Major League Baseball

Inside Baseball: Phillies' first two games recall entertaining 1980 run

Published Oct. 10, 2010 10:11 p.m. ET

share

facebookxredditlink

foxsports

CINCINNATI - Maybe it's no coincidence that the Phillies took off like bats out of hell when Greg Gross joined them as hitting coach.

Even though their 2010 postseason is only two games old, it's already beginning to resemble the most consistently riveting October in Phillies history, 1980, when Gross was a premier pinch-hitter for the franchise's first world champions.

As entertaining as the Phils' World Series seasons were in 2008 and 2009, they lacked, with few exceptions, the breathless, relentless, back-and-forth drama that accompanied the remarkable run in '80.

There was Greg Luzinski's homer in Game 1 of the NLCS. Manny Trillo's relays. The pinch-hits by Del Unser. Gross' drag bunts. The triple play that wasn't. Pete Rose decking Bruce Bochy. The winning rally against Nolan Ryan. Dickie Noles knocking George Brett on his hemorrhoids. And, finally, Tug McGraw lifting his arms in joyful relief.

"When you go through things like that and games like that and you win them, you pick up some confidence," said Gross. "You might be losing, but you think: 'Something's going to happen. We're going to find a way to win.' That's how we felt in that postseason."

Now, exactly 30 years later, the Phils' first two playoff games again have Philadelphia buzzing like one of Aroldis Chapman's fastballs.

If the first two games are any indication, they seem to be channeling their 1980 counterparts, providing fans and those stuck in the dugout with agita and one indelible memory after another.

"It's a lot easier in those situations when you're a player," said Gross. "Then you're preparing, or you're in the field playing. The rest of us, all we can do is watch and hope."

Philadelphia already has endured the electric burst of energy that accompanied and followed Halladay's historic Game 1 no-hitter. Then, two nights later, the city watched as the Phils came back from a 4-0, fifth-inning deficit. And along the way, there was Chase Utley's trippy trip around the bases, and the pitches that ricocheted scarily off Carlos Ruiz's knee and the brim of Ben Francisco's shiny red helmet.

"Things that happened [Friday], you might never see again," said Phils manager Charlie Manuel.

And, with anywhere from three to 17 games left, who knows what you'll see from here on. As Gross said, all you can do is savor and remember.

Admit it, if you're over 40, until this team came along, you probably doubted you'd ever see another Phillies era like the one that culminated in 1980's world championship.

Sure there was the grimy aberration of 1993, but for much of the last three decades you probably griped about management's thrift. You wanted Jim Leyland instead of Manuel. You demanded big-ticket, big-name free agents. Your allegiance fluctuated like Andy Reid's quarterback thinking.

And then Citizens Bank Park opened, draftees from those lean years blossomed, Manuel won his players' respect, and perhaps the best Phillies team in the franchise's 127-year history began to develop.

There was a similar trajectory in '80.

The Vet opened in '71. Instead of Richie Ashburn as manager, they got a beagle-faced, malaprop-spewing Danny Ozark. Youngsters from the system joined with trade-captured veterans until, 30 years after their last pennant, the Phillies finally won it all.

"Once we got our confidence, we were a different team," Gross said of 1980. "And this team had been through games like the one they won Friday. When you win them, it makes you a better player.

"And when you've won it all once, that also makes you a better team. It's like the Yankees or the Big Red Machine here used to be. Even when they're not hitting, the team they're playing kind of knows sooner or later they're going to find a way."

According to Gross, the Phillies' '80 championship, rather than sating their hunger, stimulated it.

"These guys have won and they want to win more," he said. "It's that wanting to win that drives these guys, not the money. People think all these guys care about is the money. It's not, believe me."

If money were the sole motivating factor, the playoff participants would likely be determined in April when the opening-day payrolls are ranked.

In some cases, and to some degree, that's precisely how it works. The Yankees ($206.3 million) and Phillies ($141.9 million), the favorites to meet again in the 2010 World Series, were two of the four highest-salaried clubs when the season dawned.

But an astounding six of the eight teams with the highest opening-day payrolls did not make it to postseason - the No. 2 Red Sox, No. 3 Cubs, No. 5 Mets, No. 6 Tigers, No. 7 White Sox, and No. 8 Angels.

On the other side of that coin, the Rangers' April payroll of $55.2 million was lower than all but three teams. And the Padres, who at $37.8 million were outspent by everyone but the Pirates, didn't get eliminated until the season's final day.

Contact staff writer Frank Fitzpatrick at 215-854-5068 or ffitzpatrick@phillynews.com.

share

Get more from Major League Baseball Follow your favorites to get information about games, news and more

in this topic

Major League Baseball