October 12, 1980

"When we were down 5-2 in the 8th, I was leading off, Rose says get on and we'll win this thing." - Larry Bowa

"I'm overwhelmed with my own feelings and the feelings I have for all the people who were rooting for us to win this thing." - Garry Maddox

"I grabbed Manny and said 'I love you, I love you.' I didn't want to kiss him, so I bit him on the arm. Gave him a pretty good bite, too. Manny looked kinda startled." - Lee Elia

"If you shine, it's because somebody puts a light on you. We shined in this series because the Astros put a light on us. They pushed us harder than anyone has ever pushed us." - Del Unser

"When Manny got that triple, all the other Phillies wives cheered. I sat there and cried." - Maria Trillo

"I've never been through such excitement in all my life." - Jose Cruz

"The real winners tonight are the fans. They have waited so many years for this moment." - Ruly Carpenter

"I'll always remember this series as one in which there were no losers." - Bill Virdon

"It was a great championship series, probably the finest ever played. I don't see how anything can top it. I'm sure it got the whole country excited." - Commissioner Bowie Kuhn

"Cripes, what a thrill, to come up in September and play a part in a pennant." - Marty Bystrom

"Let them say we don't have any heart anymore. We proved to the world that we don't have a quitter on this team." - Greg Luzinski

"Everybody thought we were a team of destiny. They were wrong. The Phillies were a team of destiny in this series." - Terry Puhl

Dallas Green made some decisions which took guts. He made them and stood behind them. He broke camp with five rookies. He used rookies in key spots all season.

Now, as the Phillies stood on the doorsteps of their first World Series appearance in 30 years, Green again looked to a rookie- pitcher Marty Bystrom. His opponent would be veteran Nolan Ryan.

Bystrom, who was added to the post-season roster because of an injury to Nino Espinosa, gave up a run in the first inning but then held the Astros at bay until the sixth. Terry Puhl started the game with a single and scored two outs later when Jose Cruz doubled to right.

For the fifth straight game, the Phillies were on the short end of the score. It wasn't for long, however. Bob Boone came through with a clutch, two-out single in the second to give the Phillies the lead.

Greg Luzinski couldn't hold on to Dennis Walling's liner to left center starting the sixth and it cost the Phillies. Alan Ashby's single drove home Walling with the tying run.

Houston jumped out to a 5-2 lead in the seventh. Walling's single produced one run, a wild pitch accounted for the second and Art Howe tripled in the third.

It was time again for the Comeback Kids... could they do it one more time?

Ryan had the Phillies completely under control in the 3rd, 4th, 5th, 6th and 7th. He fanned six through these innings.

But pesky Larry Bowa got it all started with a lead-off single in the 8th. Bob Boone followed with a grounder that Ryan couldn't handle for a second base hit. Greg Gross laid down a textbook bunt to load the bases with no outs.

It was now a classic battle. Ryan vs. Rose. The count went to 2-2, then ball three, a foul and finally ball four. The walk forced in Bowa to make it 5-3 and sent Ryan to the showers.

Joe Sambito was brought in to face Bake McBride. Bake had trouble with the Houston lefty in the series so Dallas Green switched to Keith Moreland. The rookie dribbled a grounder to second. Houston had just one play, a force at second. Boone scored to make it 5-4 and the Phillies had runners on first and third and still only one out.

Playing the percentages all the way, Bill Virdon lifted Sambito and brought Ken Forsch in to pitch to Mike Schmidt. Forsch fanned Schmidt for the second out.

Del Unser, pinch hitting for Christenson, tied the game with a clutch single to right. Up stepped Manny Trillo. The second baseman brought everybody in the Dome and every Phillies fan watching the thriller on TV to their feet by tripling in two runs with a liner into the left-field corner. The Phillies led 7-5.

Houston wasn't finished. Tug McGraw was roughed up for four singles which produced two runs to even the count, 7-7, after eight. The two runs scored on two-out hits by Rafael Landestoy and Jose Cruz.

The Phillies threatened in the 9th before Frank LaCorte retired George Vukovich on a grounder to short with two men on base.

Dick Ruthven became the Phillies' sixth pitcher. He was perfect in the ninth. The Phillies were headed for their sixth extra inning game in the last seven.

LaCorte ran into trouble again in the 10th. This time he didn't escape. Unser came through again by doubling to right with one out. Trillo flied to center but Garry Maddox got the hit of his life, a double to center sending Unser home with the lead run.

Ruthven took the mound for the 10th. Danny Heep pinch hit for LaCorte and sent a pop-up which Larry Bowa caught.

Here came Terry Puhl again. He had four hits in this game. Ruthven got him on a fly ball to Maddox. Two down.

Enos Cabell was the last obstacle between the Phillies and the World Series. Ruthven repeated by getting Cabell to loft an easy fly ball to Maddox.

The Phillies exploded out of the dugout as if they were shot from a cannon. Ruthven leaped off the mound. Maddox was raised to the shoulders of his jubilant teammates and back in Philadelphia there was noise everywhere.

The Phillies duplicated the wild clubhouse celebration seen in Montreal eight days ago. Champagne was everywhere. Trillo, who hit .381 and fielded brilliantly, was awarded the Most Valuable Player Award for the championship series, which has to go down in history as the most exciting.

The ghosts of 1976, 1977 and 1978 were dead!