| 1979 Philadelphia Phillies | ||||
|---|---|---|---|---|
| League | National League | |||
| Division | East | |||
| Ballpark | Veterans Stadium | |||
| City | Philadelphia | |||
| Owners | R. R. M. "Ruly" Carpenter III | |||
| General managers | Paul Owens | |||
| Managers | Danny Ozark,Dallas Green | |||
| Television | WPHL-TV | |||
| Radio | KYW (Harry Kalas,Richie Ashburn,Andy Musser,Chris Wheeler) | |||
| ||||
The1979 Philadelphia Phillies season was the 97th season in thehistory of the franchise, and the 9th season for thePhiladelphia Phillies atVeterans Stadium. The team finished fourth in theNational League East, 14 games behind the first-place and eventualWorld Series championPittsburgh Pirates.
Prior to the1979 season,Pete Rose signed a four-year, $3.2-million contract with thePhiladelphia Phillies, temporarily making him the highest-paid athlete in team sports. The Phillies were in the middle of the greatest era in the history of the franchise when Rose came on board. They had won the National League East three years running (1976–78) two of which were won with 101 win seasons.
The Phillies entered the 1979 season with one of the strongest lineups in the league with the addition of Rose but with numerous injuries on the pitching staff. AP sports writer Hal Bock picked the Phils to finish second behind thePirates as the Phillies would enter the season with pitchersLarry Christenson, prospectJim Wright, andDick Ruthven all injured.[1]
Richie Ashburn OF,TV Retired 1979[12] |
On April 18, in a victory versus thePirates,Greg Luzinski became the first visiting player to hit a home run into the fifth level ofThree Rivers Stadium.[13]
On May 17, 1979, the Phillies beat theCubs 23–22 atWrigley Field in ten innings with a 30-mph wind blowing out to left field.[14] After the game, the Phils were 14 games over .500 and in first place by3+1⁄2 games over theMontreal Expos.[15]
On July 10,Del Unser hit his third consecutivepinch hithome run. Unser tied aMajor League Baseball record with homers in three straight pinchat bats. The at bats were on June 30, July 5, and July 10.[16]
By August 29, the team had fallen to fifth place and two games under .500,12+1⁄2 games behind the Pirates.[17] Mid-season injuries toManny Trillo,Larry Bowa, andGreg Luzinski contributed to hurt the club. The team's decline led to the firing of managerDanny Ozark on August 31 who was replaced byDallas Green.[18] Green was named interim manager, a position made permanent shortly after the end of the season.[19]
The Phillies front office introduced an alternate all-burgundy version of the team uniform for the 1979 season to be worn for Saturday games.[20] They were called "Saturday Night Specials", in a derisive nod to cheap handguns then called by that name and were worn for the first and last time on May 19, 1979,[21] a 10–5 loss to theExpos.[22] The immediate reaction of the media, fans, and players alike was negative, with many describing the despised uniforms as pajama-like.
| Team | W | L | Pct. | GB | Home | Road |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Pittsburgh Pirates | 98 | 64 | .605 | — | 48–33 | 50–31 |
| Montreal Expos | 95 | 65 | .594 | 2 | 56–25 | 39–40 |
| St. Louis Cardinals | 86 | 76 | .531 | 12 | 42–39 | 44–37 |
| Philadelphia Phillies | 84 | 78 | .519 | 14 | 43–38 | 41–40 |
| Chicago Cubs | 80 | 82 | .494 | 18 | 45–36 | 35–46 |
| New York Mets | 63 | 99 | .389 | 35 | 28–53 | 35–46 |
Sources:[1][2][3][4][5][6][7][8][9][10][11][12] | |||||||||||||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Team | ATL | CHC | CIN | HOU | LAD | MON | NYM | PHI | PIT | SD | SF | STL | |||||
| Atlanta | — | 4–8 | 6–12 | 7–11 | 12–6 | 1–9 | 4–8 | 7–5 | 4–8 | 6–12 | 11–7 | 4–8 | |||||
| Chicago | 8–4 | — | 7–5 | 6–6 | 5–7 | 6–12 | 8–10 | 9–9 | 6–12 | 9–3 | 8–4 | 8–10 | |||||
| Cincinnati | 12–6 | 5–7 | — | 8–10 | 11–7 | 6–6 | 8–4 | 8–4 | 8–4 | 10–7 | 6–12 | 8–4 | |||||
| Houston | 11–7 | 6–6 | 10–8 | — | 10–8 | 7–5 | 9–3 | 5–7 | 4–8 | 14–4 | 7–11 | 6–6 | |||||
| Los Angeles | 6–12 | 7–5 | 7–11 | 8–10 | — | 6–6 | 9–3 | 3–9 | 4–8 | 9–9 | 14–4 | 6–6 | |||||
| Montreal | 9–1 | 12–6 | 6–6 | 5–7 | 6–6 | — | 15–3 | 11–7 | 7–11 | 7–5 | 7–5 | 10–8 | |||||
| New York | 8–4 | 10–8 | 4–8 | 3–9 | 3–9 | 3–15 | — | 5–13 | 8–10 | 4–8 | 8–4 | 7–11 | |||||
| Philadelphia | 5–7 | 9–9 | 4–8 | 7–5 | 9–3 | 7–11 | 13–5 | — | 8–10 | 9–3 | 6–6 | 7–11 | |||||
| Pittsburgh | 8–4 | 12–6 | 4–8 | 8–4 | 8–4 | 11–7 | 10–8 | 10–8 | — | 7–5 | 9–3 | 11–7 | |||||
| San Diego | 12–6 | 3–9 | 7–10 | 4–14 | 9–9 | 5–7 | 8–4 | 3–9 | 5–7 | — | 8–10 | 4–8 | |||||
| San Francisco | 7–11 | 4–8 | 12–6 | 11–7 | 4–14 | 5–7 | 4–8 | 6–6 | 3–9 | 10–8 | — | 5–7 | |||||
| St. Louis | 8–4 | 10–8 | 4–8 | 6–6 | 6–6 | 8–10 | 11–7 | 11–7 | 7–11 | 8–4 | 7–5 | — | |||||
| Legend | |
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| Phillies loss | |
| Phillies tie | |
| Postponement | |
| Bold | Phillies team member |
| 1979 Game Log[27] Overall Record: 84–78 | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
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April (14–5)
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May (13–15)
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June (12–16)
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July (15–13)
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August (12–18)
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September (18–11)
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| 1979 Philadelphia Phillies | |||||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Roster | |||||||||
| Pitchers | Catchers Infielders | Outfielders | Manager Coaches
| ||||||
Note: Pos = Position; G = Games played; AB = At bats; H = Hits; Avg. = Batting average; HR = Home runs; RBI = Runs batted in
| Pos | Player | G | AB | H | Avg. | HR | RBI |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| C | Bob Boone | 119 | 398 | 114 | .286 | 9 | 58 |
| 1B | Pete Rose | 163 | 628 | 208 | .331 | 4 | 59 |
| 2B | Manny Trillo | 118 | 431 | 112 | .260 | 6 | 42 |
| SS | Larry Bowa | 147 | 539 | 130 | .241 | 0 | 31 |
| 3B | Mike Schmidt | 160 | 541 | 137 | .253 | 45 | 114 |
| LF | Greg Luzinski | 137 | 452 | 114 | .252 | 18 | 81 |
| CF | Garry Maddox | 148 | 548 | 154 | .281 | 13 | 61 |
| RF | Bake McBride | 151 | 582 | 163 | .280 | 12 | 60 |
Note: G = Games played; AB = At bats; H = Hits; Avg. = Batting average; HR = Home runs; RBI = Runs batted in
| Player | G | AB | H | Avg. | HR | RBI |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Greg Gross | 118 | 174 | 58 | .333 | 0 | 15 |
| Del Unser | 95 | 141 | 42 | .298 | 6 | 29 |
| Tim McCarver | 79 | 137 | 33 | .241 | 1 | 12 |
| Mike Anderson | 79 | 78 | 18 | .231 | 1 | 2 |
| Rudy Meoli | 30 | 73 | 13 | .178 | 0 | 6 |
| Bud Harrelson | 53 | 71 | 20 | .282 | 0 | 7 |
| Ramón Avilés | 27 | 61 | 17 | .279 | 0 | 12 |
| Dave Rader | 31 | 54 | 11 | .204 | 1 | 5 |
| José Cardenal | 29 | 48 | 10 | .208 | 0 | 9 |
| Keith Moreland | 14 | 48 | 18 | .375 | 0 | 8 |
| Lonnie Smith | 17 | 30 | 5 | .167 | 0 | 3 |
| John Poff | 12 | 19 | 2 | .105 | 0 | 1 |
| John Vukovich | 10 | 15 | 3 | .200 | 0 | 1 |
| Pete Mackanin | 13 | 9 | 1 | .111 | 1 | 2 |
Note: G = Games pitched; IP = Innings pitched; W = Wins; L = Losses; ERA = Earned run average; SO = Strikeouts
| Player | G | IP | W | L | ERA | SO |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Steve Carlton | 35 | 251.0 | 18 | 11 | 3.62 | 213 |
| Randy Lerch | 37 | 214.0 | 10 | 13 | 3.74 | 92 |
| Nino Espinosa | 33 | 212.0 | 14 | 12 | 3.65 | 88 |
| Dick Ruthven | 20 | 122.1 | 7 | 5 | 4.27 | 58 |
| Larry Christenson | 19 | 106.0 | 5 | 10 | 4.50 | 53 |
| Dickie Noles | 14 | 90.0 | 3 | 4 | 3.80 | 42 |
| Dan Larson | 3 | 19.0 | 1 | 1 | 4.26 | 9 |
Note: G = Games pitched; IP = Innings pitched; W = Wins; L = Losses; ERA = Earned run average; SO = Strikeouts
| Player | G | IP | W | L | ERA | SO |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Jim Kaat | 3 | 8.1 | 1 | 0 | 4.32 | 2 |
| Jim Lonborg | 4 | 7.1 | 0 | 1 | 11.05 | 7 |
Note: G = Games pitched; W = Wins; L = Losses; SV = Saves; ERA = Earned run average; SO = Strikeouts
| Player | G | W | L | SV | ERA | SO |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Tug McGraw | 65 | 4 | 3 | 16 | 5.16 | 57 |
| Ron Reed | 61 | 13 | 8 | 5 | 4.15 | 58 |
| Rawly Eastwick | 51 | 3 | 6 | 6 | 4.90 | 47 |
| Doug Bird | 32 | 2 | 0 | 0 | 5.16 | 33 |
| Kevin Saucier | 29 | 1 | 4 | 1 | 4.19 | 21 |
| Warren Brusstar | 13 | 1 | 0 | 1 | 6.91 | 3 |
| Jack Kucek | 4 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 8.31 | 2 |
| Mike Anderson | 1 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0.00 | 2 |
LEAGUE CHAMPIONS: Central Oregon[38]
Keith Moreland's fly to LF was ruled a home run; the Pirates argued the call; the umpires huddled and HP umpireDoug Harvey overruled 3B umpireEric Gregg, calling it a foul ball; Phillies managerDallas Green argued with and was ejected by Harvey; Green threw equipment onto the field from the bench after the ejection and was fined;Mike Schmidt threw his helmet and was fined; Green protested the game; Moreland was called out on strikes[.]