The Phillies will mark the 20th anniversary of the franchise's only world championship on Saturday when some of the members of the 1980 squad return to Philadelphia for a reunion and celebration. It would be a safe assumption that anybody wearing red pinstripes would relish the event, but one member of the team has a different perspective.
Hal McRae, who is in his fourth season as the Phillies' hitting coach, played in the 1980 World Series for the Kansas City Royals, so he might not be looking forward to the party as much as everyone else.
"It was my first World Series with Kansas City, so it was exciting and a lot of fun," McRae said good-naturedly.
Like the Phillies, the Royals had won their division a couple of times previously only to come up short in the League Championship Series. Kansas City was making its first trip to the big dance in 1980, and Philadelphia was appearing for the first time in 30 years, also after losing in the playoffs a few times. By many accounts, the two teams matched up pretty well heading into the fall classic.
"I thought we did," agreed McRae, "and I thought that we were going to win, but the Phillies were better than we were for the week or ten days that we played. The thing that I remember most about the series was that the Phillies were able to use their bench, and we weren't. We were leading in most of the games, but we weren't able to hold the lead because their bench hurt us late in the games.
"The best pinch-hitters (on both teams) were left-handed, but the Phillies' best reliever, Tug McGraw, was also left-handed, and our best reliever was right-handed. Dan Quisenberry was an outstanding reliever, but he was a right-handed submariner, and the Phillies had (Del) Unser and (Greg) Gross on the bench, and those guys hurt us. I thought that was one of the biggest differences in the series."
McGraw caught on fire and won five games and saved five more down the stretch. Quisenberry was one of the top relief pitchers in the American League at the time, and his under-handed delivery befuddled a lot of batters.
Gross has the most pinch hits in Phillies history (117), and Unser led the bench with a .316 average as a pinch-hitter in 1980. He drove in the tying run and scored the winning run in the 3-2 victory in the pivotal fifth game in Kansas City to allow the Phillies to return home to capture the crown at the Vet.
Many people believe the series actually turned in the fourth game when pitcher Dickie Noles, then a hot-headed 23-year-old, upended future hall of famer George Brett, who hit .390 and was the American League MVP in 1980.
"I thought that (incident) sparked the Phillies," said McRae. "It didn't really deter us, but it was a great knockdown pitch — one of the better ones that I've ever seen. (Noles) couldn't intimidate George, but I thought (the knockdown) inspired the Phillies."
Philadelphia took a 4-1 lead into the ninth inning of game six, but Kansas City loaded the bases with one out. Frank White then lofted the now-legendary pop fly toward the Phillies' dugout that glanced off the glove of catcher Bob Boone and into the hands of first baseman Pete Rose. Then the horses and police dogs arrived on the field.
"We were surprised, but it was a welcome sight for us because we knew that the fans wouldn't come onto the field," said McRae. "We had been in the playoffs with the Yankees a couple of times in New York where they didn't have (such) security, and we had to fight for our lives to get off the field (when the Yankees clinched the series)."
Then McGraw struck out Willie Wilson to begin the celebration that will be commemorated on Saturday. The event has been heavily hyped, and apparently there has been no shortage of people to remind McRae about it.
"I'd been watching the (promotional) videos for about two weeks, and I finally told Dallas Green that I was tired of getting beat up every night," he chuckled. "Somebody's always saying, 'Our guys are beating up your guys again.' But there are fun memories for me, and I won't have any regrets when the Phillies hold their celebration. It's well-deserved, so I'm just going to enjoy the experience.""
Visit the Phillies Web site.