walk opened the game with a firm backward pace, allowing leadoff man Ivan DeJesus a single to center and a rapid theft of second base. Walk recovered his faculties and stuck out Randle, then walked Buckner before fanning Vail and Jerry Martin in succession.
The hit-walk-strikeout pattern continued in the second before DeJesus gave the fielders something to do with a line drive to Trillo. Still, the Phils' infield could have passed for a LeRoy Neiman painting until, with one out in the fifth, Walk got his first ground ball, a bouncer by Randle that Schmidt turned into a double play.
The Cubs actually tied this game, 2-2, in the sixth on two hits, a walk, and a series of fielder's choice ground balls. It was then that Green first suspected Walk might be tiring. An inning later, Green's suspicion was confirmed when DeJesus, who went 4-for-5, bounced a one-out single off Walk's thigh.
"I could've taken him out then," said Green. "And I was going to, but he wanted to finish the game. I talked to Boone on the way to the mound and he said, 'Every now and then, he (Walk) pops one good one and every now and then he's got nothing."
Walk made Dillard his sixth and final strikeout, but balked Randle to second. Green then ordered his pitcher to intentionally walk Buckner, an unorthodox move considering Buckner represented the go-ahead run. Walk went 2-2 on the next hitter, Vail, before Green decided he had seen enough and called Ron Reed in from the bullpen.
Reed responded by inducing Vail into a routine fly ball to right with his second pitch. The rest of Reed's evening was made considerably easier by Figueroa's comedic efforts in left.
PHIL UPS – Attendance for two-game series with Cubs was 83,339, a major-league high this season... Schmidt joins McBride, St. Louis' Garry Templeton and Cincinnati's Ray Knight as only NL players to get two triples in one game this season... Rose, in turn, joined Templeton, Montreal's Andre Dawson and Trillo as only players to get three doubles in a game... Steve Carlton (14-4) opposes Jim Bibby (11-1) tonight in opener of three game series against Pirates.
Phillies quizzed on drugs
By Rusty Pray and Tom Barlas of the Courier-Post
PHILADELPHIA – Officials of the Philadelphia Drug Law Enforcement Agency have talked to some Phillies players and their wives in connection with an ongoing criminal investigation of persons not employed by the club, according to a statement issued yesterday by Phillies owner Ruly Carpenter.
"Each individual interviewed cooperated fully and was assured that he or she was not suspected of any criminal involvement," the statement read in part.
The statement was issued during a hastily called press conference prior to last night's game between the Phillies and the Chicago Cubs in Veterans Stadium.
Team publicist Larry Shenk said he "strongly requested" that Carpenter be present at the press conference, "but he is not allowed to be here." Asked why Carpenter was not permitted to be present, Shenk replied: "I can't answer that. There's a lot I don't know."
The statement said state officials asked that details of the interviews not be revealed, including the identities of the persons interviewed. "I trust this request will be honored by the media," the statement said. "Any further comments will have to come from the Commonwealth."
According to published reports, the state has been investigating a Reading, Pa., physician, Dr. Patrick Mazza, 56, in connection with the dispensing of amphetamines without a state-required medical examination.
The investigation originally focused on Phillies Greg Luzinski, Pete Rose, Larry Bowa and Mike Schmidt, and four unnamed members of the Reading Phillies, Philadelphia's Eastern League farm team.
Sources said several players and some of their wives received amphetamine pills illegally from Mazza. In some cases, the pills were reportedly hand-delivered to the players by an unnamed "runner."
On Wednesday, Berks County District Attorney George Yatron cleared Bowa and Schmidt of any wrongdoing, saying "the information we have on those two individuals shows no connection at all, even innocently.
"That is not to say that the others (Rose and Luzinski) were not connected in an innocent way," said Yatron, who would prosecute any crimes uncovered by the narcotics squad.
It is still unclear if the recipients could be charged with a crime, and no charges have been filed in connection with the investigation.
Yatron said the investigation is continuing and likely to continue through the end of the month.
Mazza has volunteered to open his records to the state, if asked, to prove his innocence.
A copyright story in the Reading Times quoted an identified pharmacist as saying a "runner" filled approximately seven prescriptions for Phillies pitchers Steve Carlton, Larry Christensen and Randy Lerch, and Bowa's wife Sheena over a two-year period, the last about 10 months ago.
All the prescriptions were for the amphetamine Desoxyn and were signed by Mazza, the pharmacist said.
Mazza denied prescribing amphetamines for Phillies players and their wives.
"I don't recall that. I totally deny that," Mazza told the newspaper.
The Press of Atlantic City
Double Fireworks Sweep Phils to 1st
Philadelphia 7, Chicago 2
By Harry Hoffman, Press Sports Writer
PHILADELPHIA — Pete “Age is a state of mind” Rose drove home three runs with three doubles while Mike Schmidt added two triples as the Philadelphia Phillies muscled into a first-place tie in the National League East by whipping Chicago 7-2 Friday night at Veterans Stadium.
A post-game fireworks display helped lure a season-high total of 58,151 fans into the stadium and the Phils delighted them with their own bang-bang long before breaking out the other noisemakers.
A single by Bob Boone and the 38-year-old Rose’s first double accounted for the game’s first run in the third inning. The Phils made it 2-0 in the fourth on the kind of hustle manager Dallas Green gloats about.
Garry Maddox singled, then went all the way to third on a high bouncer by Manny Trillo that losing pitcher Lynn McGlothen fielded in front of the mound. Then Larry Bowa caught Cub third baseman Lenny Randle taking a slight snooze with a two-out bunt, and beat the throw while Maddox scored.
“I loved it! I loved it!” Green enthused. “Runs like that win tight ball games. As it turned out tonight, we got some more runs, but that one was exciting for the fans and for me.”
It also was exciting for rookie pitcher Bob Walk, who won his fifth straight big league decision.
Walk did get knocked out of the box in the seventh inning, literally. A sharp line drive off the bat of Bill Buckner rapped Walk on the thigh and downed him for a moment.
With two on, Mike Vail sent a shot just foul down the third base line, and with a 2-2 count Green ran to get Walk out.
"It was a 3-2 game, and they were a hit away from tying it. I wanted to give Ron Reed two shots at Vail," Green said.
Reed threw a third ball to the hitter, then retired him on a fly ball to right. The big righthander also stopped the Cubs the final two innings for his fifth save.
Meanwhile the Phils ripped reliever Bill Caudill for three runs in the seventh, and added another off Willie Hernandez in the eighth to sweep the two-game series.
Lonnie Smith, a creator of excitement, started the seventh with a single, stole second and took third on a throwing error by catcher Mike O'Berry.
Smith scored on Rose's second double. Rose scored on Schmidt’s second triple and Schmidt scored on a single by Maddox.
In the eighth inning, back-to-back doubles by Greg Gross and Rose completed the scoring and propelled the Phils to the top for the first time since May 28, when they led Pittsburgh by percentage points. This time they are dead even with Montreal, 5-3 losers to St Louis last night.
Walk struck out five in the first three innings, and had a shutout through five before the Cubs loaded the bases in the sixth and tied things up on RBI grounders by Jesus Figueroa and Larry Bittner.
The Phils regained the lead for good in the sixth inning on Schmidt’s first triple and a sacrifice fly by Maddox.
The Pirates, only a game and a half back, arrive in town for a three-game set tonight. The 7:05 opener has a tremendous pitching matchup with Steve Carlton, 14-4, working against Pittsburgh's Jim Bibby, 11-1.
This All-Star Break Was No Vacation for Phillies
PHILADELPHIA (UPI) — The All-Star break usually means that the Philadelphia Phillies family breathes a collective sigh of relief and hits the mountains, the Jersey shore or amusement parks.
All they were hitting over this year's vacation, however, was their heads.
There was plenty of disbelief this week after the Trenton Times broke a story Tuesday about a state investigation of the illegal prescribing of amphetamines and the possible questioning of eight Phillies’ players in the probe.
The next day, the Reading Times followed with a report quoting a pharmacist as saying that prescriptions were illegally written by a doctor for certain members of the team without prior examination.
Those stories hit like a sledgehammer. Players named in both stories reacted with outrage. Larry Bowa, one of those named in the Trenton report sneered, "No more interviews now or ever."
The reports did nothing to enhance some players' attitudes toward the press, attitudes in which writers are cast in the same light as Legionnaires Disease. While the stories’ impact on those of us who cover the team was not as shattering as on the players, it was pretty close.
A writer commented before Thursday night’s game, “I’ve been on vacation for the last four days and I’ve got less guys talking to me now than before.”
It’s a problem that’s not going to go away soon. With some exceptions, the Phillies have been uncooperative or tough to talk with in interview situations even in times of joy. This is definitely not a time of joy.
Besides Bowa's vow of silence, Mike Schmidt says he's considering “pulling a Steve Carlton” and leaving us in the lurch when we try to question him about his latest hot streak.
As the initial shock wears off among those associated and not associated with baseball, the evil eye of all has turned on the press. The question to be examined is whether publishing the stories on the drug investigations and naming famous names were the-right things to do.
After plenty of debates over the last couple of days, some points have been raised, and they are shared with you here:
No 1 — The Players Are Suffering Because They Are Famous.
Like movie stars and politicians, baseball players and other athletes are constantly in the public eye. Anything remotely out of kilter is reported because the public is interested in its heroes.
Phillies President Ruly Carpenter was right when he said the Trenton report would never have been printed if the newspaper’s source on the investigation fingered persons who were not named Schmidt, Bowa and Rose. With the investigation at its most preliminary stage, it's a wonder the newspaper didn't sit on the story awhile to see how it developed.
But the newspaper report said the players were going to be questioned in an investigation. An investigation begins when law enforcement officials have reason to believe a wrong has been committed. It does not necessarily mean the wrong has been committed, or that the players undergoing questioning were guilty of one thing or another.
It is understandable that people would read between the lines in a case such as this and let their imaginations run wild. But the fact is, no one has been charged with anything, and the newspaper never charged anyone.
No 2 — So What If They Are Into Drugs? That’s Not News. Everyone Does It.
The reasoning there is ridiculous. It compares with, “Well, all businessmen who have to travel cheat on their wives” or “All colleges tamper with transcripts so some kid will have a chance to get an education.”
Because everyone does it, does that make it right? Writing prescriptions for amphetamines without an examination is against the law, whether they be written for baseball players, football players, housewives or night-shift workers.
Investigators are trying to determine if the prescriptions were written without a prior examination. If they find the law has been broken and their probe is upheld in court, then the violators have to be punished.
This is not to say anything has been proven. It's just the reasoning… phew!
No 3 — Look at How the Newspapers Are Displaying This.
Well, that's not something to be proud of. Frontpage pictures, headlines, etc. ring out the story in the minds of the readers like a fire alarm. And the players, naturally, get upset at seeing their names in the same headline with the word “Drug.” Some of the newspapers are milking this for all its worth for the extra readers and, frankly, the smell isn’t top good even from here.
* * *
Maybe it was a little early for something of low magnitude such as the Trenton report to be published. It touched off a variety of problems we and the players are going to have to live with the rest of the season, and perhaps beyond.
Despite all implications, however, the reaction of the players might be a little too drastic. They haven't been charged with anything. And blaming two reports on the media masses shows that some can't quite handle adversity yet.
Still, it’s made a long, hot summer even longer and hotter.
Pa. Talks To Phils
PHILADELPHIA (AP) — State officials have contacted Philadelphia Phillies players and their wives in connection with a criminal investigation of persons not employed by the club, Phillies’ president Ruly Carpenter said in a statement read before Friday night's game with the Chicago Cubs.
His statement referred to news reports earlier this week linking team members with an investigation into the illegal prescribing of amphetamines by a Reading, Pa., physician.