Doylestown Daily Intelligencer - October 16, 1980

Brett visits KC hospital

Series status doubtful

By Dave Wyche, Intelligencer Writer

PHILADELPHIA - George Brett doesn't pay rent to St. Lukes Hospital in Kansas City, Mo., but he has been a steady tenant in room 4330.

That is where Brett is right now. The Royals' star third baseman left the second game of the World Series Thursday night at Vets Stadium here in the sixth inning of Kansas City's 6-4 loss to the Phillies. He experienced hemorrhoidal discomfort and was to be treated by a proctologist today.

"We're going to take him home (Kansas City) and put him directly in the hospital." said team physician Dr. Paul Meyer after the game. "We have to get him off his feet."

Hemorrhoids are no laughing matter. Anyone that has had them can tell you that. Brett never experienced this type problem before.

"It's something he got Saturday for the first time in his life," KC manager Jim Frey said. "Whether he can play or not will be on a day-to- day basis. Tonight, the last time off the field (bottom of the fifth), he said they were starting to hurt again."

The Royals, after clinching the American League pennant in New York Friday, stayed in the Big Apple awaiting their opponent in the World Series.

"I ate spicy food for four days," Brett said of his diet while in New York. "This never happened to me before.

"It was a little sore when I started the game and gradually, every inning, got worse. Then I couldn't move. I told him (Frey) that it was sore, that I couldn't move well."

Pre-game rumors had Brett not playing but when the lineups were handed out the AL's leading hitter was penciled in. He used a special donut-like cushion when sitting on the bench.

When he stroked a two-out single in the first off the Phils' Steve Carlton, everyone was convinced the .390 hitter was healthy. When he singled hard to right in the third. they were sure. In his last at-bat, in the fifth, a drew a walk on four pitches.

But when the Royals took the field in the bottom of the sixth, Dave Chalk replaced Brett.

Now it appears the Royals may have to do without Brett for part of the series. If he is able to start Game Three in Kansas City on Friday, it is doubtful he could play the entire game. That could hurt the Royals' comeback chances, trailing 2-0 in the best-of-seven series.

Brett, while flirting with becoming the first .400 hitter since Ted Williams, had a banner season. His .390 average in 117 games led the league. He scored 87 runs, hit 24 homers and knocked in 118 runs. In the three-game sweep against the Yankees for the AL title, he was 3-for-10 with four RBI.

He has proven he can hit in the big game. The Royals have been in the playoffs four of the last five years. Brett was the AL's All-Star third baseman all five of those seasons. He has hit safely in 16 of 19 playoff games he has played.

But Brett has had a history of injury problems. He missed 45 games this year with a bad thumb. He has been in and out of room 4330 at St. Lukes in the past five years with an assortment of injuries — leg, wrist, heel, calf, hand, shoulder and thumb.

Double Helps Schmidt Beat Playoff Rap

By Ray DiLissio, Intelligencer Writer

PHILADELPHIA - Mike Schmidt has heard it ail too often to such a degree, he's just about fed up with the topic.

You know the rap — come playoff time, forget Schmitty.

"I guess it's just something I've learned to live with. But I certainly don't buy it. Why is it people point to one game in a playoff and begin to make the same statements I heard two. three and four years ago. I just can't understand it. Well, maybe I can. You know how you're expected to deliver in this game."

Well, Mike Schmidt delivered Wednesday night. His booming double off the right center field fence proved to be the game-winner in another patented Philadelphia come-from-behind win. Mike Schmidt, the major league home run champion during the regular season and a good bet to be named the National League's most valuable player, is still convinced he hasn't anything to prove — not in the playoffs, not in the World Series.

"I don't know why people point to that last game in Houston (when Schmidt went 0-for-5) and bring up this playoff thing again. No one was more disappointed than I was when I didn't come through the last time in that game.

"But did you ever stop to think what happened afterwards. Del Unser delivers. Manny Trillo comes through. This is a team game. It has been that way since I've been playing the game. And it has never been more evident since the final series at home with the Cubs."

No doubt people are always expecting big things from Schmidt.

"That's only natural. Consider the season I had. People hope that it can be carried into the playoffs. But let's face it, that's what I want as well."

"I'm not going up there thinking if I don't do it, there's someone else who will. And I don't believe I've been struggling either."

"Sure I didn't get a hit in Houston in that last game. But I did get five hits. And there were times I really smoked the ball, but hit it right at someone."

Schmidt is just doing what Pete Rose, a veteran of the fall classic, suggested. "I'm just going out there relaxed, not tense, to enjoy it and to have a blast with the press."

When Schmidt stepped to the plate in the dramatic eighth, he had one thing on his mind — to drive the ball somewhere. Twice before he had flirted with the long bail off starting pitcher Larry Gura.

It didn't matter that he was facing Quinsenberry for the first time. "We have a guy right here in our league who's very similar. And Lord knows we've seen Kent Tekulve so many times. About the only difference between the two — is Tekulve has a little more velocity.

"From watching him on TV" and from our scouting reports. I know that he (Quisenberry) has a wicked slider which really drops."

Certainly not a proponent of first-ball hitting. Schmidt wasted no time in smacking Quisenberry's first delivery.

Why the first pitch? "Why not after all I know he's not a multi-type pitcher. He's not a McGraw who has five, six different pitches to come at you. Nine of 10 times he's coming with his pitch — his best which got him all those saves.

"Why should I just stand there and take one pitch, two pitches, when I know what's coming. Normally I won't go after the first pitch. And if you look at it all of the top hitters in this game, you'll see the same thing. Look at (George) Brett tonight. There was no way he was going after the first pitch off Steve (Carlton).

"I just believe, as many others in this game, that you can learn a few things from watching a guy's firstpitch in some cases, a couple. But there's no guesswork involved with Quisenbery."

Larry Bowa would be the first to talk about Schmidt's style of hitting as well. "I don't worry about Schmidt. We wouldn't have been here without him. I've seen him go on tears before. Maybe this hit will get him going."

If it does, you can forget about Game Six or Game Seven. Wednesday night might very well turn out to be the final game played in Philadelphia this year.

Moreland Not in Awe of Playing in World Series

By Joe Ferry, Intelligencer Writer

PHILADELPHIA-Keith Moreland greeted the news that he would be starting his first World Series game with all the enthusiasm of a guy paying his electric bill.

Moreland, the Phillies' confident rookie catcher, stifled a yawn, staked out a strategic spot in the clubhouse to watch the game on television between at bats and then went out to rip two key hits as the Phils overcame the Kansas City Royals 6-4 in game two of the 1980 World Series at Veterans Stadium Wednesday night.

"I try to play the same way now as I did during the regular season," shrugged a nonplussed Moreland after the game. "I just try to see the ball, hit it and hope we win. I wasn't any more nervous tonight than I was any other time during the season."

Moreland was inserted in the designated hitter's spot when Greg Luzinski. who performed that role Tuesday night, was stricken with an intestinal virus. Moreland was the logical choice, since the Royals were starting a left-hander (Larry Gura) and Bob Boone, the Phils' regular catcher, collected three hits in Game One.

Being a designated hitter was nothing new for the Phillies' seventh round draft choice in the June, 1975 free agent draft. Moreland was used in that capacity while at Oklahoma City, the Phillies' Triple A club. In fact, while he was there, Moreland faced the Dan Quinsenberry, the Royals' ace reliever who was with Omaha at the time.

"I don't recall exactly how I did against him there," admitted Moreland, who got the Phils' two-run fifth inning started by beating out a grounder to the hole at short. "I know he was one of the top pitchers in the league. I guess he beat us a few times and we beat him a couple of times."

Moreland offered his observations on Quisenberry's submarine style of pitching when the Royals brought in the American League leader in saves (33) to protect a 4-2 lead in the seventh inning. Quisenberry retired the Phils easily in the seventh on three ground balls, but as has been the case in recent weeks, the Phils' used a dramatic, spontaneous rally in the eight to manufacture a win.

"When Boonie walked, the bench just exploded," drawled the 25-year old Moreland, a sometimes linebacker under Darrel Royal at the University of Texas.  "We were talking about how Quisenberry's ball moves in on a right-handed batter and away from a lefty."

Moreland's advice worked. Del Unser, a lefty hitting for Lonnie Smith, went with an outside pitch for a double to left-center which cut the Royals' lead to 4-3. Bake McBride, another lefty, pulled an inside pitch to right for the game-tying run. Mike Schmidt, a right-handed hitter, inside-outed an double to right-center to put the Phils ahead.

There was at least one embarrasing moment for Morleand, however. Tired of sitting around the clubhouse waiting for his next at bat, Moreland decided to spend some time in the Phillies bullpen to stay loose. He trotted down to warm up Ron Reed and Kevin Saucier at one point in the game game.

But unbeknownst to him, baseball rules forbid such enterprises. As soon as he arrived at the bullpen, Morleand was ordered to return to the dugout.

Phils' Comeback Haunts Royals

Schmidt's RBI double scores gamewinner

By Paul Giordano, Intelligencer Writer

PHILADELPHIA - Two up, two to go and on to Kansas City. When and how it will all end is anyone's guess, bur the Phillies do have the upper hand, and more.

Although it's almost like beating a broken drum, it has been proven time and time again during the last few weeks that the Phillies have totally come together as a one unit team.

Wednesday night's 6-4 win over the Kansas City Royals marked the fifth time they have come from behind to win. winning all five, in their post-season games.

Again, they did it with the bench. Greg Luzinski was scratched from the game with an intestinal virus and fever. Rookie Keith Moreland filled in Luzinski's DH slot and picked up two hits, including a very big one in the Phils' four-run eighth inning.

Del Unser came off the bench and slashed a key run-scoring double, also in the eighth inning, when all looked dim.

"We have become a 25-man team," Dallas Green said. "It's been one of thee things I've been working toward all season long. We know in our heart what we have to do. This team has showed me so much since September and during the last few weeks. The way they keep coming back shows something about the character of this team."

"We had just as much enthusiasm in the eighth inning as we did when we were ahead 2-0," Larry Bowa said. "It's just unbelievable. But we figure if we get a man on, we're going to explode."

And explode the Phils did. They went into the bottom of the eighth inning, trailing the Royals, 4-2, with ace relief pitcher Dan Quisenberry on the mound.

Bob Boone opened with a walk. Unser, hitting for Lonnie Smith, cut Quisenberry's slider into the left-center field alley for a run-scoring double. Pete Rose's infield ground out to first advanced Unser to third.

Bake McBride, launching a full-scale attack for Series' MVP honors, followed with a chopper over first baseman Peter LaCock's head and the game was knotted at
4-all. Mike Schmidt was the next batter, the National League's sure-shot MVP was looking like anything but. Only one RBI in the playoffs against Houston, and nothing to show in games one and two thus far in the Series. However, Schmidt lined a double against the rightcenter field wall and the Phils had a 5-4 lead. Moreland followed with a RBI single and that was the ballgame.

"What it is," Bowa said, "we don't have to rely on eight guys anymore. Like Dallas said, it's a 25-man game. And the guys on the bench really come alive in the eighth and ninth innings, knowing they're going to get a chance to help us win.

Sure it's only two wins," Bowa said. "The number is four. We haven't done anything yet. We're not over confident. We still have to win two more."

"To sweep four is pretty limited." Rose said. "I'm not thinking about a sweep. I'm just thinking about tomorrow's workout right now. And no. I'm not surprised to be two-up. We have a good ballclub and everyone's hitting pretty good."

And. as long as the bench keeps coming up aces full. Which could continue, because Moreland is holding a trump card. Although none of his teammates have faced Quisenberry before, Moreland has. He knows the Royals' relief ace pretty darn good.

"I faced Quisen two years in AAA ball when he was with Tacoma." Moreland said. "I knew how he threw and how he pitched me. I told everybody how he pitched. His ball sails in to righthanders and tails away from left-handers."

"I did that a couple of times in AAA. too," Moreland said. "I knew how to keep in the game. I stayed in the clubhouse and watched Gura and Quisenberry on TV, watching how they threw to the hitters and what they were throwing in certain situations. DHing in the minors helped me a lot."

And for Unser, another exciting hit.

"I was lucky," Unser smiled. "I could have hit the ball at somebody. But I'm a smarter hitter now than I every was in my career and physically, I think I'm a little stronger. The hit in Houston was a bigger highlight, to helped get us here, but this one was exciting, too. It helped us win and it was my first hit in World Series play."

The Phils took a 2-0 lead in the fifth ining off starter Larry Gura. Gura, until that point in time, had retired 13 Phillies in order, working on a no-hitter. But in the fifth, with one out, Moreland beat out an infield single deep in the hole at shortstop.

Garry Maddox followed with a double into the left field corner. Manny Trillo scored Moreland with a sacrifice fly to right field and Bowa scored Maddox with a single to left.

However, the Royals tagged starter Steve Carlton for a single run in the sixth and three more in the seventh to take a 4-2 advantage. The Royals scored an unearned runoff Carlton in the sixth on a leadoff single by Amos Otis, a walk by John Wathan and a throwing error by Trillo, allowing Otis to score when he threw a ground ball
past first baseman Rose.

Three walks hurt Carlton in the seventh. Willie Wilson opened the inning with a walk. Then, after U.L. Washington sacrificed him to third, Wilson stole third base. Dave Chalk, who replaced George Brett in the sixth inning, also drew a walk and stole second.

Hal McRae followed with another walk to load the bases. Otis smacked a two-run double into the left field corner. The Royals' third run of the inning was scored on Wathan's sacrifice fly to center field. However, Wathan was doubled-up at third when he tried to stretch the double into a triple.

No, it was not one of Carlton's better outings. Although he did strike out 10, his control was more than just a little off. Green went out to talk to him in the seventh.

Phils Go 2 Up in Series

By Joe Ferry, Intelligencer Writer

PHILADELPHIA – TWO down and two to go.

The Phillies used an increasingly familiar, dramatic eighth inning rally to post a 6-4 victory over the Kansas City Royals in game two of the 1980 World Series at jam-packed Veterans Stadium Wednesday night. The win gave the Phils a 2-0 lead in the best of seven series.

Down 4-2 going into the bottom of the eighth inning. Bob Boone started the rally by drawing a walk. The crowd of 65.775 (16 short of the record-setting crowd of game one) sensed another come-from-belund effort. Del Unser, pinch-hitting for Lonnie Smith, ripped a double to left center off ace Roval reliever Dan Quisenberry. cutting the gap to 4-3.

Bake McBride followed with a single to right which tied the score and Mike Schmidt knocked in the winning run with a ringing double off the wall in
right-center. Rookie Keith Moreland capped the rally with a single to left for the final run.

It was the second night in a row the Phils overcame a deficit to garner victory.

"That's Philadelphia Phillies baseball in September and October," said an obviously pleased manager Dallas Green. "It looked for a while like we might not win this one but we got a few key hits and the juices started flowing. That's the kind of thing I've been trying to develop all season."

What made the rally even more dramatic was that it came against Quisenberry, the American League leader in saves with 33, who put the Phillies down with ease in the seventh.

"We had Quisenberry in there with a two run lead," lamented Royals manager Jim Frey, who replaced George Brett in the sixth when his All-Star third baseman complained of discomfort due to hemorrhoid problems. "He (Quisenberry) was the guy who did it for us all year. It just didn't work out that way for us tonight."

Royals Anxious To Return To Fans In Kansas City

By United Press International

PHILADELPHIA (UPI) - Kansas City, here they come as fast as they can. And you had better believe the Royals anxious retreat home has nothing to do with those "crazy little women there" immortalized by Wilbert Harrison.

What the Royals are anxious to get back to are the home town fans waiting to cheer them on to a turnaround in Game 3 of their World Series with the Philadelphia Phillies.

"I think the fans have a good influence on us at home," Royals Manager Jim Frey said after watching his team drop its second straight to the Phillies, 6-4 Wednesday night. "I think it'll jack our players up."

Perhaps they are clutching at straws, but the Royals seem to think fans were a big difference in the Phillies' back-to-back, come-from- behind Series victories.

"The fans here helped Philadelphia a lot," Royals' reliever Dan Quisenberry said after the Phillies hammered his usually untouchable sinker-balls all over the field of Veterans Stadium for a four-run eighth inning and the Game 2 victory.

"They're not as bad as the Yankees fans in New York; they're more creative." Quisenberry added. "But the fans do help them, and it will be nice to get back to our fans. We need a pickup."

The Phillies no doubt will find the Royals' comments about Philadelphia's loyal fans extremely ironic. During their rollercoaster regular season, the Phillies played better on the road, and many observers felt the reason was because of the brutal, prone-to-booing skeptics in the homefield stands. The unbridled enthusiasm of the World Series crowds is an anomaly and not something the Phillies counted on.

But if the Royals are clutching at straws, you can't blame them, especially since their latest loss was followed by news that star hitter and third baseman George Brett may miss the rest of the Series because of hemorrhoids. And they are not accustomed to losing — they ran away with the American League Wrest and swept the Yankees three straight in the AL playoffs — especially not in the fashion they did here.

"We thought we had this ballgame," Frey said. "We were up two runs (thanks to Amos Otis' two-run double and John Wathan's sacrifice fly in a three-run seventh) and we had the guy who's been doing it for us all year out there on the mound."

What made the loss harder to take Wednesday night was the fact that they failed to capitalize on unexpected wildness by Philadelphia ace Steve Carlton. who blamed his problems on slick baseballs. Carlton walked six and allowed 10 hits but still managed to come out a winner. The Royals made his triumph easier by hitting into four double plays.

"It sure was frustrating," said Royals starter Larry Gura, who gave up two runs on four hits over the first six innings. "With any luck at all we could have had six or seven more runs. We just couldn't stay away from the ground ball."

And so the Royals hope to find some luck and some inspiration at Royals Stadium Friday night.

"We have battled back before," said pitcher Dennis Leonard. "If we lose, we won't lose without fighting. We can score runs and it can be done."

Slippery Baseballs Stir First Series Controversy

By The Associated Press

PHILADELPHIA (AP) - The first controversy of the 1980 World Series boiled to the surface after the Philadelphia Phillies beat the Kansas City Royals and took a 2-0 lead in the best-of-seven game series.

The Phillies won 6-4, with an eighth inning four-run rally, but manager Dallas Green was steaming after the game.

Green complained bitterly about the condition of the baseballs.

"I'm going to complain to the commissioner (Bowie Kuhn) and the umpires," said Green.

Green's disenchantment surfaced when he was asked why he went so long with a struggling Steve Carlton. Carlton gave up 10 hits and walked six, an unusual number of free passes for the pitcher who is recognized for his excellent control.

"Lefty (Carlton) wasn't struggling," said Green, his anger obvious in his tone. "Lefty was struggling because of the baseballs." insisted the Phillies' manager. "They (the balls) were as slick as I've ever seen them. . . We have to do something. The first batch that came out were rubbed up decently. But after that they were very slick."

Green said catcher Bob Boone told him that Carlton couldn't grip the balls.

"Boone said they were as slick as ice. To be effective. Lefty has to have the feel of the baseball and he did not have it," Green reported.

Ironically, Kansas City pitcher Larry Gura, pitching with the same balls, went 5 1/3 innings without allowing a hit.

Green finally relieved Carlton in the ninth with reliever Ron Reed, who has had a less than distinguished season. But Green defended his choice.

"I went to Reed because he's a quality relief pitcher. He is the type of pitcher capable of holding a two-run lead," Green said.

Then, the manager added, "I wanted to give (Tug) McGraw a rest,"

McGraw had pitched in nine of the last 10 Phillies' games, including all five of the National League playoff series against Houston.

Green, when asked to compare Kansas City with a National League team, said the American League champions reminded him of Houston.

"They-have good pitching and team speed, can get the base hit and come at you," Green said.

How would the Phillies manager described Del Unser, the utility player who doubled home the tying run in the eighth.

"I would probably use unreal." said Green of the pinch-hitter who knocked in a key run in the deciding victory over Houston.

"He has done everything asked of him this season... He's produced coming off the bench and I'm not afraid to use him in any situation," Green said of Unser.

Green said he spent the season trying to create a feeling of "we" not "I" on the Phillies.

"And they have responded to it," he said. "I think we've become a 25-man club. Everybody is pulling for everybody."

Unser said he hit a good slider from Royals' reliever Dan Quisenberry, one of the American League's premier relievers with 33 saves in the regular season.

He compared Quisenberry to Pittsburgh's Kent Tekulve, and said the pitch was the same type he once hit off the Pirates' reliever to win a game.

Unser was asked to describe the confidence everyone on the Phillies is talking about.

"This type of confidence I haven't seen before in my major league career." Unser said. "The confidence comes from the fact that we are doing it (winning), have done it and expect to do it. The important thing is that now we expect to come through when we have to."

Mike Schmidt, who drove in the winning run, also talked about the feeling of confidence and togetherness that has imbued itself in a team known for its individualism so many years.

"Nobody had a doubt we were going to scare them to death," said Schmidt, referring to the Phillies trailing 4-2 starting the last of the eighth. "It's a great deal of confidence. That's why we're in the World Series. We're doing the kind of thing that teams used to do to us."