A future full of what Phillies threw away

By Ray W. Kelly of the Courier-Post

PHILADELPHIA – It's sad to think that in a year or two, the current Phillies team will be no more. And, all that will remain of this marvelously talented group of athletes will be a legacy of what might have been.

A trip to the playoffs this season could change all that, of course. When you finish first, all sins are forgiven, shortcomings are overlooked and love abounds.

But, so far the club has demonstrated that it would prefer to continue wrapping itself in righteous indignation and risk failure, rather than give in to the attitudes and emotions that once made them so vulnerable and so successful.

Owner Ruly Carpenter and general manager Paul Owens put together a "dream team," only to discover to their utter frustration that, at times, winning in the clubhouse has been as important to the players as winning on the field.

If one athlete isn't battling Carpenter over money, another is having a showdown with manager Dallas Green over practice procedures. When a war isn't being waged with the press, a verbal struggle with umpires or fans is taking place.

Not that internal strife always breeds defeatism. Championship teams in Oakland and New York proved that guys don't even have to like each other to make it to the top.

The difference, however, is that both those clubs were able to forget and forgive their troubles once they took the field. They had problems, but they also had enthusiasm. They had fights, but they also had fun.

It was that way with the Philly teams that almost made it to the World Series under Danny Ozark. They had all kinds of problems, but were somehow able to shake them off and return to the ballpark the following day eager to make things better for themselves and those around them.

They weren't as talented as the current club. Nor were they coached as well. They were, however, hungry to prove themselves, eager to please and far less self-centered.

Perhaps some players have simply been around so long that they now have a headful of past grievances and unhappy experiences. Third baseman Mike Schmidt's favorite saying used to be, "turn the page... forget it." Surely it was the best advice anyone in that clubhouse ever uttered.

You get the feeling nowadays that most guys are keeping a running tally of their own personal grievances, whether it be a story someone wrote about them, the spot Green has placed them in the batting order or a rumor that Owens bad tried to trade them during the winter.

Sure they've been victimized, belittled, blamed unjustly, treated unfairly, talked about, persecuted, ridiculed, lied to, slandered, ignored and misunderstood. But, who the bell hasn't in this world?

Why act like this is the most miserable time of their lives when it should be the most glorious?

This one hides, that one sulks, another undercuts the manager while across the room, another teammate delights in a lockerroom that needs a few belly-laughs almost as much as it needs a leader to step up and tell them all that giving their great talent to the common cause isn't the end of their obligation. It's only the down payment.

The team that once rallied around a cute, little slogan like, "Yes We Can," has become too dignified, too mature and too established for such nonsense. Now, too many of the players concentrate on the big things, like how everything and everybody affects them personally.

They grumble about the manager, hate the press, barely tolerate the fans and lack so much affection for one another that the clubhouse has the feel of a funeral after victories. Too bad Owens can't make a trade for a little more caring and sharing.

It's disheartening to think what it is going to be like a few seasons from now, when a number of the players look back on their days witti the Phillies.

Some will be playing for bad organizations with nitwit managers, second-class accommodations and last-place talent. Others will be out of baseball wishing it hadn't ended. And all of them will realize that they allowed the grandest of opportunities to pass them by. They will be the real losers.

Phillies Keep on Sinking

Cincinnati 7, Phila. 3

CINCINNATI (AP) — Joe Nolan drove in three runs and Ken Griffey knocked in two Wednesday night, leading the Cincinnati Reds to a 7-3 victory over Philadelphia and saddling the Phillies’ with their sixth consecutive loss. 

The Reds converted three consecutive walks by Nino Espinosa, 1-2, into runs in the fourth inning. Nolan’s double to right-center field scored two runs and Junior Kennedy’s sacrifice fly provided the game winner. 

The three-run rally wiped Philadelphia’s 3-1 lead off Bruce Berenyi, 2-0, who scattered eight hits over 7⅓ in his fourth major league start. Tom Hume picked up his 16th save. 

Cincinnati added two runs in the seventh, when Kennedy walked and Berenyi, trying to sacrifice, was safe on a fielder's choice. Griffey then doubled to right for the two runs. The Reds also scored in the eighth on Nolan's sacrifice fly. 

Cincinnati opened the scoring in the second inning on George Foster’s ground-rule double, Dan Driessen’s single and a double-play ball by Ray Knight. 

In the third after Pete Rose singled, Mike Schmidt, leading the National League in homers, drilled his 24th of the season, tying him with Del Ennis for the Phillies' all-time home run record at 259. 

The Phils got an unearned run in the fourth when Larry Bowa singled, took third on Driessen's throwing error on Espinosa's bunt and scored on Lonnie Smith’s double-play ball.

Are Phillies Contenders Or Just Title Pretenders?

Tales of Hoffman by Harry Hoffman

PHILADELPHIA — When last we looked in on the Phillies prior to sneaking out the back door to a vacation segment they were playing the role of mysterious guest. Nothing changes with this 1980 edition of the team that Paul Owens built. 

The Phils stagger home today from a 10-game trip still trying to find their identity. Are they a team that can score enough runs to make up for some pitching deficiencies? Are they a team whose pitching is better than it looks on the mound? Are they a team that can make their fiery manager Dallas Green happy by grinding it out? 

Now is the time to put up or wait for the 1981 trade winds to blow some of them in different directions. Friday night this enigma of a baseball team begins its longest homestand of the season. By the time I take another vacation rest during the second week of August the Phillies should definitely be established at one end of the spectrum or the other. 

There were some encouraging signs when this current trip began. Nino Espinosa returned and looked as though ! he could give the pitching staff a needed lift. Bob Walk demonstrated he is a young pitcher ready to fulfill his promise. Rookie outfielder Lonnie Smith did some magical feats with his bat and legs. 

But then all the good things disappeared in Atlanta, of all places. Instead of grinding it out, the Phillies began to grind Green down. Their defense rested along with their offense. 

The slump continued into Cincinnati which has been a graveyard for Philadelphia hopes a very long time. It certainly looks as though the Phils began their September Swoon this year a couple of months early.

But if there is at least one constant fact about this team, it is their looks can be very deceiving. They have the ability to go from high to low and then from low to high without seeming to shift gears.

Perhaps this time it will be their man of muscles, Greg Luzinski, who will help provide a sudden turnaround. He has been sitting out the road at Veterans Stadium allowing a puffy knee to its strength. But The Bull has been taking instructions from hitting coach Billy DeMars each day. Maybe his body and his hitting will come off the disabled list simultaneously. 

That would make Mike Schmidt happy. As the power threat in the lineup since Luzinski sat down, Schmidt has not been seeing too many fat pitches. It has been Schmidt's slumping bat and surprisingly slumping glove that has plagued the Phillies’ fortunes more than any other single factor during the trip. 

Actually, other than pitchers, there have been two consistent Phils of late, second baseman Trillo and rightfielder Bake McBride. But have been unable to make up for other serious problems as the club descended four games behind the Bucs.

If that deficit is not wiped out during this long home stay then, in truth, the Phils of 1980 vintage figure to fade into oblivion. 

There will not even be any mystery left in their image.