World Series – at last!

By Bob Kenney, Courier-Post Sports Editor

HOUSTON – Finally, the World Series is coming to Veterans Stadium!

After three near-misses, the Philadelphia Phillies ended a 30-year drought here last night by defeating the Houston Astros, 8-7, in 10 innings to win the National League pennant.

Not since Dick Sisler hit a 10^th-inning home run to whip the Brooklyn Dodgers in 1950 have the Philles participated in a world championship.

National League titles don't come often to Philadelphia, which won its only other crown back in 1915.

This third pennant didn't come easy. The Phillies were forced to win six-straight games in the final week of the season to edge Montreal for the astern Division title.

Then they had to come from behind twice to win the final two games against Houston in the Astrodome. They scored three times in the eighth inning Saturday and five times in the eighth inning last night to force the extra-inning finishes, each of which they won.

The last four games of this remarkable series went into extra innings. Houston won game two and game .three and could have eliminated the Phillies with a win in either of the last two games.

"All year long people have doubted us," said relief pitcher Tug McGraw. "But we proved them all wrong."

Phillies fans, who watched division winners fail in ‘76, ‘77 and ‘78, could be excused if they lacked faith yesterday. The club let a 2-1 lead slip away, then starter Larry Christenson was unable to give his team one solid inning of relief.

Houston jumped on Christenson for three runs in the seventh inning and appeared on their way to their first pennant in the club's 19-year history.

But the Phillies, despite some internal bickering the past month, have shown an amazing ability to bounce back this season and did it again.

"The guys never stopped talking and clapping," said shortstop Larry Bowa, who singled to open a five-run eighth inning.

Pinchhitter Del Unser tied it and second basemen Manny Trillo put the Phillies up by two with a triple. But Houston, which played inspired baseball throughout the five-game series, fought back to tie the game in the bottom of the inning.

"Give the Phillies credit," said Houston Manager Bill Virdon. "They kept coming back and coming back. I feel for my guys, they played a helluva series."

The Phillies came back one more time. Unser, who stayed in the game, got a second chance to bat and doubled to right. Garry Maddox, who grounded into two double plays earlier, then lined a hit off center-fielder Terry Puhl's glove for the game winner.

Dick Ruthven, the No. 2 starter and a 17-game winner this season, pitched the last two innings to put the Phillies in against Kansas City starting tomorrow night at the Vet.

The Royals, who swept the New York Yankees in three games, spent the night in New York's LaGuardia Airport waiting to see where they were going.

Manager Jim Frey will have righthander Dennis Leonard, who was 20-12 in the regular season, ready to pitch the first game.

Dallas Green used six pitchers to stop Houston. He'll have to wait and see who is healthy before he names a first game starter.

‘For those who never stopped believing’

By Ray W. Kelly of the Courier-Post

HOUSTON – The Philadelphia Phillies, a baseball team that for so long stood alone on the fringes of happiness and history, claimed the elusive National League pennant last night. But they didn't claim it in their own names.

"This one is for the people who have waited so many years and never stopped believing," said Pete Rose, the man who came to the city of broken dreams and fulfilled the prophecy that he would lead the way.

The road to glory, which wound its way through 30 years of despair and frustration, ended in the 10th inning under the Astrodome roof with centerfielder Garry Maddox clutching the cowhide proof that the only real losers are those who admit defeat.

It was the final irony in a two-week trip through the hearts and souls of a group of athletes who were confronted with their worst fears and most torturous memories, and yet, somehow, found the courage to rise above it all.

Ghosts were everywhere. Maddox dropping of that fateful linedrive in the 1978 playoffs against the Dodgers. Greg Luzinski once again feeling the pain of a catch he didn't make, as he had when hope seemed to die in 1977.

To say that the Phils didn't experience the dreadful flashes of "here we go again" would be a lie. But, like Rose would say later during a wild clubhouse celebration, "No one even thought about quitting. These guys played their hearts out."

General Manager Paul Owens, who sat in the stands comforting his crying wife Marselle when the Astros took a 5-2 lead in the seventh inning ("We're going to win," he kept repeating) thought it was almost pre-ordained that the team endure its greatest agonies before finding its greatest reward.

"It was as if we had to win it this way in order to put the past behind us," he said. "Tonight, this team found out just how special it really is."

Maddox, who delivered the pennant-clinching hit, pointed out the main difference between this Phillies team and those of the past, saying: "You can have the best talent on the field and not win. But if you have the right blend of people... with everyone willing to do what it takes to win, then it's hard to be denied.

"'Whatever it takes'… that became the motto of this team."

Fittingly, it took everybody and everything this championship club had to offer as the pressure-packed season culminated in a frenzied finish in Montreal and then moved step-by-step through a record-setting playoff that saw four games go into extra innings. An amazing 37 players were used in the heart-stopping finale.

And when it was done, owner Ruly Carpenter stood in the corner and wept for a dream come true.

"Outside this room, there are people who have been waiting 30 years for this moment," he said. "They have lived through the crap and everything else. Me, I could walk away from it. But the people who have lived and died with the team... the people in the streets... this one was for them."

Just the thought of that delighted Rose, who took the worried clubhouse attendants aside before the game and told them, "You're the guys we're going to win this thing for."

Later, Rose explained by saying, "I've been here before. And, I certainly don't need the money.

"All I think about is how amazed I was that this team had never been in a World Series. This feels so good, and this pennant is more personally satisfying than the others, because I know more people appreciate this than you can imagine.

"The fans have been stuck by the Phillies over the years. The town deserves to win. Now we have to win it (a World Series) for them.

Rose's brand was on these playoffs from the start. When he wasn't running his championship series hitting streak to a record-setting 14 games, he was scoring impossible runs and making improbable defensive plays.

"He had us revved up," said Coach Bill DeMars. "When we walked off the field after the first loss here and the fans started giving our guys a hard time, Pete just looked up and yelled, 'Hey, just make sure you got a seat for Sunday, because we're going to be here and we're going to win.'"

"Oh, I was just having fun out there," said Rose with a chuckle. "This team has been close too many times. Now we're there. Those folks back home must be tearing down the Liberty Bell."

If they tear it down, they'd better make sure they ring it loud and clear.

Philadelphia isn't, and never was, the "City of Losers." And the Phillies just made if official.

Unbelievable Phillies win first pennant in 30 years

By Bob Kenney, Courier-Post Sports Editor

HOUSTON – Greg Luzinski stepped to the center of the wild celebration in the Phillies' locker room.

“I think," the big guy yelled, "we proved to the world that we don't have a quitter on this team. They can’t say we don't have heart anymore."

The Phillies, who bombed out of the National League playoffs in 1976. 1977 and 1978, had just rallied from three runs down in the eighth inning to win their first pennant since 1950.

GARRY MADDOX supplied the game-winning run when he doubled home Del Unser in the 10th inning to decide this fourth straight extra-inning game, 8-7.

“This is the fourth time we tried to get it," said Maddox. who connected after Unser doubled past first base with one out in the inning. "This time we got it.

It doesn’t matter how we got here," he continued. "Winning is what counts."

The Phillies earned the right to meet Kansas City in the World Series beginning tomorrow evening at Veterans Stadium by coming from the brink of defeat both Saturday and last night with eighth-inning rallies.

"EVEN WHEN we were down by three, I thought we would win," said shortstop Larry Bowa, who singled to start a five-run rally for the new champions.

"If I started. I knew the other guys would follow," added Bowa, who played a perfect series defensively.

“He's right," volunteered Manny Trillo, who was voted the outstanding player of the series. "He said we could win if he got a hit and it worked."

Bowa opened the eighth against Nolan Ryan, who faced the minimum 15 batters over the middle five innings. The Astros, who tied the game 2-2 in the sixth, had just put three runs on the board against Larry Christenson.

BOB BOONE followed with a smash back to the mound that Ryan played into a hit. "The turning point of the game," Houston Manager Bill Virdon insisted later. "With a little luck we turn it into a double play."

Greg Gross then caught the Astros off guard with a perfect bunt and the hit loaded the bases with none out. Ryan lost his concentration at that point and walked Pete Rose on a 3-2 pitch to force in a run.

Virdon yanked Ryan and sent in lefty Joe Sambito to pitch to Bake McBride. Dallas Green, the Phillies boss, countered with Keith Moreland, who bounced into a force that brought in a run and moved Gross to third.

All Mike Schmidt needed at this point was a fly ball, but, as he did in three previous games, the major league home run leader failed to make contact. Two outs.

THAT LEFT it up to pinch hitter Unser, who singled to center and the score was tied, 5-5.

"It was unbelievable," said Boone. "But the whole game was unbelievable, the whole series was unbelievable."

Trillo added to the drama with a shot down the left-field line that went into the books as a two-run triple. Now it was 7-5, Philadelphia, and bullpen ace Tug McGraw went out to try to save it.

"I THOUGHT I could do it," said a very, very tired McGraw, who pitched in all five games in the playoffs and in both battles last week in Montreal. "But I couldn't hold them. I did not have that crispness."

McGraw got two strikeouts in the inning but Craig Reynolds beat out an infield hit, Terry Puhl got his fourth single of the game and Rafael Landestoy and Jose Cruz singled in runs to tie it.

The Phillies went down in the ninth and Dick Ruthven, the hard-throwing 17-game winner, talked his way into the game.

"They were saving me for the opener," said Ruthven, after setting the Astros down in order in the ninth and 10th innings. "We can't wait until Tuesday, we've got to get it now," he told his manager.

EARLIER Green bad Ruthven warm up. Twice. Both times he felt tight.

"When I warmed up in the ninth, I felt great," Ruthven said. "I just went out there and concentrated on Boonie's glove."

Unser doubled with one out in the 10th and came around when Maddox ripped a Ken Forsch pitch into center to make it 8-7.

"I feel for my guys," said Virdon. "They played a helluva series." They did, almost pulling it out against Christenson.

IT WAS 2-2 when Green waved in Christenson, his No. 3 starter. "All I wanted from Larry was one inning," said Green. "I didn't want to stretch him too thin, but I wanted to hold Tug back an inning. It didn't work."

Puhl singled. Enos Cabell bunted. Morgan grounded out. Then Green ordered Cruz walked intentionally. Dennis Walling spoiled the strategy with a single and Christenson added to the problem by throwing a wild pitch that permitted Cruz to score.

Ron Reed came on at this point and was greeted with a triple by Art Howe that appeared to lock it up.

Ryan was red hot at the start, but the Phillies used a Trillo single, a walk to Maddox and a two-run single by Boone to score twice in the second.

IT LOOKED as if the lead might hold up. Puhl singled and scored on a Cruz double in the first but rookie Marty Bystrom was pitching out of trouble thanks to the Phillies' solid defense.

In the second, Luis Pujols walked and tried to score on a double into the corner by Reynolds. He was out on a perfect relay and decoy tag at the plate by Boone.

"I got a good throw from Bake and I had time to get it to Boonie," said Trillo, who admitted he was aware Pujols was running on an injured ankle.

In the fourth, Rose took a wide throw from Trillo and fired home in time to catch Cruz trying to sneak in with the tying run.

"Give the Phillies credit," said Virdon. "They made the big plays. They looked like they were dead and they kept coming back."

Trillo sinks Astros in playoff clincher

MVP Award fulfills promise to wife

By Rusty Pray of the Courier-Post

HOUSTON – In a locker room awash with champagne, Manny Trillo was an unwilling model of sobriety.

Amid a wild, crazy, joyous celebration, Manny Trillo was a reluctant island of calm. With toasts and congratulations bubbling all around, Manny Trillo remained stationary.

New Year's Eve had arrived in October for the Phillies and Manny Trillo wanted to join the party. Instead, he stood to one side, a wallflower among revelers.

LAUGHING and smiling, Trillo patiently answered the questions of the media – in two languages – while all the time hoping to break free and become part of the madness surrounding him.

He had been named the most valuable player of one of the most dramatic National League Championship Series ever played. The second baseman had been the key figure in the Phillies' first pennant in 30 years.

Last night, in the Phillies' emotionally draining 8-7 clincher over the Houston Astros here in the Astrodome, Trillo lined out three hits, scored a run and threw a runner out at the plate with a laser beam from shallow right field.

ONE OF his hits was a two-run triple that climaxed a dramatic five-run eighth-inning rally which gave the Phillies a 7-5 lead.

During the five games, Trillo went 8-for-21 with two doubles, the triple and four RBIs. His performance made him the hands-down winner of the MVP award and fulfilled a joking promise he made to his wife, Maria, earlier yesterday.

"We were having lunch this afternoon at the hotel," Trillo recounted. "She asked me that if the second baseman for the Royals (Frank White) could be MVP (of the American League playoffs), why couldn't I?

"I told her – I was really joking – that I'd get it for her."

MARIA TRILLO was standing next to her husband as he spoke. In one hand, she clutched the trophy, in the other, a half empty bottle of champagne. She beamed as if Manny had just proposed.

Trillo is an unlikely MVP. He carries neither the kind of long-ball bat of a Mike Schmidt nor the flame-throwing arm of Nolan Ryan. The things Trillo does on a baseball field do not lend themselves to MVP recognition.

Yet, there he was, waiting to join the party.

“Two of the greatest things that ever happened to me are this... and when Charlie Finley got rid of me," Trillo said with a laugh.

Gutsy Astros despondent in defeat

By Rusty Pray of the Courier-Post

HOUSTON – Alone in the first-base dugout, Jose Cruz sat with his head in his hands. He was a picture framed by anguish.

In a room deep within the bowels of the cavernous Astrodome, Bill Virdon stood impassively and spoke in the controlled emotionless tone of an eye-witness to disaster. The Houston Astros were twice within six outs of clinching their first National League pennant in their first playoff appearance. They were that close, and it had slipped away.

The Astros lost the fifth and decisive game of the playoffs, 8-7, to the Phillies in 10 innings. They had the game won after seven innings, 5-2. But the Phillies rallied for five runs in the eighth to take a 7-5 lead.

THE ASTROS courageously scored twice themselves with two out in the eighth to tie it. They had the potential winning run on third base when the last out of that inning was made.

But it got away in the 10th when Del Unser and Garry Maddox each doubled off Frank LaCorte. It flowed from their fingers like so much oil. The Astros had been so close, had come so far, and they took the gut-wrenching defeat hard.

"Hold your heads up," said Joe Morgan, walking through the Astros' locker room. "You've got nothing to be ashamed of."

While most of the Houston players sat facing the wall and seldom taking the time to even answer questions, Morgan, the second baseman and sparkplug who bad come to Houston only this year, said repeatedly, "There is another year and we've played some great baseball."

"WE SCORED a lot of runs but we just couldn't hold them," said Joe Niekro, who had earlier chalked up one of the Astros' two victories.

"The breaks just went against us," said Joe Sambito. "(Nolan) Ryan pitched a great game for us. He just didn't get a single break."

"They did their job," said Terry Puhl. "I think that Kansas City has more team speed than Philadelphia, but you can bet we'll all be pulling for the National League team."

"This was one of the greatest ball-games that I have ever played in and this was one of the greatest series that anybody has ever seen," catcher Alan Ashby said. "We should have won it, but that's baseball."

A FEW of the Astros sipped on cans of beer, but there was no champagne this time.

It may not be enough, but the Astros took part in one of the most dramatic National League playoffs ever played. Not since the 1975 World Series between the Reds and the Red Sox has a single series provided so much drama, so much excitement.

The final four games of the series went into extra innings – a record. Two of the games set records for longevity. The Astros came within six outs of clinching in the fourth game, but were turned away.

They were given every conceivable opportunity to fold. Vet they took the Phillies – man for man a more talented team – to the brink before bowing.

"IT HAS," said Virdon. "been out standing. It typifies the two clubs that played in it. The Phillies are deserving winners. You have to give them credit.

"But I have to give credit to our club, too. We are better than a lot of people give us credit for. My hat's off to the Astros. They never quit.”

Ticket seekers converge on Vet

By William W. Sutton, Jr. of the Courier-Post

PHILADELPHIA – Pandemonium struck Veterans Stadium today as thousands of Phillies fans rushed to get tickets for the World Series.

Although some die-hard, positive-thinking fans had been there since late yesterday afternoon, most of the fans showed up just after midnight following the Phillies 8-7 victory over the Houston Astros.

Police put extra forces on the street, in and around the stadium to control the crowd. They barricaded Pattison Avenue in front of the stadium to help control traffic.

Fans – some sober, some inebriated – camped out with tents, blankets, radios, televisions, food, liquor and friends. Police estimated 7,000 people were at the stadium by 2 a.m. with more arriving every minute.

Tickets for World Series games one, two, six and seven went on sale at 6:45 a.m. today – more than two hours early. Police anticipated an angry mob scene since only 8,000 of the $ 15 reserved seat tickets were to be sold with an eight-ticket maximum per person.

Many of the fans near the ticket windows were protective of their respective spots on the stadium grounds. They would question any movement, believing someone was out to beat them out of a ticket to see their heroes.

Outside the stadium, fans stood in the street shaking hands and shouting anti-Kansas City slogans. The Phillies will face the Royals for the World Series crown, in the best-of-seven Fall Classic starting tomorrow night.

Michael Blythe, Doug Johnson and Mike McKenna were right in the middle of the wild scene.

The three – students at the Rutgers University Law School in Camden – didn't seem concerned about school and said they would stay all night to get tickets for the first two World Series games to be played here.

"Despite the adversity, despite the 30 years of frustration, here it is," Blythe said. "If you want the honest opinion of a real Phillies fan, it's gonna be the Phils in six."

McKenna, of Collingswood, said he knows why the Phillies won.

"Tug McGraw is Irish," he said. "He had to do it."

Philadelphia native Jeffrey Jackson at first wanted to buy some tickets but after seeing the crown, decided just to celebrate with the other fans.

"This is a gigantic event here," he said. "We've had four contenders in this city in the three major sports and this is the first time in a long time we're going to have a winner."

Phillies fans finally celebrate victory

By William W. Sutton, Jr. of the Courier-Post

CAMDEN – Phillies fans here went wild when center fielder Garry Maddox caught the final out of the National League Playoff series, putting Philadelphia in the World Series for the first time in 30 years.

When the victory – and the pennant – came early today, Al Szewczak rushed toward the large television screen at the end of the My Friends bar.

"They won it, man," he shouted while frantically jumping up and down. "They did it. They did it."

Szewczak said the win "felt better than the Flyers winning the Stanley Cup."

The champagne flowed and the Phillies fans at the Mount Epbraim Avenue tavern went crazy when Philadelphia won the fifth and final series game, 8-7, over the Houston Astros in what patrons considered an amazing comeback.

Denise Moore said she knew the Phillies would win it because she did a little something extra.

"I went to church three times today (Sunday)," she said as she reveled in the victory. "I went to 8 o'clock Mass, 11 o'clock Mass and 6 o'clock Mass. I knew they would do it. I lit candles and all."

The 23-year-old Turnersville resident has a lot of faith in the Phils and an extra team player. "God wouldn't do that (make them lose) to the Phillies again," she said.

Dennis Pietrzyk was the only person not smiling when the Phillies pulled off the big one.

"I thought it was a well-played series. My money was with the Astros but I'm not surprised at the win," he said after his favorite team lost. "There's always next year."

John Manhinney of Turnersville said he was happy but surprised at the Phillies win because be was "drained watching every damn game" and thought the Phillies would have been drained by now.

However, Mahinney said he's not done watching yet.

"I've got a couple of days off coming to me," he said. "I think I'll take them so I can see the games."

Szewczak, of Philadelphia, credited Phillies Manager Dallas Green with the win.

"Danny Ozark (who managed the team until he was fired last fall) loved the boys too much for the last couple of years. Green got in there and made them tough and they're showing it tonight," he said as it appeared the Phillies would win.

Szewczak led the crowd in cheers of "We want the Royals!" when he felt the Phils had it wrapped up.

Philadelphia will meet Kansas City tomorrow night at Veterans Stadium in the first game of the World Series.

The Phillies made their share of believers with yesterday's victory.

"I'm not much into sports," said Al Lyles, a 44-year-old scientist from Turnersville. "I'm mostly dedicated to my work, but this team has turned me on. As a newcomer, this is great."

In contrast, 35-year-old Edward Grabarski of Mount Ephraim has been a Phillies fan most of his life. He was overjoyed with the victory and showed it when the Phillies finally locked it up.

"I rooted for them. I wanted them to win. I've followed them through good and bad, wins and losses. And when they won tonight, I jumped up. When they win I feel super great."

Phillies Bring Home the NL Pennant

Beat Astros 8-7 in Thriller

HOUSTON (AP) — The never-say-die Philadelphia Phillies staged a dramatic comeback with a five-run eighth inning and rallied once again on 10th-inning doubles by Del Unser and Garry Maddox to defeat the Houston Astros 8-7 Sunday night and advance to the World Series for the first time since 1950.

The Phillies will meet American League champion Kansas City in the World Series opener Tuesday night in Philadelphia.

With the score tied at 7-7 in the roller-coaster fifth game of the bestof-five National League championship series, Unser hit a one-out double to right field in the Philadelphia 10th. After Manny Trillo flied to center field to send Unser to third base, Maddox then blasted another double in front of Terry Puhl in center to score Unser and end the fourth straight extra-inning game in the series.

The Phillies were losing 5-2 after the Astros' three-run surge in the seventh. But they scored five runs in the eighth before the Astros came back to tie game with two runs in their half of the eighth.

The Phillies' winning rally came off Frank LaCorte, the fourth Houston pitcher. Dick Ruthven, the last of six pitchers for Philadelphia, was the winner.

The Astros tied the game 7-7 with two runs in the eighth inning off reliever Tug McGraw, making his fifth appearance in the five-game series.

Craig Reynolds led off the Houston eighth with a single and Terry Puhl record-setting fourth straight single after pinch-hitter Gary Woods struck out. Third baseman Enos Cabell then struck out before Rafael Landestoy singled to left field to score Reynolds and Jose Cruz delivered another single, to center field, to tie the game.

Phillies had staged a dramatic soft liner of his own to center, which got by Terry Puhl to score Unser.

The rest belonged to Dick Ruthven. The veteran right hander, who spent part of the season on the disabled list only to finish 17-10, was passed up for the start last night in favor of rookie Marty Bystrom.

However, he came on in the ninth and retired the side, and after giving up a two-out walk in the 10th to Enos Cabell, Maddox' running catch of a Rafael Landestoy fly to right center ended the Phils' 31-year pennant drought.

The Astros, who had the Phils down 2-1 in this series and were two innings away from clinching it Saturday, had the Phils deep sixed once in the eighth. Or so they thought.

Down 5-2 in top of the eighth, the Phils loaded the bases on singles by Larry Bowa, Bob Boone, whose two-run single in the second had give the Phils a 2-1 lead, and a perfect drag bunt by pinch-hitter Greg Gross.

Pete Rose saved a 3-2 pitch by Ryan and drew a bases-loaded walk to make it 5-3 and chase the starter. Lefty Joe Sambito came on, and so did righty Keith Moreland (hitting for Bake McBride), who hit a bouncing fielder's choice to second that scored Boone.

Ken Forsch came on and struck out Schmidt, but Del Unser came up as a hit to center. Trillo then laid on pinch hitter, and stroked a game-tying Forsch's first pitch for the threebagger down the line to break open the lead.

The Phils then brought in Tug McGraw, who owned two saves in series, to close the door. But while the Phils had been opportunistic the past two days, the Astros had been that way all season.

Craig Reynolds, Terry Puhl (who had four hits in this game, and a record 11 for the series) and sub Rafael Landestoy sandwiched singles around two strikeouts by McGraw. Then Jose Cruz sent a soft liner up the middle to knot the game once more.

Earlier, some old demons paid what they thought would be a final call on the Phillies of the 70s. Leading 2-1, Denny Walling opened with a liner to left, which went through Greg Luzinski's glove as he went to his left. Pinch-hitter Alan Ashby, who supposedly could not play because of a rib injury, singled him home to forge a 2- 2 tie.

Warren Brusstar came on and got the side out, and Larry Christenson was brought in for the seventh. But Puhl greeted Christenson with his third single of the game and the Astros exploded for three runs, with an intentional walk to Jose Cruz (his 11th walk of this series), a single by Walling and a triple by Art Howe to welcome Ron Reed.

The Astros had been pecking at the door repeatedly in five innings against rookie Marty Bystrom, and took a lead in the first as Puhl led off with a walk and scored on a double by Cruz.

With one out in the second, backup catcher Luis Pujols (also playing despite a bad ankle) walked and tried to score on a double by Reynolds. However, McBride relayed perfectly to Trillo at second, and Boone blocked the plate for the tag.

Another run was saved in the fifth as Cabell singled, went to second on a grounder by Morgan and Cruz sent another sizzler to Trillo, which he had to field going to his left.

Trillo's throw took Pete Rose off the bag at first, but he wheeled around and fired to Boone, who nailed Cabell as he tried to score the tying run.

They open the Series against the Royals, who reversed 1976-78 playoff losses to New York by whipping the Yankees in three straight in this year's A.L. playoffs, Tuesday and Wednesday with night games at the Vet.

It May Have Been Crazy, But Phillies Will Except The Absurd

By Pete Wickham, Press Sports Writer

HOUSTON — "Now I know what it feels like to be crazy.”

With that sentiment, Mike Schmidt summed up the way the Philadelphia Phillies felt after scratching their way to Sunday's fifth game of the National League playoffs.

They did it with a 5-3, 10-inning comeback win over the Houston Astros the day before that has been described in many ways. None of them using the words normal, or average.

"A lot of things have gone against us this year, and in this series," said Phils' shortstop Larry Bowa. "But they all came together in that game, and we managed to overcome them. Your emotions took a ride, though."

There were enough screwball plays, foul-ups and general nightmares to last five years of frustration - about the time that this club has spent trying to win a pennant.

"My stomach jumped only once" said 'Garry Maddox, a victim of playoffs past. "The entire game."

The end was very near, six outs to be exact.

A couple of botched fielding plays by Lonnie Smith and a triple by .199 hitter Luis Pujols set up a 2-0 Houston lead for Vern Ruhle.

An inning later, the Phils' trump card, Steve Carlton, is headed for the bench. The Phils' scoreless streak reaches 17⅓ innings, and you get the feeling that general manager Paul Owens was thinking about more than brushing up on his golf game during the winter meetings.

"It was agony on the bench, sitting there waiting, hoping for something to happen," said Greg Gross. "I guess I now know what a fan feels like."

In the top of the eighth, Gross got his chance as a pinch hitter and got the Phils started on a three-run rally with the first of four straight singles. "Really, that was the most comfortable I felt all day," he said. "Anything beat watching that game.'

In the end though, it was the original wild and crazy guy of this team, Peter Edward Rose, who did the real number.

He singled to drive in one run in the eighth, then a smart bit of baserunning on his part made it 3-2. With men on the corners, Manny Trillo sent a slicing fly to right field, which everyone in a powder blue uniform said Jeff Leonard trapped.

Schmidt was doubled off on the play, but Rose alertly tagged up, made sure he tagged up and then scored the lead run."

The Astros haven't made this week easy, and there was no reason to change. Terry Puhl, who has killed the Phillies in all five games singled and scored on a Jose Cruz double, forcing a third straight extra-inning game, a record for either the playoffs or the Series.

But once again, there was Rose. He singled with one out in the 10th, and then pinch hitter Greg Luzinski (angered by being benched in this deadball park in favor of Lonnie Smith's speed) doubled down the line off Houston relief ace Joe Sambito.

In the third game of this playoff (which the Astros won 1-0 in 11), Rose was nailed at the bag on a throw by third baseman Enos Cabell, and as he rounded the turn the throw from Cruz in left reached Rafael Landestoy.

Third base coach Lee Elia, who was one of the goats in a 7-4 second game for hesitating on go or no-go sign to Bake McBride, said he gave a thought to playing cautious - but only until he saw Rose's eyes.

"He gets that hungry look and you don't stop him," said Elia, who had held Rose back on the tag-up play. "The man has instincts for baserunning that you don't question."

Rose came barreling around third, and he saw the throw come in on the short hop to Landestoy. He had the angles figured.

"The throw is low, and I figure he's (Landestoy) going to have to rush it," Rose said. "The odds are in my favor because the catcher has to worry about both me and the ball."

Rose didn't pull any fancy slide, just the head-on approach which he mowed down Ray Fosse in the 1970 All-Star game. He also got the lead run and Luzinski took third (before scoring on Trillo's double).

McGraw then went out and settled a score with Joe Morgan, who tripled off him in the 11th to set up the Astros' second win of the Series Friday, but strike out Saturday on a lollipop screwball.

"The first one I fed him all year," McGraw said. "With him you save it for special occasions."

Rose said that it was simply an offensive release for the Phils. "This game finally convinced our guys that we can score runs when it counted," he said. "We got a couple of clutch hits with one and two outs and that's something we haven't been doing."

"I've never gone through something like that," Schmidt said. "If the gondola at the top of this dome fell on us, I wouldn't have been surprised. But it was like we weren't going to let it end that way."

In other words, if the National League pennant got by the Philadelphia Phillies this time, somebody like Nolan Ryan was going to blow it by them. They weren't going to blow it themselves.

Scalpers Called Out by Cheated Phillies Fan

By Stephanie Zatwaska, Press Sports Writer

They are the low-lifes, the cheats, the phonies, the rip-offs.

They are ticket scalpers, aptly named because their title describes their treatment of the public.

This week, for example, tickets went on sale for the National League baseball playoffs. It was a race to the ticket office for the thousands fans who've ve waited so long, so patiently, to see their team get so far.

It was also a race to the ticket window to beat the scalpers, the ones who buy up all the tickets they can - then sell them at double the price when the ticket cashiers sell out.

Not everyone beat the scalpers to the window, though.

There were some of us who had to work, and still more of us who live in South Jersey who, for one reason or another, weren't able to make the hour drive to the stadium the day the tickets went on sale.

So, we got the short end of the stick.

And we ended up double the price for our playoff tickets.

It meant we didn't have enough money left over to buy any of the traditional hot dogs, sodas, beer or pretzels that go so well with the game. We looked for a parking space blocks away from the stadium because, well, we couldn't really afford to park in a lot, either.

They call the section where we sat the "nose-bleed" section. The stadium sold the playoff tickets for this section for $10 each. We paid the scalpers $20. The seats normally cost $4.50 during the regular season.

But we never complained. All that mattered was that we got to see the game.

We felt lucky to be there, to be a part of something that Phillie fans have been waiting to see since 1950.

But worst of all, the money the scalpers made from their sales didn’t go the help the stadium. It didn't go to team or to the grounds crew or to the umpires or to some worthy cause.

It went into some scalper's pocket.

So here's to all the ticket scalpers who, like the one that cheated us on our playoff tickets.

And they will continue to cheat the rest of the public - like the father who works long hours and wants to take his son to the ballgame, and the people who might not be able to make the drive to get tickets before they're sold out or those who aren't able to camp outside the ticket windows so they can get the best seats.

What it boils down to is scalpers trying to put a price on loyalty. But they shouldn't be allowed to do it.

They're trying to corner us into paying for something as innocent as being a fan, an admirer - and it shouldn't be permitted.

Frey Waits On Picking Pitchers

NEW YORK (AP) — Kansas City Manager Jim Frey was playing a waiting game Sunday before naming his pitching rotation for the 1980 World Series.

The game he was waiting on was played in Houston Sunday night with the Astros and Philadelphia Phillies, who are down to the final contest to decide the National League pennant. The winner there was to determine whether Frey will use left-hander Larry Gura or right-hander Dennis Leonard in Tuesday night’s World Series opener.

“If it's Houston, we’ll go Gura-Leonard,” said Frey. “If it's Philadelphia, then it will be the other way, Leonard-Gura.”

That decision is strictly based on righty-lefty considerations.

“My impression of Philadelphia is that their strength is right-handed with (Greg) Luzinski, (Mike) Schmidt, (Manny) Trillo, and (Bob) Boone,” said Frey. “With Houston, we understand (Terry) Puhi, (Jose) Cruz, and (Joe) Morgan are swinging the bat well, and they are all left-handers.”

The choice of the third-game pitcher for the Royals will follow the same pattern. Against Philadelphia, Frey said he would use right-hander Rich Gale. Against Houston, it would be leftv Paul Splittorff.

“We don’t know a lot about these clubs,” said Frey. “We have a general impression that right-handers would have the edge against Philadelphia and left-handers against Houston. But that’s without knowing for sure.”