The 1979 San Francisco Giants season was the Giants' 97th season in Major League Baseball, their 22nd season in San Francisco since their move from New York following the 1957 season, and their 20th at Candlestick Park. The team finished in fourth place in the National League West with a 71–91 record, 19½ games behind the Cincinnati Reds.
1979 San Francisco Giants | ||
---|---|---|
League | National League | |
Division | West | |
Ballpark | Candlestick Park | |
City | San Francisco, California | |
Owners | Bob Lurie | |
General managers | Spec Richardson | |
Managers | Joe Altobelli, Dave Bristol | |
Television | KTVU (Lindsey Nelson, Gary Park) | |
Radio | KNBR (Lindsey Nelson, Hank Greenwald) | |
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Offseason
edit- December 4, 1978: Max Venable was drafted by the Giants from the Los Angeles Dodgers in the 1978 rule 5 draft.[1]
- December 5, 1978: Darrell Evans was signed as a free agent by the Giants.[2]
- February 24, 1979: Bill Bordley was signed as an amateur free agent by the Giants.[3]
Regular season
editSeason standings
editTeam | W | L | Pct. | GB | Home | Road |
---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
Cincinnati Reds | 90 | 71 | .559 | — | 48–32 | 42–39 |
Houston Astros | 89 | 73 | .549 | 1½ | 52–29 | 37–44 |
Los Angeles Dodgers | 79 | 83 | .488 | 11½ | 46–35 | 33–48 |
San Francisco Giants | 71 | 91 | .438 | 19½ | 38–43 | 33–48 |
San Diego Padres | 68 | 93 | .422 | 22 | 39–42 | 29–51 |
Atlanta Braves | 66 | 94 | .412 | 23½ | 34–45 | 32–49 |
Record vs. opponents
editSources: [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 | — |
Opening Day starters
edit- Vida Blue
- Jack Clark
- Darrell Evans
- Marc Hill
- Mike Ivie
- Bill Madlock
- Roger Metzger
- Billy North
- Terry Whitfield[4]
Notable transactions
edit- April 1, 1979: Joe Coleman was signed as a free agent by the Giants.[5]
- April 21, 1979: Joe Coleman was released by the Giants.[5]
- June 5, 1979: Scott Garrelts was drafted by the Giants in the 1st round (15th pick) of the 1979 Major League Baseball draft.[6]
- June 13, 1979: John Tamargo was traded by the Giants to the Montreal Expos for a player to be named later and cash. The Expos completed the deal by sending Joe Pettini to the Giants on March 15, 1980.[7]
- June 17, 1979: Dan Gladden was signed by the Giants as an amateur free agent.[8]
- June 28, 1979: Bill Madlock, Lenny Randle and Dave Roberts were traded by the Giants to the Pittsburgh Pirates for Ed Whitson, Fred Breining, and Al Holland.[9]
- June 28, 1979: Héctor Cruz was traded by the Giants to the Cincinnati Reds for Pedro Borbón.[10]
Roster
edit1979 San Francisco Giants | |||||||||
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Roster | |||||||||
Pitchers
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Catchers
Infielders
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Outfielders
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Manager
Coaches
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Player stats
editBatting
editStarters by position
editNote: 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 | Dennis Littlejohn | 63 | 193 | 38 | .197 | 1 | 13 |
1B | Willie McCovey | 117 | 353 | 88 | .249 | 15 | 57 |
2B | Joe Strain | 67 | 257 | 62 | .241 | 1 | 12 |
SS | Johnnie LeMaster | 108 | 343 | 87 | .254 | 3 | 29 |
3B | Darrell Evans | 160 | 562 | 142 | .253 | 17 | 70 |
LF | Terry Whitfield | 133 | 394 | 113 | .287 | 5 | 44 |
CF | Bill North | 142 | 460 | 119 | .259 | 5 | 30 |
RF | Jack Clark | 143 | 527 | 144 | .273 | 26 | 86 |
Other batters
editNote: 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 |
---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
Mike Ivie | 133 | 402 | 115 | .286 | 27 | 89 |
Larry Herndon | 132 | 354 | 91 | .257 | 7 | 36 |
Roger Metzger | 94 | 259 | 65 | .251 | 0 | 31 |
Bill Madlock | 69 | 249 | 65 | .261 | 7 | 41 |
Marc Hill | 63 | 169 | 35 | .207 | 3 | 15 |
Rob Andrews | 75 | 154 | 40 | .260 | 2 | 13 |
Mike Sadek | 63 | 126 | 30 | .238 | 1 | 11 |
Max Venable | 55 | 85 | 14 | .165 | 0 | 3 |
Greg Johnston | 42 | 74 | 15 | .203 | 1 | 7 |
John Tamargo | 30 | 60 | 12 | .200 | 2 | 6 |
Héctor Cruz | 16 | 25 | 3 | .120 | 0 | 1 |
Bob Kearney | 2 | 0 | 0 | ---- | 0 | 0 |
Pitching
editStarting pitchers
editNote: G = Games pitched; IP = Innings pitched; W = Wins; L = Losses; ERA = Earned run average; SO = Strikeouts
Player | G | IP | W | L | ERA | SO |
---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
Vida Blue | 34 | 237.0 | 14 | 14 | 5.01 | 138 |
Bob Knepper | 34 | 207.1 | 9 | 12 | 4.64 | 123 |
John Montefusco | 22 | 137.0 | 3 | 8 | 3.94 | 76 |
John Curtis | 27 | 120.2 | 10 | 9 | 4.18 | 85 |
Ed Whitson | 18 | 100.1 | 5 | 8 | 3.95 | 62 |
Other pitchers
editNote: G = Games pitched; IP = Innings pitched; W = Wins; L = Losses; ERA = Earned run average; SO = Strikeouts
Player | G | IP | W | L | ERA | SO |
---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
Ed Halicki | 33 | 125.2 | 5 | 8 | 4.58 | 81 |
Phil Nastu | 25 | 100.0 | 3 | 4 | 4.32 | 47 |
Relief pitchers
editNote: G = Games pitched; W = Wins; L = Losses; SV = Saves; ERA = Earned run average; SO = Strikeouts
Player | G | W | L | SV | ERA | SO |
---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
Gary Lavelle | 70 | 7 | 9 | 20 | 2.51 | 80 |
Tom Griffin | 59 | 5 | 6 | 2 | 3.91 | 82 |
Greg Minton | 46 | 4 | 3 | 4 | 1.81 | 33 |
Pedro Borbón | 30 | 4 | 3 | 3 | 4.89 | 26 |
Randy Moffitt | 28 | 2 | 5 | 2 | 7.71 | 16 |
Dave Roberts | 26 | 0 | 2 | 3 | 2.57 | 23 |
Joe Coleman | 5 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0.00 | 0 |
Ed Plank | 4 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 7.36 | 1 |
Al Holland | 3 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0.00 | 7 |
Awards and honors
editAll-Stars
editFarm system
editReferences
edit- ^ Max Venable at Baseball-Reference
- ^ Darrell Evans at Baseball-Reference
- ^ Bill Bordley at Baseball-Reference
- ^ "1979 San Francisco Giants Roster by Baseball Almanac".
- ^ a b Joe Coleman at Baseball-Reference
- ^ Scott Garrelts at Baseball-Reference
- ^ John Tamargo at Baseball-Reference
- ^ Dan Gladden at Baseball-Reference
- ^ Bill Madlock at Baseball-Reference
- ^ Pedro Borbón at Baseball-Reference
External links
edit- 1979 San Francisco Giants team at Baseball-Reference
- 1979 San Francisco Giants team page at