Dodgers: 20 years ago today

By Matt McHale
Staff Writer

NEW YORK -- The conditions were miserable and the series was tied. Jay Howell was just looking for an edge.

He wasn't expecting to change the course of the National League playoffs by applying a little pine tar to his pitching hand from a strap on his glove. Everybody's doing it. And it sure was cold out there.

But when Howell got caught and ejected with Kevin McReynolds at the plate to open the eighth inning, the Dodgers' Saturday afternoon began to unravel into an 8-4 loss to the New York Mets at Shea Stadium.

Howell is the Dodgers' best reliever and was called on to hold a one-run lead for Orel Hershiser, the same scenario as in Game 1 of this best-of-seven series, but also the Dodgers' best hand all season.

Suddenly he was gone, his glove confiscated by umpires after Mets first- base coach Bill Robinson detected Howell repeatedly tugging at a strap. Crew chief Harry Wendelstedt examined the glove and found pine tar, which batters commonly use to improve their grip.

Howell's manager, Tom Lasorda, was left dumbfounded and arguing into a strong wind off Jamaica Bay. He also was left helpless, handing the game to relievers Alejandro Pena, Jesse Orosco and Ricky Horton.

They allowed five runs and the Dodgers never recovered. Six outs from victory, they now trail the series, 2-1, and face Dwight Gooden tonight.

"It turned the game around because this team just never dies," said Wally Backman, who hit a booming double to center off Pena that tied the game at 4-4. "I guess he was trying to get an advantage out there. Our advantage is we fight you till we're dead."

Although league president and commissioner-elect A. Bartlett Giamatti will not rule on a possible suspension and fine for Howell until today, the Dodgers lost a great opportunity to pull ahead in a series few gave them a chance to win.

Hershiser now has allowed just three earned runs in 15-1/3 playoff innings, but does not have a decision in either start.

Outside of their four-run second inning in Game 2, the Dodgers still are not hitting, batting just .188 for the series. They took a 2-0 lead in the second inning without hitting a ball out of the infield.

Kirk Gibson and Jeff Hamilton finally got their first hits of the series, but Alfredo Griffin stranded five runners.

But the game clearly shifted when Howell was ejected. The Dodgers didn't have the pitching to hold back the Mets.

"Losing Howell took my best reliever out of the game; that was the most important thing," Lasorda said. "How come you can use this stuff on a bat, but not on a ball? It just helps your grip. You can't do tricks with it. He was just trying to hold onto the ball. I used to do it. I just took it right off the bat in the dugout."

The 43-degree temperature and sloppy field, caused by a steady two-day rain that canceled Friday's game, gave an excuse for the two unearned runs Hershiser allowed and the bloop hits that dropped beyond the reach of infielders.

"It was cold out there and very hard to grip the ball, especially on the curveball," Hershiser said. "It was drizzling but my hand was drying out. There might be a lot of pitchers who would use pine tar on a day like this. I didn't know anything about what Jay was doing. It comes as a complete surprise but there was plenty of strange stuff today."

Strange was Randy Myers picking up his second win of the series despite walking in the tie-breaking run in the top of the eighth.

Strange was watching Keith Hernandez attempting to reach third on all- fours as Gibson fumbled with Darryl Strawberry's bloop single to left in the sixth. Hernandez was tagged out, but the Mets went on to score two runs and tie the game, 3-3.

The Dodgers appeared to be out of that inning, allowing just one run on Gary Carter's RBI single. But the Mets tied it when Backman's grounder to first bounced away from a diving Mickey Hatcher, enabling Howard Johnson to score. Backman would have been the final out.

"I slipped before I dove," Hatcher said.

Strange was watching David Cone, the controversial pitcher/columnist who ripped the Dodgers and Howell after Game 1, pitch a perfect ninth to earn the save.

"I don't see the connection," Cone said, when asked if he was redeemed pitching in a game where Howell was ejected.

"It was the ugliest, most fascinating game I've ever played in," said
Hernandez, a 14-year veteran. "The conditions were awful and we knew it was more survival than anything."

But most of that was forgotten after the Mets batted in the eighth.

When Howell reached the mound the sun finally had broken from behind the storm clouds that postponed Friday night's game. But the weather remained cold and Robinson noticed something that turned out to be the strangest twist in the strangest game of the season.

Howell was tugging on the strap of his glove after every pitch to McReynolds, the first batter he faced. But Howell fell behind in the count, 3-0, so Mets manager Davey Johnson remained in the dugout.

Johnson, however, was so confident that Howell was doctoring the ball, he gave McReynolds the green light even though the Mets trailed by a run.

When McReynolds fouled off that pitch, Johnson appealed to home plate umpire Joe West. The case was turned over to Wendelstedt, who, after a brief examination, took the glove and ejected Howell.

"Quite frankly, I thought it was a bad ruling," Howell said. "I thought at the time they would throw the glove out of the game and let me continue. I didn't think they would throw me out."

Pena took over for Howell with a 3-1 count and walked McReynolds. Howard Johnson bunted into a fielder's choice and Gary Carter flied to left. Pena didn't look like he would need anyone's help.

But Backman, normally a singles hitter, lined a double to left-center, scoring Johnson with the tying run. Orosco, the former Mets closer, came on and immediately gave up the eventual game-winning single to Mookie Wilson.

Two batters later, Horton replaced Orosco and was greeted with a two-run bloop single to left.

"Sure I had confidence in those guys," Lasorda said. "I wouldn't have
sent them out there. Howell was gone, but I felt the others could do the job."

Howell admitted using pine tar, saying, "I've used it in cold-weather situations when the resin bag doesn't work. But I've never seen it enforced like this before. There are pitchers scraping the ball and cutting the ball and nothing happens. (Using pine tar) doesn't change the flight of the ball. It just allows you a better feel for the ball."

It also can get a pitcher suspended as the Dodgers and Howell will learn today. There also is a question of when Howell might serve if suspended. In the 1972 AL playoffs, Oakland's Bert Campaneris was suspended 10 games for throwing his bat at Detroit pitcher Lerrin LaGrow. Campaneris was forced to serve the suspension at the opening of the 1973 season.