Chicago Daily Herald - October 16, 1980
Brett Might Undergo Minor Surgery
By Herald News Services
PHILADELPHIA — Barely able to nwalk, George Brett hobbled out of Philadelphia Wednesday night and headed for a Kansas City hospital.
Dr. Paul Meyer, Kansas City team physician, said the All-Star third baseman, stricken with severely painful hemorrhoids, might undergo surgery overnight.
"From here on, it's going to be a day-by-day thing," Meyer said. He added that even if surgery is performed, Brett still might return for the third game of the Royals-Philadelphia World Series Friday night in Kansas City.
Brett was removed from the game Wednesday night after the sixth inning in obvious discomfort. He had two singles and a walk in three plate appearances.
"It's the worst pain I ever felt," he said.
BRETT WAS to see a proctologist immediately after checking into St. Lukes hospital in Kansas City. "I'm anticipating they will make incisions on the hemorrhoids," Meyer said.
Meanwhile, Brett's teammates found themselves two games down the Philadelphia after the Phillies 6-4 win Wednesday night.
"We are not in an ideal situation," said designated hitter Ha] McRae, who had three hits, reached base four times and scored one run. "However, we are confident we can come back. We know we can score runs. And we've gotten the lead against them both times and I don't think they can keep pulling it out."
The defeat in the second game meant special frustration for the Royals since they managed to score four runs off ace left-hander Steve Carlton. But they also hit into four double plays, including one that ended a three-run seventh. That obviously, is giving a pitcher like Carlton too much of an edge.
"WHAT WE need is one in a row," continued McRae. "It will be nice to get back before our home fans. Winning three in a row is the answer and if we can get three leads, I don't think Quisenberry will mess up again."
Manager Jim Frey's only hope now is that a healthy Brett, combined with some excited Kansas City fans can help the Royals rebound.
"He has two days to rest," Frey said. "And it's a day to day thing. The fans here were favorable for the Phillies. I think our fans will have a favorable influence on our players."
Comeback Phillies Rally Past Royals
By The United Press International
PHILADELPHIA (UPI) — The Philadelphia Phillies unloaded their torpedoes against submarine relief pitcher Dan Quisenberry Wednesday night and sank the Kansas City Royals 6-4 to take a commanding two games to none lead in the World Series.
Trailing 4-2 entering the last of the eighth, the Phillies pounded four hits, including doubles by pinch-hitter Del Unser and Mike Schmidt, and scored four runs off Quisenberry to take their second straight come-from-behind victory over the Royals.
After a day off Thursday, the best-of-seven series resumes in Kansas City Friday with right-hander Rich Gale pitching for the Royals against righthander Dick Ruthven for the Phillies.
Quisenberry, who took over for starter Larry Gura in the seventh, set down the Phils in order in the eighth without allowing a ball to be hit out of the infield and looked very much like the pitcher who had tied with New York's Rich Gossage with the major league lead in saves with 33.
BUT SUDDENLY, he lost it. He walked Bob Boone to start the eighth and Unser batting for Lonnie Smith, lined a double to left-center to score Boone from first base.
After Pete Rose moved Unser to third with an infield out. Bake McBride bounced a single over the head of second baseman Frank White to score Unser with the tying run and Schmidt drilled a double to right-center to knock in McBride. Keith Moreland, inserted into the starting lineup as the designated hitter when Greg Luzinski came down with an intestinal virus, singled sharply to center to chase home Schmidt with the final run of the inning
"The sinkers that usually get them out wore liit as ground balls for base hits" said Quisenberry, trying to explain his ineffectivness." McBnde's ground ball should have been an infield forecout at the plate. Today was a bad day. Usually I get a cab when I raise my hand but today it took five minutes.
"I had good location but not good velocity, even though I don't throw hard usually. I did not have a good quick slider. I was amazed that they got base hits on low pitches and that they could get good distance on them. "
Schmidt said that even though the Phillies were six outs way from defeat, he was confident the club would pull the game out as they have been doing since the postseason competition began.
"IT'S A feeling of confidence," Schmidt said. "I don't think anyone had any doubt we were going to scare them to death at least. The whole world picked the Royals in this series. We went through a heck of a lot of pressure. I think we match up pretty well with their ballclub."
Steve Carlton benefitted from the eighth-inning outburst to win his first World Series game in four career starts. Carlton struck out 10 and gave up nine hits in eight innings before being replaced by Ron Reed, who pitched the ninth to save the victory.
Carlton did walk six batters, but he had his strikeout pitch when he needed it and was aided by a record-tying four double plays.
"What 'Lefty' did is what he did all year long," said Boone, Carlton's catcher. "When he had to make the big pitch, he did so, even when he was struggling."
Phillies Manager Dallas Green blamed Carlton's wildness on the baseballs that were used in the game rather than on anything that Carlton did wrong.
"The baseballs were as slick as I ever seen," said Green. "I am going to complain to the commissioner's office about the baseballs. 'Lefty' has to have the feel of his slider and he did not have it, especially in the late innings."
CARLTON'S LACK of control nearly cost him the victory when the Royals scored three runs in the seventh to take a 4-2 lead. Forced to play the last three innings without their star George Brett, who pulled himself out of the game because of painful hemorrhoids, the Royals took advantage of three walks by Carlton to highlight their big inning
The Royals rally began when Willie Wilson drew a leadoff walk and was sacrificed to second by U.L. Washington.
Wilson then stole third and Carlton proceeded to walk Dave Chalk, who had replaced Brett in the top of the inning.
Carlton then walked Hal McRae to load the bases and Amos Otis drilled a two-run double into the left-field corner. Wathan lofted a sacrifice fly to center field to score McRae but Otis was caught in a rundown between second and third and was tagged out to complete the Phillies' fourth double play of the game.
The Royals had plenty of chances against Carlton through the first five innings but the big lefty used his strikeout pitch and the double-play grounder to get himself out of trouble.
The Royals put together back-toback singles by Brett and McRae with two out in the first inning but Carlton escaped the jam by getting Otis to ground into a forceout.
CARLTON GOT himself into trouble in the second when he walked Willie Aikens with one out, then threw a wild pitch on a swinging third strike to White with two out, enabling the Royals' second baseman to reach first safel. y But Wilson struck out to end that threat.
Brett and McRae got their act together again in the third by stroking consecutive singles with one out but once again Otis failed to come through and squelched the threat by hitting into an inning-ending double play.
Another double-play ball got Carlton out of trouble in the fourth. With one out, Aikens singled and Jose Cardenal, inserted into the lineup in right field in place of Clint Hurdle, grounded to shortstop Larry Bowa, who started another double play
Carlton used the strikeout to get out of a jam in the fifth, fanning McRae with two men on base for the final out. But the effect of throwing 83 pitches over the first five innings began to take a toll on him in the sixth.
OTIS LED off the sixth with a sharp single to center and Wathan walked. Carlton got the next batter, Aikens, to hit a high bouncer to second baseman Manny Trillo, but he threw the ball past Rose at first for an error and Otis scored with Wathan taking third. Now it was time for Carlton to go to work, and he did.
He struck out Cardenal and got White to hit a grounder to Bowa, who tied a World Series record by starting his third double play.
Gura, meanwhile, set down the first 13 batters to face him before Moreland beat out an infield hit with one out in the fifth. Maddox then doubled and Trillo delivered a sacrifice fly to give the Phillies a 1-0 lead. A moment later, Bowa lashed a singled to left to drive in Maddox with another run.
Phils Feel Confident
By The United Press International
PHILADELPHIA (UPI) — The Philadelphia Phillies are becoming masters of the comeback victory in postseason play.
Manager Dallas Green calls it "Phillie Baseball." Whatever it is, that's how the Phillies came back from a 4-2 deficit with four runs in the eighth inning for a 6-4 victory over the Kansas City Royals and a two games to none advantage in the World Series.
Counting the last two games of the National League championship series against Houston, the Phillies have won four consecutive postseason games, coming from behind on all four occasions.
"This looked like a loss for a while," said Green. "We did gear up with some big hits and got some juices flowing. That's Phillie baseball for September and October.
"ONCE WE get those juices flowing, we help each other out. Everybody gets involved. It's a 25-man team and they're involved all nine innings."
Veteran Del Unser sparked the uprising off ace reliever Dan Quisenberry with a pinch-hit double to left-center that brought the Phillies within one run. Bake McBride singled, Mike Schmidt doubled and rookie Keith Moreland singled for the other three runs to highlight Philadelphia's comeback
"We're sort of feeling confident right now," said Schmidt, who went 2-for-4.
"I don't think there was any doubt that we were going to scare them to death. We got some men out there (on the buses) and help off the bench. Unser has been unreal.
"I felt pretty good tonight. Gura made us hit his pitch but I thought I finally got rolling on my hit up the middle (in the sixth). In the eighth, I finally felt confident, relaxed and kept my shoulder in and drove the ball.
"We're doing the things that other teams used to do to us. We just feel confident right now and we hope we have it for the remaining games,"
The 35-year-old Unser, who has played on such perennial losers as the Washington Senators, the Cleveland Indians and the New York Mets, said his big pinch hit was "more like a 30-year itch".
"When I was five, I started realizing what baseball was all about because my father was in baseball," said Unser "I'm finally getting the chance to actually realize it first-hand. I hit a good sinker. It was similar to (Kent) Tekulve. It's the same type pitch. I waited a little more on it. Fortunately, I hit it on the fat part of the bat."