Phillies 23, Cubs 22....
 

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....

Phils 7, Cubs 6 after the first inning. The Phils then took a huge lead and the Cubs were never out of it. The greatest slugfest of our generation--complete with Hall of Famer Bruce Sutter as the losing pitcher and Hall of Famer Mike Schmidt as one of the slugging stars.

Here's the box score:

Retrosheet Boxscore: Philadelphia Phillies 23, Chicago Cubs 22

And yet, they were major league umpires.

I watched that game when it happened. And I remember the home runs and Randy Lerch (pitchers for the Phillies) hitting one in the top of the first inning and getting shelled in the bottom of the first.

And yet I don't remember the umpires and don't really care who was working that game.

It's cool that they swung the bat and made it not matter so much. I recorded that game when it was on ESPN Classic, and I'm going to pick apart the umpiring the next time I watch it and see if there were any glaring blown calls.

Okay, so this happened 30 years ago, what is your point?
Were you involved?
Were you a player?
Were you one of the umpires?
Did you bet on the game?

Who really cares! :rolleyes:

He who is without sin let him cast the first stone:D

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

Oh no! I'm on the side of the umpires, and I hope that after careful review, their work is excellent. No envy here.

Okay, now I've gathered up all my rocks....;)