Reading Eagle - June 10, 1980

Luzinski, Schmidt Move Up in Voting

NEW YORK (AP) – New leaders in four positions highlight the latest balloting in the National League All-Star vote.

The count, released by Commissioner Bowie Kuhn’s office Monday, shows Greg Luzinski of the Philadelphia Phillies and the Chicago Cubs’ Dave Kingman as two of the top three outfielders, Philadelphia’s Mike Schmidt as the leading vote getter at third base and Garry Templeton of the St. Louis Cardinals on top at shortstop.

Those four join holdover leaders Ted Simmons, Dave Parker, Steve Garvey and Davey Lopes as the fans decide the starters for the annual Summer classic to be held July 8 in Los Angeles.

Luzinski, with 377,134 votes, and Kingman, with 372,262, join Pittsburgh’s Parker, the No. 1 choice in the outfield with 603,921 votes, as the top three outfielders, barely outdistancing Reggie Smith of Los Angles, Cincinnati’s George Foster and Dusty Baker of the Dodgers.

Schmidt, 551,470, took a 75,944 vote lead over Ron Cey of the Dodgers, while Templeton, 474,848, passed another Dodger, Bill Russell, for a better than 100,000-vote lead.

Lopes takes over the title as top vote getter among the league’s elite, amassing 729,045 votes.  His teammate Garvey, 551,470, seeking his seventh straight starting assignment from the fans, holds a comfortable lead at first base over last year’s co-Most Valuable Players, Keith Hernandez of the Cardinals and Willie Stargell of the  Pirates.

Simmons, the catcher for the Cardinals, maintained his comfortable lead over Steve Yeager of the Dodgers by a margin of 490,017-352,021.

The latest American League figures will be released by the Commissioner’s office on Thursday.

The balloting, sponsored by Gillette, continues through June 25.

Phils 3-1 Losers at 3:11 a.m.

PHILADELPHIA (AP) – The San Francisco Giants beat the Philadelphia Phillies 3-1 Monday night in a game neither side felt should have been played.

It was in many respects a farce.  The actual game time was two hours and 26 minutes.  But there also were five hours of rain delay.

“I thought the game was mishandled,” said Phillies’ manager Dallas Green.  “It wasn’t handled very professionally.”

Green was frank in admitting that had the Phillies won he wouldn’t feel as poorly about the game in which a crowd of 28,702 dwindled to some 200 by the time it ended at 3:11 a.m.

Green was particularly incensed when the umpires stopped the game in the fourth inning with the Phillies ahead 1-0 on Bob Boone’s inning leadoff home run.  Green felt it wasn’t raining hard enough to stop the game.

Boone agreed with his field boss.  He was reminded of the nine innings the Phillies played against the Los Angeles Dodgers in a near monsoon during the fourth game of the 1978 National League playoffs.

“If we could play in that thing,” said the Phillies’ catcher, “we could play at Christmas time in Winnipeg.”

Boone noted, however, that contractually the players had no say in the situation.  The game was in the hands of the umpires.

San Francisco’s Gary Lavelle, a relief pitcher and his team’s player representative, said he would talk with Players Association officials about the problem, but that he too didn’t feel they would get anywhere with a grievance.

The first rain delay was 1:28, and the second 3:32.  The big question was why delay a game five hours that could have been played Thursday when both teams and the umpires had an off day.  Also, the fans would have gotten their money’s worth, instead of a soaking, and for most an early trip home.

Bob Engel, the chief of the four man umpire crew handling the game, tried to explain his thinking when approached shortly after midnight.

Carlton Perfect For Four

Was it because Phillies’ pitcher Steve Carlton had pitched four perfect innings and the crew wanted Carlton to have his chance at baseball immortality?

“I didn’t know until a few moments ago that he had a perfect game going,” Engel said.  “I’d like to see it stop (raining), get the game in, get the gate in, be fair to both sides.”

He was asked when his crew would decide on whether to continue.  His reply at 12:20, almost five hours after the game started, was: “We’re going to get into a huddle pretty soon.”

The rain finally did subside and the game resumed at 1:28.  Meanwhile, most of the fans had gone home.  Among those who stayed until the bitter end was a couple with a baby.  They were spotted about 1 a.m. giving the child a bottle.

If the umpires were delaying to give Carlton his chance at a no-hit, no-run perfect game, it was a waste of time.  In the fifth, Larry Herndon doubled, and before the Phillies’ lefthanded retired after six innings, San Francisco had three hits.

Clark’s Homer Decides

The Giants actually won the game in the eighth off reliever Dickie Noles (0-3), who walked pinch-hitter Terry Whitfield and one out later delivered a pitch that Jack Clark sent over the left-center field fence for his 10^th home run of the season.

San Francisco added an insurance run off Tug McGraw in the ninth on a double by Rennie Stennett, who took third on a fly ball and scored on a sacrifice fly.

Carlton struck out 10 in his six innings, boosting his National League leading total to 105.  Houston’s J.R. Richard is second with 90.

Green said all of the Phillies wanted Carlton to have his shot at the perfect game, or whatever, but under different circumstances.

“You can’t warm up three or four times and perform very well,” Green said.

The elapsed time was the second longest in the 10-year history of Veterans Stadium.  The Phillies and Montreal played a twi-night doubleheader Aug. 10, 1977, that included five hours of rain delay and ended at 3:30 a.m.

San Francisco manager Dave Bristol took the whole charade very calmly.  He could afford to.  He won.

“That’s Astroturf,” said Bristol.  He mentioned the machines that sucked up the water from the artificial surface, intimating a game could be held up even longer.

“I never get mad about things like that,” said Bristol.  “Once the game starts it’s in the hands of the umpires.”

John Montefusco started for the Giants, but was lifted after the first rain delay.  Allen Ripley worked 3-2/3 innings and gave up just one hit and no runs.  Greg Minton followed with two innings, allowing three hits, but also no runs.  The three San Francisco pitchers struck out 10 among them.

Clark, whose home run was the big blow for the Giants, wasn’t happy about the long game.  He felt the umpires tried to keep it going to accommodate Carlton.

“They gave him everything behind the plate,” Clark said.  “That’s what happens when you’re in last place.  I think they just wanted to get five innings in, then get rain and get out of there.”