Sport: Can Anyone Win This Thing?

Four teams stage a daffy scramble in the National League East

Sliding into third base one game last week, Andy Van Slyke of the Cardinals could not see that Jim Morrison of the Pirates had missed the throw from the plate and was only pretending to tag him. Exasperated, Cards Third Base Coach Chuck Hiller tugged Van Slyke to his feet and sent him sprinting down the base line. But the rookie outfielder was waved out before he reached the plate. The reason for the rare judgment call? According to Rule 7.09 (i), a coach cannot "assist" a runner. Given the circumstances, the regulation seemed unnecessarily strict. In this season's tight, tense National League East race, any assistance, even driving a runner home in a Sherman tank, should be allowed.

September may be cool for the rest of baseball (American League Leaders Baltimore and Chicago have secure margins; the Dodgers seem safely ahead in the N.L. West), but in the unstable East, four struggling teams have remained within three games of the lead all month. Pittsburgh, Montreal and Philadelphia have exchanged the top slot almost daily, and defending World Series Champion St. Louis has lurched to within half a game of the summit.

Anticipating a four-way tie, league officials have already flipped coins to determine the pairings, Pittsburgh at Montreal and St. Louis at Philadelphia.

How to explain who is doing what to whom, and why, in the four-team limp-off is a mystery even to the participants. When questioned, players squint into the middle distance, managers scuff the artificial turf, and fans in Winnie's, a watering hole on Crescent Street in Montreal, stare mournfully into their Molson's beer. Says St. Louis Manager Whitey Herzog: "It's the craziest race I've ever seen."

It is easier to say why none of the teams ought to win—slumping superstars, shallow bullpens and error-prone infields—than to predict which one eventually will do so. "Pitching's going to win it," claims Expos Manager Bill Virdon, intoning a baseball verity. If so, perennial bridesmaid Montreal should have a slight advantage on the mound. Still, Ace Hurler Steve Rogers, the first pitcher in the N.L. to record 17 wins this season, has lost three of his last five games. Top Reliever Jeff Reardon has muffed eight critical saves, causing such consternation among Montreal fans that they even booed his wife Phebe when she recently appeared on the field at Olympic Stadium for a charity presentation.

Leftfielder Tim Raines leads the league with 73 steals, but Slugger Andre Dawson (.306) has been in and out of the lineup with a knee problem. Says Third Baseman Tim Wallach, who recently emerged from a batting slump: "Now it's not just a star or two, but nine players every day." The real pressures are mental, claims Virdon, who declared a double victory last week even before the war was over. Said he: "We've managed to stay on top and retain our sanity." Virdon spoke too soon; his team immediately dropped back to third by losing to the Chicago Cubs, 8-0.