Allentown Morning Call - February 1980
February 3, 1980 (Sunday Call-Chronicle)
Bavarian Festival plans are warming up
By Walter Kraus of the Call-Chronicle
Winter's outside, but the talk was about summer activities at yesterday's kickoff dinner for the 12th Bavarian Summer Festival.
Right from the beginning, you knew they were trying to forget about the chiily weather to think about the upcoming July 3-13 "Okloberfest in July."
Larry Bowa, veteran Philadelphia Phillies shortstop, warmed the festival department heads with" hot stove league" commentary and baseball anecdotes in Gambrinus, a German atmosphere restaurant on Route 309 at the intersection of the Appalachian Trail.
Scott Dietrich, a festival associa-t ion vice president, said the event at Lakewood Park, Barnesville, Schuylkill County, will be "a bargain" in family entertainment and "gemutlichkeit." with general admission prices holding the line despite rising operating costs.
Activities at the 126-acre Lakewood Park site will include a half-marathon run. cycle race, snowmobile drag race, jeep rodeo, golf, Softball, rugby and soccer, plus top bands and dancers, free wine and cheese tasting, and eight tons of Belgian horses pulling a huge beer wagon throughout the park. Also, there will be delicious German pastries and breads baked daily, a German language school and amusement rides for the young and the young at heart.
A craft show from 10 a.m. to 9 p.m. daily will feature 40 craftsmen.
Other special attractions will include a high-wire act, live exhibit of rare American birds and boom-bas playing.
A new attraction will be "The Little German Band and Dancers" from Raleigh, who have taken their music back to southern Germany and Austria. The 75-piece group will be appearing July 3-5. The Hank Holler Orchestra of Cleveland, Ohio, and the Walt Groller Orchestra of Allentown, who also have played in Europe, will be among the 28 bands.
The hold-over admission is $2.50 per person (children under 12 free), and family advance tickets are $5. Group discount rates are also available by contacting the Bavarian Festival Society, Box 90, Kempton 19529.
To quench the thirst from dancing to the "oompah" music, there will be imported German Spa ten beer and Miller's and Bavarian beer. Beer can collectors are promised a field day with more than 75 imported beers to be on hand.
Lowenbrau is sponsoring the U.S. Cycling Team Race July 5, with all benefits to the Olympic cycling team. The July 6 Lite Beer Fun Run proceeds will go to the U.S. Olympic Track and Field Team. Entries for both events are available by writing to the festival association, where information is also available on the July 5-6 snowmobile races, July 12-13 Jeep rodeo, July 4-6 soccer tournament, July 12-13 rugby tournament, July 6 boom-bas competition and daily golf and Softball tournaments.
On opening day and every day, the tempting odor of an Ochsenbraterei, an outdoor ox roast over a stainless steel pit, will waft over the grounds.
February 6, 1980
Phillies display art of ‘putdown’
Jack McCallum, Call Sports Writer
The Philadelphia Phillies' caravan, which stopped at the Allentown Jewish Community Center yesterday, is an annual event that combines star-gazing, speech-making, handshaking, program-signing, question-answering and. in general, just good old-fashioned Phillies' consciousness-raising. Translation: It sells tickets.
But, most of all, it is an opportunity for the Phillies' players and management to demonstrate an art for which baseball has long been famous – the major league putdown.
The stars at yesterday's noon Allentown Kiwanis Club gathering, which drew a crowd of about 400 star-gazers at $7.25 a head, were Pete Rose and Paul Owens. Shortstop Larry Bowa was there, too. and he's not bad. possibly a top tenner in the art of putdowns. Outfielder Greg Gross and pitcher Randy Lerch rounded out the Phillies' players at the event and. while neither is known for his wit, even they came through with a couple zingers.
But both Rose and Owens, the Phillies' director of player-personnel, are shoo-ins for the Putdown Hall of Fame.
➤ "Pete Rose on the subject of Shea Stadium "I love to play there. It's like going to the zoo without paying."
➤ Rose on the subject of Greg Luzinski and Mike Schmidt: "To all you fans, boo me and not Luzinski or Schmidt. Greg was so messed up by the booing last year that he didn't know whether to wind his butt (word edited to conform to standards of a family newspaper) or scratch his watch."
➤ Rose again on the subject of Luzinski "Greg's been working hard to lose weight in the off-season. He's down to a quarter of a ton."
➤ Rose on the subject of his manager, Dallas Green "I think he's a great manager. And he's the only guy I ever hit a grand slam off of." (A fact.)
➤ Owens on the subject of his trade talks with Texas about relief pitcher Sparky Lyle "You spend eight hours with those people and you're lucky to come out with your hat."
➤ Owens in comment directed to Rose: "I have no untradeable people." Owens in comment directed to Dallas Green: "I think we have the best club in baseball. Your butt (word edited again) may be in jeopardy."
Well, you get the idea. In terms of seriousness, the Phillies' caravan is not exactly a weekend series with the Pirates. There is kind of "If-today-is-Tuesday-then-this-must-be-York" air about the caravan which trudges through various Pennsylvania cities in February to bang the drum loudly about the coming season. It is a minor miracle that the players come up with the lines they do even if they were spoken the night before in Wilkes-Barre or again last night in Hazleton.
Back to the comedy.
➤ Bowa on the subject of Paul Owens: "He is a great wheeler-dealer. Look at the acquisitions he made last year. He got us Pete Rose. He got us Greg Gross. And we went from first to fourth place.
➤ Lerch on the subject of Rose: "We better move this thing along. Rose isn't getting any younger. An ad-lib and not a bad one.
➤ Gross on the subject of Paul Owens: "They call him The Pope. His bie moment came last year when Pope John Paul came to Philadelphia and the two popes got a chance to meet. When Pope John Paul left, our Pope said to him 'Thanks for coming. And next time don 't be afraid to bring the missus." (Definitely a pre-written line.)
Oh, a little "hard news" came out in the post-luncheon press conference. Owens said he has talked to "the Baltimore people" but that Jim Palmer's name never came up. Green suggested that Gross could be something more than a "fourth outfielder" this season because he is keeping an "open mind" about Bake McBrideor Gross in right. The Phillies' spring training will be tougher and more geared to fundamentals than it was under Danny Ozark.
The Phillies will probably have only two catchers – starter Bob Boone and backup Keith Moreland. Green said Doug Rader will be in Clearwater but that he's going to have to play awfully well to show Green three catchers are needed. Outfielder Lonnie Smith and pitcher Marty Bystrom, both of whom starred at Oklahoma City last season, have the best chance of making the big club. Green will bat Bowa eighth and Manny Trillo second even though Bowa would prefer it the other way around. Green and Owens are hoping long reliever Warren Brusstar can come back from his injuries but they "aren't counting on it."
But let's leave the Phillies' caravan with the immortal words of Pete Rose "It's a good thing they didn't announce all my awards. We've got to be in the next town by 5 o'clock."
Another promise? This one could hold water because of Dallas Green
John Kunda, Executive Sports Editor
Let's see. it was the 76ers who said they owed us one. Then, they owed us two.
The Flyers? They didn't make any promises. They just went out and got us one. Another could be coming before spring sets in.
The Eagles? No promises, either, but at last count, they might owe us a dozen or more. They're getting close, or, as Dick Vermeil likes to "We are now competitive."
The Phillies?
Ah, the Phillies, the team that makes promises in February. Seems when the groundhog comes out, the Phillies come out. With predictions, too.
Let's see, the Phillies were close in 1976, 1977 and 1978. Close, that is, if you think winning the Eastern Division and getting into the National League championship series is close.
Never a World Series, not since the Whiz Kids of 1950.
Ah. but this is February, 1980, less than a month from spring training. Want to hear another promise? Can you stand it? This might be the best one yet.
"We will win it," Larry Bowa said yesterday. No hesitation, no smile. The man was dead serious. "We will win it," he repeated.
Pete Rose, sitting next to Bowa during an informal conversation, said the same thing, but, as Pete Rose usually does, he put a little more emphasis in his support. "Hell, yes, we're gonna win it," said Rose.
Now, we'll call to order the meeting of the gullible. Pardon the choice of words, but promise after promise – and believing them – equals gullible. A lot of us were caught in the same trap.
However, the 1980 promise might hold water. The talent is basically the same, and nobody will argue about the talent that more than just dots the Philadelphia lineup. You don't think, either, that one team could be hurt so physically for two consecutive seasons?'
Perhaps the biggest plus for the 1980 season is Dallas Green. Green is the reason that the 1980 promise has a better chance than ever to hold water.
On the surface, at least, Green appears to be a players' manager – a manager who can relate to his players, and gaining the respect, not losing it. along the way.
Poor Danny Ozark. He could never do it.
"Dallas is baseball smart," said Rose. "And nobody knows the Phillies organization better than he does. He's aggressive, just like I like it He knows I can't hit 50 home runs or that Larry Bowa can't hit 25. He'll get us to do what he knows we can do.”
Green is a no-nonsense guy. He is a little old-fashion in his approach, but he believes in it. He believes, too, that what is good for one Phillie is good for the other. In other words, there are no "favorite" Phillies.
Take his approach on Steve Carlton, the moody ace of the pitching staff. Carlton doesn't enjoy running, but, as Green says, "if our pitchers are instructed to run, Steve will run. too."
It is on the conditioning angle that Green will work on the most. "They (all the players) have x-amount of talent," said Green. "But to get the most out of this talent, you have to work, and working is what I plan to do most during spring training."
Rose even joked about that. "I guess he'll have us working from 8 to 5," he said, "we'll be so tired we won't be able to go to the dog track."
Green isn't planning an 8 to 5 shift at Clearwater, but he says, "when they are on the field, they'll be working."
The conditioning program has already begun, especially for those Phillies who live in the Philadelphia area. Twenty or so of them have been working out as a group at Veterans Stadium, running up to the 700 level, and exercise that Green says, "is the best leg conditioner of all."
Green, too, has been running. The 6-5 Green has slimmed down (are you listening, Greg Luzinski? I to 240 pounds. "You have to lead by example." Green says. "I just want to show them that it's not all that tough to work hard."
Green feels that he doesn't have to preach. "They finished in fourth place last year." he said. "That should be message enough. They got kicked around pretty good by the press and by the fans, as well they should. And I kicked them around for the 30 days I had them.
"I kept reminding them that it was they who fired Danny Ozark. Not me. I didn't fire Danny. They did, and they don't like hearing that."
If anything. Green feels a sense of sympathy for Ozark. One mistake that Ozark made, according to Green, was that "he knew he had the talent, but he thought the talent knew what to do. It doesn't work that way. They have to be directed. I think I can give them that."
February 12, 1980
Tony Taylor will become roving infield instructor
PHILADELPHIA (AP) – Tony Taylor, a former player and coach for the Philadelphia Phillies, will become a roving infield instructor in the team's minor league organization, it was announced yesterday.
In another appointment, former coach Paul Carey was named to manage the Bend, team in the Northwest Rookie League.
As a roving instructor, Taylor will work with young inf ielders from the triple-A level down to two rookie teams. He also will join the Phillies for the beginning of spring training.
"During the season, he'll be directed to different clubs to work with specific individuals," said Howie Bedell, director of minor leagues for the Phillies. "With his experience, I'm also toying with the idea of having him do some work with outfielders and maybe even catchers."
Taylor, 44, a native of Cuba, has 20 years experience in the major leagues. He was a coach for the Phillies during the last three years and coached and managed the Zulia, Venezuela team during the last two Winter League seasons in that country.
Carey, 26. of Scranton. was a catcher in the Phillies system from 1972 to 1975, and a coach in the minor leagues since 1975.
February 20, 1980
Sports Profiles (excerpt)
Amaro joins Phils staff
Ruben Amaro will replace Tony Taylor as the Philadelphia Phillies first base coach this season, manager Dallas Green said yesterday.
Amaro, 44, is an 11-year major league veteran and the Phillies' Coordinator of Latin American Scouting for the past six years.
Amaro, a native of Monterrey, Mexico, played for the St. Louis Cardinals, the Phillies, New York Yankees and California Angels before retiring in 1969.
February 28, 1980
*Note: There was no article on the Phillies on C12.