I thought that this might be a little primer for the Dodgers-Phillies NLCS that starts tonight.
Philadelphia and Los Angeles have met in the NLCS four times. The Dodgers won in 1977 and 1978. The Phillies won in 1983 and 2008.
The Phillies probably could have won in 1977, but there was this little thing called Game Three or "Black Friday".
The Phillies led 5-3 with two out and nobody on base in the top of the ninth. Gene Garber, the closer, had retired the first two batters. Then, the Dodgers were down to their last strike and...
pinch-hitter Vic Davalillo shocked the Phillies infield by laying down an 0–2 drag bunt and beating it out. Lasorda then sent another pinch hitter, Manny Mota, to hit for pitcher Lance Rautzhan. Mota sent a deep drive to left that Greg Luzinski trapped against the wall. Ted Sizemore then mishandled Luzinski's peg attempt at second to try to nail Mota, scoring Davalillo and sending Mota to third. Phillie manager Danny Ozark came under fire later from the media for not having Jerry Martin, a faster outfielder, in left field at that point. Martin, many felt, would have reached Mota's liner easier than the bigger, slower Luzinski.The Dodgers went up 2-1 in the series and won Game Four in Philly to advance to the World Series against the Yankees.
Davey Lopes followed by hitting a blistering grounder to third that took a wicked hop and struck Mike Schmidt in the left knee. Larry Bowa retrieved the carom out of the air, fired to first, and appeared to have retired Lopes, but Lopes was called safe. TV replays showed that Bowa's throw beat Lopes.[citation needed] Meanwhile, Mota scored to tie the game at 5–5.
Garber, in an attempt to pick off Lopes at first, threw wildly past Hebner, sending Lopes to second. Bill Russell then singled to center to score Lopes with the go-ahead run. Mike Garman retired the side in the ninth for the Dodgers, who narrowly escaped defeat.
They still take it a little hard in Philly.
That would be a link to an abstract of a paper written by an Associate Professor of Law Writing at Villanova. It's title is: The Fall of the 1977 Phillies: How a Baseball Team's Collapse Sank a City's Spirit.
The events that unfolded both in the stands and on the field at the Vet during the afternoon of what has become known in Philadelphia simply as Black Friday (October 7, 1977) would forever change how Philadelphians viewed the Phillies and ultimately themselves. After Black Friday (considered by some to be the worst single moment in Phillies history, eclipsing even their infamous 1964 collapse), Philadelphians would question whether things really were as different with both their team and their city as they were led to believe.Whoa.
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