BEWARE THE 22ND OF JULY
The night of July 22 will not soon be forgotten in Cincinnati and
St. Louis. Two brawls, nine ejections, three pitchers used as
outfielders or pinch hitters and a near fight between managers Whitey
Herzog of St. Louis and Roger Craig of San Francisco marked the
colorful evening.
Among the strange happenings in Cincinnati: The Mets tied the game
3-3 in the ninth when Dave Parker missed a routine fly ball. In the
top of the 10th, Darryl Strawberry was ejected for protesting a
called third strike by umpire Gerry Davis, and Reds coach Billy
DeMars was ejected for claiming that the Mets' Howard Johnson
intentionally kicked a dropped third strike away from catcher Bo
Diaz. Also, Mets manager Davey Johnson used pitcher Rick Aguilera as
a pinch hitter for Doug Sisk. Aguilera walked. In the bottom of the
10th, Reds outfielder Eric Davis stole third and elbowed Ray Knight,
who belted Davis with a right cross and triggered a 15-minute brawl
that led to four ejections -- two Mets and two Reds. That left
Johnson's 24-man roster so thin that he had to put Gary Carter at
third and pitcher Roger McDowell in rightfield with Jesse Orosco on
the mound. Johnson protested the game because he felt it unfair that
he lost Mitchell, who had been playing, while the Reds lost Mario
Soto, who hadn't been.
McDowell switched positions with Orosco to get the last out in the
10th. With two out in the bottom of the 11th, Johnson put Orosco back
on the mound, sent McDowell to leftfield, and moved Mookie Wilson
from left to right for the Reds' lefthanded-hitting Max Venable. Reds
manager Pete Rose then protested the game, claiming Orosco, already
in the game, shouldn't have been allowed the eight warmup pitches he
took. McDowell went back to pitching in the 13th and got Tony Perez
to line out to Orosco. Orosco drew a walk in a 14th-inning rally, and
the Mets finally won 6-3.
In St. Louis the Giants were angered when the Cardinals' Vince
Coleman stole second and third in the fifth inning with a 10-2 lead.
In the seventh, Giants' reliever Frank Williams brushed Coleman back,
then drilled him in the foot. In the ensuing fight, Herzog and Craig
tried to get at one another. Herzog threw Joel Youngblood to the
ground, San Francisco ace pitcher Mike Krukow hurt his ribs (he went
on the DL) tackling Coleman, and Tommy Herr got a cut near his ear
that required eight stitches.
''We can't hit with them; we have to run to score runs,'' said
Herzog after the Cards won 10-7. ''Hell, the game ended with the
tying run at the plate. If (Craig) will send a promissory note
guaranteeing they won't score any more, then we won't run. I hope
Roger Craig loses 20 games in a row. He thinks he invented the
game.''
In his Wednesday column in the San Francisco Chronicle, Craig
wrote he * would have traded a year's salary to win that game. ''If
Vince Coleman wants to steal 100 bases and get 50 in situations like
that, the hell with him,'' wrote Craig. ''I'd rather see a real
professional like Ozzie Smith, who steals bases when it means
something. He doesn't pull that bull for personal glory.''
''I wasn't there to show anybody up,'' said Coleman. ''I have a
goal that I'm trying to attain -- to break the record (130 steals).
Whitey gave me the green light to go. I could see it if it was Curt
Ford or Jose Oquendo trying to steal bases to show somebody up. But
when you say Vince Coleman, you know he's a base stealer.''
Photo(s):
BRUCE CRIPPEN/CINCINNATI POST May I cut in, gentlemen? Knight and Davis danced toe-to-toe at third base.
V.J. LOVERO Krukow's sore ribs put him on the DL.
