1979 in baseball

American League National League Type Name Stat Name Stat 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 SDP 118 Wins Mike Flanagan BAL 23 Joe Niekro HOUPhil Niekro ATL 21 ERA Ron Guidry NYY 2.78 J. R. Richard HOU 2.71

American League Rank Club Wins Losses Win % GB East Division 1st Baltimore Orioles 102   57 .642     2nd Milwaukee Brewers   95   66 .590   8 3rd Boston Red Sox   91   69 .569 11.5 4th New York Yankees   89   71 .556 13.5 5th Detroit Tigers   85   76 .528 18 6th Cleveland Indians   81   80 .503 22 7th Toronto Blue Jays   53 109 .327 50.5 West Division 1st California Angels   88   74 .543     2nd Kansas City Royals   85   77 .525   3 3rd Texas Rangers   83   79 .512   5 4th Minnesota Twins   82   80 .506   6 5th Chicago White Sox   73   87 .456 14 6th Seattle Mariners   67   95 .414 21 7th Oakland Athletics   54 108 .333 34

National League Rank Club Wins Losses Win %   GB East Division 1st Pittsburgh Pirates 98 64 .605     2nd Montreal Expos 95 65 .594   2 3rd St. Louis Cardinals 86 76 .531 12 4th Philadelphia Phillies 84 78 .519 14 5th Chicago Cubs 80 82 .494 18 6th New York Mets 63 99 .389 35 West Division 1st Cincinnati Reds 90 71 .559     2nd Houston Astros 89 73 .549   1.5 3rd Los Angeles Dodgers 79 83 .488 11.5 4th San Francisco Giants 71 91 .438 19.5 5th San Diego Padres 68 93 .422 22 6th Atlanta Braves 66 94 .413 23.5

January 15 – The Seattle Mariners sign Tom Paciorek as a free agent. January 23 – Willie Mays receives 409 of 432 votes in the Baseball Writers' Association of America election to earn enshrinement in the Hall of Fame. The Toronto Blue Jays sell the contract of Designated Hitter Sam Ewing to the Nippon Ham Fighters of the Japanese Pacific League. January 26 – The Los Angeles Dodgers sign free agent Alan Wiggins.

February 3 – The Minnesota Twins trade Rod Carew to the California Angels for Ken Landreaux, Dave Engle, Paul Hartzell and Brad Havens. His first season with the Angels, he helps his new team reach the post season for the first time, batting over .300 for the next five seasons, and being selected for the next six American League All Star teams. February 15 – The Los Angeles Dodgers trade catcher Brad Gulden to the New York Yankees for outfielder Gary Thomasson. Gulden would later that season start the August 6th game against the Baltimore Orioles, which was the Yankees first game after the funeral for Thurman Munson, who'd died days earlier in a plane crash.

March 7 – The Special Veterans Committee selects Warren Giles and Hack Wilson for the Hall of Fame. March 10 – The St. Louis Cardinals signed outfielder Bernie Carbo as a free agent. March 26 – The New York Mets released infielder Bobby Valentine. March 28 – Pitcher Tom House is released by the Seattle Mariners.

April 7 – In the earliest no hitter in major league history, the Houston Astros' Ken Forsch shuts down the Atlanta Braves 6–0. His brother, St. Louis Cardinals pitcher Bob Forsch, hurled a no hitter the previous season against the Philadelphia Phillies — making them the first big league brothers to each toss a no hitter. April 15 – The New York Mets sign 16 year old infielder Jose Oquendo as a free agent. April 17 – The Oakland Athletics beat the Seattle Mariners 6 5 BUT only 653 fans at Oakland Alameda Coliseum were there. Some reports also say that only 250 people we're there for that night game. April 19 – New York Yankees' closer Rich Gossage breaks his right thumb in a clubhouse fight with teammate Cliff Johnson. Gossage would miss almost two months, while 1978 American League Cy Young Award winner Ron Guidry voluntarily replaced him in the bullpen for a short time.

June 8 – The Kansas City Royals use their fourth overall pick to draft Dan Marino. In the seventeenth round, they select Stanford's John Elway. Neither player would sign with the Royals, though they would go on to record breaking careers in the National Football League. June 12 – The Detroit Tigers hire Sparky Anderson as their new manager. June 14 – The San Diego Padres trade First baseman Mike Hargrove to the Cleveland Indians in exchange for outfielder Paul Dade. June 18 – Bob Lemon is fired as manager of the defending World Series champ New York Yankees after a sluggish 34 31 start. Billy Martin, originally slated not to take over until the 1980 season, is brought back early by George Steinbrenner, drawing the ire of Reggie Jackson. June 24 – In a 5–1 loss to the Rangers, Rickey Henderson debuts for the Oakland Athletics. He singles and doubles; the first of his over 3,000 career hits, and steals the first of his over 1,400 bases. June 26 – Bobby Murcer returns to the New York Yankees after being acquired in a trade with the Chicago Cubs. In exchange for Murcer, the Cubs acquired minor league pitcher Paul Semall. June 28 – The San Francisco Giants acquire pitchers Al Holland, Ed Whitson, and Fred Breining from the Pittsburgh Pirates in exchange for third baseman Bill Madlock, second baseman Lenny Randle, and pitcher Dave Roberts.

July 6 – The Los Angeles Dodgers purchase the contract of pitcher Fernando Valenzuela from Yucatan of the Mexican League. July 12 – The Detroit Tigers win the first game of a scheduled doubleheader against the Chicago White Sox, 4–1, on Disco Demolition Night at Chicago's Comiskey Park. Thousands of young fans swarm onto the field between the games, damaging the field and causing mayhem throughout the stadium. The White Sox are forced to forfeit the second game. July 13 – In a rare event, Nolan Ryan of the California Angels and Steve Renko of the Boston Red Sox take separate no hitters into the ninth inning before they both lose the no hit bids. Ryan's no hit bid against the New York Yankees benefitted from some questionable official scoring; Jim Spencer's drive to center that Angels centerfielder Rick Miller barely got a glove on was ruled an error. In the ninth, Thurman Munson reached on an error by shortstop Jim Anderson. Two batters later, Reggie Jackson singled to center to unquestionably break up the no hitter. The next batter, Lou Piniella hit a sacrifice fly to score Munson, and break up the shutout. The run was, however, unearned. Ryan's Angels defeat the Yankees, 6–1. Renko's no hit bid against the Oakland Athletics is broken up by Rickey Henderson with one out. After recording a second out, Renko walks Mitchell Page, and is pulled in favor of Bill Campbell by Red Sox manager Don Zimmer. Campbell strikes out the only batter he faces, Dave Revering to earn the save, however, Renko is denied the shutout as a result. The Red Sox defeat the A's, 2–0. Ryan's feat, however, receives considerably more attention as the game was nationally televised on ABC's Monday Night Baseball and Ryan (while pitching the game) was on the ensuing issue's cover of Sports Illustrated. July 17 – The National League wins its eighth straight All Star Game, 7–6, at Seattle. Lee Mazzilli hits a home run to tie the game in the eighth, and walks in the ninth to bring in the winning run. Dave Parker, with two outstanding throws, is named the MVP, and Pete Rose appears in the game playing first base, making him the only player in MLB history to appear in the game at five different positions in the field in his All Star game career. July 24 – Boston's Carl Yastrzemski hits his 400th home run off Oakland Athletics pitcher Mike Morgan in the 7th inning of the Red Sox's 7–3 win over the Athletics at Boston's Fenway Park. July 27 – Bert Blyleven of the Pittsburgh Pirates pitches a 9 1 complete game victory against the Montreal Expos. However, he also strikes out five times as a hitter in the game, becoming the only pitcher in major league history to do so.

August 2 – The Chicago White Sox announce that Don Kessinger has been fired as manager, and that he will be replaced by rookie manager Tony La Russa. August 3 – Over 51,000 mourners attend a memorial service for New York Yankees captain Thurman Munson at Yankee Stadium, who was killed the day before in a plane crash. August 5 – Fred Lynn hits his 100th career home run, helping the Red Sox beat Milwaukee Brewers 7–2. August 6 – The entire New York Yankee team flies to Canton, Ohio for captain Thurman Munson's funeral. Hours later, the team returns to New York City and defeats the Baltimore Orioles 5–4 at Yankee Stadium, before a national viewing audience on ABC's Monday Night Baseball. Bobby Murcer, one of Munson's best friends, drives in all five Yankee runs with a three run home run in the seventh inning and a two run single in the bottom of the ninth. August 13 – The St. Louis Cardinals' Lou Brock slashes his 3,000th hit off the hand of Chicago Cubs pitcher Dennis Lamp in a 3–2 Cardinals win at Busch Memorial Stadium. August 22 – At Riverfront Stadium, Johnny Bench breaks Frank Robinson's record for most home runs by a Cincinnati Red. His shot, the 325th home run of his career (all with the Reds), comes off Stan Bahnsen in the fourth inning of the Reds' 7 2 victory over the Montreal Expos. August 24 – The Philadelphia Phillies retire eventual Hall of Famer Richie Ashburn's number 1. August 31 The Philadelphia Phillies fire manager Danny Ozark. Dallas Green is named as his replacement.

September 4 – Richard Dotson makes his MLB debut for the Chicago White Sox. He lasts only 1.1 innings, giving up five runs and finished with a 33.75 E. R. A. The White Sox rebounded to win 11 7, and Dotson rebounded to pitch 11 years in the majors. September 8 – Kirk Gibson makes his major league debut for the Detroit Tigers, striking out pinch hitting for Dave Stegman in Detroit's 5 4 loss to the New York Yankees. September 11 – Dave Concepción and George Foster hit back to back home runs in the seventh inning off Houston Astros ace reliever Joe Sambito and the Cincinnati Reds hold off the Astros 9 8. The Reds trailed the Astros by 1/2 game and moved into first place to stay in the National League West. Tim Raines makes his major league debut. He is inserted into the game as a pinch runner for catcher Gary Carter in the Montreal Expos 8 6 win over the Chicago Cubs. September 12 – The Boston Red Sox's Carl Yastrzemski records his 3,000th career hit with a single off of pitcher Jim Beattie during a 9–2 win over the rival New York Yankees at Fenway Park. He is the first American League player to reach both 3,000 hits and 400 home runs. September 14 – The Minnesota Twins trade All Star first baseman Rod Carew to the California Angels for Dave Engle, Paul Hartzell and Brad Havens. Carew, who hit .333 for the Twins in 1978 but had vowed never to play again for team's owner Calvin Griffith after he made disparaging remarks against black players a few months earlier, will hit .318 for the Angels for the rest of the season. Carew will be inducted into the Hall of Fame in 1991. September 15 – As part of a 10–2 win over the Baltimore Orioles, the Red Sox's Bob Watson hits for the cycle. Having done it for the Houston Astros on June 24, 1977, he is the first player to do this in both leagues. September 17 – George Brett hits his 20th triple of the season. He is the first player since Willie Mays in 1957 to join the 20–20–20 club. September 23 – Lou Brock steals the 938th and final base of his career, breaking Billy Hamilton's all time National League record. Brock's St. Louis Cardinals defeat the New York Mets 7–4 in ten innings. September 24 – Pete Rose collects his 200th hit of the season, giving him ten seasons with at least 200 hits. This breaks the record set by Ty Cobb. September 28 – Garry Templeton of the St. Louis Cardinals collects his 100th hit of the season while batting right handed. Having already collected 100 hits while batting left handed, Templeton is the first player in history to accomplish this. He had batted right handed, exclusively, for the last week of the season to get the needed hits. September 28 – The Cincinnati Reds' Frank Pastore pitches a complete game 3 0 shutout over the Atlanta Braves, clinching the National League West Division title for the Reds.

October 3 – The San Diego Padres release pitcher Mickey Lolich. October 17 – In Game Seven of the World Series, Willie Stargell hits his third home run of the Series to send the Pittsburgh Pirates to their third straight win over the Baltimore Orioles, to win the World Series Championship. Stargell wins Series MVP honors. The Pirates came back from a deficit of 3 games to 1. Although his team lost in that series, Earl Weaver was named Sporting News Manager of the Year. The Chicago Cubs trade pitcher Donnie Moore to the St. Louis Cardinals for second baseman Mike Tyson. October 23 – Yankee manager Billy Martin gets into a barroom fight with Joseph Cooper, a marshmallow salesman from Minnesota. Six days later, Martin is fired from the Yankees and replaced with Dick Howser.

November 13 – For the first time ever, there will be League co MVPs as Keith Hernandez of the St. Louis Cardinals shares the National League Baseball Most Valuable Player Award with Willie Stargell of the Pittsburgh Pirates. Stargell is the oldest person to win this award (since broken by Barry Bonds in 2004). The Pirates have thus won (or shared) all four "Most Valuable Player" awards for the season (All Star Game, National League Championship Series, World Series, and National League regular season). This is the first such sweep in Major League history (Stargell had won the awards for the NLCS, World Series, and National League regular season, while teammate Dave Parker won the All Star Game award). November 19 – The Houston Astros sign Nolan Ryan as a free agent. November 20 – California Angels outfielder and DH Don Baylor wins the American League Most Valuable Player Award after hitting .296 with 36 home runs and a major league leading 120 runs scored and 139 runs batted in. Baylor receives 20 of 28 first place votes to become the first Angel ever to win MVP honors. November 26 – Third baseman John Castino, who batted .285 for the Minnesota Twins, and shortstop Alfredo Griffin, who hit .287 for the Toronto Blue Jays, tie for the American League Rookie of the Year Award, each receiving seven of the 28 first place votes. The deadlock precipitates a change in the voting system, effective in 1980. November 28 – Los Angeles Dodgers pitcher Rick Sutcliffe, who posted a 17–10 record with a 3.46 ERA for a sub .500 team, receives 20 of first place 24 votes to earn the National League Rookie of the Year honors. Right fielders Jeffrey Leonard of the Houston Astros (3) and Scot Thompson of the Chicago Cubs (1) receive the other votes.

December 1 – San Diego Padres outfielder Dave Winfield and Texas Rangers third baseman Buddy Bell are first time honorees as The Sporting News announces the 1979 Gold Glove teams.