[GoodwillRef]

Originally Posted by ASA/NYSSOBLUE

Today is the 30th anniversary of this boondoggle of a game - the wind was blowing out at Wrigley, and Kingman hit 3 dingers, and Schmidt hit 2..between the two teams there were 50 base hits - with 11 of them for HRs. Its amazing that, even with bigger players, smaller ballparks and striek zones, no one has come close to this game. Our local cable set up in those days included the Phillies TV outlet, and I remember getting off work at the store I was employed at, and seeing about 20 people camped out in the TV dept watching this game.

Why bring this up here? Because I happened to look the game up on Retrosheet, and lo and behold, there were four names listed as umpires I have never heard of : Dick Cavenaugh, Dennis Lawson, Dennis Riccio, and Dave Slickenmeyer. THAT'S when it hit me that this was at the tail end of the big 1979 strike, when MLB actually used amateur umps to fill in....

These poor guys were in wayyy over their heads, and when reading the Retrosheet umpiire logs, its stupefying to realize these guys were basically homers, who only umped games in their local area...and in both leagues! And I'll bet they only got $100 a game or so....

Wow...30 years ago...I remember watching that game...I was 8 then!