Tuesday, June 21, 2011

I WASN'T GOING TO WRITE TONIGHT - BUT I DID

The LSF has been fighting off a cold the past couple of days and was going to be smart and hit the sack early. The past two days saw three hour naps each day in an attempt to beat off a dreaded summer cold. I'll tell you how much I hate a summer cold - I would rather go through treatment for prostate cancer again than have a cold this time of year. Do you need more explanation of how much I hate summer colds?

I wasn't going to write tonight, and I wasn't going to have any of the heavenly hash I bought today. No, tonight was going be a night the LSF fan took care of himself. Shit, I've even eaten green veggies the past two nights - which is not something I normally do. I hate vegetables if they are not in a salad. I an a carnivorous animal and apologize to no one for that. Tonight I was going to give my immune system a break and then hit the sack early.

As you can see, I am writing - something I wasn't going to do. Did I do anything else I said I wasn't going to do? Use your fucking imagination or ask yourself what you would do in my situation?

So, let's see, the last time we were together, the Phillies had completed an awesome home stand against the Cubs and the Marlins. Their season long slumbering bats came alive and even Superstar was starting to act like one. It looked easy, and regular Kool-Aid drinkers were calling the Phillies ticket office to order their World Series tickets. The LSF certainly enjoyed the offensive fireworks, but said "not so fast" on sipping the Kool-Aid. I looked ahead at the schedule and saw that the next two opponents were good teams. I refer to the Mariners and the Cardinals. Hmm, I thought, these games will tell us just how much the bats had come alive - I mean even I would have had to give them credit if they were able to win these series. So far I do not have to give my credit away.

Well I'm glad I didn't buy any Kool-Aid because, against the Mariners, the Phillies bats folded like a cheap Jos. A. Banks suit. In yesterday's game, Superstar went two for four, but the Phillies were shut out by a pitcher named Vargas. There used to be cartoonist in Playboy named Vargas, but I don't think he is the same guy. Calm down, I only bought Playboy for the articles. I bought Hustler for the pictures.

The Phillies have had the ability to beat up on the bad teams while not doing so well against the good teams. They caught a "break" with Pujols' injury so they might be able to take the Cardinals. Albert had gotten hot, and I'm sure he was looking forward to showing Howard how a real superstar plays the game. We'll see what happens, but once again I would not bet my net worth on the Phillies winning this series.

Earlier, I got a call from Scott who was watching a rebroadcast of game five of the 1980 World Series. I checked it out and enjoyed it more than I enjoy watching the Phillies lose games they should win. Anyway, heading into game five, the series was tied at two games each. Let me hop into the wayback machine and set the table for game five...

The Phillies, who hadn't won a series game since the 1915 fall classic, won games one & two at Veterans Stadium. The Royals, led by George Brett, Amos Otis, U.L. Washington, Dan Quisenberry, and current Pirate manager Clint Hurdle, won games three & four in K.C. Whoever won game five would head back to Philly needing only one win out of the two games to win the title.

Let's jump to the seventh inning with the Royals ahead 3-2. Manager Dallas Green puts in closer Frank Edwin "Tug" McGraw, Jr. McGraw would finish the game. I guess pitch counts didn't matter back then. The Tugger was in trouble in all three innings and had to pitch out of a bases-loaded jam in the bottom of the ninth.

The Phillies managed to score two runs in the top of the eighth, and went into the ninth holding on to a one run lead. McGraw's screwball deserted him in the ninth and there we were, bottom of the ninth, two outs, bases loaded, with the winning run at second base. When McGraw patted his heart after a very long drive that went foul at the very end Joe Garagiola, who was calling the game along with Tom Seaver, said that McGraw's pacemaker had gone bad on that long foul. After a conference on the mound with coach Herman Starette and the Phillies infield, McGraw reached down into his heart and struck out the batter to end the game - sending the team back to the Vet with a 3-2 series lead which ,after the next game, would give the team its first World Championship.

On the wall next to my keyboard is one of my most prized possessions. I took the 1981 baseball cards of the 1980 Phillies starters. I framed it and as I write tonight I am able to see what our guys looked like in game five. At first base was Pete "Charlie Hustle" Rose. It's a good thing cell phones hadn't been invented then or Pete could have spoken with his bookie throughout the game. Pete Rose is one of Johnny Dollar's favorite players. At second was Manny "Indio" Trillo, with Larry "Gnat" Bowa at short and "Iron" Mike Schmidt at third. Schmidt, who normally struck out when the money was on the table, hit .381 for the series, and hit a critical home run in game five. Greg "The Bull" Luzinski nearing the end of his Phillies career was in left, Gary "The Secretary of Defense" Maddox was in center, and Shake n' Bake McBride was in right. Behind the plate was Bob Boone, a slightly better-than-journeyman player was the son of longtime Detroit Tiger Ray Boone, and the father of Brett and Aaron. That's three generations of MLB All Stars. The only pitcher on my wall is Steve "Lefty" Carlton. What can I say? The guy was and is crazy as a loon, but could pitch a baseball.

The best part of watching game five was the theatrics of home plate umpire Dutch Rennert. Rennert was considered one the best umpires in the league. The guy worked in six NL Championship Series and three World Series. This was in the era when umpiring crews were selected by merit, not on the rotating basis we have now. The league was smart in doing it that way. They wanted the best umps in the most important games.

Rennert would begin each pitch positioned almost in a crouch. He got a better look at the pitch that way. He had what might be the greatest strike call I have ever seen. What follows has been taken from Wikepdia. This isn't college - I have no reason to not give credit where credit is due. I mean this isn't a term paper being written while on black beauties the night before the thing is due.

On called strikes to right handers, his style was to turn and face the first base dugout, raise his right arm and call strike. Next came an exaggerated step forward on his left foot, keeping his right planted. Then he would call what number the strike was. With left handed hitters he would step forward, squat to his right knee and call the strike.

When he made the strike call, he sounded like one of those Japanese officers in a WWII movie yelling "BANZAI!" The guy had style, and rarely missed a call.

The other nice part about watching the rebroadcast was all visual. From the uniforms, the concrete astro-turf, the big boy bats that had some of the players choking up, the afros, the stirrup socks, and the watching of guys my age when they were young. I certainly remember those days when nothing hurt when I woke up and I was busy changing a certain editor's shitty diapers. Nobody ever shit more than my editor, and in very strange colors.

Lastly, I couldn't help notice how many African-Americans there were on both teams. The Royals were loaded with black players. The Phillies started three, and had two on the bench. The current Phils roster includes Howard, Rollins, Brown, Francisco, and if someone gets hurt, Mayberry, but in today's major leagues, most of the non-white players are foreign born and from Latin America. For whatever reason, there are less young African-Americans playing baseball today, and the sport is poorer for their absence.

That's it for now. Onward to St. Louis where Superstar will get to play in front of his people.

No comments:

Post a Comment