Wilmington News Journal - July 13, 1980
Boone foils Pirates’ defensive strategy
Phils delight 53,254 fans in 5-4 win
By Ray Finocchiaro, Staff Writer
PHILADELPHIA – It was not your orthodox shift.
The Pittsburgh Pirates had two outfielders, drawn in close to the infield. Right fielder Dave Parker was playing second base, giving the Bucs five infielders.
Phillies batter Bob Boone surveyed the situation, hit the first pitch from Kent Tekulve between third and short for a single, Garry Maddox raced home and the game was over.
Phillies 5, Pirates 4.
All 53,254 fans, the National League's biggest crowd, stood and roared, then sped to the Vet's exits.
Phils' Manager Dallas Green, still bristling at blowing a lead in the top of the ninth, was happy about winning it in the bottom half. But he thought Pirate manager Chuck Tanner's strategy was for the birds. Why?
"Because it doesn't work," said Green. "Gene Mauch used to try It all the time. I've seen it about six times and it's never worked. The infielders are never where the ball's hit."
Boone saw the alignment and drew a bead on left field, distaining Tanner's hope that Boone would try to hit the ball to vacant right field.
"They were telling Tekulve to make bastard pitches down and in," said Boone. "I knew they'd do with nothing but sinkers and throw nothing over the plate. That was an excellent pitch I hit, probably a strike. I was looking for one area. I stayed relaxed and didn't think about doing anything different. I'm not gonna swing different because of the shift."
And Boone's swing-at-where-it-is philosophy paid off.
"Dave Bristol used to do that all the time in Cincinnati, trying to mentally disturb a batter," said Pete Rose, whose two-run double put the Phils ahead 4-3 in the eighth before the Bucs tied it.
"But Bob didn't change his stroke or his philosophy of what to do with the ball. He just tried to hit it hard."
Maddox and Manny Trillo had singled before Larry Bowa's sacrifice bunt advanced the runners. That brought out Tanner and his slick shift.
"I'm surprised he tried it," said Green. "I would've gone for the strikeout on Boone. But Chuck knows his personnel."
The game was the thriller predicted when 14-4 . Steve Carlton squared off against 11-1 Jim Bibby. The Pirates felt just as comfortable behind Bibby, just as the Phils did with Carlton on the mound. After all, the Bucs had won the game in 14 of Bibby's 17 starts, with Bibby getting 11 of the victories himself.
The brother of 76ers' guard Henry Bibby had won six straight with four no-decisions thrown in. Bibby's only loss was a 2-0 defeat by Bob Welch of the Los Angeles Dodgers on May 18.
Bibby sailed into the eighth with a 3-2 lead, having retired nine of the last 10 batters he'd faced.
But Greg Gross, batting for Carlton with one out, single down the left field line and Lonnie Smith, who'd singled and was thrown out stealing in the fifth, blooped a single in front of Parker.
Tanner brought in left-hander Grant Jackson to face Rose, who hit another blooper toward Parker. However, this one bounced under Parker's glove and rolled past him. By the time second baseman Phil Garner tracked down the ball, Rose had raced to third and two runners had scored, Smith sliding under catcher Steve Nicosia's throw with the fourth run.
"Some balls you just have to let bounce," said Rose, "though people may think you give up on them, even though you haven't."
Jackson struck out Bake McBride and Enrique Romo came in to strike out Mike Schmidt to escape further damage.
Dickie Noles started the ninth for the Phils but immediately hit Lee Lacy with a pitch and surrendered a single to Garner.
Green brought in lefty Kevin Saucier to face John Milner, who was sent up to bunt but waited out a walk instead to load the bases with nobody out.
Manny Sanguillen bounced into a 4-6-3 double play but Lacy scored the tying run, taking Bibby off the hook and keeping Carlton from his 15th victory.
Winner Saucier fanned Omar Moreno to end the inning.
"I thought we had the guys to shut them down for one inning, bristled Green, who was dissatisfied with both Noles and Saucier. "We didn't get it tonight.
"Carlton pitched like hell five innings and struggled the last three. Still, we could've got him the victory if we'd put it away in the ninth. Tonight we couldn't.
"Noles didn't throw the ball well tonight; I don't know why. He certainly had enough rest. And the base on balls (by Saucier) hurt us. If he K's the guy, that gives us something to work with."
Instead, the Phils had to make it exciting.
They’d started the scoring when Schmidt mashed his first home run since June 24 – and 22nd overall – to the seats in left leading off the second inning.
The Pirates got it back in the fourth when Tim Foli singled, stole second and scored on a single by Parker, who went to second when center fielder Maddox juggled the ball.
After Bill Madlock walked with one out, Lee Lacy lofted a high pop down the right field line that a jack-knifed Rose caught as Parker tagged up and raced to third. Garner's wicked hopper off Schmidt's glove scored Parker with the go-ahead run.
The Phils tied the game in their half of the fourth when McBride beat out an infield hit, stole second and scored on Trillo's two-out single to right.
Trillo had three of the Phils' 12 hits, 10 of which were singles.
The Pirates got their third run in the sixth when Lacy 's double off the left field wall was juggled by Lonnie Smith, allowing Madlock to score ahead of Bowa's two-hop relay throw.
After the game, Green went out of his way to laud Maddox, whose only hit was the leadoff single in the ninth.
"Garry Lee's playing pretty good baseball for us, the manager said. "He's a big cog for us right now, swinging the bat the way he is."
The Phils are still tied for first with the Montreal Expos, so they can use all the cogs – and unorthodox shifts – they can get.
Last night Bob Boone and Garry Maddox were only too happy to apply.
Determined Vukovich just can’t get enough
By Hal Bodley, Sports Editor
PHILADELPHIA – Nobody would have blamed John Vukovich if he had quit professional baseball years ago. The good-field, no-hit infielder has seen the writing on the wall so many times it's probably imprinted in his brain.
But John Vukovich kept coming back for more and the determination has paid off. He's back with the Phillies and when All-Star third baseman Mike Schmidt went on the shelf with a pulled hamstring they wonder what they would have done without the veteran.
As a fielder, the 32-year-old Vukovich is one of the best around. His major-league percentage is just a point (.957-.956) behind Schmidt's. The lifetime batting average is another matter, the big minus in Vuk's career. It's .161 and people are quick to point out that he would be an All-Star himself if he could hit in the mid .200s.
Teams, such as Cincinnati, Milwaukee and Philadelphia, have promoted Vukovich to their varsities, but he has spent only two full years in the majors without tasting the grueling bus rides of the minors. Those summers were 1973 and 1974 with Milwaukee.
"I, have a very understanding wife," said Vukovich yesterday before the Phils edged the Pirates 5-4.
"If it had not been for her support and my love for baseball, I probably would have given it up several years ago. But I love it and she supports me."
In 1978, Vukovich spent the entire year at Oklahoma City where he hit only .210. When that season ended, the Phillies invited him to spring training as a non-roster player. The Philadelphia front office has always tried to take care of dedicated organization men and they consider John Vukovich one of these.
"So, when I went to spring training in 1979 1 knew I had a job of one kind or another," said Vukovich. "I didn't know whether it was going to be as a player, a manager, a coach, a scout, or what. As it turned out, they sent me to Oklahoma City as a utility infielder and I ended up having a great year, hitting .291."
When the Phils needed defensive help in August, they promoted Vukovich. Then, this past spring, they again invited him to camp as a non-roster player.
Manager Dallas Green announced during the winter he would carry only two catchers, Keith Moreland and Bob Boone. That meant somebody else on the club would have to be able to step in and catch in an emergency.
John Vukovich accepted the challenge. Throughout spring training he practiced behind the plate, learning the position as well as he could. When the team broke camp, he was a member of the 25-player roster.
"I know that learning to catch has been important," said Vukovich, who has not been called upon to perform behind the plate yet. "Had I not learned what I did in spring training, I may not have made the team. I'm certainly not going to run Boone or Moreland out of their jobs, but I think I could handle catching in an emergency."
Vukovich goes to the bullpen each day and does some catching, just to keep his hand in it.
"All of us, including myself, realize we have to have Schmitty in the line-up to win the division," said Vukovich. "I know I am not going to take his spot, but if I can minimize the loss as much as possible during the time he is out, I feel I have done my job."
Vukovich was originally signed by the Phillies in 1966 and remained with the organization until he went to Milwaukee and later Cincinnati. He returned to the Phillies in 1975 in a minor league deal after an early season disappointment with the Reds.
Vukovich started the season that year with Cincinnati as its third baseman. Pete Rose was in left field and George Foster wasn't playing. After 31 games, Manager Sparky Anderson put Rose on third base, Foster in left field and the Reds were on their way to becoming one of the best teams in baseball history, world champions.
"Still, I felt I should have stayed as a utility player. Way it turned out, I went to Indianapolis and watched 'em win a world championship. Then, some of the disappointment turned to anger. And that did me no good at all. I learned then that doesn't help you. There are certain, things you can't control, and that's one of them."
Vukovich knows he has a future with the Phillies. If this year – and he hopes it isn't – is his finale as a player, they want him to remain in the organization in some capacity, probably as a minor-league manager. Meanwhile, he's making the most of his role as Mike Schmidt's caddy, even throwing in a hit here and there.
Luzinski on disabled list; Brusstr to join Phillies
By Ray Finocchiaro, Staff Writer
PHILADELPHIA – Phillies' outfielder Greg Luzinski, hobbled with a sore right knee, went on the 15-day disabled list yesterday, retroactive to last Tuesday.
Luzinski last played a week ago in St. Louis where he apparently injured his knee while sliding. The injury was diagnosed by Dr. Phillip Marone as traumatic synovitis.
Luzinski had 100 cc of fluid drained from the knee Tuesday.
Meanwhile, the Phillies reactivated right-handed reliever Warren Brusstar, who has bounced on and off the disabled list with a sore shoulder for two seasons.
Brusstar, who relieved 46 times in 1977 and 58 times in '78, was limited to 13 appearances last season after injuring his shoulder in spring training, following an ankle injury during Tug McGraw's Infamous bikeathon on which Larry Christen-son fractured a collarbone.
Brusstar began last season on the disabled list, was reactivated on Juno 28, but was headed to Reading less than a month later after he proved ineffective in several relief appearances.
Brusstar also began this season on the disabled list and was optioned to Peninsula of the Class A Carolina League to get some work when his shoulder began to respond to treatment and pitching coach Herm Starrette's suggestion that he lengthen his stride to take some strain off his shoulder in his delivery.
At Peninsula, Brusstar appeared in seven games, pitching 13.2 innings and allowing 16 hits while compiling a 1-1 record. He allowed seven earned runs, striking out eight and walking two en route to a 4.50 earned run average.
Most of the damage occurred in Bru's first three appearances, however. In the last four he allowed just two runs in 8.2 innings, striking out six.
EXTRA INNINGS - The Phillies released 2,833 red and white balloons before the game to commemmorate Steve Carlton's , best-ever-by-a-lefthander strikeout total but the balloon count looked a bit inflated... The Pirates got a favorable report on Willie Stargell, now on the disabled list, and expect Stargell to be recovered from his hamstring pull by the time he's due off July 22... Phils' team ERA is fourth-best in the National League.. Nino Espinosa makes his second start since coming off the DL today at 1:35 p.m. vs. the Bucs' Don Robinson, while Randy Lerch faces Rick Rhoden tomorrow at 7:35 p.m. before the Phils begin a nine-day, 10-game road trip to Houston, Atlanta and Cincinnati.