Phils might let Bowa go in deal for pitcher

By Ray W. Kelly of the Courier-Post

PHILADELPHIA – It's possible that Larry Bowa may end up playing shortstop for the Montreal Expos before the week is out.

Right now, the rumblings of a trade that would give the Phils a "quality pitcher" in a deal with the Canadian club can only be classified as rumor and as speculation. That may change before the arrival of the trading deadline, which is midnight this coming Sunday.

Word has it that the first-place Expos feel they are a middle infielder away from having a championship team. And, that they might be willing to part with some pitching in order to bring their infield defense up to the standards set by their outfield.

Bowa, who has fielded with unparalleled excellence during his 10 years as the Phils' shortstop, admits he's heard some grapevine talk concerning such a move. But he was quick to add that, since he's a five-and-10 (year) veteran, he would have veto power over such a deal.

"It's not hard to figure out that Montreal would like to have infield help," Bowa said. "Would I go? I don't know. I'd have to think about it. I've sunk a lot of roots in this area over the years. It would depend."

It might depend on whether the Expos would be willing to make such a traumatic move financially worthwhile for the All-Star infielder who has not been on the greatest of terms with the front office since Dallas Green took over as manager.

Phils General Manager Paul Owens is keeping a low profile. And for good reason. He's got several irons in the fire, all of them designed to bolster the pitching staff.

A good guess is the Phils could easily obtain righthander Stan Bahnsen from the Expos. As a middle reliever, he has chalked up a 4-1 record, with a 1.23 ERA in only 29 innings of work. The memory of how much trouble Bahnsen gave the Phils when he was a starter a few years back with the Chicago Cubs lingers on, however.

Since Bowa is considered a "top shelf performer, however, one can safely assume that the Phils would demand a front-line pitcher, such as Dave Palmer or Scott Sanderson. Which, in turn, might scare off the Expos, even though injuries to third baseman Larry Parrisb and outfielder Ellis Vallentine have put added pressure on a defense that is anchored by a very average Chris Speier at shortstop.

Could the Phils risk trading with a contending rival within their own division? And could the Phils hope to win the division without the defense that Bowa gives them?

"I think this team is capable of doing anything it sets its mind to do," said Manager Green. "As for the subject of dealing with any club in our division, I don't think Paul Owens is afraid to talk to anybody... especially if he thinks he might help our team."

The presence of young Luis Aguayo (he'd become Bowa's replacement) in the minor leagues makes such a trade a possibility. Although, Green insisted that the Phils aren't as desperate to make a trade as people think, and that if he began getting consistency out of Randy Lerch and Dick Ruthven, he wouldn't want to deal at all.

Still, the tell-tale signs of an impending trade by the Phils can be seen. The playing of Lonnie Smith in both right-field and centerfield last week may have been a showcasing of the youngster for another team.

Both the San Francisco Giants and the San Diego Padres have shown interest. Officials in Frisco have been trying to palm off righthander Ed Halicki for years. Ironically, Bowa's father was listening to the radio the other night when Halicki admitted his arm was sore. So much for that nonsense. How well John (The Count) Montefusco burls tonight against the Phils could strengthen the Giant's bargaining position, however.

San Diego has longtime Philly nemesis Randy Jones on the trading block. Pittsburgh still wants to dump Bert Blyleven. And, despite declarations to the contrary, Houston is still willing to part with Joaquin Andujar.

The fact that Orlando Gonzalez is hitting .430 at Oklahoma City and John Poff is flexing his offensive muscles (five triples) with that club may play a part in negotiations.

Yet, the truth is, if any of the Phils' starting eight has to be made available to solidify a trade, the odds are good that it will be Bowa.

Cubs Finally Take One From Phillies

Chicago 2, Philadelphia 0

By Harry Hoffman, Press Sports Writer

PHILADELPHIA — Like the ladies in that Greek drama a few years back the Philadelphia Phillies never seem to put out their best on Sunday. 

When Bruce Sutter gave them the split finger in the final inning yesterday at the Vet to save a 2-0 victory for starter Lynn McGlothen and the Chicago Cubs it was the home team’s seventh failure in nine Sunday outings. In contrast they are 8-1 on Saturdays. 

Yesterday they did something they can ill afford to do these days when they are suffering from the pitcher shorts, they wasted a strong performance from starter Dick Ruthven. The man with the still suspect right arm limited the visitors to seven hits and single runs in the first and seventh innings while going seven powerful innings. But all he accomplished was his fifth defeat to counter five victories since his hitters treated right hander McGlothen like a Cy Young candidate. 

Lvnn, at best, is a journeyman against the rest of the league. But his assortment of breaking pitches thrown to the right spots seem to put handcuffs on the free swinging Phillies. He was 3-1 against them in 1979 and is now 1-0 in 1980. Yesterday he left after giving up his sixth hit, a double by Greg Luzinski, to start the bottom of the ninth. 

However Chicago manager Preston Gomez had another Phillie killer lurking in the bullpen. Sutter and his devilish split finger fast ball have been haunting the Phils for several years. They did not break the spell yesterday as the clever right hander picked up his 12th save and helped McGlothen to his third victory against a pair of defeats. 

Bob Boone swung at Sutter’s first pitch and grounded out to shortstop. Garry Maddox swung at three straight dipping pitches and missed them all. Then the home team received a bit of life when pinch-hitter Del Unser reached first on a bizarre play. Second baseman Mike Tyson fielded his sharp ground ball, then juggled it. But he recovered the handle in time to throw to first baseman Larry Biittner for what could have been the game-ending out. 

However, Biittner’s toe never made contact with the bag and Unser reached first while Luzinski went to third. Lonnie Smith ran for Unser and moved to second as Manny Trillo walked to load the bases. Now Manager Dallas Green went to rookie George Vukovich, his remaining lefthanded pinch-hitter to bat for relief pitcher Ron Reed. 

Vukovich came close to making it a tie ball game. However, his sharp line drive zeroed directly into the waiting glove of shortstop Ivan DeJesus and the Phils’ three-game winning streak was over. 

“I told George to be patient. That if he looked at the split finger pitch it probably would break low out of the strike zone,” Green said of his quick conversation with the rookie before he went to the plate. Obviously the manager didn’t talk to either Boone or Maddox since they did not let a single Sutter pitch go by. 

“You are supposed to learn by experience in this game. Those two guys have been around a long time,” was the manager’s terse comment. 

McGlothen helped his own cause by slashing a double to left off Ruthven and scoring the game’s first run on a double by Tyson that eluded third baseman Mike Schmidt’s dive as it headed down the left field line. 

The Phils looked as though they were going to cut off the visitors’ bid for their second run in the seventh inning. Tim Blackwell, who had singled, tried to score from second on a single by De Jesus. The throw from center fielder Maddox was on target. But catcher Boone was unable to handle the bounce cleanly and Blackwell made it to the plate. 

Other than the last inning the Phils had their best shot to score on McGlothen in the first. Bake McBride lined a one-out double to center field. After Schmidt fanned, Luzinski walked. But the best Boone could do was a weak pop up to third baseman Steve Ontiveros.