Wilmington Morning News - March 19, 1980

Phils mound trip shines in defeat

By Hal Bodley, Sports Editor

CLEARWATER, Fla. - Dallas Green is the first to admit he has run a tough spring-training camp. He is also the first to admit the grueling grind will take its toll.

"I fully expect us to get a little stale," said the new manager. "There's not much you can do about it. After that happens, we will pick up and aim for the National League opener so that we peak about then."

Yesterday, the Phillies made a tiring bus trip across the state to Daytona Beach and watched their three-game Grapefruit League winning streak go down the drain. Montreal scored two runs in the eighth inning off loser Ron Reed for a 2-0 victory that left the Phils with a 3-2 exhibition record.

"I think the pitchers tend to get in a slump in the spring more than everyday players," said Green. "Overall, though, I don't think that has happened. We just didn't have much punch today and the fact the Expos pulled off three double plays kept us from getting anything going.”

From the Phillies' standpoint, there was very little to cheer about except for the pitching of Steve Carlton, Scott Munninghoff and Doug Bird.

Carlton worked four strong innings, allowing just one single, a walk and two strikeouts. Nine of his outs were in the infield.

"You have to be pleased the way Lefty threw," said Green of Carlton. "Even though this is only his second outing, I thought he had good velocity, fine control and even broke off a few sliders. He is just about where he should be at this stage of the spring."

Munninghoff and Doug Bird pitched shutout baseball until Reed took over.

Montreal snapped the scoreless tie in the eighth when Ken Macha singled to center with the bases loaded and moments later Tommy Hutton waited out a walk with the bases full.

"Ron was having some trouble with his rhythm today," said Green. "He had fairly good velocity, but his control suffered. You just don't see him walk guys the way he did today. Like I was saying, it is one of those things that happens in spring training. There's no need to be concerned at this stage."

"A typical spring outing," said Reed, who pitched one scoreless inning last Friday. "I was all over the plate. If this were the last start down here, I would not be happy. This is all part of the routine."

Munninghoff has allowed just one earned run in two outings and people are beginning to wonder if he might make the pitching staff.

"It's too early to talk about that," said Green, who refuses to put him self on the spot with a rookie.

"What would it take for Munninghoff to make the staff?" somebody asked.

"Consistency, said Green. "So far, he has shown me that down here. His biggest problem during his first three years in pro ball has been the fact he has not been consistent. He has a chance, though, to be a good one. He needs to let his fastball do its work. It has excellent movement."

"I know they are not counting on me this year," said Munninghoff, who was drafted first by the Phils in June of 1977. "I suspect they have me ticketed for Oklahoma City, but Dallas is giving me a chance to pitch down here, so they will know a little bit about me."

Munninghoff had a 14-9 record in the Eastern League at Reading last year, with a 3.73 earned run average. In three seasons he has a 31-21 record with 189 strikeouts. Last season he punched out 89.

EXTRA POINTS - The Phillies were close to a deal with Los Angeles, Garry Maddox for pitcher Don Sutton... Sutton, however, reportedly killed the trade, saying he would never sit in the visiting dugout at Dodger Stadium... That would leave Los Angeles no other option but to trade him to an American League team – if they deal him... Yesterday's game was reeled off in an hour and 51 minutes... Hal Dues was the winning pitcher... The Phils out-hit the Expos 6-5... Today, Montreal makes the trip here, with Randy Lerch going against Ross Grimsley.

Breakthrough

Baseball owners withdraw salary scale proposal

By Hal Bock, AP Sports Writer

NEW YORK - In the first significant breakthrough after weeks of fruitless talks, major league baseball owners withdrew their controversial salary scale proposal in negotiations with the the players association yesterday.

Ray Grebey, chief negotiator for the owners, met for 3½ hours with Marvin Miller, executive director of the players association, in Fort Lauderdale, Fla., and announced the move that could open the way to a settlement of the conflict.

The pay scale proposal, setting limits on salaries for the first six years of a player's major league career, was a major stumbling block in negotiations.

When Miller outlined that proposal and another calling for compensation for free-agent signings to the executive board of the players association earlier this month, that group voted to authorize a strike on or after April 1. Subsequent votes by individual teams have supported that position with only one player of the 12 teams polled opposing strike action. The executive board is scheduled to meet again in Dallas April 1 to decide on its next step.

In removing the scale proposal, the owners said players with less than five years experience would be limited to one-year contracts.

Grebey called the action a plan for settling the conflict and said that the players association had responded by modifying some of its proposals and withdrawing some others during yesterday's session. Grebey called the new position "the basis for settlement," of the negotiations which have been going on for some 16 weeks without much visible progress.

"In the total the clubs' proposals provide a firm and fair basis for agreement," he said. "This is particularly true when consideration is given to the other facts involved.

"There is no reason why baseball should not start the season on time. The basis for settlement is in place."

Miller was not immediately available for comment on the new development.

It was expected, however, that the Players Association would continue to balk at any compensation clause for free agents, fearing such a step would place severe limits on the market.

Earlier yesterday, management negotiators had distributed to the offices of Commissioner Bowie Kuhn, the two leagues and individual clubs an outline of their negotiation proposals, urging that it be made public. That was a reversal of previous policy when Grebey insisted he would not "negotiate in the press."

The owners' proposals on free agent compensation calls for retaining current eligibility and procedures but establishes a formula for compensation. A player drafted by three clubs or less could sign without his new team required to pay any compensation. If four to seven teams selected the free agent the team affected would receive an amateur draft choice. If eight to 13 clubs chose the player, the team involved would get an amateur draft choice plus one major or minor league player not on the team's 15-man protected list.

The player relations committee noted that under the proposal only 39 players would have been affected in the last four years.