Wilmington News Journal - October 18, 1980
Royals win 10-inning thriller
Associated Press
KANSAS CITY, Mo. – Heroic George Brett smashed a first-inning home run and Willie Aikens delivered a 10th-inning single as the Kansas City Royals defeated the Philadelphia Phillies 4-3 in last night's third game of the World Series.
The victory, in the first Series game ever played in Kansas City, left the Royals still trailing the best-of-seven set 2-1. Games 4 and 5 will be played here today and tomorrow.
U.L. Washington opened the 10th with a base hit off Philadelphia relief ace Tug McGraw. Willie Wilson, battling a horrendous Series slump, was sent up to bunt but drew a walk.
With Frank White at the plate with the bunt sign still on, Washington was cut down trying to steal third, and then White struck out seeming to short-circuit the rally.
Then, with Brett up Wilson, stole second and the Phillies walked Brett.
However Aikens hit a drive to the left-center field wall scoring Wilson as the Royals won their first World Series game ever.
Life – or something like it – goes on
By Marta McCave, Staff Writer
Life goes on during the World Series – but not life as we know it.
Patients were dancing in the halls at the Veterans Administration Hospital in Elsmere this week as the Phillies came from behind twice to beat the Kansas City Royals.
On Tuesday, the night of the first game, ushers were posted at the doors of the Grand Opera House in Wilmington to announce the baseball score as the music lovers filed out shortly after the Baltimore Symphony Orchestra ended its concert about 10 p.m. About 300 seats remained empty at the performance, but the symphony played to a full house the night before, according to Robert B. Dustman III, manager of the Grand.
Meanwhile, bingo was a strikeout at St. Matthew's Catholic Church at 807 S. Maryland Ave., when it came to competing against the World Series. The Rev. Francis G. de Luca estimated that fewer than half of the usual 170 bingo players turned out Tuesday night.
Even the police have found business slower. A spokesman for the New Castle County Police said officers manning RECOM, the police and fire radio network, noticed that non-emergency complaints dropped substantially about 8 p.m. Tuesday and Wednesday as the games began. When the games were over, the calls "picked up and remained constant through the night," the spokesman said.
Personal transistor radios or televisions are not permitted in the RECOM radio room at New Castle County Police headquarters in Minquadale, but the officers somehow determined that when the phone did ring during the game, it was often between innings or during network station breaks.
Not everyone bows to baseball during the series. Musak continues to be piped in for the operators at Diamond State Telephone. "We're spoil sports," said a company official.
Other institutions that usually aim for as much order as possible have been loosening up a little, possibly because the Phillies haven't made it to the series for 30 years.
At the VA Hospital, a lounge with a TV has been left open late at night until the baseball games are over, hospital spokesman Jack Shattuck said. Regular recreation activities like movies are being scheduled earlier so the patients don't have to miss the World Series.
"There's quite a bit of enthusiasm for them," Shattuck said. He said there has been "dancing in the hall after some of the Phillies games."
Residents at Kentmere, Home of Merciful Rest, on Lovering Avenue, have been allowed to stay up later at night because of the games, said executive director Frieda Enss.
"They're glued to the TV and they're rooting for the Phillies," Miss Enss said. "We have some of the most avid fans of the Phillies that are in the city."
A spokesman at the Wilmington Medical Center said "there's a little bit more – if you can call it that – partying. It's a little more difficult to get patients to go to sleep at an early hour. I think hospital patients are just as much Phillies fans as everybody else."
So are prisoners. Inmates at the Delaware Correctional Center, except for those in maximum-security or those awaiting trial, are permitted to have personal television sets, and many have been tuning in the games, one official said.
"Any sports draws a lot of interest," he added.
The prison official speculated that inmates may even have made some bets on the series. "It's not with our blessing," he said.
Former Phillie Bill Nicholson recalls Series past
By Al Cartwright
CHESTERTOWN, Md. – Bill Nicholson knows what is is like to play in a World Series. He also knows what it is like to be on a World Series team and not to be able to play for it.
In the 1940s, he was the home-run king of the Chicago Cubs and muscled them into the big playoff of '45. Traded to the Phillies, he did some pinch-hitting that helped them win the 1950 pennant and begin a 30-year drive for another – but when the World Series came around, Bill Nick, as he is known here, was in the stands. Brawny Nicholson had been relatively skeletonized by diabetes.
Now he sits in the cozy kitchen of the farmhouse he shares with his wife Diana on 128 acres of Eastern Shore heaven. Two retrievers snooze. The Nicholson's pond, a three-base hit or so, away, is almost blanketed with Canadian honkers.
He is the smiling, soft-pedaled Nicholson who came off the Washington College campus to make friends wherever baseball ounces took him. He is 65 and still handsome, although his features have been sharpened. I don't mean this to be a violin job; he lives comfortably and he lives in his beloved country – as opposed to city – and he is enjoying small things such as watching waterfowl he used to hunt, and the taste of good apples he is storing for the winter.
"I don't get around," he said, fixing coffee for a visitor. "Once a while into Chestertown, that's it. I've got plenty to do fixing this place. When you don't get much sleep, you stay put – and a diabetic bladder doesn't give you much sleep."
He was explaining, not complaining. If you looked hard in the next room, you would find only a couple -of tarnished plaques that identified the athlete who went to bat 6,300 times during 16 years in the National League and who hit 235 home runs and batted in 950 runs.
Nicholson was the 35-year-old spare outfielder on those '50 Phillies, a gaffer among Whiz Kids. It was the year – the season – he discovered he was diabetic.
"I must have had it three, four years," he said, "going back to the Cubs, because I didn't feel up to snuff in that time. I didn't have the old get-up-and-go. Right before September that season with the Phillies, I started losing what turned out to be 30 pounds. I went down to 167 in three weeks. They put me in the hospital Labor Day and of course I was in no shape for the series. They brought up Jack Mayo from the minors."
A nurse accompanied him to the first series game, and he went to the others – only three others, thanks to the Yankees – on his own.
"I might have helped a little, had I kept my strength," he said. "God knows we didn't hit a lick against the Yankees. Everybody stopped hitting weeks before. I was a pretty good late-season hitter, even in my good years. But it was no great blow to me to be out of it; I wasn't happy, but I accepted what happened: I would have been a liability."
That was when Bill Nick learned about insulin. He got his weight back and hung on with the Phillies as a pinch-hitter through 1953. "I didn't get along so well those years; I'd get shaky at the wrong times – like while I was hitting. I could have counteracted it in five minutes with a sweet, but who was going to wait? I read that Ron Santo had the same trouble when he was playing for the Cubs; he hit a home run and was so shaky rounding the bases he didn't know where he was going."
Nicholson laughed. "The Phillies used Putsy Caballero to run for me. He was a kid and a pretty good base-runner. I was no speedster, but I had pretty good legs. One day we were loosening up in the outfield and I said I thought I could out-run Putsy, for 10 bucks. He took me up on it – and I won by a couple of strides. But there's a difference between running the bases and running straightaway."
It is unfair to be writing this much about Bill Nicholson's ailing twilight seasons, because he had so many strong and starring ones. He tied a record when he led his league in both home runs and runs batted in for two successive years. He set a record with four home runs in a doubleheader. And if this one doesn't impress you even more, turn in your scorecard: he is the only man in major-league history to be walked intentionally with the bases loaded.
"It happened at the Polo. Grounds," he said. "I had hit five home runs and a single and popped out my last seven times at bat. I came up with three on and Mel Ott, the Giants' manager, ordered me walked. Another time, in Brooklyn, there were runners on second and third. Hal Gregg walked me intentionally by knocking me down four straight times – and I mean two of 'em were real dusters."
Nicholson said he didn't have a good 1945 World Series against Detroit, even though he tied a record by driving in eight runs in seven games. "I should have knocked in 12 or 14. I never hit a home run – I just didn't have a jumpin' bat."
He doesn't know if his records are still alive. "I think Willie McCovey tied the one about leading the league in homers, and RBI's twice in a row."
When I talked to the one-time home-run king, the Phils had a 2-0 grip on the world championship. He had enjoyed the action via TV.
"I just hope they don't win it in four straight," he said, "only because I want to see a couple more games. They do it in five, six, I'll be extra happy."
We walked outside and startled what looked like a hundred big geese into instant flight from the water. The clatter of wings sounded like applause. The man in the flannel shirt watched them as I watched him. He used to hit baseballs that soared, out of ball parks, to that applause.
Al Cartwright's column appears Tuesday and Thursday in the Evening Journal and Saturday and Sunday in the News-Journal.
Royals work overtime to beat Phillies
Aikens’ RBI single off McGraw in 10th gives KC its first World Series victory
By Ray Finocchiaro, Staff Correspondent
KANSAS CITY – It had worked before. Extra innings, Tug McGraw on the mound – the ideal Phillies ingredients.
But Willie Aikens played the spoiler last night and gave the Kansas City Royals new life in the World Series.
Aikens ripped a McGraw serve past center fielder Garry Maddox and, as the sellout crowd of 42,380 Royals Stadium fans went wild, Willie Wilson raced home from second base to beat the Phillies 4-3 and give the Royals their first victory after two losses.
"I saw the ball heading for the gap and I know Maddox plays short center," Aikens said of his game-winner. "As soon as the ball got up in the air, I knew he didn't have a chance."
Nor did the Phillies. "Willie Aikens has been a big RBI man for us all year," said Manager Jim Frey of why he let Aikens face lefty McGraw.
The Phillies certainly had their share of scoring chances, stranding seven baserunners in the first three innings alone, and 15 overall.
"We had a lot of uncomfortable moments all night," said Frey, who will send Dennis Leonard against Larry Christenson in today's 1:45 p.m. game. "They left 15 men on base, didn't they?"
The Royals' 10th brimmed with drama – and frustration for the Phillies who had a chance to escape before Aikens came to the plate.
U.L. Washington had started the inning with a single to left and took second as Wilson walked. But catcher Bob Boone faked Washington out of his socks – and into the first out – by faking a throw to second, then easily throwing Washington out at third.
When Frank White, who'd made a sparkling defensive play in the top of the inning to turn a Mike Schmidt rocket into an rally-killing double play, struck out, McGraw sensed a way out of danger.
But Wilson decided he'd try to steal second and the Phillies guessed right. Boone called a pitch-out but his throw to second took one hop and got there a hair late. Wilson was safe and, after George Brett was walked, Aikens delivered.
Brett, playing in a great deal of pain after hemorrhoidal surgery Thursday morning, was the fans' hero, even more than the guy who got the winning hit.
And the victory showed in Brett's demeanor as he answered questions after the game.
"The pain is all behind me," he smiled, good-naturedly, "thanks to two great doctors in Kansas City."
Brett said he couldn't question Frey's decision to send Wilson with two out.
"It worked," he said. "I looked for a steal sign at first, even though Willie doesn't need one. I agree 100 percent with the strategy because we won." Brett had homered in the first off Dick Ruthven, who pitched the first nine innings.
"It was a great satisfaction for me just to play," Brett said. "To hit a home run in the World Series is something special. I felt a little more relaxed after that."
Particularly watching the Phils waste one opportunity after another.
In the second, the Phils loaded the bases with one out and could only tie the score on Lonnie Smith's bouncer to the mound that momentarily handcuffed starter Rich Gale.
"I didn't field the ball cleanly," Gale said, "and I was taught to get the out in that situation."
Mike Schmidt, who flied out with the bases loaded in the second, did in the fifth what the entire Delaware Valley had hoped for an at-bat earlier – hit a homer to left. But this was a solo shot and only tied the score 2-2.
The Royals had gone ahead in the fourth when Aikens hopped the ball East the stumbling Smith in left for is first major-league triple, then scored on a single by Hal McRae.
Kansas City took its third lead of the night when Amos Otis homered off Ruthven in the seventh, but the Phils drew even in the eighth against Dover's Renie Martin, who'd relieved Gale in the fifth.
Larry Bowa singled, stole second with two out and scored on Pete Rose's single to center. But Dan Quisenberry, the eventual winner, came in to retire Schmidt on a fly to center.
Quisenberry got out of trouble in the ninth. Bake McBride opened with a single and raced to second on Keith Moreland's fly to the warning track in left.
Maddox was intentionally walked and then Quisenberry got the next two batters on infield outs to give the Royals THEIR ninth-inning threat against Ruthven, who struck out seven and allowed nine hits.
McRae's single had the crowd roaring but Otis hit into a double play. Clint Hurdle singled to keep it going, but Ruthven bore down to get Darrell Porter on a fly ball.
The Phils had another shot at Quisenberry in the 10th when Boone singled and was sacrificed to second by Greg Gross. Rose was intentionally walked and Schmidt fired a shot toward right-center that Frank White speared and then turned into an unassisted double play.
Green sent in McGraw and felt two days' rest had cured whatever ailed Tugger's well-used left arm.
"I lifted Ruthven because he pitched nine innings of good baseball," Green said. "And he'd just pitched himself out of a jam. How long did you want me to let him pitch? He pitched super. He got out of several jams."
But McGraw wasn't as lucky and Green bristled when the intentional walk to Brett was questioned.
"The strategy was to get them out," Green said. "Tug's been- through it before. Give Wilson credit for the stolen base. That set up the run."
"You guys make a big deal out of momentum," said Green, "but there's no momentum in a World Series. We left 15 men on base. If we'd gotten a couple of big hits, there would have been no contest."
But now there is.
"I'd still rather be in their shoes, up two games to one," said Brett, "but I'm not dissatisfied. Winning in the 10th inning like we did could put momentum on our side. We didn't play well in Philadelphia and we did tonight."
Magic vanishes for the Phillies
By Hal Bodley, Sports Editor
KANSAS CITY – If the Philadelphia Phillies are to win the World Series, they are going to have to do it on their own. No longer can they count on magic to pull them through.
The Phils' uncanny, almost mystical ability to come from behind left them last night as Kansas City pulled out a 10-inning, 4-3 victory in jam-packed Royals Stadium.
The Phillies had their chances, but the kayo punch was not there. Through six innings they had stranded 10 runners and when the game finally ended with Willie Mays Aikens singling home the wining run, their left-on-base total was 15.
The Phils never led in this one, but at one stage should have been leading by at least five runs.
Mike Schmidt flied out with the bases loaded in the second, Larry Bowa grounded out with runners on second and third and two down in the third. Schmidt flied out to center with runners on first and third in the eighth and in the ninth, with runners on first and second, one out, Manny Trillo and Bowa grounded out.
The 10th, however, was the most excruciating for the Phils. With Bob Hal Bodley Boone on second, Pete Rose on first, and one out in the 3-3 tie, Schmidt hit a screamer that looked like it was going to bounce past Frank White. The second baseman, however, made a brilliant stop to start a double play.
"That was the ball game right, there," said Phils' Manager Dallas Green. "If that ball gets through, it might have rolled to the wall. We certainly had our chances tonight. We got plenty of hits (14) to win most games. We just couldn't come up with the big one."
Had the Phils made their first; appearance in Royals Stadium a successful one, the World Series would have been all but over. Instead, the Royals, who dropped two straight games in Philadelphia, are now back in the thick of the best-of-seven tournament.
"I'll feel a lot better if we even this thing on Saturday," said Jim Frey, the conservative Royals' manager. "We've only won one game, but it was a game we had to win to get back in. No team has ever come back to win the series down 3-0."
An Aikens' triple was eventually turned into a run off starter Dick Ruthven to give Kansas City a 2-1 edge in the fourth. In the 10th, after the Phils continuing their charmed life by cutting down U. L. Washington trying to steal third with runners on first and second and one out, the game was eventually put in Aikens' hands.
Tug McGraw started the 10th in place of Dick Ruthven and was in immediate trouble when Washington hit a grounder that took a wicked hop just as it got to shortstop Bowa's glove. Tug then walked Willie Wilson on four pitches and up came White.
But with White attempting to bunt, alert catcher Bob Boone rifled a throw to third to get Washington who was streaking from second on the would-be bunt. After White fanned, up came George Brett, who came back from Thursday's hemorrhoid surgery to blast a first-inning homer and an eighth-inning double. Wilson then did a strange thing. He stole second base. The Phils immediately walked Brett intentionally, taking the bat out of his hands and putting it in Aikens', a left-hander vs. a left-hander.
The two base-running blunders could have been disastrous to the Royals had McGraw been able to get Aikens and Frey is the first to admit that.
"In that situation, Washington is trying to get a jump. The pitcher threw a slow curve and if the hitter misses it, they have a good shot at the runner on second. A lot of clubs practice that play on defense. The runner is in jeopardy if the ball is missed. I don't know if that was the intention of the Phillies, but the only one to blame is the base runner."
Frey said with Brett batting, there was no way he had the steal sign on for Wilson. He went on his own.
"I thought all along I was going to get up there and have a chance to drive in the run," said Aikens, who blasted two home runs in the first game in Philadelphia. "When I went up there all I wanted to do was concentrate and get a hit. I swung much too hard on the first pitch; you might have thought I was trying to hit the ball out of the park when all we needed was a single."
Aikens then jumped on a 2-1 fastball and lined it to the gap in left-center. At first, it looked like Garry Maddox might be able to get to the ball, but it hooked away from him.
"I saw the ball headed for the gap and I knew Maddox was playing a short center field," said Aikens. "As soon as I saw the ball get up in the air, I knew he didn't have a chance to get it."
All the tricks the Phils used to win the Eastern Division and the National League playoffs failed.
"Nobody said this was going to be easy," said Green, "and tonight it wasn't."
Carpenters suffer through Series
By Red Smith, New York Times Service
KANSAS CITY – Mrs. R.R.M. Carpenter Jr. is the only person, living or dead, who suffered through a World Series with her husband and now, 30 years later, is suffering through another with her son. She is the wife of Bob Carpenter, chairman of the board of the Philadelphia Phillies, who lost the baseball championship of North America to the Yankees in four games in 1950, and the mother of Ruly Carpenter, president of the club that leads the 1980 tournament with the Kansas City Royals, two games to one.
Has it been an ordeal?
"An ordeal?" Mrs. Carpenter said. "Yes, and worst of all was Houston." In Houston last weekend, the champions of the National League came clawing, scratching, cutting and slashing from behind to win the third pennant in the club's 98-year history, twice in extra innings, and always in wildly improbable fashion.
"It was torture," she said.
In 1950 it was fun. Bob was the youngest owner in the major leagues then; the team they called the Whiz Kids was a young, exciting team that wasn't supposed to win a pennant. The kids made it close against the defending champions of creation, losing by 1-0, 2-1, 3-2, and 5-2, as the pinstriped tyrants took their 13th title.
"It was fun" Mrs. Carpenter said, "but it was short and to the point – one, two, three, four."
Her husband didn't go to Houston for the pennant playoffs; friends said he couldn't take it and went instead to Florida to shoot doves. He hasn't come out here for the third, fourth and, if necessary, fifth game of this Octoberfest.
"It's not that I couldn't take it," Bob said Wednesday night at Veterans Stadium. "I hardly ever go to games on the road. I never make suggestions. It's been Ruly's job since I turned the club over to him eight years ago, and he couldn't do the job with anybody looking over his shoulder."
As president emeritus, Bob manages to keep cool. During the season he was in a hospital where a nurse was checking his blood pressure while he kept an eye on a television screen. Suddenly the needle on the blood pressure gauge whirled; the mechanism sputtered; the nurse ran for a doctor.
Bob was all right. It was only that Mike Schmidt had been picked off second base.
Schmidt, the third baseman, is the head honcho of the Phillies' batting order; he led the world with 48 home runs during the season. In the first game with the Royals he had struck out, walked twice and scratched an infield single. Now, as Bob watched and chatted, Mike had a useless single to show for three times at bat in the second game.
The Phillies led, 2-1, but the Royals scored three runs and went to the front, 4-2. Then, in the eighth inning, Philadelphia tied the score, and Schmidt went to bat with a runner on first base and one out. Mrs. Carpenter fidgeted. Her husband watched moodily.
Schmidt sliced a lofty drive against the wall in right field for two bases, tying the score. He went to third on the throw to the plate. He got home on a single by Keith More-land, and the second game went to the Phillies, 6-4.
It was the team's third victory in a World Series game in 98 years, the second one having come 24 hours earlier and the other having been registered Oct. 8, 1915, when Grover Cleveland Alexander pitched the Boston Red Sox into submission. Never since the club joined the National League in 1883 had the Phils beaten an American League team twice. Nobody now connected with the club had ever seen them do it once before Tuesday night.
‘Phanatic’ banned in KC
Associated Press
KANSAS CITY, Mo. – The Phillie Phanatic was banned last night from Game 3 of the World Series.
The Phanatic, a Sesame Street-type character, is the official mascot of the National League Champion Philadelphia Phillies.
He usually roams the field at various times during the game, knocking over groundskeepers, taunting umpires, wagging an elongated tongue at the opposing teams, and dancing to his own brand of rock music.
The Phanatic is a big favorite in Philadelphia and has appeared in ballparks at San Diego, Pittsburgh, Houston, New York, Los Angeles and San Francisco where he was warmly welcomed by the teams and the fans.
In reality, the Phanatic is David Raymond, a former University of Delaware punter, who works part time in the Phillies front office. Raymond said Kansas City officials told him that Royals' fans wanted a mascot, too, and that they had not yet found the right one.
"They didn't want me throwing oil on the fire, " said the disappointed Phillies mascot.
Phils content with 2-1 lead
By Hal Bodley, Sports Editor
KANSAS CITY – The Phillies walked slowly to their clubhouse, but Pete Rose said he would rather be heading for that one than the loud, jubilant Royals' dressing room.
"We're up 2-1 and that is still a comfortable position," said Rose after the Phils lost 4-3 in 10 innings to Kansas City at Royals Stadium. "Let me ask you? Which clubhouse would you rather be in, the 2-1 clubhouse or the 1-2 clubhouse? And we still have two more games at home if worse comes to worse. Anyway, the more games we play the more money there is for everyone."
Mike Schmidt, whose homer pulled the Phils even at 2-2 in the fifth, said a matter of inches separated the winners and the losers last night.
"My bunt in the eighth with runners on first and third was only six inches foul. If it is fair, Lonnie Smith scores and we win.
"Then, in the 10th, if my line drive is six inches away from Frank White, we a get a run, or possibly two, and we win again."
In the 10th, with Bob Boone on second, one out and the score tied at 3-3, the Royals walked Rose intentionally to get to Schmidt.
"Looked like a helluva play, didn't it?" Schmidt said, referring to the fact White made an outstanding stop of his liner to turn it into a doubleplay. "It was probably a good percentage move because Pete is such a good singles hitter. I think I have hit a ball on the ground between first and second only once or twice. White was cheating over toward second a little because he knows I'm a pull hitter, and was able to get to my ball."
Schmidt was also involved in a key play at third when U. L. Washington was caught stealing.
“You can't really blame Washington on the play; Frank White is a great bunter, and just bunted through the ball. After that, Boonie just made a great fake, and Washington got hung up. Once he got hung up, he was committed to third and Boone got the throw there in plenty of time."
Play-by-Play
Associated Press
KANSAS CITY – Play-by-play of the third game of the 1980 World Series between the Philadelphia Phillies and Kansas City Royals:
Phillies First
Rich Gale's first pitch was bounced foul. Lonnie Smith singled to right field. Pete Rose foul-tipped a third strike into catcher Darrell Porter's glove. Mike Schmidt walked on a 3-2 pitch. Bake McBride filed to Willie Wilson in left. Keith Moreland, the designated hitter, flied to Amos Otis in center.
No runs, one hit, no errors, two left.
Royals First
Dick Ruthven's first pitch was low for a ball. Wilson bounced to Manny Trillo at second. Frank White grounded to Schmidt at third. George Brett homered down the right field line for the first run of the game. Willie Aikens bounced to Trillo.
One run, one hit, no errors, none left.
Phillies Second
Garry Maddox grounded to Brett at third. Trillo hit an infield single oft Gale's glove. Larry Bowa singled to right, Trillo holding second. Bob Boone walked to load the bases. Smith hit a hard grounder off the glove of Gale, who threw to first for the second out, with Trillo scoring to tie the game 1-1. Rose walked to load the bases. Schmidt filed to Otis.
One run, two hits, no errors, three left.
Royals Second
Hal McRae, the designated hitter, popped to first baseman Rose in foul territory. Otis hit a ground ball that shortstop Bowa fielded in the hole to his right and threw too late to first for a single. Clint Hurdle grounded into a fielder's choice, Bowa to Trillo covering second. Porter grounded to Bowa, who touched second to force out Hurdle.
No runs, one hit, no errors, one left.
Phillies Third
McBride singled to right. Moreland struck out. Maddox hit a fielder's choice grounder to Brett, who threw to second baseman White for the force on McBride. Trillo doubled to right, Maddox holding at third. Bowa grounded to Brett.
No runs, two hits, no errors, two left.
Royals Third
U.L. Washington lined to Maddox in center field. Wilson struck out. White grounded to Schmidt.
No runs, no hits, no errors, none left.
Phillies Fourth
Boone flied to Otis. Smith filed to Otis. Rose grounded to White.
No runs, no hits, no errors, none left.
Royals Fourth
Brett popped to Schmidt. Aikens tripled past a diving Smith in left field. McRae singled to center, scoring Aikens for a 2-1 Kansas City lead. Otis grounded to Trillo, McRae moving to second Hurdle grounded to Trillo.
One run, two hits, no errors, one left.
Phillies Fifth
Schmidt homered over the left field fence to tie the game 2-2. McBride look a third strike. Moreland singled to left Renie Martin is now pitching for Kansas Citv. Maddox hit an infield single that shortstop Washington fielded to his right but couldn't throw out Moreland al second. Trillo hit into a double Play, White to Washington to Aikens.
One run, three hits, no errors, one left.
Royals Fifth
Porter grounded to Trillo. Washington flied to Maddox. Wilson struck out.
No runs, no hits, no errors, none left.
Phillies Sixth Bowa singled to center. Boone flied to Otis. Smith singled to center, Bowa holding second. Rose struck out. Schmidt grounded to Washington, who threw to White for the force out.
No runs, two hits, no errors, two left.
Royals Sixth
White struck out. Brett flied to Maddox, who made the catch on the warning track in right-center. Aikens struck out.
No runs, no hits, no errors, none left.
Phillies Seventh
McBride flied to Otis. Moreland filed to Otis. Maddox flied to Hurdle.
No runs, no hits, no errors, none left.
Royals Seventh
McRae grounded to Schmidt. Otis homered over the right-center field fence to give the Royals a 3-2 lead. Hurdle singled to right. Porter look third strike on a 3-1 pitch and Hurdle stole second on the play. Washington popped out to Schmidt in foul territory.
One run, two hits, no errors, one left.
Phillies Eighth
Trillo flied to Wilson. Bowa beat out a high infield chopper for a single. Boone filed to Otis. Bowa stole second. Smith walked. Rose singled to right-center, Bowa scoring to tie the game 3-3 and Smith moving to third. Quisenberry is now pitching for Kansas City. Schmidt flied to Otis.
One run, two hits, no errors, two left.
Royals Eighth
Wilson grounded to Bowa. White struck out. Brett doubled to right. Aikens took a third strike.
No runs, one hit, no errors, one left.
Phillies Ninth
McBride singled to left. Moreland flied to Wilson, with McBride taking second after the catch. Maddox was walked intentionally. Trillo grounded to Aikens, who tossed to Quisenberry. Bowa grounded to Quisenberry.
No runs, one hit, no errors, two left.
Royals Ninth
McRae singled to left. Otis hit into a double play, Bowa to Trillo to Rose. Hurdle hit a hard grounder that Bowa dived to slop, but the throw was loo late for a single. Onix Concepclon ran for Hurdle. Porter flied to McBride in right.
No runs, two hits, no errors, one left.
Phillies Tenth
Jose Cardenal is now playing right field for Kansas City. Boone singled to center. Greg Gross, batting for Smith, sacrificed Boone to second, with Aikens tagging Gross. Rose was walked intentionally. Schmidt lined out to White, who stepped on second for the double play.
No runs, one hit, no errors, one left.
Royals Tenth
Tug McGraw is now pitching and Gross Is playing left field for Philadelphia. Washington singled to left. Wilson, squaring to bunt, walked on four pitches. Washington was thrown out attempting to steal third, Boone to Schmidt. White struck out. Wilson stole second. Brett was walked intentionally. Aikens singled to left-center, scoring Wilson and giving Kansas City a 4-3 victory.
One run, two hits, no errors, two left.
Tight-lipped Phils: bad guys, or very private people?
By Dick Young, New York Daily News Service
KANSAS CITY – Maybe you're wondering why you are reading so much about Pete Rose and Tug McGraw and Mike Schmidt these days, and so little about Steve Carlton, and Garry Maddox and Bake McBride and Dick Ruthven and Ron Reed, etcetera, etcetera, etcetera.
It's because on the Phillies you have the good guys and the bad guys, and somewhere in between a few so-so guys. The good guys recognize that in their contract with the ballclub is a clause that they will do their utmost to promote baseball with the fans, and that part of such an obligation is making themselves reasonably available to newspapermen and TV and radio people. The bad guys, whom wide-eyed romanticists refer to as "very private people," do not feel they have an obligation to anyone but themselves. This is also known as being selfish. The so-so guys pick their spots, mostly when they win.
Leader of the bad guys is Steve Carlton. Somebody once wrote something in a newspaper that he didn't like, and so he blue-penciled an entire industry. He has become obsessed by this withdrawal role, to the point of sadism. Example: His good friend and teammate had been Tim McCarver. For seasons, McCarver was Carlton's private catcher. Timmy, a splendid man, retired and is developing a career in sports TV. Carlton has guested for McCarver a couple of times, but has turned him down most times. Worse than that, Steve has kept him hanging with promises, teased him, dangled him. McCarver had an interview tie-in with NBC that was important to him. Getting the reclusive Carlton would have been a coup for McCarver. Carlton strung him along, then missed it, and had the gall to say to McCarver later, I am told, that if he had waited "20 seconds longer" he'd have had him.
Fortunately, the few good people on the team, players, manager Dallas Green and coaches, and GM Paul Owens, make up for the selfish creeps. Most Philly-watchers trace the condition to the top, where, they say, owner Ruly Carpenter has spoiled his players rotten, has made them virtually unmanageable, and has encouraged their uncivil conduct. It is unthinkable that Ruly Carpenter, and to a lesser degree other clubowners, have allowed the ballplayers to usurp their public relations rights. But by and large, the Lords of Baseball aren't the guttiest people in the world. They pretty much proved that by giving away their store to the player's union.
A by-product of this, that fans may more readily relate to, is the increased reluctance of players to give autographs, and their broken promises on personal appearances at fan clubs and civic groups.
• • •
Red Sox have put their managerial search on back burner to pursue trades, involving Fred Lynn and Rick Burleson. Dodgers, in need of centerfielder, are hot for Lynn. If Ron Cey will consent to go to Boston, the deal can be made. The pieces fit. Boston can move third-sacker Glenn Hoffman to short, replacing Burleson, and insert Cey at third. The Dodgers have hotshot Mickey Hatcher ready to step in at third… Dodgers also need bullpen help. Don Stanhouse, for whom they splurged $2.1 million free-agent market, has been a disaster… Hank Peters, who let Stanhouse go in Baltimore, could have told them that... Reason Red Sox must unload Burleson is that they can't sign him. Negotiations with his agent are miles apart.
Peter O'Malley does nice things. Somebody brought to his attention that a 1947 National League championship ring, engraved with name of late Hugh Casey, was languishing in a pawn shop, Dodger owner redeemed it for $1,200, and now is conducting search for some legit heir of Hugh Casey to present it to... One thing I always admired in Peter O'Malley; when he was young man growing up in baseball business, the apparent heir to the O'Malley empire, he chose not to inherit his father's feuds. He was his own man, and apparently still is.
Don Zimmer, whose name has popped up as possible third base coach of Yankees or Twins, was talking about the perils of the job. He coached at third for the 75 Red Sox before becoming manager. During the games against the Reds, he had sent two men to their death at home. Now, Denny Doyle was on third base when the next batter sent a looper into left, where the fielder always plays short. Zimmer quickly sized up the play and said to Doyle: "Relax, you're not going anywhere."
When the ball dropped in, Zim was amazed to see Doyle break for home. "No! No!" Don screamed. Doyle kept going and was tagged out by Johnny Bench, who straightened up, looked at Zimmer, and said, "That's three, you Kamikaze coach!"
• • •
Baseball people were commisserating with Tom Lasorda, who had to overcome multiple injuries to star players to finish in season's deadlock before losing tie-breaker to Houston. Somebody mentioned loss of run-maker Reggie Smith. "Yeah," said Lasorda, but at least we got good jobs from guys like Jay Johnstone and Rick Monday when I put them out in right. It was the loss of Bill Russell at shortstop that really hurt us. Russell is like being married to the same woman for 30 years. You don't realize how much you depend on her till she's not there." Somebody must have told that to Lasorda, who's still happily married.
• • •
Dallas Green's appraisal of first two games: "Truthfully, we've been a hot team, and any pitcher has to struggle to stop a hot team, no matter how good he is"... Dallas Green is a pitching-staff manager, having himself been a pitcher. He leans heavily on Bobby Wine for other aspects of game-strategy. Wine is more assistant manager than coach, and could be Green's successor if Dallas decides this is it... Tug McGraw, who becomes free agent at end of World Series, was asked if his fondness for Dallas Green could be a factor in his remaining with the Phillies. "The factor," said Tug, "is money. As Don Sutton said, I'm the most loyal player money can buy."... McGraw will have 15 days after World Series to negotiate with Phils before putting his name on free agent list.
Joe Garagiola, star of the NBC booth, was commenting on the various mannerisms of batters stepping into the box. During the playoffs, Rafael Landestoy came onto a close-up camera bent over, kissing a religious medal and blessing himself. It reminded Garagiola of how Jimmy Piersall would reach out with his bat and draw a cross in the dirt beyond home each trip to the plate. Yogi Berra was catching the day Piersall decided two crosses would do better. Garagiola swears that Yogi used his shoe to obliterate the etchings, turned to Piersall and said, "Why don't you let God just watch the game?"