Wilmington Evening Journal - September 8, 1980
Phillies fatigued, says Green
By Hal Bodley, Sports Editor
LOS ANGELES – It has been a month since Dallas Green's tirade in Pittsburgh, a week since Paul Owens' tongue lashing In San Francisco. And in another month, it will all be over.
The Phillies, gasping for a breath of fresh air, limped out of Dodger Stadium last night on the eve of what they're calling the second season.
The Dodgers had just whipped them 6-0 to win three out of four games, but there were no sermons, no lectures, no yelling and shouting. Instead, Green's office under the great stadium was quiet.
Green knew this was no time for any counseling. Instead, he admitted his troops were fatigued. The bats are tired and the arms are weary. That showed as Dave Goltz and Bobby Castillo limited the Phils to just three singles for an easy victory over ineffective Dick Ruthven.
"We're going home and the rest of the season is against teams in our division," said Green. "We're going head to head with them. That's the way we want it. I've said all along this division is going down to the wire and I think we are going to win it.
"Tomorrow night we are not going to take batting practice. I want them to put on the uniform and play the game. They all need rest, but the best I can do for them is three or four innings. They've got 27 games to play and there's no way they're going to get a week off now."
The Phils completed the 11-game road trip with a 6-5 record, leaving them 72-63 overall. They trail first-place Montreal (74-63) by a game, with Pittsburgh (72-65) in third place two games back.
A quick glance at the schedule for the three contenders in the East would give the Phillies the edge. Of their 27 remaining games, they have six with the Expos and four with the Pirates, beginning tonight with the two-game set at Veterans Stadium. They have seven left with the Cubs, six with the Cardinals and four with the Mets. Their only remaining double-header is Friday night at the Vet with St. Louis.
In addition, after they complete a seven-game road trip that starts on Sept. 16 in Pittsburgh, they come home on Sept. 24 for nine games with the Mets, Expos and Cubs. The season ends with a three-game weekend series beginning on Oct. 3 in Montreal.
The Expos have 25 games left, including five with the Pirates and six with the Phils. They have six left with the Cards and four each with the Mets and Cubs. Beginning on Sept. 16, however, they have a 12-game road trip before returning home for the final weekend against the Phils. Their only remaining double-header is tomorrow night at home against the Mets.
The Pirates have 25 games left, five with the Expos and four with the Phils. They have six games with the Cubs and Mets and four with the Cards. They have no double-headers scheduled.
"You can talk about the schedule and everything else," said Green, "but we just have to play grind-it-out baseball. We have to bet these teams. We cannot do it by scoring one or two runs a game. We just have to put our moods and our personal problems aside and go out and play baseball."
One of the problems facing Green is the probable loss of Larry Chris- tenson for one or two starts. Christenson reinjured his pulled groin on Saturday night while covering Dusty Baker's ground ball.
"I can't keep sending him out there if he is going to break down," said Green. "We're going to have to run somebody else out against the Mets."
The choice will probably be rookie Marty Bystrom.
Ruthven, who had won four straight decisions and six of seven, just didn't have it yesterday. But Rufus seldom does nave it against the Dodgers. Yesterday's setback left him with a 2-12 lifetime record against them.
"It just wasn't Ruthven's day," said Green. "He struggled all the way; he couldn't control anything. But we compounded it by not getting him any hits. This certainly wasn't one of our best games.
"This goes back to what I have been saying all year. We can't let this loss or any of the three losses bother us. We have to put those behind us and go out and get the Pirates. There's no sense panicking. We have to put everything else out of our minds."
"You can take all the negatives you want," said Mike Schmidt. "We went to the West Coast and we went 6-5. We could have come to the West Coast and been four or five games out by now. So, this was a pivotal trip for us, and I think we came through it fine."
Schmidt does not buy Green's fatigue theory.
"Is that the theme for today? he asked. "Guys don't get hits, everybody assumes they've got to be tired, right? Well, they might be tired, but I don't think that's the right approach to take."
EXTRA POINTS - Davey Lopes, who drove in two runs, and Steve Garvey each had two hits to lead the Dodgers' 10-hit attack...Goltz had to leave the game in the fourth after he twisted his right ankle covering first base...The Phils ended the season with a 6-6 record against the Dodgers and 41-31 against the Western Division teams...The shutout loss was the 11th compared to five victories...The Dodgers won 10 of 11 games on their homestand...The Phils sent Bob Walk home early yesterday afternoon to rest for tonight's start against the Pirates' Don Robinson...Steve Carlton (21-8) will face John Candelaria (10-13) tomorrow night at 8:15...The Phils, who were 18-11 in September last Sear, are 4-3 so far this month...Tim McCarver batted for Warren Brusstar in the fifth inning and became the first catcher to play in four decades.