1979 in baseball

This article is currently under construction.

Champions

MLB Statistical Leaders

	American League		National League
Type	Name	Stat	Name	Stat
AVG	Fred Lynn	.333	Keith Hernandez	.344
HR	Gorman Thomas	45	Dave Kingman	48
RBI	Don Baylor	139	Dave Winfield	118
Wins	Mike Flanagan	23	Joe Niekro & Phil Niekro	21
ERA	Ron Guidry	2.78	J.R. Richard	2.71

Major League Baseball final standings

American League
Rank	Club	Wins	Losses	Win %	GB
East Division
1st	Baltimore Orioles	102	57	.642	--
2nd	Milwaukee Brewers	95	66	.590	8.0
3rd	Boston Red Sox	91	69	.569	11.5
4th	New York Yankees	89	71	.556	13.5
5th	Detroit Tigers	85	76	.528	18.0
6th	Cleveland Indians	81	80	.503	22.0
7th	Toronto Blue Jays	53	109	.327	50.5
West Division
1st	California Angels	88	74	.543	--
2nd	Kansas City Royals	85	77	.525	3.0
3rd	Texas Rangers	83	79	.512	5.0
4th	Minnesota Twins	82	80	.506	6.0
5th	Chicago White Sox	73	87	.456	14.0
6th	Seattle Mariners	67	95	.414	21.0
7th	Oakland Athletics	54	108	.333	34.0

National League
Rank	Club	Wins	Losses	Win %	GB
East Division
1st	Pittsburgh Pirates	98	64	.605	--
2nd	Montréal Expos	95	65	.594	2.0
3rd	St. Louis Cardinals	86	76	.531	12.0
4th	Philadelphia Phillies	84	78	.519	14.0
5th	Chicago Cubs	80	82	.494	18.0
6th	New York Mets	63	99	.389	35.0
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	22.0
6th	Atlanta Braves	66	94	.413	23.5

Events

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.

March 7 - The Special Veterans Committee selects Warren Giles and Hack Wilson for the Hall of Fame.

April 7 - In the earliest no-hitter in major league history, the Houston Astros' Ken Forsch shuts down the Atlanta Braves 6-0. Together with Bob Forsch, who hurled a no-hitter in 1978, the brothers become the first to pitch no-hit games.

May 17 - Dave Kingman of the Cubs hit three home runs and Mike Schmidt of the Phillies hit two, and Philadelphia beat Chicago, 23-22, in 10 innings at Wrigley Field. Bill Buckner had a grand slam and seven RBIs for Chicago. The game included 11 home runs and 50 hits.

June 12 - The Detroit Tigers win the first game of a scheduled doubleheader 4-1 on Disco Demolition Night at Chicago's Comiskey Park. Thousands of fans swarm onto the field between the games, littering and tearing it up, causing the White Sox to forfeit the second game.

July 17 - The National League wins its eighth straight All-Star Game, 7–6, at Seattle. Lee Mazzilli hit a home run to tie the game in the 8th, and walks in the 9th to bring in the winning run. Dave Parker, with two outstanding throws, is named the MVP, and Pete Rose plays a record five All-Star positions. The Boston Red Sox provide the starting outfield for the American League with Carl Yastrzemski, Jim Rice and Fred Lynn.

July 24 - The Boston Red Sox' Carl Yastrzemski hits his 400th home run off Oakland Athletics pitcher Mike Morgan in the 7th inning of the Red Sox' 7-3 win over the Athletics at Boston's Fenway Park.

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 Championship. Stargell wins Series MVP honors.

Movies

Bleacher Bums (TV)

Births

Deaths

February 7 - Warren Giles, 82, president of the National League from 1951 to 1969, and of the Cincinnati Reds from 1937 to 1951
February 8 - Art Williams, 44, the first black umpire in the National League, working from 1972 to 1977 including the 1975 NLCS
March 2 - Dale Alexander, 75, first baseman who batted .331 in five seasons with the Tigers and Red Sox, winning the 1932 batting title, before an injury ended his career; later a scout
March 29 - Luke Easter, 63, first baseman in the Negro Leagues who had 100 RBI in each of his first two seasons with the Cleveland Indians
April 3 - Harry Simpson, 63, outfielder and first baseman who led the AL in triples twice
June 17 - Duffy Lewis, 91, left fielder for the Boston Red Sox who starred on three champions and mastered Fenway Park's sloping left field
June 18 - Hal Trosky, 66, first baseman for the Indians who batted .302 lifetime and had six 100-RBI seasons
August 2 - Thurman Munson, 32, 7-time All-Star catcher for the New York Yankees since 1969 who batted .300 five times and won the 1976 MVP award; 1970 Rookie of the Year won three Gold Gloves and batted .357 in 30 postseason games
August 9 - Walter O'Malley, 75, owner of the Dodgers franchise since 1950, during which time the team won four World Series titles; he moved the team from Brooklyn to Los Angeles and constructed Dodger Stadium
September 4 - Turkey Stearnes, 78, center fielder in the Negro Leagues who led the Negro National League in home runs six times while batting .350
October 22 - John Drebinger, 88, sportswriter for The New York Times for 41 years
November 18 - Freddie Fitzsimmons, 78, knuckleball pitcher who won 217 games for the New York Giants and Brooklyn Dodgers
December 15 - Stan Hack, 70, 5-time All-Star third baseman for the Chicago Cubs who batted .301 lifetime and posted a .394 career on-base percentage, the highest of any 20th-century third baseman; scored 100 runs seven times and led NL in hits and steals twice each

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Champions

Major League Baseball

Other champions

Awards and honors

MLB Statistical Leaders

Major League Baseball final standings

Events

Movies

Births

Deaths