GARVEY’S 3-RUN BLAST, STENNETT’S KEY HIT DELIVER WIN FOR NATIONAL LEAGUE
<![if
!supportEmptyParas]> <![endif]>
(Flatbush)-The NCABL All Stars descended on the
borough of Brooklyn for the 1977 mid summer’s classic with the
<![if !vml]>
<![endif]>American
League stars to looking to win their second straight and even up the
all time series at 5 games apiece. A packed house at Ebbets Field
cheered throughout the opening introductions, with the loudest
ovation going to Flatbush team captain Thurman Munson, who was making
his second consecutive start behind the plate for the AL and his
fifth All Star appearance. The loudest jeers went to NL second
baseman Joe Morgan, making his third straight All Star Game start.
The past two years Morgan had started for the AL where Bums fans
remember him well from his Ridgewood days.
<![if !vml]>
<![endif]>
The Americans jumped into the lead in the home first when Barry Bonds slammed a JR Richard pitch into the left field grandstand, scoring Rod Carew ahead of him for a 2-0 lead. They stretched that lead in the 2nd inning when Richard’s wicked curve with a pair of runners aboard was too much for Carlton Fisk to handle, and Doug DeCinces trotted home on the passed ball, 3-0 AL.
<![if !vml]>
<![endif]>The
Nationals got one back in the top of the 3rd when George
Foster stroked a Vida Blue offering into the center field bleachers
to make it a 3-1 ballgame. But the Americans would answer that with a
run of their own in the 4th when Rod Carew’s third
single of the game plated DeCinces with two out, for a 4-1 AL
lead.
In the top of the 5th, with southpaw Doug Rau now on the hill for the AL, Larry Hisle led off the inning with a pinch-hit double. Joe Morgan’s infield single put runners on the corners, then Steve Garvey picked up his third hit of the game, a long three run home run that tied things up at 4!!!
<![if !vml]>
<![endif]>
The pitchers took over after that, with mostly 1-2-3 innings and no chances to grab the lead for either side. As we began the 9th inning, with extra frames looming, Bruce Sutter took the hill for the AL. His nasty split finger pitch whiffed the first two batters. But Hisle ripped his second double of the game. Then Rennie Stennett delivered in his first at bat of the night, with a double into the alley to give the NL their first lead of the game, 5-4. Pinch hitter Darrell Porter followed with a base hit that scored Stennett and one batter later Foster collected his second RBI of the night with a base hit that opened a 7-4 National League lead.
<![if !vml]>
<![endif]>Lerrin
Lagrow came on to close things out in the bottom of the
9th, but got a scare when Tito Fuentes tripled with one
out. He was left stranded there by Lagrow, as the National League
takes a 7-4 victory that puts them on top 6 games to 4 in the all
time all-star series. With a host of MVP candidates to choose from,
the writers settled on Steve Garvey, for his three hit performance
and mostly for his big three run homer that tied the game when it
looked like the AL was pulling away. It could have gone to Wyandotte,
since it was the Camels (Hisle and Stennett) that got the winning
run. Gene Garber got the win with a 1-2-3 eighth inning, while Sutter
took the loss and the goats horns at the 1977 All Star Game.
<![if
!supportEmptyParas]> <![endif]>
Click here to view the boxscore.
<![if
!supportEmptyParas]> <![endif]>