Reading Eagle - June 5, 1980
Carlton Controls Noise, Quiets Bucs
By Associated Press
Steve Carlton shut out the crowd by stuffing cotton in his ears – then he quieted the Pittsburgh Pirates.
“It gets loud here, and it helps me concentrate,” Carlton said after pitching the Philadelphia Phillies to a 4-3 victory over the Pirates Wednesday night at throbbing Three Rivers Stadium. “When the cotton’s in, I can barely hear anybody.”
Carlton’s field expedience seems to have helped him, all right – his latest victory was No. 10 this season, tops in the majors.
Along with the noise control factor, a sizzling fastball doesn’t hurt, either.
“This was the best fastball I’ve had all year,” Carlton said after scattering seven hits.
Carlton thus has accounted for nearly half of Philadelphia’s victories so far this year. The team has won 24 games overall.
In other National League action, the Montreal Expos defeated the Chicago Cubs 8-1; the St. Louis Cardinals nipped the New York Mets 1-0 in 10 innings; the Houston Astros beat the San Diego Padres 4-3; the Atlanta Braves timed the San Francisco Giants 7-2 and the Cincinnati Reds defeated the Los Angeles Dodgers 5-4.
Pete Rose’s two-run single highlighted a three-run fifth inning that helped the Phillies wipe out a 3-1 Pirate lead. Carlton struck out four and walked two, outdueling John Candelaria, 2-5.
“Carlton’s been tough on me for the last two years,” said Pirate slugger Dave Parker, who got one single in four trips against the Philadelphia lefthander. “This is probably one of my more successful nights. He’s a tough pitcher. I have nothing but good things to say about the man. He’s a phenomenal talent.”
Phillies Sign Two
PHILADELPHIA (AP) – Top draft choices Henry Powell and Larry Knight have signed contracts with the Philadelphia Phillies, a spokesman for the National League team said.
Powell and Knight, both 18, will report Tuesday to the Phillies’ Helena, Mont., farm club in the Pioneer rookie league. They signed contracts on Wednesday.
A 5-foot-11 right-hander from Pine Forest High School in Pensacola, Fla., Powell was the Phillies’ first selection. HE is a catcher.
Knight, a 175-pound, 6-footer, is a right-handed pitcher from Lookout Valley High School in Chattanooga, Tenn.
The Phillies also drafted two more pitchers, another catcher, a shortstop, an outfielder, and a player who handles both shortstop and center field positions.
Schmidt, Carlton Cited
NEW YORK (UPI) – Mike Schmidt of Philadelphia was selected National League Player of the Month, NL President Charles Feeney announced Wednesday.
Schmidt, a right-handed hitting third baseman, hit 12 home runs, drove in 29 runs and scored 26 times during May. He collected 29 hits in 95 trips to the plate for a .305 average. He also stole two bases.
Philadelphia lefthander Steve Carlton has been selected as the National League Pitcher of the Month.
Carlton, who was 6-0 in May, worked 60 innings, struck out 70 and walked 24. He allowed 11 earned runs, threw one shutout and scattered 40 hits in compiling a 1.65 ERA.