Atlantic City Press - May 24, 1980
Schmidt, Phils Wait Patiently, Take Ryan Express Downtown
Philadelphia 3, Houston 0
By Harry Hoffman, Press Sports Writer
PHILADELPHIA — Since Houston righthander Nolan Ryan was having some trouble controlling his breaking stuff, Mike Schmidt was sitting on a fast ball when the count went to 3-1 with two Phillies on base in the third inning of Friday night’s game at Veterans Stadium.
“I wasn’t digging in looking for it. I was trying to stay relaxed and get a good swing. A single meant a run. When I try to hit the ball out it usually goes straight up and down into a glove,” Schmidt commented.
Ryan did throw a fast ball and Schmidt’s relaxed swing lined its way over the left field barrier for his 11th home run, which gave Philadelphia a 3-0 victory.
Those three runs were more than enough for lefty Steve Carlton, who is off to his best start as a Phil, 8-2 with two shutouts and four complete games. He has the most victories of anyone in the majors He also leads both leagues in strikeouts with 69 after fanning eight Astros last night.
Silent Steve gave up four hits, all singles, and the Astros were not able to put two together in any inning. The big guy walked three. Six of his strikeouts came in the first three innings.
“I don’t actually think it was one of Steve’s better performances this season, although I liked the final result,” Phils’ Manager Dallas Green said. "He started out with good control of all his pitches. But then in the middle innings he lost a little bit. However he came back strong at the end.”
The Million-Dollar Flinger, Ryan, had blanked the Phils 3-0 at the Astrodome last Sunday, giving up four hits and striking out 10. However by losing last night his overall record fell to 2-4.
"We wanted a piece of him after what he did to us at the ’Dome,” Schmidt said. “We have some people on this club who like to swing at fast balls. And he’s a guy who likes to put ’em past the hitters. That always makes for a nice duel.”
Ryan started the third inning harmlessly enough by retiring the first two hitters.
Then Pete Rose, who walked his other three trips to the plate, lined a single into left field. Bake McBride followed with a ground single to right. Then Schmidt sent a Ryan Express downtown and Carlton had enough runs.
Schmidt and teammate Greg Luzinski now share the major league home run lead (along with Bostons Ben Ogilvie) with 11 apiece.
“No name I like to see next to mine on the board than The Bull,” Schmidt said.
It was the Phillies’ seventh victory in 10 outings as they continue in hot pursuit of the division-leading Pittsburgh Pirates. No one was hoping more than Green that the season would not be interrupted by a player's strike.
“A strike would be bad at any time for the game in general. But we do seem to have it all going right now so it would have been extra tough on our club to stop playing,” Green said. “I heard the good news at quarter of four this morning when the owner (Ruly Carpenter) called me. I was pretty sleepy at the time but waking up to that kind of news wasn’t too bad.”
The Phillies will have a surprise for the Astros tonight. Yesterday they purchased the contract of righthander Dan Larson from Oklahoma City and he will be the starting pitcher in the second game of the three-game series tonight at 7:05.
The 25-year-old Larson was 4-1 at Oklahoma City with a 4.13 earned run average. He has previously played in the majors with both Houston and Philadelphia, and currently has a 6-17 lifetime mark in the big leagues.
Baseball Settlement Has ‘Something for Everyone’
NEW YORK (AP) — It is “Play ball” under a new four-year agreement reached early Friday between the Major League Baseball Players Association and the 26 clubs. The agreement put aside for 1980 the controversy over the free agent system and averted a strike that would have stopped baseball.
The agreement was announced at 5 a.m., five hours after the strike deadline had passed and now must be ratified by the 26 clubs and the players.
Commissioner Bowie Kuhn called the agreement “a good deal all around,” adding, “There’s something in it for everybody concerned.”
“rm delighted,” players’ association executive director Marvin Miller said of the tentative settlement at a 3:30 p.m. news conference. “This is a settlement with something for everyone,” said Ray Grebey, director of the Major League Baseball Player Relations Committee, Inc.
The contract provides improvement in minimum salaries and pensions. But the key to the settlement was the free agency question, which was set aside for further study and negotiation.
Grebey said in his statement that the current free agent system will remain in place for the rest of the year, with a four-man committee to be appointed to work out a new system. The study group, which will not include Miller or Grebey, will meet by next Aug. 1 and report to the clubs and the players association by Jan. 1, 1981.
Should a 30-day bargaining period then fail to produce a new system by Feb. 1, 1981, the clubs may put into effect their current proposal for compensation which would run for the remainder of the four-year contract, Grebey’s statement said.
The owners’ proposed compensation system is known as the 15-18 system that sets up a sliding scale of compensation based on the caliber of player picked in the free agent draft.
Miller said the owners’ proposed compensation system does not go into effect unless three things happen — the committee fails to come up with any recommendation; the parties fail to reach agreement in the next 30 days; the owners do not announce on Feb. 1 what they intend to do about the free agent draft the following November.
Should agreement on a new compensation agreement not be reached by next Feb. 1, the players may also choose to strike at that time, but if they don’t there can be no strike over compensation during the remaining three years of the Basic Agreement, the player relations committee said.
However, the players’ union may offer, before March 1, 1981, to waive their right to strike with a request that clubs permit a substitute strike in 1982, not later than June 1, Grebey said, adding the clubs are not obligated to accept such a request.
The 15-18 system provides that a team which selected a free agent would be able to protect 15 to 18 players on its roster and the team that lost a “premium” free agent would select a compensation player from the remainder.
Under the present free agency arrangement, which has produced million-dollar salaries, a player who has had more than six years in the majors and whose contract has expired can declare himself a free agent. The club picking up the player has to surrender a selection in the amateur draft to the player’s former club.
Miller called the agreement reached in the early morning hours “solid gold.”
Also, it was reported the players’ minimum salary was increased to $30,000 from the present $21,000. The players had sought a $40,000 base.
In the matter of pensions, the players had asked for an increase to $16.5 million per year in the owners’ contribution and got $15.5 million, $1 million more than the owners had originally offered. Under the old pact the contribution was $8.3 million a year.
Both items are effective as soon as the contract is ratified, said Buckner, who added, “I think it (ratification) will be unanimous,” by the Cubs. Miller said the agreement also included other sections such as increased disability benefits and a clause that a player on the disabled list cannot be assigned to the minor leagues.
Subtle Optimism Ends With Averted Strike
NEW YORK (AP) — Surprise followed by relief and joy were common reactions shared by the players and club officials alike to news that a major league baseball strike had been averted by a settlement of the contract dispute early Friday morning.
Most, as New York Yankees relief pitcher Goose Gossage, “were prepared for the worst” as Thursday night became Friday morning and negotiators remained behind closed doors.
Even those who felt there was a chance of agreement, like Mark Belanger, Baltimore Orioles shortstop and player representative, were cautious about their optimism. “I didn’t dare become too optimistic,” said Belanger. “Now, I‘m just happy for the fans the players and the man who owns our team (Edward Bennett Williams).”
“No one wanted to go out,” said Detroit Tigers shortstop Alan Trammell. “I kept my hopes up that something would happen at the last moment. It was the only hope we had.”
“It didn’t look so good,” agreed his teammate, pitcher John Hiller, the Tigers’ player rep. “I think everyone was a little surprised there was an agreement.”
Many of the players, feeling they would not be playing Friday, made the waiting somewhat more bearable by holding parties into the early into early morning hours.
‘‘They should have given us the day off,” suggested Jamie Quirk of the Kansas City Royals, whose partying teammates were told of the settlement by player representative Pete LaCock.
Royals reliever Marty Pattin heard the news, though, on his car radio as he drove toward his home in Charleston, Ill., in the belief the strike could not be headed off. He turned the car around and returned to the Royals’ stadium to catch a team bus to the airport for a flight to California and the start of a road trip.
“A strike would have been horrible for the game,” said Buzzie Bavasi, California Angels executive vice president. “The last time we had a strike (1972) it took us four years to get the fans interested in baseball again.”
Reggie Jackson, player rep of the New York Yankees, said: “If we had a strike it would have hurt everybody. I‘m glad the more intelligent minds prevailed.”