Word: baseman
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Until just before Labor Day, the story in this race focused on Lou Brock and Philadelphia's third baseman Mike Schmidt. Brock was making headlines with his running, but he was also winning games by being in scoring position on second after his steals. Schmidt, who hit .196 as a rookie last year, boosted himself and the Phillies this season by leading the league in home runs and RBIs through the end of August...
Even so, prospects for the Dodgers were hardly hopeless. Though the Los Angeles lineup lacks big-name bats like Cincinnati's Pete Rose, Joe Morgan and Johnny Bench, the Dodgers have their share of potent hitters. First Baseman Steve Garvey, who was the Dodgers' bat boy 15 years ago, sports a healthy batting average of .324, followed not far behind by young Leftfielder Bill Buckner. Jim Wynn, the "Toy Cannon," adds the power of 30 home runs and 99 RBis. And there is always iron-arm Mike Marshall in the bullpen...
Arrogance Helps. Even if he did try to steal third more often, Brock would still face what Wills recalls as "the sleepless nights in September when the pain from the constant pounding keeps you up all night. After you hit 80, the other players gun for you. The first baseman slams you with his mitt on pick-off attempts, the pitcher concentrates on getting you instead of the batter, and the catcher isn't even behind the plate. On my last steal in 1962, the catcher was over in the batter's box waiting to throw...
...edging toward 50. He grew up in fashionable Merion, Pa., member of a distinguished, divided and furiously competitive clan. His mother, Historian Catherine Drinker Bowen (Yankee from Olympus), apparently never lost at any sport. Bowen dreamed of becoming a triple-threat back at Princeton but became a pedestrian first baseman at Amherst, then an editor in New York. Years passed. Sports stars grew younger. Bowen grew older. Came the day when he could no longer take comfort even from the presence on the sporting scene of elderly prizefighters like Archie Moore, or the ageless prowess of Stan Musial...
...Crimson scratched out two single runs in the sixth and seventh innings on an RBI base hit from third-baseman Jim Thomas and a N.C. throwing error. But a what-might-have-been six-hit shutout from O'Malley was already in the loss column...