Essence of the game lives during the day

By Ray W. Kelly of the Courier-Post

PHILADELPHIA – There is nothing under the sun like baseball. It's a shame they play so much of it at night.

Not that the players of today would agree. They've become accustomed to the cooling breezes of the nocturnal life, and the perfection of well-lighted stadiums, where there are no creeping shadows and glaring backgrounds to haunt their vision.

In Chicago, where the tradition of presenting the national pasttime under God's blue skies is still observed, the athletes are forced to endure the city's daily traffic jams as they travel to and from the ballpark.

And, it's said, that the annual fading of the Cubs' hope for a pennant is related directly to the energy drained away by the ball of fire that sits in the endless summer sky above Wrigley Field.

The "bleacher bums" who inhabit that town, however, would not trade a half-eaten hotdog for a rooftop filled with fluorescent beacons to turn the night into day. They know they just might be the luckiest sports fans in America.

What brings' all this up, was the 5-4 defeat the Phillies suffered at the hands of the Pittsburgh Pirates yesterday afternoon at Veterans Stadium. It was billed as a "Business Persons Special" because it was played at mid-day during the week. And, it was special.

So much so, that 30,630 fans showed up, almost half of them purchasing their tickets at the gate, to swell the crowd beyond the previous night's total. Maybe it's instinct.

Maybe people sense that, on a day such as this, they have the opportunity to recapture the essence of a game that was born on a field of grass, a visit to a time when a "ballpark" was just that – a park in the middle of cement city – where people could seek refuge from a world of asphalt, glass and plastic.

Last season, over 46,000 Phillies fans flocked to Veterans Stadium on a warm, August afternoon to sit in the sunshine and watch a game against the Montreal Expos. And they didn't even have the added pleasure of smelling the aroma of newly mowed grass, or watching the trees beyond the ivy-covered outfield walls rustle in the breeze, a bonus that may someday make Wrigley Field baseball's answer to Churchill Downs.

Of course, there are many good things to be said for the modern stadiums with their cleanliness, convenience and functional design. Comparing the Vet with Connie Mack Stadium, for example, is like parking a Rolls Royce next to a pushcart.

The Vet came with everything, but push-button windows. Basically, it's a baseball theatre, complete with a synthetic playing surface that won't surrender so quickly to the weather. The show must go on! And this place is a show in itself, a perfect setting for electronic marvels that inform and entertain.

Yet, sometimes you wonder why baseball had to rush so enthusiastically into the new century. Or, perhaps, television just pushed so hard. Either way, daytime baseball during the week has been reduced to a "novelty" on the order of Bat Day.

The Phillies have debated the pros and cons of the situation during the past 15 years. And the same old problems remain. Teams run into scheduling difficulties. Many usherettes, ticket takers, guards and other stadium personnel have regular jobs during the day and can't get off work. Traffic congestion, such as the jam that occurred yesterday, are a genuine possibility when a game ends at the same time workers are heading home. So it goes.

"It's also hard for the players to see during the day," said Phils outfielder Greg Gross, who played at Wrigley Field before coming to Philly. "Because of the glare and difficult background it's easier to make a mistake. In the old ballparks, an outfielder could pick up the ball as it rose above the roof.

"Today, with all those rows and rows of fans in white shirts rising up so high, you have to wait and pray you'll pick up the ball."

Still, you have to stop and think. Where did all those people come from on a day when most of the area's youngsters were still in school?

Perhaps this is all just a stroll down memory lane, a wishful thought that somewhere in the future, baseball will look for something new to increase fan interest and hit upon a most wondrous idea – present baseball the way it used to be played. It would be a natural.

Pittsburgh Vaults Over Philadelphia

Pittsburgh 5, Philadelphia 4

By Harry Hoffman, Press Sports Writer

PHILADELPHIA —  The Pittsburgh Pirates and Philadelphia Phillies concluded their game of leap frog Thursday afternoon at the Vet. The Pirates had the last leap. They vaulted back into first place by a game over the Phils in National League East by holding off the team in the late innings for a 5-4 victory. 

The Bucs made three runs in the first inning and two in the fifth off starter and loser Dick Ruthven, 5-3, hold up to gain a split in the crisply played four-game set. Eddie Solomon, 2-0, with relief help from Enrique Romo in the final two innings, pitched his way out of several jams in the middle innings to frustrate the Phils and 30,630 fans.

"We had our chances, no doubt about that, but we just could not come up with the big hit," Phils' manager Dallas Green said. "But I don't feel bad about the way we battled the Pirates these four games. You don't go in expecting to sweep them. The two games we lost were by a single run with one going 13 innings." 

The manager was not unduly upset by the performance of Ruthven who gave up all five runs and 11 hits in the first five innings. 

"He wasn't throwing very well in the first inning. But after that, he settled into a pretty good groove," Green said. "You expect to get into a swinging game with the Bucs most times. Today we matched them, but just came up a little short." 

The rivals exchanged three-run innings, right consecutive at the start. The Pirates singles by Phil Garner, Dave Parker, Willie Stargell and Mike Easler along with a bases-loaded walk to Dale Berra to rough up Ruthven in the top of the first. 

The Phils' three runs in the bottom of the inning were unearned, but still looked gaudy on the scoreboard. It all started when shortstop Berra mishandled leadoff hitter Pete Rose's ground ball. Greg Gross walked. After Mike Schmidt skied out, Greg Luzinski outlegged a hopper to shortstop to load the bases. Rose scored as George Vukovich forced Luzinski at second. Then Bob Boone rifled a double into right field scoring both Gross and Vukovich.

Bill Madlock started the two-run fifth for Pittsburgh with a one-out single. He scored as catcher Ed Ott lined a double off the center field wall. A single by Berra plated Ott with what proved to be the decisive run. 

The Phils came up short in both the fifth and sixth innings when it looked as though they were ready to escort Solomon to the showers. Gross started the fifth with a double. He stayed put as Schmidt popped out. When Luzinski grounded a single in front of him into left field, Gross had to be content to reach third. Vukovich, who started in right as Green gave Bake McBride a day off, bounced into a double play. 

Boone began the sixth with a double and went to third as Bowa beat out a drag bunt toward second. Then came a rather weird play. Bowa took off on a hit and run and batter Manny Trillo did his job with a ground ball toward second. 

It figured second baseman Garner would be moving to cover the bag. He wasn't. 

Garner not only stayed put but also threw Boone out at the plate, leaving runners at first and second with one man out. Pinch-hitter McBride then hit into an inning-ending double play.

Strong relief work by Kevin Saucier, Lerrin LaGrow and Tug McGraw kept the Phils alive. They finally managed another unearned run in the seventh. Rose reached second on a throwing error by pitcher Solomon, went to third as Gross grounded out and scored on a sacrifice fly by Schmidt. 

Right hander Romo, who was tough on the Phils for two innings in the second game of the series while picking up his third victory, recorded his second save by retiring six straight Phils in the last two innings. 

The Phils now head to Chicago for three day games with the Cubs over the weekend. Then they stop in Pittsburgh for three more matchups with the Pirates before returning home Friday night, June 6 to start a nine-game homestand against the Cubs, San Francisco and San Diego.