Manny Mota

Smoky Burgess, a five-tinme All-Star who was best known for his pinch- hitting, died yesterday in Ashville, N.C. He was 64. Burgess played with the Phillies from 19562 to '55. He retired in 1967 with a .295 batting average and 145 carrer pinch hits, which was a record until surpased by Manny Mota in 1979.

We interrupt the great baseball strike of '94 for this stunning bulletin: The Phillies actually acquired a player yesterday. He's Gary Mota, a righthanded-hitting outfielder and son of a onetime Phillies-killer, Manny Mota. The Phillies claimed him on waivers from the Cincinnati Reds, who had claimed him themselves from the Houston Astros a couple of weeks ago. "From what we understand, the Reds ran into some kind of roster problem and had to put him back out there," Phillies scouting director Mike Arbuckle said.

Hines declines. That is, Ben Hines has decided not to accept an offer to join the Phillies as their hitting instructor. He chose instead to remain in a similar position with the world champion Los Angeles Dodgers, where he shares that duty with Manny Mota. "It was really a wrenching decision," Hines said yesterday from Mesa, Ariz., where he is attending the Dodgers' organizational meetings. "I had really wanted to go with the Phillies. "The Dodgers made some adjustments, although I really don't want to go into specifics.

The Oakland A's can be thankful for one thing tonight as they struggle to keep their World Series hopes alive against Orel Hershiser and the Dodgers. True, they trail in the Series, 3-1. True, Hershiser has a 0.29 ERA in his last 93 innings. But tonight he probably won't get to hit. This game is being played in Oakland, where the American League's designated hitter rule is in effect. So, another Dodger will bat for Hershiser, LA's top hitter in the Series. He was 3-for-3 in Sunday's 6-0 victory, becoming the first pitcher since Art Neff of the 1924 Giants to get three hits in a World Series game.

Thirty-one years later, Davey Lopes still hasn't gotten to first base on time. At least, that's the oft-stated opinion of Phillies fans who approach the team's coach and remind him of a controversial play from the 1977 National League Championship Series. "I still have people come up to me and say, 'You were out,' " Lopes said. "I'm like, 'What the heck are you talking about?' "I get it all the time. I'll go to spring training, and they'll be like, 'We're glad you're with us, but you still were out.' " Lopes doesn't understand.

In this, his 19th spring as a pro, Greg Gross prefers to look ahead instead of backward. If all goes well, as the 1989 season winds down, two Phillies will be closing in on milestones. Mike Schmidt should be nearing his 600th big league homer, a number reached previously by only Hank Aaron, Babe Ruth and Willie Mays. And Gross ought to be in range of his 151st career pinch-hit, which would put him ahead of Manny Mota and into first place of the all-time list. "I don't think mine will draw that much attention," Gross said with a smile before leaving for St. Petersburg, where he had a single and a triple in two at-bats during the Phillies' 16-7 exhibition win over the St. Louis Cardinals.

Malvern Prep's baseball players have not yet asked their first-year coach for his autograph. "Maybe that'll happen after the season," the coach said. He laughed, then added, "Or, maybe they don't care. " Malvern's new coach is none other than Greg Gross, who hit .287 in 17 seasons as a major league outfielder, including 1979 to '88 with the Phillies, and trails only Manny Mota (150) and Smoky Burgess (145) on the all-time pinch-hitting list with 143. Gross lives just five minutes from Malvern and is a sales agent for a Fox & Lazo Realty in West Chester.

LOS ANGELES - The time was mine yesterday, with the Phils and Dodgers taking the day off, so I decided to seek out the boyhood home of Philadelphia's most prominent Dodgers fan. Eagles coach Andy Reid grew up a little more than 4 miles from Dodger Stadium, which opened in 1962, 4 years after Reid was born; Reid said recently he could see the lights from the house his parents bought the year before he came along, at 4027 Holly Knoll Drive, where...

It clearly was time, his time: Late in the game, and the Phillies' offense had been rendered null and void by the Mets' Ron Darling through seven silent innings. Greg Gross, who had followed the unfolding of this contest intently, as he always does and probably always will, knew he would be inserted to lead off the Phillies' half of the eighth. He knew the situation demanded his bat, and he had been preparing for just that opportunity for innings, for hours. Gross, you see, lives the most precarious of baseball lives; when he is asked to join the game, it is usually in situations where a manager is staring defeat - and a flame-throwing pitcher - straight in the face.

It clearly was time, his time: late in the game and the Phillies' offense had been rendered null and void by the Mets' Ron Darling through seven silent innings. Greg Gross, who had followed the unfolding of this contest intently, as he always does and probably always will, knew he would be inserted to lead off the Phillies' half of the eighth. He knew the situation demanded his bat, and he had been preparing for just that opportunity for innings, for hours. Gross, you see, lives the most precarious of baseball lives; when he is asked to join the game it is usually in situations where a manager is staring defeat - and a flame-throwing pitcher - straight in the face.

LOS ANGELES - The time was mine yesterday, with the Phils and Dodgers taking the day off, so I decided to seek out the boyhood home of Philadelphia's most prominent Dodgers fan. Eagles coach Andy Reid grew up a little more than 4 miles from Dodger Stadium, which opened in 1962, 4 years after Reid was born; Reid said recently he could see the lights from the house his parents bought the year before he came along, at 4027 Holly Knoll Drive, where...

Thirty-one years later, Davey Lopes still hasn't gotten to first base on time. At least, that's the oft-stated opinion of Phillies fans who approach the team's coach and remind him of a controversial play from the 1977 National League Championship Series. "I still have people come up to me and say, 'You were out,' " Lopes said. "I'm like, 'What the heck are you talking about?' "I get it all the time. I'll go to spring training, and they'll be like, 'We're glad you're with us, but you still were out.' " Lopes doesn't understand.

We interrupt the great baseball strike of '94 for this stunning bulletin: The Phillies actually acquired a player yesterday. He's Gary Mota, a righthanded-hitting outfielder and son of a onetime Phillies-killer, Manny Mota. The Phillies claimed him on waivers from the Cincinnati Reds, who had claimed him themselves from the Houston Astros a couple of weeks ago. "From what we understand, the Reds ran into some kind of roster problem and had to put him back out there," Phillies scouting director Mike Arbuckle said.

Malvern Prep's baseball players have not yet asked their first-year coach for his autograph. "Maybe that'll happen after the season," the coach said. He laughed, then added, "Or, maybe they don't care. " Malvern's new coach is none other than Greg Gross, who hit .287 in 17 seasons as a major league outfielder, including 1979 to '88 with the Phillies, and trails only Manny Mota (150) and Smoky Burgess (145) on the all-time pinch-hitting list with 143. Gross lives just five minutes from Malvern and is a sales agent for a Fox & Lazo Realty in West Chester.

Smoky Burgess, a five-tinme All-Star who was best known for his pinch- hitting, died yesterday in Ashville, N.C. He was 64. Burgess played with the Phillies from 19562 to '55. He retired in 1967 with a .295 batting average and 145 carrer pinch hits, which was a record until surpased by Manny Mota in 1979.

Hines declines. That is, Ben Hines has decided not to accept an offer to join the Phillies as their hitting instructor. He chose instead to remain in a similar position with the world champion Los Angeles Dodgers, where he shares that duty with Manny Mota. "It was really a wrenching decision," Hines said yesterday from Mesa, Ariz., where he is attending the Dodgers' organizational meetings. "I had really wanted to go with the Phillies. "The Dodgers made some adjustments, although I really don't want to go into specifics.

The Oakland A's can be thankful for one thing tonight as they struggle to keep their World Series hopes alive against Orel Hershiser and the Dodgers. True, they trail in the Series, 3-1. True, Hershiser has a 0.29 ERA in his last 93 innings. But tonight he probably won't get to hit. This game is being played in Oakland, where the American League's designated hitter rule is in effect. So, another Dodger will bat for Hershiser, LA's top hitter in the Series. He was 3-for-3 in Sunday's 6-0 victory, becoming the first pitcher since Art Neff of the 1924 Giants to get three hits in a World Series game.

In this, his 19th spring as a pro, Greg Gross prefers to look ahead instead of backward. If all goes well, as the 1989 season winds down, two Phillies will be closing in on milestones. Mike Schmidt should be nearing his 600th big league homer, a number reached previously by only Hank Aaron, Babe Ruth and Willie Mays. And Gross ought to be in range of his 151st career pinch-hit, which would put him ahead of Manny Mota and into first place of the all-time list. "I don't think mine will draw that much attention," Gross said with a smile before leaving for St. Petersburg, where he had a single and a triple in two at-bats during the Phillies' 16-7 exhibition win over the St. Louis Cardinals.

It clearly was time, his time: late in the game and the Phillies' offense had been rendered null and void by the Mets' Ron Darling through seven silent innings. Greg Gross, who had followed the unfolding of this contest intently, as he always does and probably always will, knew he would be inserted to lead off the Phillies' half of the eighth. He knew the situation demanded his bat, and he had been preparing for just that opportunity for innings, for hours. Gross, you see, lives the most precarious of baseball lives; when he is asked to join the game it is usually in situations where a manager is staring defeat - and a flame-throwing pitcher - straight in the face.

It clearly was time, his time: Late in the game, and the Phillies' offense had been rendered null and void by the Mets' Ron Darling through seven silent innings. Greg Gross, who had followed the unfolding of this contest intently, as he always does and probably always will, knew he would be inserted to lead off the Phillies' half of the eighth. He knew the situation demanded his bat, and he had been preparing for just that opportunity for innings, for hours. Gross, you see, lives the most precarious of baseball lives; when he is asked to join the game, it is usually in situations where a manager is staring defeat - and a flame-throwing pitcher - straight in the face.