1979 Philadelphia Phillies season

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1979 Philadelphia Phillies
Major League affiliations
Location
Other information
Owner(s) R. R. M. "Ruly" Carpenter III
General manager(s) Paul Owens
Manager(s) Danny Ozark, Dallas Green
Local television WPHL-TV
Local radio KYW
(Harry Kalas, Richie Ashburn, Andy Musser, Chris Wheeler)
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The 1979 Philadelphia Phillies season was a season in American baseball. The team finished fourth in the National League East, 14 games behind the first-place Pittsburgh Pirates.

Offseason

Prior to the 1979 season, Pete Rose signed a four-year, $3.2-million contract with the Philadelphia 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 the Pirates as the Phillies would enter the season with pitchers Larry Christenson, prospect Jim Wright, and Dick Ruthven all injured.[1]

Notable transactions

Regular season

PhilsAshburn.PNG
Richie
Ashburn
OF, TV
Retired 1979[12]

On April 18, in a victory versus the Pirates, Greg Luzinski became the first visiting player to hit a home run into the fifth level of Three Rivers Stadium.[13]

On May 17, 1979, the Phillies beat the Cubs 23-22 at Wrigley 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 by 3½ games over the Montreal Expos.[15]

On July 10 Del Unser hit his third consecutive pinch hit home run. Unser tied a Major League Baseball record with homers in three straight pinch at 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, 12½ games behind the Pirates.[17] Mid-season injuries to Manny Trillo, Larry Bowa, and Greg Luzinski contributed to hurt the club. The team's decline led to the firing of manager Danny Ozark on August 31 who was replaced by Dallas Green.[18] Green was named interim manager, a position made permanent shortly after the end of the season.[19]

Alternate uniforms

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 the Expos.[22] The immediate reaction of the media, fans, and players alike was negative, with many describing the despised uniforms as pajama-like.

Season standings

NL East		 W L Pct. GB Home Road
Pittsburgh Pirates 98 64 0.605 — 48–33 50–31
Montreal Expos 95 65 0.594 2 56–25 39–40
St. Louis Cardinals 86 76 0.531 12 42–39 44–37
Philadelphia Phillies 84 78 0.519 14 43–38 41–40
Chicago Cubs 80 82 0.494 18 45–36 35–46
New York Mets 63 99 0.389 35 28–53 35–46


Record vs. opponents

1979 National League Records

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 8–10–1 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 7–11–1
Pittsburgh 8–4 12–6 4–8 8–4 8–4 11–7 10–8–1 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 11–7–1 7–11 8–4 7–5 —


Notable transactions

1979 Game Log

Legend
  Phillies win
  Phillies loss
  Phillies tie
  Postponement
Bold Phillies team member
1979 Game Log[27]
Overall Record: 84–78
^[a] The September 20, 1979, game was protested by the Phillies in the bottom of the sixth inning.[35] The protest was later denied.[36]

Roster

1979 Philadelphia Phillies
Roster
Pitchers Catchers

Infielders

 Outfielders Manager

Coaches

Player stats

Batting

Starters by position

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
1B Pete Rose 163 628 208 .331 4 59
2B Manny Trillo 118 431 112 .260 6 42

Other batters

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
Rudy Meoli 30 73 13 .178 0 6
Dave Rader 31 54 11 .204 1 5
John Poff 12 19 2 .105 0 1

Pitching

Starting pitchers

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 18 11 3.62 213
Nino Espinosa 33 212 14 12 3.65 88
Larry Christenson 19 106 5 10 4.50 53
Dan Larson 3 19 1 1 4.26 9

Other pitchers

Note: G = Games pitched; IP = Innings pitched; W = Wins; L = Losses; ERA = Earned run average; SO = Strikeouts

Player G IP W L ERA SO

Relief pitchers

Note: G = Games pitched; W = Wins; L = Losses; SV = Saves; ERA = Earned run average; SO = Strikeouts

Player G W L SV ERA SO
Doug Bird 32 2 0 0 5.16 33
Warren Brusstar 13 1 0 1 6.91 3

Farm system

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See also: Minor League Baseball
Level Team League Manager
AAA Oklahoma City 89ers American Association Lee Elia
AA Reading Phillies Eastern League Jim Snyder
A Peninsula Pilots Carolina League Ron Clark
A Spartanburg Phillies Western Carolinas League Bill Dancy
A-Short Season Central Oregon Phillies Northwest League Tom Harmon
Rookie Helena Phillies Pioneer League Roly de Armas

LEAGUE CHAMPIONS: Central Oregon[37]

References

  1. ↑ Lua error in package.lua at line 80: module 'strict' not found.
  2. ↑ Jeff Schneider at Baseball Reference
  3. ↑ http://www.baseball-reference.com/players/c/castica01.shtml
  4. ↑ Pete Rose at Baseball Reference
  5. ↑ Joe Charboneau at Baseball Reference
  6. ↑ Mark Davis at Baseball-Reference
  7. ↑ Manny Trillo at Baseball Reference
  8. ↑ Jose Moreno at Baseball Reference
  9. ↑ 9.0 9.1 Rudy Meoli at Baseball Reference
  10. ↑ Dan Boitano at Baseball Reference
  11. ↑ Del Unser at Baseball Reference
  12. ↑ The Official Site of The Philadelphia Phillies: History: Richie Ashburn
  13. ↑ Palm Beach Post. 1979 Apr 19.
  14. ↑ Lua error in package.lua at line 80: module 'strict' not found.
  15. ↑ Standings and Games on Thursday, May 17, 1979
  16. ↑ The Ballplayers – Del Unser | BaseballLibrary.com
  17. ↑ Standings and Games on Wednesday, August 29, 1979
  18. ↑ Lua error in package.lua at line 80: module 'strict' not found.
  19. ↑ Lua error in package.lua at line 80: module 'strict' not found.
  20. ↑ Lua error in package.lua at line 80: module 'strict' not found.
  21. ↑ Lua error in package.lua at line 80: module 'strict' not found.
  22. ↑ Lua error in package.lua at line 80: module 'strict' not found.
  23. ↑ Todd Cruz at Baseball Reference
  24. ↑ Jim Kaat at Baseball Reference
  25. ↑ Roy Smith at Baseball Reference
  26. ↑ Jim Lonborg at Baseball Reference
  27. ↑ Lua error in package.lua at line 80: module 'strict' not found.
  28. ↑ Lua error in package.lua at line 80: module 'strict' not found.
  29. ↑ Lua error in package.lua at line 80: module 'strict' not found.
  30. ↑ Lua error in package.lua at line 80: module 'strict' not found.
  31. ↑ Lua error in package.lua at line 80: module 'strict' not found.
  32. ↑ Lua error in package.lua at line 80: module 'strict' not found.
  33. ↑ Lua error in package.lua at line 80: module 'strict' not found.
  34. ↑ Lua error in package.lua at line 80: module 'strict' not found.
  35. ↑ Lua error in package.lua at line 80: module 'strict' not found.
  36. ↑ Lua error in package.lua at line 80: module 'strict' not found.
  37. ↑ Johnson, Lloyd, and Wolff, Miles, ed., The Encyclopedia of Minor League Baseball, 2nd and 3rd editions. Durham, North Carolina: Baseball America, 1997 and 2007

Further reading

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