The Philadelphia Inquirer from Philadelphia, Pennsylvania • Page 220

2-NW Sunday. July 26, 1981 Philadelphia Inquirer Retiring to the greenhouse J. Liddon Pennock Jr. designed floral decorations for White House events, including Tricia Nixon's wedding. The only reward he accepted was a cutting from a magnolia grandiflora.

since he and his wife came there as newlyweds in 1936. Florists buy their flowers and plants from wholesalers, Pennock explains. "I did that for 40 years and that's over." Explaining his present enterprise, he says: "We are simply growers of pot plants." You won't find a single cut flower for sale at Meadowbrook Farm. You will find many flowering plants and flower arrangements to. encourage novice gardeners to buy containers and plants.

extract heat from the night air. During the day, the Freon is pumped into a holding tank and the greenhouses are heated directly by the sun. Liddon Pennock explains the philosophy behind the Meadowbrook Farm Greenhouse thusly: "I seek things that are not available in other places choosing things that aren't run of the mill." There are other interests, though. Pennock is president of the Philadelphia Academy of Music and the only member of the Longwood Gardens board with no du Pont family tie. He is co-chairman of the 1982 Philadelphia Flower Show and chairman of the 1983 show.

Asked his age, he replies that he is looking forward to the 50th reunion of his class at Penn Charter. He recalls that he started school there on the site of the house in which his grandfather was born at 12 S. 12th St. Penn Charter moved to its present Germantown campus in 1928. FLORIST, from l-NW "I want to de-emphasize myself," Pennock says, "this is not Pennock's.

This is Meadowbrook Farm." Pennock Florist was established in 1865 by his grandfather, Liddon Pennock. His establishment at 1514 Chesnut St. was the first store on the block, where there had only been residences, according to the younger Pennock. Grandfather Pennock was not welcomed by his neighbors, his grandson added, "they didn't have zoning in those Pennock took over the family business in 1932 or 1933 "in the depths of the Depression," he recalls, but he already was just as interested in growing flowers and plants as in selling them. He has been a member of the Pennsylvania Horticultural Society for 35 years and he has been working on the gardens at Meadowbrook Farm if: feM V' Pennock added to his own greenhouse where the first call from the Nixon White House reached him when he started the Meadowbrook Farm Greenhouse.

He has been adding ever since. One of the latest additions is a solar heating system to heat the largest greenhouse at night. Freon is pumped into black-painted panels to Special 10 The Inqwar HOBEflT J. SALGAOO Greenhouse manager John Story trims a display for the patio Softball's nomads stop wandering, find a home field no may even be in the black if the A's reach the World Series, to be played in September. And if the sport takes off on schedule, Val Piacentino will reflect on the three years of financial and emotional pain and take pride in what may be his best move of all.

The move to Berlin, N.J. "This," declares Nick LaGuardia emphatically, "is softball country." Guardia as manager were two of the best moves I've ever made. I really think, if we get some TV contract with an outfit like ESPN and more exposure, that pro softball will take off. And we'll be part of it." But the worries aren't over, not by any means. The Athletics may still lose money this year, but this time it's only pocket change, and Piacenti SOFTBALL, from l-NW Jerseyans) would manage only a split, losing 52 before winning 13-12, with the Syracuse Salt, the worst, team in the league with only 4 wins and 34 defeats.

"With Syracuse here, we won't exactly pack the place," Piacentino says before the double-header, "but we should get 300 to 400 people in here tonight. And" they're just coming to see us. We've got a lot of attractions in the league, with Milwaukee and Cincinnati in the other division. Good, strong teams. And we've got an advance of over 900 for Phillie Phanatic Night Aug.

7. "There's been a big changeover coming over here," explains John Spadaccino of Bristol, the South" Jersey A's captain and. spiritual leader of the 22-man team. "It's a better field; these, are. fans.

Clay-mont's such a long ride. The field was like a cow pasture, and the home run distances were so long." Spadaccino looks like the stereotype softball player: a slight beer- belly, a weightlifter's upper body, an all-or-nothin' swing. And so does Ron Dorsey, who would smack two home runs to help the Athletics win game two against Syracuse. If you're looking for no-hitters, check out King and His Court's fast-pitch team, because slo-pitch softball produces as much scoring as some pro football games. "Yeah," Spadaccino -continues, his eyes lighting up, "the home run distances here are 295 feet down the lines and 300 to center.

At Claymont, they were 325 and 350 centerfield. You could hit the ball all day long there and it wouldn't go out. Here, you've got the fans behind you good crowd, and it gives you incentive right there." The will to win has translated into a 27-15Tecord," which leads' their Eastenit)ivision and which virtually assures the A's a playoff berth. This is in contrast to the team's dreary ancestors, who barely made the 1978 playoffs with 29 wins and 35 losses, then struggled to inglorious 26-38 and 2341 finishes the next two years. tion, of Ray Grebey and Marvin Miller.

Bill Goett of Huntington, N.Y., is another first-timer in the crowd. No, he didn't journey all the way down from Long Island just to see the Athletics. "My girl friend's cousin', Bob Williams, plays," he explains. "I'm not the athletic type," admits Teresa Germana, Goett's friend. "But we get up here pretty often.

Four, five games already. We live in Plea-santville." They are professionals, the South Jersey Athletics. They sign autographs, accept accolades of an increasingly interested public, get a little cable TV exposure and radio play-by-play coverage from a Ham-monton station. "Back In. 1978, during one stretch, we were away for five, weeks," says Butch Piacentino.

"You know what they say, 'Out of sight, out of That was us. "But here, we're wanted. And we feel at home here. Getting Bill Sonsi-ni, who knows the South Jersey area, as general manager, and Nick La- Earlier this month, the revitalized Athletics completed a 15-game winning streak that, combined with the major league baseball strike, has helped fuel fan curiosity. "This is the first time we've been here," says Jim Samuel, a part-time journalist who is wearing a Chicago White.Sox cap.

"I just felt like seeing a game. If there was a Phillies game at The Vet tonight, I'd be there now. We've got season tickets to the Phillies," Samuel says he will probably return for another game. So does his bleacher mate. "I live here in Berlin," says his companion, Hank Kon-stanty, nephew of the Phillies reliever of the 1950s, Jim Konstanty.

"I think I'd come back; Every other time I wanted to see them; they were out of town. But it's fun." Fun. Children. Families. Wandering around the stands at Chojnacki Field is a throwback to a far simpler era, a Norman Rockwell study of fans having fun, before the time of strikes, compensation and renegotia Our Own Peaches in Store or Pick Your Own Peaches: Weather or Crop Permitting Tues.

Thurs. Sat. Wagon Leaves 9, 10 11 A.M. Sweet Corn Knowlton Media Botwn. 352 452 S.

from us 876-7116 352: STORE HOURS TJ thru Sun. rn lh -J 9 Turn n9ht' A mlle 1 orchards i rm in on right. CIosmcI Men, Homer hitters kings here, too are I 1 ma m. -i -g i MX. Founders Bisceunt Memberships JOIN IN THE Spadaccino and his long-ball buddies are well complemented by the bottom half of the lineup, which includes slick-fielding, line-drive hitters like Medford's Bert Gardiner, Hammonton's Rod Cramer and Frank Fucetola, Camden's Joe Maines, Woodbury's Jazz Thornton and Philadelphia's Gary, Hartman and Matt Daley.

"We added a couple of ballplayers who really wanted to play ball," explains LaGuardia about the A's current success. The A's last home stand of the regular season is Aug. 7 and 8 against the New England Pilgrims, and playoffs begin Aug. 21 with the second and third place teams in each division playing best-of-five series. A best-of-nine World Series opens Sept.

4 and Murderers' Row has plans to bring a professional championship to South Jersey. Doug Hadden crowd buzzing, looking for a grand slam. Kolb, who is from Beimar, waited patiently for pitcher Eric Salisbury to throw something near the plate, realized that he was not going to see a home run pitch, then drilled a two-run single to left. The A's swept the I doubleheader, 24-3 and 15-7, as Kolb, the winning pitcher in the opener, did not make an out all evening. "I keep forgetting Kolb's only 24," says LaGuardia, a Hammonton resident who works for Atlantic City Electric.

"He's just a baby he's only been playing softball three or four years." Spadaccino, in his fifth year of pro softball, is the A's captain. Spade, as he is known in the dugout, had the Kentucky franchise doggedly seeking his services last year, offering to house the slugger for the summer or to fly him in every weekend from his home in Bristol, Pa. suited for shoulder pads and football helmets than for baseball caps. Both Bryant and Dorsey stand 5-foot-ll and weigh 225 pounds. Spadaccino is 6-footer, 230 pounds, with huge biceps, and Kolb is 6 feet 4 inches tall, .240 pounds, i including a thick mus.achethatJailsVtG hide an ever-" grin.

"People around the league -were moaning about these fences," says Athletics manager Nick LaGuardia. "They were saying, '300-foot fences that's why they lead the league in home We went up to Rochester, and the fences were 320 feet. We hit 16 home runs. "We have four legitimate home run hitters who are going to hit them out wherever we play." Last weekend, Kolb opened a doubleheader against Syracuse by crushing three long home runs in his first three at-bats. He had the bases loaded for his fourth trip to the plate, and the CELEBRATION In professional softball, as in major league baseball, the home run hitter is king.

Home runs mean instant offense, more people in the stands and 1 more respect from opposing teams. The South Jersey Athletics lead the United Pro Softball runs, and those round-trippers hav-helped give the A's a comfortable lead in the Eastern Division stand- ings. Bob Bryant, Ron Dorsey, John Spadaccino and Mike Kolb are four of the A's first five hitters; the local cable-television station that broadcasts the home games from Chojnacki Field in Berlin refers to the quartet as "Murderers' Row." The 1927 Yankees had the original Murderers' Row in Babe Ruth; Lou Gehrig, -Bob Meusel and Tony LaZzeri. a group that produced a season total of 544 runs batted in. Entering this weekend's play in Pittsburgh, the local edition of Murderers' Row has hit almost 100 home runs.

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