Camden Courier-Post - September 30, 1980

Phils rally, win in 15^th to stay on Expos’ heels

By Rusty Pray of the Courier-Post

PHILADELPHIA – It should have been one of the Phillies' more uplifting wins of the year. It should have provided inspiration for the players, the manager and the few fans who bothered to attend.

Instead, it was business as usual in a subdued club house. The manager spoke at length of selfishness. And the cheers of 21,127 fans – the second smallest crowd to see'a game in Veterans Stadium this season – had a hollow ring.

The Phillies trudged for four hours and 27 minutes through 15 innings with the Chicago Cubs last night. And, after spotting the Cubs a two-run lead in the top of the 15th, the Phils rallied to win, 6-5.

PERHAPS THE game's extraordinary length took away some of the good vibrations that should have come from a victory the Phillies had to have to remain tied in the loss column with Montreal.

The Expos, who rallied themselves to beat St. Louis, still hold a half-game lead over the Phillies in the National League East. But even if the Phillies lose the remaining three games of the Chicago series and the Expos defeat the Cards two more times, Montreal can do no better than clinch a tie before this weekend's showdown.

"We have a lot of fight in us," said reliever Tug McGraw, who pitched 2⅔ innings of shutout baseball and turned in the game's finest defensive play by diving for a popped up bunt and turning it into a double play.

"MONTREAL WON tonight," McGraw continued. "We knew we had to win. Even though it looked discouraging after they scored two runs, we bounced back and we won. Quotes, attitudes, people's feelings don't mean anything right now. It's what we do out on the field that counts. Whether it's pitching, defense or offense, somehow I think this ballclub has the ability to scrape up a win."

They scraped up this win by using three walks, a ground ball and three singles to score three times off Cub relievers Doug Capilla and Dennis Lamp. Capilla, who started the inning, gave the Phillies their last gasp by walking Lonnie Smith and Pete Rose before advancing them with a wild pitch.

Bake McBride's ensuing grounder to second scored Smith, who was one of three new faces in Manager Dallas Green's refurbished lineup. Lamp came in and got Mike Schmidt to pop up, but Garry Maddox singled home the tying run.

IT HAD come as no real surprise that Green used Smith and Keith Moreland in place of the slumping Greg Luzinski and Bob Boone. It was, however, somewhat of a suprise that Del Unser replaced Maddox in the starting lineup. Unser doubled in the 11th, then left for a pinch runner. Maddox took over in center field in the 12th.

"It (Maddox' single) was certainly a big hit, there's no question about that," said Green, his voice hoarse. "It certainly (came) at a time when we needed it. We couldn't have needed it any more than we did right today."

Moreland followed with a single to left, then Lamp walked Larry Bowa on four pitches to fill the bases. Manny Trillo, gratefully, applied the clincher, grounding a 1-1 pitch through the middle to score Maddox.

"WE'VE HAD our share of frustrating moments offensively," sighed Green. "It looked like tonight was going to be another one. There's just so long pitchers can hang on and throw zeroes at them. I guess we got to be a couple runs down before we get anything moving.

"But we did. You got to say that was a clutch win. We got some good, clutch hitting in that particular inning. Maybe that'll be the catalyst that will put us over the hump. Something's got to jar us out of putting zeroes up for ourselves."

Dickie Noles, the sixth of seven Phillie pitchers, nearly jarred the game from the Phillies' grasp in the top of the 15th. By then, the Cubs were out of pinchhitters, Manager Joe Amalfitano sending pitcher Lynn McGlothen in to pinchhit for reliever Bill Caudill, who was scheduled to bat first.

NOLES WALKED McGlothen on four pitches. An out later, Noles threw a potential double-play ball into center field, putting runners at the corners. Green replaced Noles with Kevin Saucier, who yielded a sacrifice fly to Scot Thompson and a run-scoring double to Carlos Lezcano before striking out Jim Tracy.

"You hate to keep playing all night and lose a game by walking a pitcher and making an error on a double-play ball," said Rose. "But we bounced back. This is going to prove to a lot of teams that we didn't die. It could breed some momentum."

PHIL UPS – It was the second time this season Phils have scored three runs in the 15th to beat the Cubs... Other was in Chicago Aug. 11, a suspended game following four straight losses to the Pirates... Phils and Cubs used a total of 45 players in game (Cubs 24, Phils 21)... Major league record is 51 by Phillies and Cardinals in 1974... Two clubs used 14 pitchers (seven each), falling one short of the National League record set by Cards and Phillies in 1954... Green's pitching plans for the rest of the week: Marty Bystrom tonight against McGlothen; Steve Carlton tomorrow; Bob Walk on Thursday... That means Dick Ruthven will open the Montreal series Friday, Larry Christenson, last night's starter, will go Saturday and Carlton on Sunday.

Do Phillies have own Watergate?

By Ray W. Kelly of the Courier-Post

PHILADELPHIA – The Phillies are going to have their own Watergate. And, just as surely as John Dean once told Richard Nixon, "there is a cancer on the Presidency", Phils Manager Dallas Green has decided to cure the ugliness within his own organization at all costs.

For Green has seen the egotistical monsters that lurk inside the confines of the clubhouse devouring those who would oppose them, mocking authority and demanding, as they have for the past seven years, that their own desires be met before unity and victory is allowed to develop.

"I wouldn't be surprised that there aren't a few out there (nodding toward the clubhouse) rooting against us... not to win this thing," said Green in a shocking interview that gave one the impression that behind the scenes of the Phils' 6-5, 15-inning victory over Chicago last evening, some very disturbing truths are being revealed.

Obviously, if there is a revolt brewing in the belly of Veterans Stadium, it has been perking for quite a while. For, Green admitted, "Nothing is going to be changed in a year, especially after being ingrained for seven years.

"I've checked up on some things and watched how they (the players) attended to their business. It's almost back to the 'We're going to do it our way' type of thing."

A major reason for Green's frustrations to reach a fever pitch was a five-minute radio show that shortstop Larry Bowa tapes for Philly's station WWDB, which last evening featured his feelings on the manager's lineup changes.

Transcripts of the show had Bowa saying, "Dallas said he's going to let the veterans go to the hilt. To me, this is not letting them go to the hilt. If he is going to let Lonnie (Smith) and Keith (Moreland) play, then I'm sure he's going to let them play the Expos in Montreal.

"He can't sit (Bob) Boone and (Greg) Luzinski for four days and then, when we go against Montreal, say, 'okay, go get them, again.'"

Green insisted he hadn't heard the broadcast. Good thing. He wouldn't have liked the part where Bowa says, "In order for them (Boone and Luzinski) to find their batting strokes and batting eyes, they have to play every day.

"Don't just throw them in against the Expos. Dallas is trying to shake things up, which is understandable. But, on the other hand, he's talking out the side of his mouth by saying he wants to stay with the veterans."

After a month of waiting for the veterans' bats to respond, Green drew the line with the gloomy performance against the Expos this past weekend. He says the revised lineup he played last night will start tonight's game.

"I'm not going to get into a (bleeping) contest with Bowa," said Green angrily. "If I were ever to open up on Larry Bowa, he'd never play another inning in Philadelphia... and that's official!

"I feel deep down Larry really wants to win. But, I think he tries to be more than Larry Bowa can be. I think he tries to handle more than Larry Bowa can handle."

Asked if he thought the root of the team's problem was large contracts, Green shook his head sadly and said, "I don’t think it's fat contracts. I think it's a total rebellion on authority."

Green was quick to point out that he wasn't making blanket statements about the entire team, noting that although there were "degrees of desire," he felt that 90 percent of the players were with his program.

Hinting at some major changes during this coming winter, Dallas noted that some of the "caring players" would surprise people. How did he define caring?

"Are they willing to put everything aside?" he asked. "Can they say, 'I don't care what's happening at home, in the club house or with the manager? Can they just go and say, "We, not I?"

Throwing up his hands, the manager asked, "What do I get out of it if we win, except pride for the organization? They may give a weaker guy an ulcer. But, they won't give me no (bleeping) ulcer.

"I could quit. That's what Danny (Ozark) did after seven years. He just threw it to them. He said, ‘Here, do it your way'... and, I can see why."

The former farm director replaced Ozark at the end of the 1979 season with the idea of discovering the problems plaguing the Phillies and to evaluate the players.

"Some guys who care would really surprise you," he said. "I didn't know it during the 30 days (at the end of last season). I do know now.

"It's all the little things they continue to do. which I don't particularly care for. I just have a feeling that part of the problem is, we haven't paid attention to what we're trying to do. I can't tell them any plainer than I have.

"These guys need to have it their own way."

Dallas Green has decided that above everything else, this is the most distressing problem of a team that, for all its unhappiness and turmoil, remains just a half-game behind the division-leading Expos.

"The pot of gold is there," said the manager with the hoarse voice and sad look. "All we've got to do is take it."

Whether they do or not, the Phillies have given their manager the impression that, after a year of treatment, the disease of spirit remains. And, the only option left is surgery.