1979 World Series
The 1979 World Series was the championship series of Major League Baseball's 1979 season. The 76th edition of the World Series was a best-of-seven playoff between the National League champion Pittsburgh Pirates and the American League champion Baltimore Orioles. The Pirates won in seven games, becoming the fourth team in World Series history to come back from a three games to one deficit to win the Series. This marked the second time in the 1970s the Pirates won a World Series Game 7 on the road against the Orioles, the previous time being in the 1971 World Series. The Pirates were famous for adopting Sister Sledge's hit song "We Are Family" as their theme song during the 1979 season.
Left fielder/first baseman Willie Stargell, pitcher Bruce Kison, and catcher Manny Sanguillén were the only players left over from the Pirates team that defeated the Orioles in 1971, and Orioles' pitcher Jim Palmer, shortstop Mark Belanger, and manager Earl Weaver were the only remaining Orioles from the 1971 team. Grant Jackson pitched for the Orioles in the 1971 series and for the Pirates in the 1979 series.
In this series, each game was played with National League rules, meaning there was no designated hitter and the Orioles' pitchers would have to bat. While this resulted in Tim Stoddard getting his first major league hit and runs batted in in Game 4, overall, it hurt the Orioles because Lee May, their designated hitter for much of the season and a key part of their offense, was only able to bat three times in the whole series.
Willie Stargell was named the World Series Most Valuable Player after batting.400 with a record seven extra-base hits that matched Reggie Jackson's record of 25 total bases that the latter set in 1977. At age 39, Stargell became the oldest player to be named World Series MVP, breaking the previous mark set by former Pirate, Roberto Clemente, who won the 1971 World Series MVP at the age of 37.
The 1979 Pirates were the last team to win Game 7 of a World Series on the road until the San Francisco Giants defeated the Royals in Kansas City to win Game 7 of the series. Pittsburgh also became the third city to win both the Super Bowl and the World Series in the same season or calendar year, with the Steelers having already won Super Bowl XIII, New York's Jets and Mets won championships in the 1969 calendar year, followed by Baltimore in the 1970 season, New York in the 1986 season, and Boston/New England in the 2004 and 2018 seasons.
As of, this is Pittsburgh’s last World Series victory and appearance, and they have the longest active World Series appearance drought in the National League.
Background
Baltimore Orioles
These same two teams also met in. Earl Weaver's Orioles had won the first two games of that series only to lose to Danny Murtaugh's Pirates in seven. This time Pittsburgh manager Chuck Tanner was looking to win a Series of his own. Gone were the likes of slugger Boog Powell and defensive wizard Brooks Robinson—shortstop Mark Belanger and pitcher Jim Palmer were the only two remaining players from the 1971 roster. A young "Steady Eddie" Murray was a staple at first base and an emerging superstar. The only other real "star" hitter on the team was right fielder Ken Singleton who set career highs in home runs, 35, and runs batted in, 111, in the regular season. Center fielder Al Bumbry provided the speed, 37 swipes, and outfielder Gary Roenicke and third-baseman Doug DeCinces provided some additional power. The talented pitching staff was captained by veteran catcher Rick Dempsey. The starters were led by 1979 Cy Young Award winner Mike Flanagan, Dennis Martinez, Scott McGregor, Steve Stone and Jim Palmer. The bullpen helped with 30 wins against only 13 losses led by Don Stanhouse and Tippy Martinez. The Orioles won the American League East rather easily, finishing eight games ahead of the second place Milwaukee Brewers. Many considered the series a bit of a whitewash.Pittsburgh Pirates
On the other hand, the Pittsburgh Pirates struggled early in the season, eventually winning the National League East by just two games over the Montreal Expos. Only after getting infielders, Tim Foli and Bill Madlock, did the Pirates start winning consistently. The great Roberto Clemente had inspired the 1971 team toward the title, and the key ingredient to the 1979 team was his successor and spiritual leader, 38-year-old Willie "Pops" Stargell. His clubhouse demeanor, a simple good-heartedness and friendly manner, helped keep the Pirates loose during a tight divisional race with a surprise sweep of the always powerful Cincinnati Reds in the League Championship Series.The Bucs lineup featured the National League leader in stolen bases, Omar Moreno with 77; team runs batted in leader, Dave Parker with 94, and two-time batting champion, Bill Madlock. Madlock would add two more batting titles in 1981 and 1983. The pitching staff was a ragtag bunch led by the "Candy-Man" John Candelaria's 14 wins, with five other pitchers winning ten or more games. The tall and lean Kent Tekulve had 31 saves, good for second in the league, while winning ten games.
"Pops" Stargell would hit three home runs in this series becoming the oldest player to win both the regular season MVP and the World Series MVP. His "Family" would persevere after losing three out of the first four games, giving Earl Weaver and his Orioles a déjà vu nightmare when the Bucs came back to win in seven games.
Summary
Matchups
Game 1
Game 1 was originally scheduled for Tuesday, October 9 but was postponed due to a wintry mix of rain and snow. When it was played the following night, the first-pitch temperature of 41 °F was the coldest in the history of the Fall Classic until it was eclipsed 18 years later in Game 4 of the 1997 World Series. A steady rain that fell throughout the contest also factored into the six total errors, three committed by each team. All five Orioles runs were scored in the first inning; two on a throwing error by second baseman Phil Garner, followed by one on a wild pitch by starter Bruce Kison and the final two on a Doug DeCinces home run. A pair of RBIs each for Garner and Willie Stargell sparked a Pirates comeback that fell a run short.Game 2
This time, the Pirates struck first with two in the second on an RBI single by Bill Madlock and a sacrifice fly by catcher Ed Ott. The Orioles countered in the bottom half of the inning with an Eddie Murray homer. Murray would also tie the game in the sixth by doubling in Ken Singleton. Murray tried to put the Orioles ahead in the same inning by tagging and attempting to score on a line-out to right by John Lowenstein, but Dave Parker threw him out easily. Making the decision to send Murray was made that much odder by the fact that Parker's throw to the plate arrived well ahead of him. Murray tried to bowl Ott over at the plate, but the stocky Ott held fast, staying on his feet.Murray also made a questionable base running decision in the eighth. With Murray on second and Doug DeCinces on first with no outs, Lowenstein grounded to shortstop Tim Foli. Murray strangely stopped instead of running out the force play. Foli attempted a tag which Murray eluded, and then threw to Phil Garner at second to force DeCinces. Murray's hesitation allowed Garner to throw to third and catch him in a rundown. Murray slowed up returning to second when he should have sped back since he was entitled to the base with DeCinces being forced out.
Murray would not collect another hit or RBI for the rest of the Series.
In the ninth, after a two-out single by Ott and a walk to Garner, Manny Sanguillén pinch-hit for Don Robinson and hacked a high and outside fastball from Don Stanhouse into right for a single. Ott barely slid past the outstretched arms of catcher Rick Dempsey to score the winning run, after Murray had questionably cut-off a strong throw from RF Ken Singleton. Kent Tekulve retired the side in the ninth for the save.
Game 3
The Pirates jumped out to an early 3-0 lead on a Dave Parker sacrifice fly in the first and a one-out, two-run double by Garner in the second. A Benny Ayala one-out, two-run homer cut the Orioles' deficit to one just before a 67-minute rain delay in the middle of the third inning. The Orioles seized the momentum after play resumed by scoring five runs in the fourth, highlighted by a Kiko Garcia bases-loaded triple that chased Pirates starter John Candelaria from the game along with an RBI single by Ken Singleton and groundout by Doug DeCinces off of Enrique Romo. Garcia added a two-out RBI single in the seventh, finishing the evening going 4-for-4 with four RBI. Scott McGregor allowed only one other run after the second and pitched a complete game to give the Orioles a 2–1 series lead.Game 4
The Pirates seized an early 4-0 lead in the second on a leadoff homer by Stargell, a two-run double by Ott and an Omar Moreno two-out RBI single. The first two were among five straight hits that effectively ended starter Dennis Martínez's afternoon. The Orioles countered with three runs in the third off Jim Bibby on consecutive one-out doubles by Garcia and Ken Singleton. The Pirates stretched their lead to 6-3 on RBI doubles by John Milner and Parker in the fifth and sixth innings respectively.With one out in the eighth and the bases loaded, Pirates manager Chuck Tanner sent in submarining relief ace Kent Tekulve to face right-handed hitting Gary Roenicke. Weaver countered by pinch-hitting lefty John Lowenstein. Lowenstein made the move pay off by slamming a two-run double. After a walk loaded the bases again, Weaver sent another lefty hitter, Terry Crowley, to bat for Dave Skaggs. Crowley smashed another two-run double off Tekulve to give the Orioles the lead. Pitcher Tim Stoddard, batting because Weaver was out of pinch hitters at that point, followed with an RBI single. An RBI force-out by Bumbry ended the scoring.