Allentown Morning Call - June 23, 1980
Schmidt breaks 0-19 slump as Phils rally to give Carlton (13-2) his 8th straight win
SAN FRANCISCO (AP) – Steve Carlton won his eighth straight game, improving his record to 13-2, and Mike Schmidt and Greg Luzinski drove in seventh-inning runs to give the Philadelphia Phillies a 4-3 victory yesterday over the San Francisco Giants.
Carlton struck out eight and walked three to win the duel with Giants lefthander Vida Blue. 9-4, who failed for the second successive time to win his 10th game of the season. Blue allowed nine hits through eight innings before Greg Minton came in to relieve.
The Giants took a 3-1 lead with three runs in the fourth. Jack Clark, who had a 2-for-4 day and has 13 hits in 20 at bats, opened the rally with a one-out triple to right field.
The Giants had five of their eight hits off Carlton in the fourth. Rich Murray scored Clark with a double, and Joe Strain and Mike Sadek had RBI singles.
Lonnie Smith led off the Phils seventh with a single and stole second. He scored on a triple to right by Schmidt, and Luzinski followed with a sacrifice fly to right.
Schmidt scored the game's first run, coming home from second on Bob Boone's first-inning double. Schmidt was hitless in 19 at bats against San Francisco pitching until his single in the fifth scored Manny Trillo from second.
McCovey’s career ends on July 10
SAN FRANCISCO (AP) – The San Francisco Giants' Willie, who hit 521 home runs in a major league career which began in 1959, announced yesterday he will retire effective July 10.
McCovey, 42, said before yesterday's game against the Philadelphia Phillies, "Nobody can go on forever."
He has been pushed into a pinch-hitting role with the Giants because of the strong play of Rich Murray, a first baseman promoted from the minor leagues recently:
"I said all along that I would keep playing until some young 'phenom' forced me to retire, and it looks like that phenom has arrived," said Mc- Covey, one of only 16 players in major league history to compete in games in four decades.
McCovey will take a front office job after retiring as a player, as stipulated in a 10-year contract he signed in 1978.
"I might take a few weeks off this summer, too. I haven't had a summer vacation since I was 16 years old." McCovey noted at a pre-game news conference.
McCovey's home run total included only one this season, hit on May 3 at Montreal. It tied him with Hall of Famer Ted Williams for eighth place among baseball's all-time leading home run hitters.
The Giants' slugger became the National League's leading left-handed home run hitter when he hit his 512th homer last year.
Other career statistics for the native of Mobile. include 2.209 hits. 352 doubles. 1.152 runs batted in and a batting average of .270 in 2,581 games.
He hit 18 grand slam homers, most in league history, and second in major league history to Lou Gehrig's 23.
McCovey has hit all his homers in the National League, including a career-high 45 in 1969 when he was named Most Valuable Player. He hit 52 in three seasons with the San Diego Padres.
He finished the 1976 season with the Oakland A's of the American League, playing in just 11 games and getting five hits.
In 1977. McCovey returned to the Giants as a free agent, made the team with a good spring training performance and had a great comeback season at age 39.
He played in 141 games, his highest total since 1970, and batted .280 with 28 homers and 86 RBI. Injuries hampered him the next two seasons, and he shared the first base job with the younger Mike Ivie.
This year, McCovey took over for the injured Ivie early in the season and got off to a good start. He drove in seven runs in the first seven games he started, collecting three RBI in the Giants' home opener, a 7-3 victory over San Diego on April 17.
"I think McCovey is the most remarkable athlete in the history of baseball. I can't believe a man at 42 can be as productive as he is," said Padres Manager Jerry Coleman.
Murray was batting .291 going into Sunday's game, which he started.
McCovey was the National League Rookie of the Year in 1959. hitting .354 that season after being promoted from the minor leagues. In his big league debut on July 30. 1959, he had four hits including two triples.
He was sent back to the minors briefly in 1960 after getting off to a poor start with the Giants but, after playing in 17 games with Tacoma of the Pacific Coast League, was back in the majors to stay.