1979 MLB season | |
---|---|
League | Major League Baseball |
Sport | Baseball |
Duration | April 4 – October 17, 1979 |
Number of games | 162 |
Number of teams | 26 |
TV partner(s) | ABC, NBC, USA |
Draft | |
Top draft pick | Al Chambers |
Picked by | Seattle Mariners |
Regular season | |
Season MVP | AL: Don Baylor (CAL) NL: Willie Stargell (PIT) Keith Hernandez (STL) |
Postseason | |
AL champions | Baltimore Orioles |
AL runners-up | California Angels |
NL champions | Pittsburgh Pirates |
NL runners-up | Cincinnati Reds |
World Series | |
Champions | Pittsburgh Pirates |
Runners-up | Baltimore Orioles |
World Series MVP | Willie Stargell (PIT) |
The 1979 Major League Baseball season concluded with the Pittsburgh Pirates defeating the Baltimore Orioles in seven games in the 1979 World Series. None of the post-season teams of 1977 or 1978 returned to this year's postseason.
American League[edit]
|
National League[edit]
|
Main article: 1979 MLB Postseason |
League Championship Series (ALCS, NLCS) | World Series | ||||||||
East | Baltimore | 3 | |||||||
West | California | 1 | |||||||
AL | Baltimore | 3 | |||||||
NL | Pittsburgh | 4 | |||||||
East | Pittsburgh | 3 | |||||||
West | Cincinnati | 0 |
Further information: 1979 Baseball Hall of Fame balloting |
Statistic | American League | National League | ||
---|---|---|---|---|
AVG | Fred Lynn BOS | .333 | Keith Hernandez STL | .344 |
HR | Gorman Thomas MIL | 45 | Dave Kingman CHC | 48 |
RBI | Don Baylor CAL | 139 | Dave Winfield SD | 118 |
Wins | Mike Flanagan BAL | 23 | Joe Niekro HOU Phil Niekro ATL |
21 |
ERA | Ron Guidry NYY | 2.78 | J. R. Richard HOU | 2.71 |
SO | Nolan Ryan CAL | 223 | J. R. Richard HOU | 313 |
SV | Mike Marshall MIN | 32 | Bruce Sutter CHC | 37 |
SB | Willie Wilson KC | 83 | Omar Moreno PIT | 77 |
Team name | Wins | %± | Home attendance | %± | Per game |
---|---|---|---|---|---|
Los Angeles Dodgers[1] | 79 | -16.8% | 2,860,954 | -14.5% | 35,320 |
Philadelphia Phillies[2] | 84 | -6.7% | 2,775,011 | 7.4% | 34,259 |
New York Yankees[3] | 89 | -11.0% | 2,537,765 | 8.6% | 31,330 |
California Angels[4] | 88 | 1.1% | 2,523,575 | 43.8% | 31,155 |
Cincinnati Reds[5] | 90 | -2.2% | 2,356,933 | -6.9% | 29,462 |
Boston Red Sox[6] | 91 | -8.1% | 2,353,114 | 1.4% | 29,414 |
Kansas City Royals[7] | 85 | -7.6% | 2,261,845 | 0.3% | 27,924 |
Montreal Expos[8] | 95 | 25.0% | 2,102,173 | 47.3% | 25,953 |
Milwaukee Brewers[9] | 95 | 2.2% | 1,918,343 | 19.8% | 23,683 |
Houston Astros[10] | 89 | 20.3% | 1,900,312 | 68.7% | 23,461 |
Baltimore Orioles[11] | 102 | 13.3% | 1,681,009 | 59.8% | 21,279 |
Chicago Cubs[12] | 80 | 1.3% | 1,648,587 | 8.1% | 20,353 |
Detroit Tigers[13] | 85 | -1.2% | 1,630,929 | -4.9% | 20,387 |
St. Louis Cardinals[14] | 86 | 24.6% | 1,627,256 | 27.3% | 19,845 |
Texas Rangers[15] | 83 | -4.6% | 1,519,671 | 5.0% | 18,761 |
San Diego Padres[16] | 68 | -19.0% | 1,456,967 | -12.8% | 17,987 |
San Francisco Giants[17] | 71 | -20.2% | 1,456,402 | -16.3% | 17,980 |
Pittsburgh Pirates[18] | 98 | 11.4% | 1,435,454 | 48.9% | 17,722 |
Toronto Blue Jays[19] | 53 | -10.2% | 1,431,651 | -8.4% | 17,675 |
Chicago White Sox[20] | 73 | 2.8% | 1,280,702 | -14.1% | 16,211 |
Minnesota Twins[21] | 82 | 12.3% | 1,070,521 | 35.9% | 13,216 |
Cleveland Indians[22] | 81 | 17.4% | 1,011,644 | 26.4% | 12,489 |
Seattle Mariners[23] | 67 | 19.6% | 844,447 | -3.8% | 10,425 |
New York Mets[24] | 63 | -4.5% | 788,905 | -21.7% | 9,621 |
Atlanta Braves[25] | 66 | -4.3% | 769,465 | -14.9% | 9,740 |
Oakland Athletics[26] | 54 | -21.7% | 306,763 | -41.8% | 3,787 |
Twenty-two teams (all but the Atlanta Braves, Houston Astros, New York Mets, and St. Louis Cardinals) signed a one-year cable deal with United Artists Television and Columbia Pictures Television, then-owners of the USA Network.[30] The deal involved the airing of Thursday Night Baseball[31] in markets at least 50 miles (80 km) from a major league park.[32] The deal earned Major League Baseball less than $500,000, but led to a new two-year contract for 40–45 games per season.[33][34]
ABC aired Monday Night Baseball and the World Series. NBC televised the weekend Game of the Week, the All-Star Game, and both League Championship Series.