Still basking in the glow of their first championship, the Mariners made only a few changes in 1979. Jose Cruz was signed as a free agent for fourth outfielder/utility duties, and McGillis was traded during the season for Gene Tenace to give Bench a much-needed rest once in a while (Bando used to move behind the plate on rare occasions to spell Johnny, but left as a FA before the season). Joe Dupuis moved in from the outfield and replaced the departed Bando at 3B. Toby Harrah came over at midseason to take up the role of infield utilityman.
Griffin and Denton were again excellent, representing OOTP-created players everywhere proudly. Foster led the team in RBI, as he and Griffin each hit over 100. Zisk barely missed the century mark with 99. An amazing eight players cracked the 20 homer mark for Seattle's M-urderer's Row. Clemente, sadly, reached the "needs to retire" stage of his career. I traded him back to Pittsburgh at the All-Star break so he could finish his Hall of Fame-worthy career as a Pirate.
Seaver led the team with 19 wins. Ryan and Montefusco had 17 each, Blyleven 15, and John 13. Fingers had 27 saves and rebounded in the ERA department with a 3.17 mark.
Season highlights:
4-20-79: Nolan Ryan reaches a (season) high on 4-20 as he one-hits the Twins and racks up 14 strikeouts.
4-27-79: A week after Ryan's one-hitter, Oakland's Matt Keough pitches a perfect game against the same team, Minnesota. I've seen several no-hitters in my 19-season OOTP career, but this is the first perfecto.
7-20-79: Houston's J.R. Richard no-hits the Expos. You'll be hearing more from him later. Notice his win total...with well over two months left in the season!
After going 98-64 to win the AL West by 13 games over the Twins, the Mariners faced the Tigers in the ALCS for the third year in a row, winning the "rubber match" of the ongoing rivalry, 3 games to 1. The Astros, led by two wins from Richard, beat Willie Stargell and the "We Are Family" Pirates 3 games to 2 in the NLCS.
In the World Series, the Mariners took a 3 games to 1 lead, only to blow it as the Astros' Floyd Bannister shuts out Seattle in Game 7 to give the Astros their first Championship and deny the Mariners a repeat.
Now, how good was Richard in 1979? Look at those numbers and be amazed! 32-5 record, 1.77 ERA, 325 Ks in 345.2 IP!! If Gozer asks him if he's a god, J.R. just has to show his 1979 OOTP stats. Pittsburgh's John Candelaria won 30 games and was a distant second in Cy Young voting.
National League Award Winners:
Most Valuable Player Award: Dave Parker PIT .345 BA, 28 HR, 112 RBI
Cy Young Award: J.R. Richard HOU 32-5 W-L, 1.77 ERA, 325 K.
Rookie of the Year Award: Pedro Guerrero LAN .324 BA, 25 HR, 100 RBI
Gold Glove Awards:
P Bruce Kison, PIT
C Gary Carter, MON
1B Steve Garvey, LAN
2B Bob Randall, NYM
3B Eric Soderholm, HOU
SS Ozzie Smith, SDN
LF Amos Otis, CIN
CF Omar Moreno, CIN
RF Cesar Cedeno, HOU
American League Award Winners:
Most Valuable Player Award: Steve Kemp DET .335 BA, 45 HR, 133 RBI
Cy Young Award: Dennis Leonard KCA 27-10 W-L, 3.19 ERA, 217 K
Rookie of the Year Award: Kirk Gibson DET .295 BA, 28 HR, 94 RBI
Gold Glove Awards:
P Doyle Alexander, CLE
C Johnny Bench, SEA
1B Bill Robinson, MIN
2B David Griffin, SEA
3B John Castino, MIN
SS Jim Denton, SEA
LF Steve Kemp, DET
CF Chet Lemon, CHA
RF Tony Armas, OAK
1979 AL Standings:
1979 NL Standings:
1979 Stats:
