September 26, 1976: Phillies clinch National League East as Parc Jarry bids adieu

The Philadelphia Phillies traveled to Montreal on the penultimate weekend of the 1976 season, poised to secure just the third postseason berth in the 93-year history of their National League franchise.1 On August 24, after a convincing 14-3 win over the Atlanta Braves, they held a comfortable 15½-game lead over the second-place Pittsburgh Pirates in the NL East Division. In the following weeks the lead plummeted to three, kindling memories of the 1964 collapse for anxious Philadelphia fans.2 But as they began a five-game series against the Montreal Expos on September 24, the lead had expanded to six games.

That weekend was also important for the last-place Expos3 who were preparing to say goodbye to Jarry Park, their home since joining the NL in 1969 as an expansion team. After eight seasons in the charming, intimate single-deck stadium, Montreal was scheduled to move into Olympic Stadium in 1977, the massive multi-tiered structure originally built for the 1976 Summer Olympic Games.

The Phillies and Expos were scheduled to play five games in three days, due to two earlier rainouts. They split Friday’s double header, then Philadelphia won Saturday afternoon’s contest to arrive at the doorstep of the NL East title. In Jarry Park’s final hurrah, Philadelphia took the field for Sunday’s twin bill needing one win — or a Pittsburgh loss in St. Louis — to clinch the pennant.

Phillies manager Danny Ozark selected 34-year-old right-hander Jim Lonborg to start game one. Lonborg, the 1967 AL Cy Young Award winner and Sporting News AL Pitcher of the Year with the pennant-winning Boston Red Sox, was in his fourth year in Philadelphia. After dealing with back and shoulder issues that hampered his 1975 performance, Lonborg was enjoying a resurgence in 1976, seeking his 17th win of the season.

Southpaw Dan Warthen got the nod for the home-standing Expos. An eight-game winner in his rookie season, Warthen was experiencing a downturn in 1976, having won only twice, with a week remaining in the season.

He was flawless, however, in the first three innings, retiring all nine Philadelphia batters, two on strikeouts.

After watching Warthen swiftly set down the first three batters, Lonborg was ready to take the mound in the bottom of the first with the confidence that a veteran with post-season experience possesses.

“Tell the hitters to do their job,” he declared to Ozark before jogging to the mound. “I’m going to do mine.”4

Lonborg surrendered a leadoff single to former Philadelphia teammate Del Unser, then retired the next three batters. In the second, he yielded a two-out single to shortstop Tim Foli, who was stranded, and in the third he retired the side in order.

Warthen’s perfect run ended in the top of the fourth when Dave Cash lined a leadoff single up the middle. Cash stole second, but Jerry Martin struck out. Mike Schmidt stroked a sharp single up the middle, moving Cash to third. Schmidt advanced to second on center-fielder Andre Dawson’s5 errant throw.

With two runners in scoring position, cleanup hitter Greg Luzinski struck out looking and Dick Allen flied out to center.

Neither team could generate any more offense through the fifth inning, and the game remained scoreless heading into the sixth.

Cash again started the action, this time with a one-out walk. Martin hit an opposite-field single to right, and Cash stopped at second. Warthen threw a wild pitch, advancing the runners, before Schmidt flied out to left.

Luzinski, who had failed to deliver with runners on second and third two innings earlier, came through this time, belting a three-run homer into the left-field seats.

“He struck me out on a fastball in the fourth,” Luzinski said. “I’m up there waiting for it.6 There was no doubt in my mind that the minute I hit it, it was gone.”7

The sixth-inning home run, catapulting Philadelphia to a 3-0 lead, was Luzinski’s 21st of the season and his first since August 26.

“That home run was a long time coming,” he said. “It sure was good to see it go over the fence in such a big game.”8

With the bases now empty, Allen struck out to end the inning.

Montreal responded in the bottom of the sixth, scoring their only run of the game. Lonborg, who had allowed just two baserunners through five innings, issued a two-out walk to second baseman Wayne Garrett. Dawson followed with a sharp double to left, chasing Garrett home. Ellis Valentine flied out to right, stranding Dawson.

Philadelphia got the run back in the seventh against reliever Joe Kerrigan and Lonborg was in the middle of the action.

Garry Maddox sparked the rally with an infield single and stole second. Bob Boone grounded out to the right side and Maddox scooted to third. Larry Bowa hit a shallow fly to center, and Maddox held.

Lonborg stepped in and plunked a single into right field that plated Maddox with the Phillies’ fourth run.9 Cash singled to right, moving Lonborg to second, but Martin grounded out to end the inning.

Lonborg pitched a scoreless seventh, then the Phillies threatened again in the eighth. Schmidt singled, and Luzinski was hit by a pitch to put runners on first and second. Veteran Bobby Tolan, whose best seasons had come with the Cincinnati Reds, ran for Luzinski and was picked off.

After Allen grounded out, Maddox singled to right. Schmidt rounded third, but a strong throw from the cannon-armed Valentine nailed him at the plate for the rookie’s 10th outfield assist of the season.

Lonborg pitched a clean eighth, preserving the 4-1 lead, but Philadelphia squandered another opportunity, off new Expos reliever Dale Murray, in the ninth. Bowa stroked a one-out triple and, with Lonborg batting, was picked off attempting to steal home. Lonborg flied out to center — then headed to the mound for the bottom of the ninth.

“I was pretty calm all the way,” said Lonborg. “Then it was the ninth inning and I was as pumped up as I’ve ever been in my life.”10

Dawson took a called third strike, Valentine hit a soft grounder to Schmidt at third, and Earl Williams went down swinging.

“It was great that it ended with a strikeout,” Schmidt declared. “Lonnie [Lonborg] has been great all year, Lonnie has always pitched well here.”11

With the first-game win, Philadelphia became NL East Champions. “Sweet, sweet, sweet,” screamed an emotional Bowa as he ran off the field hugging one teammate after another.12

The celebration continued in the clubhouse — but there was another game to play. Bowa snatched the lineup card from Ozark’s hand and read off the names of the bench players scheduled to start. “Out of here,” he shouted with a smile, and coach Bobby Wine added jokingly, “No drinking before the game, guys.”13

Before a diminished crowd of 14,166, the game began in a steady rainfall. Seven soggy innings later the game was mercifully called, bringing the curtain down on major-league baseball at Jarry Park.

“Jarry Park was intimate. It was fun. But it had outlived its usefulness,” said Montreal Gazette columnist Ian MacDonald.14

Philadelphia won Jarry Park’s finale performance, 2-1, and finished its pennant-winning season with 101 wins, nine games better than runner-up Pittsburgh. They were the first Phillies team in the franchise’s long history to win 100 or more games in a season. The celebration for Philadelphia was short-lived, however. The Phillies were eliminated in three straight games by the defending World Series-champion Cincinnati Reds in the NL Championship Series.

But on that rainy Sunday in Montreal, the Phillies had their pennant — and Jarry Park had its final major-league memory.

Acknowledgments 

This article was fact-checked by Harrison Golden and copy-edited by Mike Eisenbath.

Photo credit: Greg Luzinski, Trading Card Database.

Sources 

In addition to the sources cited in the Notes, the author consulted Baseball Reference.com and Retrosheet.org for information including the box score and play-by-play, and SABR Ballpark articles written by Rory Costello on Jarry Park (Montreal) and Olympic Stadium (Montreal).

https://www.baseball-reference.com/boxes/MON/MON197609261.shtml

https://www.retrosheet.org/boxesetc/1976/B09261MON1976.htm

Notes

1 The Phillies had won NL pennants in 1915 and 1950 but lost the World Series in both seasons.

2 The 1964 Phillies squandered a 6½-game first-place lead with 12 games remaining.

3 Montreal sported the worst record in baseball, entering the weekend with a 53-99 record.

4 Bruce Keidan, “Westward Ho and Go for Phils,” Philadelphia Inquirer, September 27, 1976: C-1.

5 Dawson, a future Hall of Famer, was playing in his 16th major league game.

6 Keidan, “Westward Ho and Go for Phils.”

7 Ian MacDonald, “A Dismal Day and a Dismal End for Jarry Park,” Montreal Gazette, September 27, 1976: 18.

8 United Press International, “Long Wait Ends for the Phillies,” Toronto Sun, September 27, 1976: 35.

9 Lonborg was hitting .164 entering the game, and this was his third RBI of the season.

10 Bill Conlin, “Lonborg Revels in Another Clinching,” Philadelphia Daily News, September 27, 1976: 63.

11 MacDonald, “A Dismal Day and a Dismal End for Jarry Park.”

12 Keidan, “Westward Ho and Go for Phils.”

13 Bob Dunn, “One Down, Two to Go for Blitz Kids,” Montreal Star, September 27, 1976: C-2.

14 Ian MacDonald, “Eight-Year Jarry Park Love Affair Ends on Desperate Note,” Montreal Gazette, September 28, 1976: 20.