Camden Courier-Post - May 5, 1980
Phils erase 9-0 deficit before bowing to L.A.
By Rusty Pray of the Courier-Post
PHILADELPHIA – Purists would scoff at the Los Angeles Dodgers' 12-10 victory over the Phillies yesterday in Veterans Stadium.
And, those among the crowd of 34,027 who consider baseball a game of grace and beauty were no doubt horrified at the stumbling white elephant the two clubs produced on an otherwise unspoiled Sunday afternoon.
Indeed, the teams blundered consistently in what turned out to be one of sport's most bizarre affairs since Rosie Ruiz disguised herself as the winner of the Boston Marathon.
BUT, DESPITE all the mistakes – and they were legion – there was more high drama than low comedy to the contest.
The Phillies showed considerable determination by coming all the way back from a 9-0 deficit to tie the score on John Vukovich's two-run pinch single in the bottom of the eighth. And the Dodgers, who by all rights should have packed up and gone home after blowing a nine-run lead, steadfastly hung around and won it in the ninth, scoring three runs on a passed ball by rookie catcher Keith Moreland and a two-run double by Mickey Hatcher.
"It (the game) was kind of freaky," noted left fielder Greg Luzinski, who slammed his seventh home run of the year to go along with a double and a single. "But you can only come back so many times.
"FROM A team aspect, the other teams in the league will look at the score and say, 'Hey, they (the Phils) were down 9-0 and came back. It can be intimidating knowing something like that is possible. That's the way we were the three years we won the division.
"From that standpoint it's great. You do it enough times and you're going to win your share of games."
The Phils did not win even a share of this game because Moreland, reliever Dickie Noles and center-fielder Lonnie Smith – all part of Manager Dallas Green's garden of youth – failed to execute in the ninth.
NOLES GAVE up a leadoff single to Darrel Thomas and a broken-bat hit to Gary Thomasson before inducing Steve Garvey to hit a soft liner into shallow center. Smith misplayed the ball, initially breaking back on it, and wound up trying to make a diving catch. Moreland then let a Noles pitch get by him, Thomas scoring from third and Noles arriving too late to be much help covering the plate.
The Phillies played the game under protest after the Dodgers somehow managed to come up with four runs despite batting out of order in the first inning.
Luckless Randy Lerch was the victim of the Ripley inning that included rookie Rudy Law scoring twice (once, officially) and left-fielder Dusty Baker batting twice – with the Dodgers sending only seven hitters to the plate.
WITH ONE out, a run in and runners at the corners, Baker stepped to the plate and hit a potential inning-ending double play grounder toward shortstop Larry Bowa, who flipped to second baseman Luis Aguayo for the force as Law scored. As fate would have it, however, Aguayo dropped the ball as he attempted the relay to first baseman Pete Rose.
It was Rose who noticed the Dodgers had batted out of order, Baker hitting No. 5, where Ron Cey was listed on the lineup card.
"I always look at the lineups before the game," said Rose. "I saw where Cey was hitting fifth (Cey hit sixth on Friday and Saturday) and I said to Wino (Phillies Coach Bobby Wine), 'You mean those two infield hits (Cey had on Saturday) got Cey moved up in the batting order?'
"I SAW Baker on deck and I knew Cey was supposed to be the next hitter and I asked (first base umpire John) McSherry, 'Now they're batting out of order. What should I do?' I didn't know the rule. They (the umpires) didn't either."
After much consultation, the umps decided Law would be returned to third and Garvey, who had singled in Davey Lopes for the inning's first run, would be returned to first. Cey was ruled out and Baker, now hitting in his proper No. 6 position, was returned to the plate.
Baker hit Lerch's first pitch for a three-run home run that gave the Dodgers a 4-0 lead and made Green wonder why his team was the one that came out of the inning with egg on its face.
THE BASIS of Green's protest has some merit. He contends the Phils should have been out of the inning, the force being the second out and Cey the third. The rule book does not clearly define what should be done in such a situation.
"It's an ambiguous situation not specifically covered in the rule book and they (the umpires) penalized the defensive team," said Green. "I didn't make the mistake, but I suffer the consequences.
"Out of the four umpires, I got two on my side (while arguing his case on the field). They won't be on my side when it (the protest) goes to the league office, but I got them on my side on the field."
Said McSherry, spokesman for the crew: "It's not covered in the rule book, but there's no way they (the Phillies) get an out at second base because that would be a double penalty."
PHIL UPS – Center fielder Garry Maddox, who sprained his right ankle Saturday, was examined yesterday by team physician, Dr. Phillip Marone... Marone said Maddox will be out at least a week... Aguayo pulled a thigh muscle yesterday, but is expected to play tonight against the Atlanta Braves... Dodgers broke eight-game Vet losing streak... Baker hit two homers... Luzinski has homered the last three days.
Don’t fault Ozark… It was that kind of day!
By Ray W. Kelly of the Courier-Post
PHILADELPHIA – The fan leaned over the fence along the third base line at Veterans Stadium and began shouting at former Phillies Manager Danny Ozark, "You did it. We know this is your fault!"
Always true to form, long-suffering Danny declined the opportunity to declare his innocence in an obvious plot to overthrow sanity yesterday afternoon as the Phils, Dodgers and four rather confused umpires disproved the old baseball axiom – You can look it up.
They looked it up in the rulebook. It wasn't there. Over 100 years to get the kinks out, a few million trial runs, and baseball still doesn't know what to do when two players bat out of turn.
The worst of it was that the offending Dodgers got the best of it. Two wrongs (Dusty Baker and Ron Cey) really did make a right. Baker hit into a force play in the first inning. He was supposed to be the batter. But, the official lineup the umpires and Phils received listed Ron Cey as the hitter in front of Baker.
Ho boy! When the Great Debate adjourned after 10 minutes, the Dodgers were assessed an out (Cey for not batting). And Baker? He got to hit a second time, smacking Randy Lerch's first offering for a three-run homer, proving that forgery is not always a punishable offense.
Handwriting specialist and occasional Dodger coach Monty Basgall started it all. He signed his boss' name to the official lineup card before the game. Monty does the paperwork all the time because LA skipper Tommy Lasorda usually has his hands full. Most often, they're wrapped around some exotic creation from a South Philly hoagie shop.
Wearing a bright blue T-shirt with an inscription in Italian that read, "Please don't feed the manager," Lasorda rolled his eyes and asked, "Do I look any older than when this day started?"
Nobody looked older. Thea again, nobody looked any the wiser, either.
Basgall, a short, balding man with a pleasant disposition, simply forgot this wasn't 1979. All last year, Cey hit fifth and Baker sixth. A guy writes that every day for an entire summer, it stays with him.
When the Dodgers finished spring training this year, however, Lasorda decided to move Baker's sizzling bat up a notch, much to Cey's dismay.
The new version of the 1980 lineup was posted in the Dodger dugout. But, in his haste to get the official card to the umpires (the Phils get a carbon), Basgall's mind took a stroll down memory lane. Cey fifth and Baker sixth, he wrote.
"Hey, that's why they put erasers os pencils," said Lasorda, who missed a golden opportunity by not adding, "Or is it pencils on erasers?"
Heck, he still didn't know why Phils' Manager Dallas Green was protesting an affair that was clearly catered by Monty Python and the Flying Circus.
Green wanted the umpires to declare two outs and signal the end of the inning. He figured the force out that Baker first grounded into should have counted as the second out of the inning. And, Cey's incorrect arrival at the plate should have constituted the batting out of order violation, meaning he's also out.
"The umpires went inside and checked the rulebook. The situation isn't covered. But, you can bet the league's explanation will cover it," said Green, who doesn't seem to be thriving in situations where the Phils overcome a 9-0 Dodger lead to tie a 3-hour and 22-minute game that was eventually lost 12-10 on a passed ball.
"It was exciting... interesting," said Lasorda. "Yon think there would be a law against that happening to managers."
Ozark just sat at his locker grinning. He knew that in Philly, there were people who still think Mrs. O'Leary's cow covered up for him in that Chicago fire business. And, that it is merely a matter of California time before San Andreas becomes Danny's Fault.
"Usually, I take the lineup card to the home plate umpire," said Ozark. "But, I didn't today. Monty gave it to Don Sutton. I never saw it. And, you know what? I know the rule!"
He probably did. It was that kind of day.
Who’s Up Next?
Here's how the Dodgers batted out of order in the first inning of yesterday's game against the Phillies in Veterans Stadium:
• Leadoff hitter Dave Lopes singles to left field off starting pitcher Randy Lerch.
• Rudy Law hits ground ball that second baseman Luis Aguayo kicks into right field for an error. Lopes goes to third on the play.
• Law steals second and is hit in the face by catcher Bob Boone's throw. Game is delayed a few minutes while Dodger trainers attend to Law. Law remains in the game.
• Reggie Smith pops up to Aguayo. One out.
• Cleanup hitter Steve Garvey hits ball that Larry Bowa gloves at deep shortstop. Bowa has no play. Garvey is credited with an RBI single as Lopes scores and Law goes to third. 1-0.
• Dusty Baker, normally the No. 5 hitter, but listed No. 6 in yesterday's lineup, hits potential double play grounder to Bowa But Aguayo drops relay throw, Baker is safe at first and Law scores. Two out 2-0.
• Phillies Manager Dallas Green points out to umpires Paul Pryor (home plate), John McSherry (first base), Joe West (second base) and Billy Williams (third base) that Ron Cey, not Baker, is listed as the No. 5 hitter in the Dodger lineup.
• After lengthy debate, umpires rule Cey is out for not hitting in the correct position in the lineup. Law is returned to third, Garvey to first. Two out. 1-0.
• Baker again bats, hitting Lerch's first pitch over left field wan for three-run home run. Two out. 4-0.
• Bill Russell grounds out to Aguayo, ending the inning.