Doylestown Daily Intelligencer - May 27, 1980

Bench-Clearing Base-Brawls Mar Phillies 7-6 Win

by Paul Giordano, Intelligencer Writer

PHILADELPHIA--Tim Foil had a cut over his left eye and a couple of scrapes just above his right elbow. Keith Moreland had a bloody nose. Larry Bowa had a tender jaw. Dallas Green was wearing red gashes around his shin bones. Pirates' Lee Lacy and Phils' pitching coach Herm Starrette drew game misconducts and were ejected. And it wasn't even Stanley Cup hockey.

Nah, just the aftermath of the good old boys of baseball going at in a bench clearing brawl in the sixth inning of Monday night's game after Kevin Saucier drilled Bert Blyleven on the left side of where he sits down.

It's called retaliation in baseball, an eye for an eye., and you could smell it coming.

In the first inning, Blyleven buzzed one under Mike Schmidt's chin, high and tight. Greg Luzinski followed and Blyleven repeated. Then, in the third inning, Blyleven again buzzed Schmidt. Schmidt pointed a finger at Blyleven. Heated words exchanged. Both benches emptied.

However, home plate umpire Doug Harvey took command He warned both sides and the hot tempers were put on hold.

Then, it was the top of the sixth inning. The Pirates held a 5-3 lead. Two were out. Blyleven was the hitter. Saucier, who came in from the bullpen to start the fifth inning, was on the mound.

The windup stretch, pitch, and bang. Blyleven spun from the plate and dropped his bat He paused for a minute. Both teams were already on the top step of the dugouts. Blyleven glared at Saucier and started for the mound.

He took three steps and noticed the baseball in his path. He picked the ball up, and if it wasn't for Harvey grabbing his arm, would have fired it right back at Saucier. The ball squirted from Blyleven's hand. He broke Harvey's grip and raced to the mound and Saucier Saucier dropped his glove, ducked his head and before you couid say "The Flyers were robbed out of the Stanley Cup," bodies were banging and tumbling all over the place, some dancing, some swinging, some rolling around on the ground. Not a good punch in the carload.

Seven minutes later, although the finger pointing and verbal battling continued, all was finally calm and both sides started back for their respected dugouts. Then, from out of nowhere, Phils' bullpen coach Mike Ryan raced toward Bill Madlock. The two embraced, tumbled to the ground and round two started; more dancing, more swinging, more rolling.

Eight minutes later, again, after all cooled down, Starrette and Lacy were given the umpire's thumb. Why those two, no one really knows for sure. But they were the closest to the umpires after round two. However, there was still finger pointing and verbal exchanges going on. So to prevent round three, Starrette and Lacy were banished.

And the game played on. The Phils rallied for a 7-6 win, including two runs in the bottom of the ninth inning off Kent Tekulve, and Sylvester Stallone called in to see if
anyone was interested in doing Rocky III.

No one was interested. And after the game, no one, neither side, was really that interested in talking about what had happened on the field in the sixth inning or why, in fact, two of the main eventers, Schmidt and Luzinski, had already departed the Phils' locker room, before the media people could get in. They would have been gone anyway. It was Memorial Day and fireworks were scheduled after the game. It's been common practice for most of the Phils over the years to leave immediately after the game, not even pausing to take a shower, in order to beat the traffic.

"No comment," Saucier said, sitting with his face buried in his locker. "I don't want to talk about it. We won the game, that's all I want to think about."

"When Sauce came in the game," Bowa said, "I told him it was over, not to think about it. He said okay. But I guess he figured they (Schmidt and Luzinski) are our money players and he had to do something about it."

"When Saucier came in the game," Pirates' Phil Garner said, "I told him Bert was not throwing at anyone. He was just pitching them in. Obviously he didn't hear me."

"I have nothing to say." Blyleven said.

"I had no intentions of having happened what happened," Ryan said, referring to the start of round two.

Phils Wrestle First Away From Pirates

by Paul Giordano, Intelligencer Writer

PHILADELPHIA-The Veterans Stadium field was a coliseum Monday night. The Phils and Pirates did go at it like gladiators.

There was the usual Phils-Pirates baseball-going at it right down to the final out—and they even threw in 15 minutes of bench clearing brawling (see related story).

And after all was said, punched, rolled around, and done, the Phils rallied for two runs in the bottom of the ninth inning to defeat the Pirates, 7-6, and take over first place in the National League East.

The Phils haven't been in first place since May 27 of last season.

And get this, the Phils won it with Larry Bowa driving in the winning run, off of all people, Kent Tekulve.

But to keep the record straight, it was Bowa's fourth game-winning RBI, second only to Mike Schmidt's five.

Now with Tekulve on the mound in the ninth inning, and holding a one-run margin, 6-5, you gotta' figure the Pirates have a lock. Check the odds out with your local bookmaker.

Not so Monday night.

Mike Schmidt opened the bottom of the ninth by lining Tekulve's first pitch into the left field corner for a double. Greg Luzinski followed and stroked Tekulve's second offering through the middle for a single, advancing Schmidt to third. Lonnie Smith was sent in to run for Luzinski.

Bob Boone followed, and taking Schmidt's lead, slapped Tekulve's first pitch over the third base bag for another double. Schmidt scored the tying run, Smith advancing to third.

Garry Maddox was given an intentional walk to load the bases. The Pirates brought the infield in.

Bowa stepped to the plate. He worked Tekulve to a 3-1 count and lined the next pitch between first baseman Willie Stargell and second baseman Phil Garner for the game-winning RBI.

"I hit three balls good before that." Bowa said, "but they were all nght at Stargell. That one found the hole. It was a great one to win. What we did tonight (Monday) they've done to us a lot."

"It was just a bad day," Tekulve said. "I think the one Schmidt hit, he broke his bat on It was up in the strike zone.

"On Bowa, I was trying to get him on a fastball. It's tough to think strikeout, strikeout in that situation, you're hoping for him to hit it on the ground. And with the infield in, to throw someone out at home. But with the infield in, the holes get bigger."

For Phils' pitcher Bob Walk, who was making his first major league start and appearance, the holes in his nervous system were quite large, too. There he was, fresh off the farm, getting his first test against the defending World Champions, on the down side of a 2-0 score, serving up a two-run home to Stargell. Walk lasted five runs. He walked five.

"No," Dallas Green said, "I wasn't displeased. He was in a pressure situation. That's tough on anyone. I think he threw quite well, just a little wild. But that's probably from the nervousness."

The Phillies brought Walk back into the game in the second inning, cutting the margin to one, 2-1. on back to back doubles by Maddox and Bowa off starter Bert Blyleven.

The Pirates, however, took advantage of Walk's three walks (one intentional), a sacrifice bunt, a throwing error by Boone and a two-run single by Ed Ott to take a 5-2 lead in the third inning.

Maddox slugged a two-run home run in the third to make it a 5-3 ballgame.

The Pirates made it 6-5 in the seventh off relief pitcher Tug McGraw on back-to-back singles by Tim Foil and Dave Parker and Stargell's run-scoring sacrifice fly to deep center field.

Luzinski's RBI double in the seventh and Manny Trillo's RBI single in the eighth made it 6-5 and set the stage for Bowa's ninth inning game-winner.

EXTRA BASES—Blyleven (0-6) is still winless against Phils....Phils have won five in a row, longest streak of season, and 10 of last 12... Phils lead NL in both runs scored (193) and home runs (37).... Luzinski has hit in seven straight. In his last 23 times at bat he has 14 hits, including five singles, four doubles and five home runs....Phils are 15-6 for month of May... Steve Carlton against Jim Bibby tonight... Randy Lerch against Don Robinson Tuesday night.