Lance Parrish

If nothing else, and there doesn't appear to be much more to hold on to as the Phillies' lost season grinds to a close, Professor Lee Elia would like each of his students to take a lesson learned home this winter. That truth holds equally true for 24-year-old Bruce Ruffin, in his first full season as a major league starter, as well as for 33-year-old Lance Parrish, in his first season in the National League. So it wasn't so much that Ruffin pitched a six-hit shutout yesterday afternoon against the Chicago Cubs, and won his first game since Aug. 19. After all, the Cubs' lineup was littered with the Wade Rowdons and the Damon Berryhills, the sort of names that crop up in September box scores.

Those who still believe a happily-ever-after ending can be tacked onto Lance Parrish's unhappiest season, those who still think Parrish is a key element to any success the Phillies might have, should have stayed awake late enough to catch the latest news. The Phillies got past the Los Angeles Dodgers, 7-5, last night. And they did it, in large part, not only because Parrish continued to show signs of an offensive awakening by bashing a two-run homer in the fourth inning. But also because he ended the game dramatically by calling a pitchout and then gunning down Steve Sax trying to steal second for the final out of the game.

Tony Pena feels a kinship with Lance Parrish, even though at first glance, their situations don't seem terribly similar. Pena said recently that his problems adapting to the first-place Cardinals after seven years as the Pirates' catcher gave him some insight into Parrish's troubles. Phils catcher Parrish didn't go from last place to first, as Pena did - the Tigers are in second place in the AL East, the Phils are fourth in the NL East - but just as Pena did, Parrish moved from a team for which he was an established star into a new role on a different team, with new fans and a new pitching staff to catch.

It is the Phillies' Alamo, a last-stand, four-game stay at the home of the first-place Cardinals. It offers what might be the Phils' last chance to salvage some honor from a season that has sputtered from Day One. And on a night when they were forced into extra innings for the third time in five days, when their overworked bullpen was taken to the limit, when they needed a victory to get a leg up on a series sweep that would stamp them as...

Hours before the second game of what everybody told him was the most important series of his career, Matt Nokes was yawning peacefully at the foot of his locker. Sure, he was in New York for the weekend clash with the first-place Yankees. Sure, most knowledgeable folks expected him at this time to be knocking the ball around in the minor leagues. He knew all that. But still, he yawned. Nokes, it seems, yawns a lot, and he smiles a lot. A pennant race will do that to a 23-year-old catcher who just happens to be squatting in the formidable shoes of Lance Parrish.

The horse named Steve Bedrosian is only getting his tail groomed, not beaten. The Phils' bullpen ace, who now has 27 saves in his last 31 appearances, has been experimenting with a pitch that he grips with the seams, as opposed to the normal heater he holds across them. "I take a little bit off it and it has a little tail," he said. Or too big a tail, which is why three of the four batters Bedrosian faced in the ninth inning before nailing down seasonal save No. 28 went to full counts.

The truth about Shane Rawley's season remains somewhere between his sleek 13-5 record and his fat 3.91 earned run average. Five victories in six July starts, however, including last night's 5-2 complete-game victory over the Pirates, tell no lies. Rawley has given up only eight earned runs in the last four of those starts, and appears ready to resume where he left off on this day a year ago, when a broken bone in his left shoulder ended his season. If he is finding himself, he said it's because his pitches are again finding their intended places.

Like last night's game, the start of which was delayed an hour and 42 minutes by rain, sightings of the real Lance Parrish have been a long time coming. Some might say too long. Phillies fans waited and waited on him in the spring, as negotiations between the free agent catcher from Detroit and his would-be team dragged on like a soap opera plot line. And when that bit of business finally concluded, a new watch was begun. Sentries were posted around the National League. They waited for the genuine all-star article to show up and replace the muscled impostor who struggled to hit .200, rarely went deep, and only occasionally threw out brazen baserunners who appeared oblivious to his reputation.

Lance Parrish says that, if he had it all to do all over again, odds are he would have stayed in Detroit instead of signing with the Phillies during spring training. Parrish, who has struggled offensively and defensively while being criticized and booed by Philadelphia fans, shared his thoughts last night after an 11-4 win over the Pirates. "I was asked the question that, if I could do things over, would I do them the same," Parrish said, referring to an interview in Tuesday's Los Angeles Times.