Before the 1983 Phillies came apart, they came together

A WET SPOT. That, Al Holland believes some 30 years later, is what stopped the 1983 Phillies short of reaching their ultimate destiny.

Not a slew of aging stars with dwindling bats. Not the suddenly silent bat of their one bona fide slugger once the postseason began. And certainly not because of inexperienced call-ups wilting under pressure.

A wet spot on the left side of the Veterans Stadium diamond, made perhaps by a leaky tarp that covered the field during rain the day before Game 3 of their World Series against Baltimore. That, Holland still thinks, in 2013, is what caused Phillies shortstop Ivan DeJesus to boot a two-out grounder in the seventh inning, providing the 0's with the deciding run in a pivotal 3-2 victory, short-circuiting what had been a frantic late-season run by an eclectic team of aging stars and veterans, and wide-eyed rookies and role players.

"That was an error not caused by a player, but Mother Nature," Holland said the other day from his home in Roanoke, Va. "There was a wet spot in that infield right in front of Ivan. And when that ball was hit, Ivan charged that ball and it hit that spot and just took off and hit the heel of his glove. Kicked off it and went right towards third."

The Phillies entered the seventh with a 2-1 lead and 38-year-old Steve Carlton on the mound. Lefty got two quick outs, but a double by Rick Dempsey, a wild pitch and a single by pinch-hitter Benny Ayala brought Holland in. John Shelby's single advanced Ayala to second, and when the ball hit by Dan Ford skipped off DeJesus' glove, Ayala scored the deciding run.

The Orioles went on to win Games 4 and 5, but Holland still believes the series would have played out differently had the Phillies won that game.

"I see that wet spot right now," he said. "It's still there."

Ifs and buts. As anyone who has sat through games of the current Phillies can attest, they are the laments of teams that struggle to score runs, teams operating on a daily razor's edge. A ball that should be a strike. A strike that should be a ball. A bobble, a miscommunication, a pitching change that should have been made, a pitching change that should not have been made, a substitution made or not made.

After the games of June 23 that season, the Phillies' record stood at 29-33. Those Phillies had many of the same problems these Phillies have experienced, and it ultimately cost manager Pat Corrales his job. They were one game over .500 and in first place when general manager Paul Owens replaced Corrales on July 17 that season.

The Phillies went 47-30 under Owens, including 22-7 in September and won their division by six games. Seeking to jar his veteran team, Owens found some answers on the outside. Larry Andersen, loaned to the Phillies' Portland farm team by the last-place Mariners at the start of the season, had his contract bought by the Phillies in late July and found himself smack in the heat of a pennant race. He had a 2.39 earned run average over 17 appearances that season.

"It was almost a feel of on the outside looking in," Andersen said. "The first month I was there, it was kind of ho-hum, guys doing their own thing, bitching about who was playing and who wasn't playing. It really was a lot of tension."

It was a team, after all, flooded with middle-aged journeymen and imported stars from the disassembled "Big Red Machine," Hall of Fame-caliber players seeking one last hurrah. They joined a team only three seasons removed from its first-ever world championship, still with the dangerous bat of Mike Schmidt anchoring the lineup.

"It was an unusual season," reliever Ron Reed said. "We must have had six guys over 60 years of age."

Not quite, although when Owens took over for Corrales, there was one man in uniform that age. Pete Rose was only 42. Tony Perez was only 41. Joe Morgan was only 39. Carlton and Tug McGraw were only 38.

Only.

"It was special for a number of reasons," said Mike Schmidt, who hit 40 home runs and knocked in 109 runs that year. "First, a chance to play with four future Hall of Famers: Rose, Morgan, Perez and Carlton. Second, to go to the World Series with them. Third, to watch several young players like Matuszek, Lefebvre, Samuel, Hayes, Diaz, Dernier and Daulton break into the game and play a role. And last, watching one of the great starting pitching seasons ever, John Denny, win the Cy Young."

"Lots of experience," said Reed, who was only 40. "It paid off in the end."

None of the Red Machine refugees hit over .245, and, combined, Rose, Perez and Morgan accounted for only 147 of the team's 649 runs batted in. But Morgan, struggling mightily all season, got red-hot in September, batting .337 with 18 runs batted in. Schmidt belted 17 home runs over the last 2 months of the regular season before cooling in the postseason. Rose hit .192 in August and only .220 in limited play in September, but his bat woke in the postseason, when he hit .344.

Gary Matthews, after an awful September in which he hit only .192, hit .333 in the postseason and was named NLCS MVP after batting .429 in the Phillies' upset of the Dodgers.

But just to get there, the Phillies leaned heavily on call-ups and role players - another parallel to this season so far. Rookie pitchers Kevin Gross and Charles Hudson were pleasant surprises. Cy Young Award winner John Denny, who went 19-6 that season, had won more than 11 games only once before that season and never won more than 11 again.

Holland, a full-time closer for the first time at age 30, had 25 saves and a 2.26 earned run average.

Those contributions were only part of it. Catcher Bo Diaz had another solid season in his second Phillies season. Young guys such as Len Matuszek and Bob Dernier, journeymen such as Joe Lefebvre and Greg Gross, even a young second baseman named Juan Samuel, were unexpected boosts.

"They started playing more and put a spark under the veterans," said Holland. "I ain't going to say that somebody got complacent in their position. But the young people came up and brought an enthusiastic attitude. And an aggressiveness that rubs off. These kids put in some bona fide efforts to help us get there. I don't think we would have won if some of those kids didn't come up with the performances they did."

Rescued from the scrap heap of a last-place team, Andersen, already 30, revived a career that season that ultimately extended into his 40s and gave him three more opportunities in the postseason, including with the 1993 NL champion Phillies.

"When we started getting hot in September, it was really neat to sit back and watch Pete dictate how things were going to go," Andersen said. "He almost demanded that everyone around him be better. And he was able to get that out of guys, one way or another. For me, it was a real insight into when people talk about Pete and what a difference he makes to a ballclub. You could definitely see it."

So the obvious question, for a man who sees the current version day in and day out, is, Can it happen here? Can role players such as Kevin Frandsen and John Mayberry Jr. be this season's Lefebvre and Greg Gross? Can this team of great expectations salvage its crummy start the way that team did?

"To me right now, it doesn't look like this team is all that cohesive," Andersen said. "When you're winning, though, it brings everyone together, and that's what happened in that last month of '83, even with the younger guys.

"I keep saying maybe our expectations were too high for this team, but I know people were saying the same thing about that '83 team. Even though they had Hall of Famers, they were well beyond their peak years. So who knows? Maybe."

On Twitter: @samdonnellon

Columns: ph.ly/Donnellon