Oct 8, 2008 - 9:35 PM
0 shoutsBy Vince DiGregorio PA SportsTicker Contributing Writer
The topics were varied, but one thing that the participants seemed to agree on was not to look back in history.
It seemed fitting that this theme of not dwelling on the past occurred on the workout day prior to Game One of the National League Championship Series between the Los Angeles Dodgers and Philadelphia Phillies beginning Thursday at Citizens Bank Park.
An item in the Dodgers' team notes noted the significance of this day:
"On this date in 1957, Dodger President Walter O'Malley announced the club's westward move to Los Angeles. Since then, the Dodgers have won more games, more NL pennants and more World Series than any other team in the National League."
Notice there was no mention of the borough of Brooklyn, New York and Ebbets Field, where the Dodgers had called home prior to their move to LA. Maybe it was a coincidence or maybe it was an acknowledgment of moving forward.
Whether the topic was Dodgers manager Joe Torre putting his 12-year managerial tenure with the New York Yankees behind him or Davey Lopes and Larry Bowa reliving the controversial call from Game Three of the 1977 NCLS series between Los Angeles and Philadelphia that favored the Dodgers, it seemed that everyone wants to move on.
Torre denied any sense of vindication when asked about leading the Dodgers to the NL West title in his first season as manager after a somewhat acrimonious departure from New York.
"I didn't necessarily feel I needed to vindicate myself," Torre said. "It wasn't that I was looking to get out of New York. I have a lot of friends there. I still do. I just felt it was time to leave because it wasn't as comfortable."
Torre admitted not knowing what to expect in taking over the reins in Los Angeles.
"After you manage the Yankees for 12 years, it's really tough to envision going somewhere else, but then the Dodgers called," Torre said. "I certainly didn't plan on (managing) at 67 years old, going somewhere else to try this thing to start over again.
"So coming out to LA, I didn't know. I was just curious if this thing could be fun again. It was a lot of work, but you could see it gradually taking hold and all of a sudden, this ballclub sort of blended together."
The biggest relief for the Dodgers' skipper was finally advancing past the Division Series after recent early playoff exits with the Yankees.
"That first (playoff) series for me has been tough in recent years and to get over that three out of five (series format) and getting to this round is great for me," Torre said.
Lopes, the first base coach for the Phillies and former second baseman for the Dodgers, said he would not feel awkward facing the Dodgers because he had put aside his affiliation with the club a long time ago.
"It's not going to be strange for me simply because I haven't been part of the Dodgers organization since 1981," Lopes said. "There's no attachment whatsoever."
But it was left for Lopes and Bowa - Dodgers first base coach and ex-Phillies shortstop - to trade barbs in separate press conferences about the their roles as players during the 1977 NLCS.
The NLCS at that time was a best-of-five format, which Los Angeles won three games to one with the series appearing to turn on a blown call by first base umpire Bruce Froemming with two outs in the ninth inning of Game Three.
The Phillies led 5-3 going into the ninth, but the Dodgers used a two-out rally and pulled within 5-4 and were still threatening when Lopes came to bat for Los Angeles. He hit a sharp grounder that caromed off the glove of third baseman Mike Schmidt and over to Bowa.
Bowa was quick to recover the ricochet and thought he had thrown out Lopes at first, but Froemming called Lopes safe even though the replay showed he was out. That play tied the score in a contest that the Phillies would ultimately lose, 6-5.
Los Angeles closed out the series with a 4-1 win in Game Four and Game Three was dubbed "Black Friday" by the Philadelphia media.
"Black Friday, Blue Friday. I don't know why people talk about such a negative when (the Phillies) have (had) such a great organization for so many years," Lopes said. "That's something that happened like, what? Like 31 years ago, if my math is correct."
Bowa was the only person interviewed who was not willing to let that incident go.
"I know Davey says let it go, but he was out. He knows he was out," Bowa said as laughter erupted during the press conference. "He can go look at that all day (and) 100,000 times he was out."
Lopes refused to admit he was out and was puzzled at Bowa's reluctance to forget about the play.
"Why should I admit it?" Lopes asked. "To tell you the truth, I've never seen the play, don't want to see the play. Why Larry keeps dwelling on it, I have no clue."
Let the games begin.
