The Morning News from Wilmington, Delaware • Page 19

t' V- 1 1 i. i Business Pages 18-24 Eels big business in Delaware Page 18 I Sunday Newsjournal Wilmington, May 14, 1978 B-1 "(O)! IL Phillies lose decision to umpire, then to Reds By HAL BODLEY PHILADELPHIA Not since that incredible third game of the National League playoffs last fall have the Phillies cried as long and loud about an umpire's decision as they did last night. And the hurt from the jarring 4-3 loss to Cincinnati will linger for days to come. Mike Schmidt turned a dreary night into the Phillies' finest hour of the year when he blasted a three-run homer in the bottom of attempting to bunt, fouled out to catcher Bob Boone. That brought up pinch-hitter Ray Knight, who walked.

Here, the plot thickens. The dangerous Pete Rose was the batter. The count went to 1-2 and McGraw came in with a high, outside fastball. Rose swung with all the strength he could muster, but at the last second tried to check it. Home plate umpire Lee Weyer called it a ball, Boone appealed to the eighth off relever Doug Bair to wipe out a 2-0 Reds' lead that had stood since the second inning.

The happiness and excitement of victory was short-lived. During a bizarre and controversial ninth which saw first baseman Richie Hebner and Manager Danny Ozark ejected, the Reds scored two runs off Tug McGraw and walked off with their victory Two play? in the ninth left the Phils numb. Ken Griffey opened with a double to left, but Cesar Geronimo. ed into the bag. Morrison made the pivot, but his throw to first was high over Tim McCarver's head and two runs scored, McGraw got out of the inning, but the damage was done, The television instant replay in the press box showed that Rose did not check his swing, that the bat and his hands were above his left shoulder when he finally checked the "I didn't see the instant replay," snapped McGraw.

"I didn't have to. He was struck out. first-base umpire Harry Wendel-stedt, who also signaled ball. Hebner, incensed, charged Wen-delstedt and was automatically ejected for arguing a ball-strike call. Ozark, who also was ejected on Friday night, took up the argument and was quickly tossed.

Rose eventually walked and up came Joe Morgan, The second baseman drilled a bouncer to shortstop Buddy Harrelson, a perfect double-play ball. Harrelson shoveled it to rookie second baseman Jim Morrison as Rose charg err i Playing The Bird gives ex-punter some new kicks wto i '7 1 7 "H'l (Hal BodleyN Sports Editor iVVlk If 1 I 1 Wl rAJ PHILADELPHIA The Bird had just five minutes and the tension was mounting. "How do I look?" The Bird asked as he adjusted one of his huge sneakers. "Fine, just fine," the pretty blonde said, looking as proud as a doting mother about to send her son out on the stage. Without warning, a long, scary-looking tongue shot out of The Bird's mouth and Marilyn Des ardins, obviously startled, took two steps backwards.

"Don't do that!" she screamed. "Wadda you expect, me to go 6ut there without a warm-up pitch or two?" "Oh, you!" Marilyn answered. There was only a minute to go 1 now and The Bird came out of the bowels of Veterans Stadium to take his place behind home plate for the playing of the National Anthem, but not before he stuck his tongue out at the crowd. He's really the Phillie Phanatic and the men in the Phillies' command post who dreamed him up, insist he be called that. But to the thousands and thousands of fans who have fallen in love with this feathery creature, he's merely The Btrd.W 1 4 And underneath that extremely expensive costume is David Raymond, son of the University of Delaware football coach.

Before Phillie Phanatic was born er, cm hatched, David Raymond was best known as a punter for Tubby Raymond's Blue Hens. It may be frustrating to his old man, but David Raymond has gotten more acclaim in less than a month as Phillie Phanatic than he received during three years as a better-than-average collegiate punter. 1 "My dad loved the idea. Honest. He even came to my debut (April Bird said.

"This is typical of him, too. I'm dancing around and acting like a complete and utter idiot when he comes walking down into the picnic area. He shakes my hand and leans over to my ear and whispers, 'Sober up, you it, stick it to I said. I gave my mom a big hug in the stands that night. It was fun." Somehow, parading around Veterans Stadium as Phillie Phanatic doesn't figure in David Raymond's scheme of things.

He has always been a no-nonsense, intense young man who was out to make the most of his abilities as an athlete. I doubt he ever stayed awake See RAYMOND'S B-3 RayFinocchiaro and we better make changes." Moments before, big brother Joe Watson had launched into a 20-minute tirade questioning certain players' character and pride, calling the current edition a "team without pride." Flyer Capt. Bobby Clarke, vho's heard it all and probably lelt it all but never said it aloud It's the Phillie Phanatic strutting his stuff at Veterans Stadium. But underneath that Sesame Street-like costume is Dave Raymond, former punter for Delaware's Blue Hens and son of Hen coach Tubby Raymond. The only thing I can do is put this out of my mind as quickly as possible.

Negative statements will only compound the problem." Hebner was more vocal. "That was a bleeping joke," he said. "It was so much a joke, I don't think he (Wendelstedt) was watching the game. I told him he must have been watching relatives in the stands. You could have seen that from the flagpole.

I don't usually argue about check-See PIIILLIES-B-4 trrrri Stiff Pkoto br Lm S. MitUai and February when Fred Shero discovered too many "floaters" on the ice started the tailspin. The early inconsistency of goalies Bernie Parent and Wayne Stephenson didn't help set a tone of stability. A raft of injuries to Clarke, Gary Dornhoefer, Paul Holmgren, rookie Kevin McCarthy and others kept Shero from a set lineup at crucial times. The almost total inability to beat the "big teams" during the regular season (ironically, Boston was the See LEACH B-3 Sixers hope to land one of the first two picks in the draft and come up with Phil Ford, the brilliant North Carolina playmaker.

Of course, that idea sounds good to Cunningham since he is a former Tar Heel himself. Getting rid of McGinnis isn't where the Sixers will stop, however. Several players expressed feelings that they won't be back next year. "I anticipate a major trade and I think I'll be involved," said Lloyd Free, the undisciplined guard who was called for a charging foul while attempting a game-tying shot with six seconds left in the decisive sixth game against the Bullets Friday night. "I just want to be somewhere where I can play the way I know I can play," said Free.

"There are plenty of teams who need me." If Free leaves, then what happens to his bunk buddy Darryl Dawkins? Maybe, without Free around, Dawkins will start concentrating on becoming the player everyone expects him to be. Joe Bryant is another whose future is up in the air. He's a Philadelphia player who really gave the 76 some fine performances, including Friday night when he shut 'off Washington's Bobby Dandridge and then Elvin Hayes in the fourth quarter. See ERVING B-2 Flyers have problems so changes can be expected "A lot of teams would like to be in our position, but you can't be happy just to go to the semifinals. I can't say what changes will have to be made.

That's up to the coaches and the general manager." Keith Allen, the general manager, begged off for a few days. He said he wanted to assess the talent on the Maine Mariners, currently in the American Hockey League finals, and then watch a few Flyer films before consulting with the coaches to see what must be done. wasn't as harsh as the Smith-ers brothers. Wounded in pride and body, barely able to walk after proving unable to skate with a badly bruised hip, Clarke listened as one writer after another wondered what changes would have to be made. "Obviously if we're going to win the Stanley Cup, we've got to make some changes," Clarke said softly.

"Two years we couldn't get through the semifinals. I feel we have some good, young players here, but I don't know what's missing. A A-l tA.t 1 McGinnis, Free among 76ers Cunningham likely to trade -PHILADELPHIA Jimmy Watson, one of the proudest and loudest of the Flyers, sounded like he wanted to tear the whole organization apart after the Flyer season ended in a shambles, again, Thursday night in Boston Garden. "What's it been, three years how that we've gone with the same guys?" said the dejected defenseman after the Boston Bruins had swept the Flyers out of the Stanley Cup playoffs for the second straight season. "Well, we've got problems here Leon he's still champ of no-shows By MATT ZABITKA Ever wonder what the 10th floor of the Hotel Du Pont looks and sounds like on a Saturday afternoon, like from 2 to 4 p.m.? It's deathly quiet.

You could almost hear yourself breathe. You wonder if any of the rooms at that level are occupied because you don't hear anything and you don't see anyone entering or leaving any of the rooms. You notice the rug is still in pretty good condition in the hallway, the walls fairly clean. The rug, directly in front of suites 1056-58, is what I sat on for two hours yesterday accompanied by News-Journal photographer Bill Ballenberg. We sat and waited and waited and waited for world heavyweight boxing champion Leon Spinks to arrive.

Spinks was scheduled to speak and receive an award at last night's 18th annual sports banquet of the Men's Club of Community Presbyterian Church. The affair, at $10 a head, was at Howard Career Center. I wanted to interview Spinks in suite reserved for him, rather than battle the anticipated crowds that would be mobbing him later at and near the banquet site. I wanted to catch Spinks on my tape recorder in the quiet of this suite, before he departed for the banquet. I was assured by banquet chairman Raymond Woodard that SeeSPINKS-B-7 "There are no dire circumstances," Allen said after the final game.

"There's no need for any immediate action." But action will and must be taken. The year of "rededica-tion to winning the Stanley Cup" is over. The Flyers got exactly one game closer to their goal, being wiped out in five games by Boston instead of four. Most people wouldn't call that much of an improvement. There are a lot of places where fingers can rightly be pointed.

The two-month slump in January Caesar Alsop "I'm sure Bill will make all the final decisions about what shape the team takes for next year," said assistant coach Jack McMahon. "It's only natural." Then, it's only natural to figure the first move Cunningham makes will be before next month's league draft of collegians. Certainly, the experiment is over with all the high-salaried superstars. Somebody has to go, and without doubt it willl be George McGinnis who has played his final game as a Sixers. McGinnis, you remember, was the player who started playoff fever in Philadelphia when he jumped the ABA and joined the Sixers before the 197576 season.

McGinnis proved to be just as valuable as Julius Erving during the regular season, but it wasn't that way in the playoffs. McGinnis, one of the main reasons the Sixers didn't win a championship last year, was a flop again in the playoffs this year. He would now welcome being traded because with another team in another city there's no reason why he couldn't again become what he once was. In getting rid of McGinnis, the ji ill fjoO LANDOVER, Md. Long before the Capital Centre had reached its capacity of 19,035 here Friday night, Billy Cunningham stood outside the 76ers locker room.

Someone asked the 76ers' coach if he liked big games such as the one his team was awaiting when he was a player. Bill flashed his blue eyes and responded quickly, "Yeah, this is what it's all about." Two and a half hours later, Cunningham stood in the same spot trying not to show his disappointment after the 76ers had lost 101-99 to the Washington Bullets. Cunningham did not use the word overconfident to explain why the 76ers had been bounced out of the playoffs four games to two in the Eastern Conference finals. Instead, he simply praised the Bullets, saying "they played great throughout the series." Cunningham refused to discuss what he might do in the coming months to assemble the type of team he wants to coach. Contrary to what has been written the past few days, it will be up to Cunningham to decide which of the present Sixers are expendable.

He might be owner Fitz Dixon's favorite son, but Billy will have complete authority to get the players he thinks can bring the Sixers the NBA championship that has eluded them two straight seasons. 76ers' Coach Billy Cunningham had plenty to get upset about Friday night when Philadelphia was eliminated from the playoffs. VA A A A AAA A A A A.Vii. A A A.