Word: pinching
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...fifth game, 4-3. Philadelphia Third Baseman Mike Schmidt, who was later chosen the Series Most Valuable Player, smashed a line drive past George Brett, his Royals counterpart. Brett dove for the ball, but it glanced off his glove and the comeback had begun. With the help of Pinch-Hitter Del Unser, who slammed a double beyond the flailing reach of Royals' First Baseman Willie Aikens, the Phillies turned a one-run deficit into a one-run lead. McGraw came on to shut the door on the Royals, striking out Rightfielder Jose Cardenal, again with the bases loaded...
...Phillies, who had last won a World Series game in 1915, when Babe Ruth was a pitcher and occasional pinch hitter for the victorious Boston Red Sox, suddenly started to change their opinions of Manager Green. First Baseman Pete Rose reflected on the change in a team he had once routinely cuffed as a Cincinnati Red: "They just never had any discipline around here, and he brought some. Dallas talks loud and he likes to chew people out. He's done a hell of a job, and he should be named manager of the year...
Green also brought to the Phillies the Earl Weaver philosophy of playing every man on the roster. Philadelphia had traditionally played a stand-pat lineup, but Green used pinch hitters freely and was not loath to make late-inning defensive changes in his oversupply of high-priced stars...
...approach paid off in the second game. Utility Outfielder Del Unser, who was .316 as a pinch hitter during the regular season, drove in the first run of an eighth-inning rally that-together with Mike Schmidt's game-winning double-erased a 4-2 Kansas City lead. The Phillies...
...Pinch-hitting specialist Del Unser, batting for Lonnie Smith, rolled a double into the right field corner and, as the ball bounced around, Schmidt was waved home. He slid in with the tying run as his teammates spilled out of the dugout to great...