October 7, 1978: Bill Russell’s walk-off single sends Dodgers back to World Series; Steve Garvey wins NLCS MVP

The Los Angeles Dodgers and the Philadelphia Phillies were meeting for the second consecutive year in the 1978 National League Championship Series. LA took the series in 1977, ousting the Phillies in four games. “Three is my lucky number,” said Philadelphia manager Danny Ozark. “I wear number 3 and this is our third time here. It’ll be a three-game series and we’re going to win it.”1

Las Vegas certainly disagreed with Ozark and chose the Dodgers as the favorites to win the World Series even before the first pitch was thrown in the LCS.2 According to oddsmakers, a fan with a sporting interest in the outcome would have been wise to follow them as opposed to Ozark’s “Lucky Three” concept.

The first two games of the best-of-five series were played at Veterans Stadium in Philadelphia. In the opener, the Dodgers smacked four home runs that accounted for seven runs in their 9-5 victory. Steve Garvey belted two of the round-trippers and drove in four runs. In Game Two, Davey Lopes hit his second home run of the series, in addition to a triple, and drove in three runs as the Dodgers won 4-0. Starting pitcher Tommy John went the distance, yielding four hits and totaling four strikeouts for the win.

The series moved to Dodger Stadium for Game Three, and, if necessary, games Four and Five. The pitching matchup highlighted a pair of future Hall of Famers. Steve Carlton for the Phillies and Don Sutton for LA. The Phillies jumped on Sutton in the top of the second, scoring four runs. Three came on a home run off the bat of Carlton. It was his only postseason home run. The Phillies added three runs in the top of the sixth and coasted to a 9-4 win. Carlton pitched a complete game, striking out eight Dodgers. For the Dodgers, Garvey slugged his third home run of the series, a solo shot in the bottom of the eighth. The Phillies now trailed Los Angeles, two games to one.

Game Four was played on October 7 at Dodger Stadium. The starting pitchers were a pair of left-handers: the Dodgers’ Doug Rau (15-9, 3.26 ERA regular season) and the Phillies’ Randy Lerch (11-8, 3.96).

In the top of the first inning, Mike Schmidt led off with a double to left field. Larry Bowa walked and Garry Maddox followed with a single to right field. The Phillies were in business with the bases loaded and nobody out. But Rau bore down. He struck out Greg Luzinski, got José Cardenal to line to short, and retired Jerry Martin on a popout to the catcher. It was a golden opportunity, but the Phillies failed to cash in. “I think that was the key to the whole ballgame,” said Lerch. “But when you leave the bases loaded with none out, you deserve to lose.”3

The Dodgers leapt ahead in the bottom of the second inning. With one down, Ron Cey doubled to left field and scored on a single by Dusty Baker.

The Phillies jumped ahead 2-1 in the top of the third inning. Luzinski smashed a two-run homer to left-center field. It was his second homer of the series. But their advantage lasted only until the bottom of the fourth, when Cey unloaded on a 3-and-2 pitch from Lerch and drove it to left field for his first home run of the series, knotting the score at 2-2.

In the top of the sixth inning, Dodgers manager Tommy Lasorda went to his bullpen, replacing Rau with right-hander Rick Rhoden. In his five innings pitched, Rau had given up two runs on five hits, struck out one, and walked two.

The Dodgers and Phillies proceeded to exchange solo home runs. With one down in the bottom of the sixth, Garvey reached the left-field seats for his fourth home run of the series. The blast signaled the end of the day for Lerch. The Phillies starter exited the game having surrendered three earned runs on seven hits. In 5⅓ innings of work, Lerch had neither walked nor struck out a batter.

Lerch’s replacement was Warren Brusstar. The right-hander gave up a two-out double to Baker and walked Bill Russell intentionally, but retired Steve Yeager on a groundout to third.

With two down in the top of the seventh inning, Bake McBride pinch-hit for Brusstar. McBride came through, smacking a Rhoden pitch into the right-field seats for a home run, tying the score again, 3-3.

The score remained tied through nine innings. Terry Forster came on for the Dodgers to pitch the top of the 10th inning. Forster led LA with 22 saves during the regular season. He was coming in to keep the Phillies off the scoreboard, albeit not a save opportunity. He gave up a harmless single to Bowa before retiring the side.

Los Angeles came to bat in the home half of the 10th inning against Philadelphia reliever Tug McGraw. With two down, McGraw walked Cey. “I wasn’t going to let him take me out of the ballpark,” said McGraw after the game. “I was extremely conscious of how they’ve beaten us in the past with the long ball. So I wasn’t all that upset when I did walk him, even though that turned out to be my biggest problem.”4

Dusty Baker was next up. He sent a liner to center field. Maddox, who was one of the better-fielding center fielders in all of baseball, charged in and dropped the baseball. As a result of the error, Cey moved up to second base. “The ball was right in my glove,” Maddox said later. “I don’t think it was a tough play. Definitely it was a routine line drive that should have been caught any way you look at it. I missed the ball. I cost us a heckuva chance to be world champions. I’ll never forget it the rest of my life. …”5

Russell stepped into the batter’s box. The Dodgers shortstop was confident he could deliver a hit. “A lot of times you go to the plate and you’re nervous or not comfortable,” said Russell, “but this time I wasn’t nervous and I felt good. I knew immediately it was a hit when I hit it, I was just hoping there was no play at the plate. It was just a matter if Ronnie could score.”6

Indeed, Russell sent a slider from McGraw to center field. Maddox charged the ball, but the ball skidded under his glove and rolled to the wall. “I was three-fourths of the way home,” said Cey, “and I saw (Phillies catcher Bob) Boone drop his head and put his hands on his knees.”7

Cey crossed the plate unimpeded, clinching the series and the pennant for the Dodgers. The final score was 4-3. This was one “3” that was not lucky for Ozark.

Forster got credit for the win, pitching one inning in relief. McGraw was the hard-luck loser. Baker collected four hits in five at-bats, with an RBI. But it was Garvey, who smacked four home runs and drove in seven runs and batted .389 in the series, who was named MVP.

The Dodgers had played the game with heavy hearts. On September 16, first-base coach and hitting instructor Jim Gilliam suffered a cerebral hemorrhage. He underwent surgery that evening but died one day after Game Four.

Gilliam had been a Dodgers player from 1953 to 1964. He transitioned to a player-coach in 1965 for two years before becoming a full-time member of the Dodgers’ coaching staff in 1967.

“I know you hear a lot of that corny stuff in sports, that ‘win one for the Gipper’ stuff. But Jim Gilliam really did play a part in this … for all of us,” said Rau.8

For the Phillies, the third time was not a charm. They fell short in the NLCS for the third straight year. The Dodgers, meanwhile, faced the New York Yankees in the World Series. For the second straight year, LA lost in six games to the Yankees.

Sources

In addition to the sources cited in the Notes, the author consulted Baseball-Reference.com and Retrosheet.org.

https://www.baseball-reference.com/boxes/LAN/LAN197810070.shtml

https://www.retrosheet.org/boxesetc/1978/B10070LAN1978.htm

Notes

1 Larry Eichel, “Phils Confident for Game Tomorrow,” Philadelphia Inquirer, October 4, 1978: C1.

2 “Dodgers Favored,” Philadelphia Daily News, October 4, 1978: 66.

3 Larry Eichel, “To Lerch, the Season Was Over after the Top of the First,” Philadelphia Inquirer, October 8, 1978: 10-F.

4 Larry Eichel, “Dodgers Take Phils, 4-3, in 10th,” Philadelphia Inquirer, October 8, 1978: F1.

5 Frank Dolson, “Maddox to be Remembered for What He Can’t Forget,” Philadelphia Inquirer, October 8, 1978: F10.

6 Scott Ostler, “Russell Keeps Flag Flying for Dodgers,” Los Angeles Times, October 8, 1978: 3-12.

7 Ostler, 3-12.

8 Earl Gustkey, “Sadness Amid Dodger Cheer: Jim Gilliam,” Los Angeles Times, October 8, 1978: 3-15.