Allentown Morning Call - October 19, 1980
Royals down Phils second time in row
Willie Aikens continued his hot hitting with two home runs yesterday and the Kansas City Royals evened the World Series at two games apiece by beating the Philadelphia Phillies 5-3.
The Royals shelled Phillies' starter Larry Christenson for four runs in the first inning and hung on behind the pitching of Dennis Leonard and Dan Quisenberry for their second straight win. Game 5 is set for 4:30 p.m. today with rookie Marty Bystrom pitching for Philadelphia against Larry Gura of Kansas City.
The teams then take Monday off for travel to Game 6, scheduled for 8:15 p.m. Tuesday at Veterans Stadium.
Royals even as Aikens bombs Phils
By Gordon Smith, Associate Sports Editor
KANSAS CITY, Mo. – Can it be happening again? No, say it isn't true. Say the Phillies aren't going to self-destruct in this 77th World Series.
Burn those memories of 1964... throw out those recollections of 1976, 1977, 1978. Forget that Phillies' World Series history (1915 and 1950) rivals that of Evel Knievel's canyon jumps.
Hop in the shower. Wash away all those bad dreams. Go to church this morning. Light some candles. Drop a request in the prayer basket. Invite the pastor or priest for dinner.
Parlay every outside assisting agency you can find, because if what happened so far this weekend in Kansas City is any indication of what's to come, you're going to need all the cerebral resuscitation available.
Nineteen Kansas City hits, nine runs and four home runs ago, the Phillies held a commanding 2-0 advantage in the annual autumnal classic. Today the best-of-seven series is all even and down to a best-of-three-brawl.
Willie Aikens has sent two more leather spheres into the twilight zone yesterday, and Dennis Leonard has come back from the dead.
The Royals have added a 5-3 triumph to Friday's 4-3 success, and today the Phillies will attempt to stop the backwash by sending a rookie pitcher, Marty Bystrom, to the mound.
"I really can't believe this is happening," said an obviously upset Phillies' third baseman, Mike Schmidt. "We get any kind of decent pitching early, and we win and get a chance to wrap it up tomorrow (today)."
"Decent pitching" the Phillies did get. Unfortunately, starter Larry Christenson didn't provide any of it.
Christenson was bombarded for a single, two doubles, a triple and a home run before he had time to break in his chewing gum. The Phillies' righthander only threw 22 pitches in the first inning, and his team was behind four runs.
Forget that Dickie Noles, Kevin Saucier and Warren Brusstar checked the Royals on one run over the final eight innings. The damage had been done, and Kansas City's Leonard wasn't letting anybody sneak up behind him this time.
"That first inning was the whole story," Leonard, the winning pitcher, admitted. "They give me four runs, and I just start throwing strikes. It's easy when it starts that way."
As easy as it was for Leonard, it was equally exciting for Willie Aikens, who became the first player in history to hit two home runs twice in a World Series.
Aikens, who hit two cannon shots over the Veterans Stadium fence in Game 1, nailed two more yesterday, making his parents, who gave him Mays as a middle name, look better than Jeanne Dixon.
Only seven others in baseball history have hit four homers in a World Series. One, Reggie Jackson, hit five. If Aikens continues his blazing hot streak, Jackson's record might go down the tubes.
Aikens' first blast came after George Brett 's triple scored Willie Wilson, who opened the game with a single, with the Royals' first run. The fourth run came when Hal McRae and Amos Otis stroked back-to-back doubles, chasing Christenson.
The Royals' first baseman hit his second of the game in the second inning with two out off Noles, the second of four Phillies pitchers to work.
Larry Bowa, whose 6-for-14 batting and generally fine defensive play would be drawing raves if Aikens weren't dominating the scene, knocked in Manny Trillo with a single in the second.
The Phillies scored single runs in the seventh and eighth. The run in the seventh came on a Bob Boone sacrifice fly. He knocked in Trillo, who had doubled and taken third on a Bowa single. In the eighth, Pete Rose doubled, took third on a Bake McBride infield out. and scored on a sacrifice fly by Schmidt.
"Takeaway the first inning and we win," Schmidt lamented. "It's as simple as that." Mike has a habit of making sense out of hindsight.
Christenson was a picture of dejection. "I have no alibis." he said. "I felt 100 percent. I just went out and pitched the worst game of the year."
Christenson, as well as Manager Dallas Green, believes the "book" the Phils have on Aikens won't be of any use. It'll never make the best-seller list.
"If you have a book on him, I'll use it." Green said. "Ours certainly isn't right. Our scouts saw him during a streak when he was hitting a lot of pitches to the opposite field. We decided to try him inside. Obviously, that isn't where we should throw to him. The kid's on the roll."
Aikens has seven hits in 15 plate appearances. If the Series were to end today, MVP status would be his.
There was an incident in the fourth inning that had no bearing on the outcome, but did get the 42,363 partisan fans screaming at the "Bad Guys from The East."
Brett had to dive for the dirt when a Noles' pitch sailed at his head. KC Manager Jim Frey came storming out of the dugout yelling at Noles, feeling his star hitter – "The Franchise" – had been intentionally thrown at.
"It was up to Brett to say something to Noles if he felt he was thrown at," Schmidt would later say. "I've never seen a manager come out and start yelling at the pitcher."
Rose felt the same way, and yelled, "That's a helluva a thing, you yelling at our pitcher! He didn't throw at him." Frey said he yelled back at Rose, "You don't know that and I don't know that."
Phillies' catcher Bob Boone said the ball simply sailed on Noles. Noles indicated he wasn't throwing at Brett.
Green is confident rookie Bystrom can handle the pressure today. "He's given us big wins since joining the club. I believe he has what it takes."
Boone, who will be catching Bystrom, said, "Marty is about as complete a rookie pitcher as has ever come up to the Phillies. He did well in the key game against Houston, and I know the pressure won't bother him."
Bystrom's pitching foe today will be Larry Gura, the crafty lefthander who had a perfect game going for 4⅓ innings in Game 2.
NOTES – Amos Otis has hit safely in all seven Royals' post-season games (13-for-29)... Hal McRae, 2-for-4 yesterday, is 8-for-15 in Series... Bake McBride is 7-for-15... Ten extra base hits yesterday were one shy of World Series record, set in '61 Series between Yankees and Reds... Starting time today (EDT) is 4:30.
Just whom do you believe?
By John Kunda, Executive Sports Editor
KANSAS CITY – Attention class: Today 's problem in human behavior will be discussed in three parts:
(A) The knockdown pitch.
(B) Simple baseball strategy.
(C) Hot dogging it in the World Series.
First, let's hear from experts on the subject.
● DICKIE NOLES: "I use both sides of the plate. I especially like to use the inside part of the plate. A lot of pitches got away from me today."
● GEORGE BRETT: "If he was (throwing at me), he was, and if he was, he's 0-for-1."
● JIM FREY: "I haven't been in a fight since I was 21, and I got the hell beat out of me then. I was just yelling a lot."
● DALLAS GREEN: "I didn't see a knockdown pitch. Was there one? The only guy who got upset about it was Jim Frey. Brett didn't."
● PETE ROSE: "I just told him (Jim Frey) that it was a helluva thing for a manager to yell at our pitcher. Brett was the guy who could have argued if he wanted to, but he didn't say anything."
Ah, nothing like a little rhubarb to stir what was a somewhat dull afternoon.
What the Phillies couldn't do with their bats, Dickie Noles tried to do with his arm. Whether it was a legitimate knockdown pitch or not, the controversy that surrounded it added some punch (pardon the pun) to an afternoon that will be talked about by Royalmaniacs all winter long.
Royals' manager Jim Frey might have been the culprit. Nice guy, Jim Frey – easy going sort. But yesterday, his temperature topped the boiling point.
He made a spectacle of himself trying to prove a point. He explained it like this:
"I thought it was a knockdown pitch. The way we were hitting the ball today, and with a good hitter (George Brett) up there and an 0-2 count, the situation was there.
"He (Noles) threw the ball at his head and I went out there to stop that. I told the umpire to stop it right now. I don't know if he threw at him or not, and no one else does except the pitcher. I didn't want one of those battles where there's a lot of throwing at heads.
"I don't believe in retaliation. I don't buy that high-and-tight stuff. I have been a purist about the game and I've seen two or three guys almost get killed from brushbacks. I don't believe in that."
But Frey. in his anger, wanted to tell Noles just exactly what he thought.
"I can't repeat it (what he told Noles) here," said Frey, a little round guy with glasses.
Okay, what did Noles say to Frey? "I can't repeat that, either," said Frey.
Then there was that exchange with Rose, who stepped in as the Father Protector. What did Frey say to Rose?
"I didn't say anything to him," Frey said. "Pete told me to get off the field. He said he wasn't throwing at him. I said 'You don't know that and I don't know that, only the pitcher knows.'"
Noles made himself scarce in the Phillies' lockerroom, which is nothing new among the Phillies. At first, it appeared Noles was going to pull the no-talk act.
He brushed past a group of writers gathered at his locker stall, saying. "Excuse me, I got to take a shower."
The length of the shower might have been a World Series record. Noles was in the shower for a good half hour, but seeing that the writers weren't going to leave, he finally faced the music.
He didn't say much but what he did say while he dressed which might have been another World Series record indicated that a lot was being made of nothing.
"I've thrown a lot of pitches like that before." said Noles, "and nothing was said about it. A lot of pitches like that got away from me today."
Noles got some support from Dick Ruthven, who was dressing two stalls away. Said Ruthven: "Hell, Frey embarrassed Brett."
That might have been so, because Brett, the kingpin Royal, just backed away from the incident. He left the yelling to Frey.
Later he said, "Basically, the way you avoid being hit by a pitch is to spin away from it. Those were my reactions and would be anyone's reaction to a pitch seen coming at your head."
When Brett went down, 42,000 fans groaned.
"I didn't hear that," he said. "I didn't even groan myself."
Bob Boone had the best seat in the house. Other than saying that he didn't appreciate the delay because "I have a dinner reservation," he added this:
"We were just pitching him inside. The ball sailed on Dickie. I yelled to George, 'Hey, watch out.' He's the last guy you want to get mad. An angry player can hurt you, and when it's a player like Brett, there's no telling what he'd do. There's no question that we were trying to come in on him, but that's allowed."
Brett, according to Boone, turned around and asked if the pitch was close. Boone's answer: "Yes, it was pretty close.”
Rose, who has been ridden heavily since the Series came out here, got hit by a rolled-up paper cup, which didn't ' bother him all that much. "It hit my glasses," he said, "but I didn't look up: After 18 years in the big leagues, you learn not to look up. If you do, you might lose an eye."
Class dismissed. You be the judge.
Series slump… Phils fans… Dallas Green…
By John Kunda, Executive Sports Editor
and Gordon Smith, Associate Sports Editor
Everybody wondering why Pete Rose's bat is so silent should be reminded that Rose is always poor offensively in the World Series. He's batted .264 (and going lower) in four series. The reason is that Rose is a great hitter because of the book he makes on pitchers. But, come World Series time, he has no book on the other league's hurlers. In league championship play he bats .378. He didn't make much contribution in the 1976 series, either, won by "the greatest team I ever played on." He had three hits in 16 plate appearances for the Reds that fall.
● ● ●
What George Brett misses most during the series is the daily game of hearts with bullpen coach Jimmie Schaffer and pitching coach Bill Connors. Brett's partner normally is reserve infielder Dave Chalk. With the media crush, not to mention his hemorrhoid ordeal, the game has been sabotaged. "I can't say enough about George," said Schaffer, a Coopersburg resident. "The guy is very personable and just one of the guys. When he was besieged by the press while chasing the elusive .400 batting average, he handled it beautifully. He never complained about the attention. "
● ● ●
Willie Aikens came right out after Friday's Royals victory and said, "I think I'm a better hitter than Rose. Sparky Anderson said he'd have to give the edge to Rose in the matchups. I would have to give the advantage to myself." Nobody is arguing, at least not in this series. The Aikens power through the first four games has been awesome.
● ● ●
The Phillies Phanatic made the trip to KC, but the Royals refused to give permission for the mascot to appear in costume. Sorta bush, huh? Dave Raymond, son of Delaware football coach Tubby, said, "They told me they have been looking for their own mascot but they haven't been able to find someone with the right talent. They said they didn't want the fans on their back, and this (a Phanatic appearance) would start the fans complaining again.” Maybe Dave is better off. These fans out here might take to cutting his feathers.
● ● ●
It came as no surprise Friday that Steve Carlton turned down an offer of $25,000 for an exclusive interview by ABC's Barbara Wawa – uhhh, Walters. The Phillies lefthander is a man of his word, to be sure. He hasn't given interviews since 1973.
● ● ●
Ticket scalpers are getting as much as $350 per ducat, and today's final game in Kansas City is expected to command nearly double that price.
● ● ●
Clint Hurdle, a pseudo-journalist, says there's no doubt Brett's hemorrhoids are the story of the series. Hurdle is writing a daily column, "Hey, Mom, I'm At The Series," for his hometown paper in Orlando, Fla. "I'm glad the paper is using me everyday," said Hurdle, "and not just against righthanded printers."
● ● ●
Bob Boone doesn't think he's the best athlete in his family. Everybody knows his dad, Ray, was a major league shortstop with the Cleveland Indians. But not many know his mom, Patsy, was a championship swimmer. And, Patsy's sister, Martha Mitchell (no, not that one), is a former professional golfer. Bob smiles when he talks about his 11-year-old son, Brett, "who might be the best of us all." The kid is a heckuva Little League player.
● ● ●
Phillies executives were hoping like crazy the series would end in Kansas City. "If you think the Mets fans ruined Shea Stadium when they pulled off their first miracle," said Phillies General Manager Paul Owens, "that would be nothing compared to what our fans would do to the Vet. Hey, they never had a chance to wreck Connie Mack Stadium. They've got a lot of making up to do."
● ● ●
Perhaps Frank White, KC's second baseman, feels the pulse of Kansas City more than any other Royals. This is his city. He spent the summer days of his boyhood picking asphalt off the souls of his tennis shoes around 22nd and Brooklyn, the site of old Municipal Stadium.
● ● ●
Pete Rose praises Manager Dallas Green, something all-too-absent among many of the Phillies. "I sure hope he stays," Rose says. "I think he did a great job. A team picked to finish fourth, and which wins it... he ought to be manager of the year." Yet Rose has a perspective of fairness for past manager Danny Ozark. "I don't think a lot of people give Danny the credit he deserves," says Rose. "Don't forget, he's the only National League manager to ever win three straight division titles."
● ● ●
Keith Moreland has his own approach to this series. The rookie catcher, used as a designated hitter, is looking at every game as just another one. "I'm trying to tell myself that this is just like the regular season," he said. "That way I won 't let myself 'get wrapped up with all the special side effects." So far, Moreland has three big hits in nine plate appearances, so his theory is working.
● ● ●
Amos Otis, commenting on his home run Friday: "The wind was blowing before I hit it, -died when I did hit it, and picked up again after I hit it." Sure, Amos.
Inning-By-Inning
KANSAS CITY (AP) - Play-by-play of Saturday's fourth game of the World Series between the Philadelphia Phillies and Kansas City Royals:
Phillies First
Leonard's first pitch to Smith was fouled off. Smith grounded out Brett to Aikens. Rose singled up the middle and took second on White's bad throw. McBride flied out to Wilson in left. Schmidt struck out.
No runs, one hit, one error, one left.
Royals First
Wilson singled to center. Christenson threw wild in a pickoff attempt, and Wilson raced to third. White popped to McBride in short right. Brett tripled down first base line, scoring While. Aikens homered over the right field wall for two runs. McRae lined a hit to center and stretched it into a double. Otis smacked a double off the right-center field wall, scoring McRae. Dickie Noles relieved Christenson. Hurdle walked. Porter struck out swinging. Washington beat out a grounder up the middle. Bowa's throw was too late. Wilson grounded out Rose to Noles in a close play.
Four runs, six hits, one error, three left.
Phillies Second
Unser flied out to Wilson in left. Maddox looped a single to right. Trillo grounded to White, whose relay to Washington got Maddox. But Washington's throw to first bounced by Aikens for an error. Bowa looped a single to left, and Wilson's throw to the plate was late, Bowa moving to second. Boone grounded out Brett to Aikens.
One run, two hits, one error, one left.
Royals Second
White flied out to Maddox. Brett grounded out Trillo to Rose. Aikens blasted another long homer to right. McRae stretched another hit to right into a double. Otis flied out to right.
One run, two hits, no errors, one left.
Phillies Third
Smith grounded out Brett to Aikens. Rose flied to Wilson. McBride walked. McBride was caught stealing, Porter to White.
No runs, no hits, no errors, none left.
Royals Third
Hurdle blooped a double down the third base line. Porter popped foul to Schmidt at third. Washington grounded out Trillo to Rose, Hurdle taking third. Wilson struck out.
No runs, one hit, no errors, one left.
Phillies Fourth
Schmidt bunted for a single. Unser flied to Otis in center. Maddox grounded to Aikens who fagged him out in a race to the bag, Schmidt taking second. Trillo flied to Hurdle in right.
No runs, one hit, no errors, one left.
Royals Fourth
White popped foul to Rose at first. Noles decked Brett with a high fastball on an 0-2 count. KC Manager Jim Frey raced out and apparently wanted Noles ejected. Home plate ump Denkinger calmed Frey down. Brett then struck out. Aikens struck out.
No runs, no hits, no errors, none left.
Phillies Fifth
Bowa flied to Hurdle in right. Boone singled to center. Smith grounded into a double plav, Brett to White to Aikens.
No runs, one hit, no errors, none left.
Royals Fifth
McRae struck out. Otis singled up the middle. Hurdle walked. Porter struck out. Washington popped foul to Schmidt at third.
No runs, one hit, no errors, two left.
Phillies Sixth
Rose grounded out Brett to Aikens. McBride doubled to the left-center field wall. Schmidt grounded to Brett, who ranged to his left, dropped it, picked it up and fired to Aikens for the out in a
close play. McBride took third on a wild pitch. Unser struck out.
No runs, one hit, no errors, one left.
Royals Sixth
Kevin Saucier relieved to start the Royals Sixth. Wilson walked. White flied to McBride in right. Brett flied to Unser in left. Wilson took second on a wild pitch. Aikens walked. Warren Brusstar was the new pitcher for Philadelphia. McRae grounded to Rose, who tipped to Bowa for the force at second.
No runs, no hits, no errors, two left.
Phillies Seventh
Maddox popped to Washington at short. Trillo doubled to right center. Bowa slapped a single on the left field line, Trillo taking third. Boone hit a sacrifice fly to Wilson, who made an over-the-shoulder catch in left, Trillo scoring. Bowa stole second. Smith grounded out, Washington to Aikens.
One run, two hits, no errors, one left.
Royals Seventh
Otis flied to Maddox in center. Hurdle grounded out, Trillo to Rose. Porter walked. Washington grounded out, Trillo to Rose.
No runs, no hits, no errors, one left.
Phillies Eighth
Rose doubled to left. Dan Quisenberry relieved Leonard. McBride grounded out, White to Aikens, Rose moving to third). Schmidt hit a sacrifice fly to right, Rose scoring ahead of Hurdle's throw to Porter. Unser singled to right. Maddox grounded out, Washington to Aikens.
One run, two hits, no errors, one left.
Royals Eighth
Wilson grounded out, Bowa to Rose. White grounded out, Trillo to Rose. Trillo ranged to hit right and threw to Rose to get Brett.
No runs, no hits, no errors, none left.
Phillies Ninth
Trillo grounded out, Brett to Aikens. Bowa grounded out, White to Aikens. Boone grounded out, Washington to Aikens.
No runs, no hits, no errors, none left.