Allentown Morning Call - July 20, 1980

Braves take twin bill from Phillies

ATLANTA (AP) – Bill Nahorodny's two-run double and a two-base throwing error by Philadelphia catcher Keith Moreland keyed a six-run sixth-inning outburst as the Atlanta Braves downed the Phillies 7-2 and swept yesterday's twinight doubleheader. 

The Braves won the opener 5-2 on a five-hitter by Doyle Alexander and home runs by Gary Matthews and Bob Horner, who also homered in the nightcap. 

The Phillies were leading the second game 2-1 when Atlanta pitcher Tommy Boggs. 4-5. started the Braves' rally by beating out an infield hit. Jerry Royster then laid down a sacrifice bunt and Moreland threw the ball away along the right field line allowing Boggs to score and Royster to reach third. 

After Chris Chambliss drew an intentional walk from reliever Dickie Noles, Matthews singled to the tie. The Braves also got RBI singles from Jeff Burroughs and Larvell Blanks, as well as Nahorodny's two-run double in the inning. 

Bake McBride drove in Lonnie Smith with both Philadelphia runs, the first coming on an infield grounder in the third inning and the second on a sacrifice fly in the fifth. Dan Larson, 0-3, was the loser. 

The Braves used a four-run rally in the sixth inning to win the opener. Brian Asselstine started it with a single and took second on McBride's error in right field before scoring on Chambliss' single. 

Matthews then lined his 12th home run over the left field fence, the first homer off Philadelphia pitcher Dick Ruthven. 8-7, in 85⅓ innings. Horner followed Matthews' homer with his first of the night and got his other one. his 17th of the year, in the fifth inning of the nightcap. Horner has hit 12 home runs in his last 20 games. 

Alexander, 8-5, retired the first 10 Philadelphia batters before walking Pete Rose, who later scored when Alexander overthrew first attempting to pick off McBride, who had singled. Larry Bowa singled home Garry Maddox, who doubled, for Philadelphia's other run in the seventh inning.

Bute suit:  One-time pitcher of promise wastes away

By Jack McCallum, Call Sports Writer

The ongoing drug investigation of Dr. Patrick Mazza, the Reading Phillies team physician, is of more than passing interest to a couple 3,000 miles away in the small California town of Liverniore. 

They are Joan and Lowell Bayless. Their son, Patrick Bruce Bayless. used to pitch for the Reading Phillies. But now. at age 32, Bayless pitches to nobody. After spending four years in and out of a mental institution, he has been classified as a paranoid schizophrenic. He is a man who spends his days aimlessly talking to the customers at a small diner, a man who can't hold a job, a man for whom life oilers little but confusion. 

"Pat is no better now," said Mrs. Bayless by phone a few days ago. "In fact, he's gotten a little worse. He became very depressed after losing the case." 

The case was a $4.6 million suit filed in 1976 against the Philadelphia Phillies. It is relevant to the current investigation because one of the central figures in the Bayless case was Dr. Mazza, the man being investigated by the Pennsylvania Bureau of Drug Control for allegedly prescribing amphetamines to members of both the Philadelphia and Reading franchises without giving the proper medical examinations. 

It should be noted that Bayless' suit was thrown out of federal court in Philadelphia several months ago. It was ruled that Bayless had no ease against the Phillies and that he was eligible only for workmen's compensation. Bayless' lawyers say their only legal recourse now is to file for the compensation. They also said any revelations coming out of the Mazza drug investigation cannot change the legal status of the Bayless case.

So, Dr. Mazza – or for that matter no one in the Phillie organization – has committed any crimes in the eyes of the law. 

But the sad story of Patrick Bruce Bayless nevertheless raises some questions about medical care in the Phillies' farm system, at least as that care was administered in the early 70s. And it should also be noted that the book was closed on Bayless before any questions had to be publicly answered by the Phillies. 

The Bayless story came to light in the premier issue of the magazine, "Inside Sports," last October.

The story chronicled Bayless' rise as one of the Phillies' top pitching prospects to his sudden physical and mental deterioration in 1971. And the story – or. at least the deterioration of Bayless – is not over. 

"He still goes to the clinic (the Valley Mental Health Clinic in nearby Pleasanton I to get his shot of Prolixin." his mother says. "It calms him down." 

The Bayless suit centered on what he claimed was a misuse of Butazolidin to treat a back problem. Known as Bute, the drug is a powerful anti-inflammant and is best known in the world of horse racing where it has been banned in many states because of repeated misuse by trainers. 

The drug is given to horses with serious leg injuries. The drug reduces the swelling and. thus, masks the pain. The horse runs all out and the injury gets worse.

And there is something else about Butazolidin, something that Patrick Bayless has learned a lot about. The Physicians' Desk Reference is specific about the effects of a Bute overdose on the central nervous system, as the IS article pointed out. Among the possible adverse reactions are listed convulsions, euphoria, psychosis, depression, headaches, hallucinations, giddiness, vertigo, coma, hyperventilation and insomnia. Bayless suffered, and is still suffering, from many of these. 

As for Bayless' back problems, there is no doubt they were real. Less than a month after he was released by the Phils late in the 1971 season, surgery on his back was performed by Dr. Maynard Pont, the same surgeon who operated on paralyzed New England Patriot wide receiver Darryl Stingley.

But this world of physical and mental anguish was nowhere around when Pat Bayless went to spring training in 1971. He pitched well and was in fact presented with the Bob Carpenter Award, which goes to the minor leaguer who was "outstanding in attitude, hustle, desire and advancement potential." 

Bayless claims his back first started to hurt early in the regular season in Reading. He told the trainer, Ted Zipeto. who then called in Mazza. Bayless claims that Mazza first gave him a shot of Decadron, an anti-inflammant similar to Bute, with Xylocaine, a painkiller. "Then they started giving me Butazolidin (which is taken orally) and tranquilizers just to keep me going," Bayless said in the "Inside Sports" article. 

In depositions taken by Bayless' lawyers before the court threw the case out. Mazza said he remembered Bayless' original complaint about the pain. And he concurs with Bayless that he first gave the Decadron-Xylocaine injection. But then the stories diverge.

Mazza told the lawyers that he "doesn't recall" ever prescribing Bute for Bayless ; he only remembers giving the shot of Decadron on the one occasion. Further, he said that Zipeto, nor anyone else on the Reading staff, was authorized to even have the drug around. And he also said in the deposition that he probably ordered not more than "10 to 15 prescriptions" of Bute in the entire 1971 season. But he admitted that would have to be a guess because no records were kept. 

But his comments in the "Inside Sports" article tell a different story.

He said, first of all, that the lack of precision in prescription record-keeping could have led to problems. 

"I agree it was too loose," Mazza told IS. "I don't have any records of it. We weren't keeping records. We are keeping them now. Usually the trainer had it (Butazolidin) in his bag. and I would tell the trainer to give it to the individual... 

"I know a lot of guys tend to minimize their problems so they can play, and it is conceivable that if he (the trainer) wasn't near the bag. someone could go in and get some." 

But Mazza repeatedly insisted in the deposition that the Butazolidin was controlled, as a question and answer sequence from the transcript illustrates. 

Q (Bayless attorney): Just generally speaking, is the trainer prohibited by you from administering Butazolidin? 

A (Mazza): Yes. 

Q: You actually said that to the trainer? 

A : Not specifically, not in those exact words but I... we have such a high regard for the drug and its usefulness we felt it would be better if I controlled any prescriptions of Butazolidin.

So. the Phillies' official position in the Bayless case is that the pitcher, while in the farm system, did not receive Butazolidin. so they can not be liable for the consequences of its use or overuse. Yet in the IS article, Mazza expresses little doubt that Bayless was getting the little red pills. 

Mazza refuses to make any comment to reporters.

Bayless' lawyer is Jack McMahon of King of Prussia. A clerk in McMahon's office familiar with the case, Tom Myers, contests the Phillies' legal position. 

"Our feeling was that it was not a workmen's comp case." said Myers. "We alleged long-term overdose of Bute by SOMEONE (his emphasis) in the Phillies' organization. We felt the symptoms he (Bayless) showed could only come from overuse of Butazolidin. Our analogy was that if you put a bullet in a gun and repeatedly pulled the trigger, eventually the bullet will come out. We feel they gave it to him well beyond what was prescribed." 

Though Mazza said in the deposition that he routinely prescribed a four- or live-day supply (20 pills) of Bute for an inflamed joint or tendon, the pharmaceutical firm which sends out the drug (Geigy) warns that it be carefully screened and monitored. 

Then there is the manner in which Bayless' back problem was treated regardless of whether or not Butazolidin was used. A brief segment from the deposition: Q: Do you recall having his ( Bayless' I back examined by an orthopedic surgeon as a result of the May '71 complaint? Mazza: Since hs stated he felt better after two days we felt it was not necessary at the time. 

Bayless may have indeed said he was feeling better after two days. But he claims in the IS article that his back continued to hurt and nothing was done, except for the alleged prescribing of Bute. 

In his suit, Bayless' lawyers did not make the claim that Mazza was negligent in not referring him to an orthopedic man: they felt it would be too difficult to prove after five years had passed. And Dr. Pont, contacted by phone over the weekend, said it would be impossible to tell whether or not Mazza was negligent in not referring him. 

"It's always easy in retrospect to say what should have been done," said Pont. "By the time I saw him the back needed surgery. I don t know whether that condition was as clear when they had him." 

Some observers have also questioned the professionalism of Mazza s arrangement with the club. He is not reimbursed by either Reading or Philadelphia and is instead paid by free admission to games at Veterans Stadium. And while his medical expertise has not been challenged, it must be: noted that, when he took the job in 1969. he had had no experience with athletic injuries except for a year as doctor for a high school football team.

One problem seems to have taken care of itself, however. The loose record-keeping for prescriptions that Mazza conceded in the IS article has been changed, according to what Mazza said in the depositions. And maybe the drug investigation-even if it turns out to be a lot of smoke as most people iri the Phillie organization feel it will will focus on the relationship between doctors and ballplayers, and show whether or not that relationship is a healthy one 

Whatever happens, though, it won't help Patrick Bruce Bayless. 3.000 miles away in Livermore. Calif.