Standing on guard for thee, airport customs officers here ask travelers if they are bringing any potentially dangerous animals or plants into Canada.
James Louis Fregosi, 51, an avid golfer from Tarpon Springs, Fla., must have improved his lie, because the Philadelphia Phillies were cleared to enter the country again. Their business is their pleasure, which is just as well because the task is estimable. If they don’t win two games at SkyDome, the Toronto Blue Jays will become the first team to win consecutive World Series since the 1978 Yankees.
The Phillies’ initial invasion of this sparkling city last week was not without its apprehensions. Upon upsetting Atlanta for the National League pennant, the Broad Street Bellies immediately fretted about what to expect in the province of Ontario. Several emergency telephone calls were placed until necessary information was gleaned.
The Phillies weren’t worried about hotel reservations, practice schedules or the Blue Jays’ pitching rotation. No, the Phillies had to know only whether the visitors’ clubhouse had stocked enough of their favorite beverage from home, Budweiser. First things first, and the Phillies didn’t finish there on bread and water alone. This team’s logo should be a swizzle stick.
“And I guarantee you one thing,” says Bobby Thigpen, who was traded to Philadelphia from the White Sox two months ago but remains amazed. “If these guys couldn’t have gotten Bud up here, they’d have brought their own.”
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Bucking an annoying trend in professional sports, the Phillies employ neither a dietitian nor strength and conditioning coach. Also, they couldn’t hire one psychologist without hiring two, so they might keep each other sane. The Phillies do engage in pregame stretches, but these are essentially exercises in futility. John Kruk, a beached whale, looks over at pear-shaped David West, and the contest is to see who can get up without ripping a seam in his pants.
The Phillies much prefer to arrive at the ballpark early and stay late, all the better to play cards, listen to music and study menus of local fast-food outlets. You can rest assured the Phillies are in town when pizza delivery trucks are bumper to bumper outside their locker room at 2 p.m. for an 8 p.m. game. The Phillies can graze with the best of them. All that’s missing is a keg in their dugout.
“The key to managing this ballclub,” Fregosi says, “is keeping my office door closed.”
The Blue Jays are by no means altar boys. Three of them were accused-erroneously, Joe Carter insists-of patronizing a strip joint in Philadelphia. Paul Molitor many years ago admitted to “dabbling” in cocaine while with the Milwaukee Brewers. Rickey Henderson, arguably the best leadoff man in baseball history, is also the leader in the clubhouse for egos. It is no coincidence Toronto marks his fourth stop. The Blue Jays merely opt for the quietly efficient route.
The same cannot be said for Madonna, an entertainer who threatens to precipitate an international incident. In cold blood, she sided with the Phillies the other night during her soft shoe routine. Canadians are outraged, but they have an ally in Mitch Williams, who says he wouldn’t walk across the street to hear or see Madonna. Judging by the way he pitched in that 15-14 thing, he probably couldn’t walk across the street without being hit.
The Phillies have commissioned Terry Mulholland and Danny Jackson to start Game 6 and, if required, Game 7. The Blue Jays were having trouble with left-handers until they were blanked by right-hander Curt Schilling. Then again, the Blue Jays scored 25 runs in Games 3 and 4, when the Phillies appeared to be pitching underhanded. Thursday night’s blackout does afford Toronto a chance to clinch a World Series outside the United States. Last year’s was in Georgia.
“Sudden death for us?” Kruk mused. “Well, if you’re going to die, it might as well be sudden.”
Win or lose, the Phillies will leave Canada dry.