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Introduction
25th Anniversary

'79 Fall Classic
World Series Recap

Year In Review
Baseball - Beyond

Team Profile
The Bucs

Pops Tribute
Willie Stargell

The Song
Listen Here

TheFamily
The 1979 World Champion Pittsburgh Pirates

by Michael Aubrecht
Excerpts from World Series and Year In Review written for Baseball-Almanac.com and The Highlander's '79 Pirates 25th Anniversary Sources: Pittsburgh Pirates Encyclopedia, The Bucs (The Story of the Pirates), Post Gazette, Sporting News Vault, Baseball-Almanac, The Baseball Timeline, The Baseball Library, The Baseball Chronicle, Time.com, CNN.com

Team Profile

"I don't think a manager should be judged by whether he wins the pennant, but by whether he gets the most out of the twenty-five men he's been given." Chuck Tanner

Series Standouts:

Willie Stargell: "Pops" was captain of The Family, driving the team to a pennant with his bat and leadership while awarding "Stargell Stars" to deserving teammates. In the World Series win, he set records with 25 total bases and seven extra-base hits (three homers, four doubles).

Kent Tekulve: "Teke" led the National League in appearances in 1979, setting a club record with 94. That fall, he recorded a World Series-record three saves, striking out 10 Orioles in 9.1 innings.

John Candelaria: "The Candy Man" led the 1979 World Champions with 14 wins and pitched shutout ball in the crucial sixth game of the World Series.

Phil Garner: "Scrap Iron" was sometimes called "the best number-eight hitter in baseball" and his record-tying .500 batting average in the 1979 World Series, with at least one hit in each of the seven games, underlined the contention.

Bill Madlock: "Mad Dog" batted .328 during the season, and hit .375 in the World Series while solidifying both the offensive and defensive lineups of the World Champions.

Manny Sanguillen: Manny's pinch single with two outs in the ninth of Game Two of the '79 Series gave the Pirates a momentum turning 3-2 victory.

Team Statistics:
Click here for complete details and statistics at Baseball-Almanac.com

Composite Hitting

NAME

POS

G

AB

H

2B

3B

HR

R

RBI

AVG

BB

SO

SB

Matt Alexander
Jim Bibby
Bert Blyleven
John Candelaria
Mike Easler
Tim Foli
Phil Garner
Grant Jackson
Bruce Kison
Lee Lacy
Bill Madlock
John Milner
Omar Moreno
Steve Nicosia
Ed Ott
Dave Parker
Don Robinson
Bill Robinson
Enrique Romo
Jim Rooker
Manny Sanguillen
Willie Stargell
Rennie Stennett
Kent Tekulve

OF
P
P
P
PH
SS
2B
P
P
PH
3B
OF
OF
C
C
OF
P
OF-6
P
P
PH
1B
PH
P

1
2
2
2
2
7
7
4
1
4
7
3
7
4
3
7
4
7
2
2
3
7
1
5

0
4
3
3
1
30
24
1
0
4
24
9
33
16
12
29
0
19
1
2
3
30
1
2

0
0
0
1
0
10
12
0
0
1
9
3
11
1
4
10
0
5
0
0
1
12
1
0

0
0
0
0
0
1
4
0
0
0
1
1
2
0
1
3
0
1
0
0
0
4
0
0

0
0
0
0
0
1
0
0
0
0
0
0
0
0
0
0
0
0
0
0
0
0
0
0

0
0
0
0
0
0
0
0
0
0
0
0
0
0
0
0
0
0
0
0
0
3
0
0

0
0
0
0
0
6
4
0
0
0
2
2
4
1
2
2
0
2
0
0
0
7
0
0

0
0
0
0
0
3
5
0
0
0
3
1
3
0
3
4
0
2
0
0
1
7
0
0

.000
.000
.000
.333
.000
.333
.500
.000
.000
.250
.375
.333
.333
.063
.333
.345
.000
.263
.000
.000
.333
.400
1.000
.000

0
0
0
0
1
2
3
0
0
0
5
2
1
0
0
2
0
0
0
0
0
0
0
0

0
1
0
2
0
0
1
0
0
1
1
0
7
2
2
7
0
4
0
1
0
6
0
0

0
0
0
0
0
0
0
0
0
0
0
0
0
0
0
0
0
0
0
0
0
0
0
0

TOTALS

251

81

18

1

3

32

32

.323

16

35

0

Composite Pitching

NAME

W

L

G

GS

CG

S

SH

IP

ERA

H

SO

ER

BB

Jim Bibby
Bert Blyleven
John Candelaria
Grant Jackson
Bruce Kison
Don Robinson
Enrique Romo
Jim Rooker
Kent Tekulve

0
1
1
1
0
1
0
0
0

0
0
1
0
1
0
0
0
1

2
2
2
4
1
4
2
2
5

2
1
2
0
1
0
0
1
0

0
0
0
0
0
0
0
0
0

0
0
0
0
0
0
0
0
3

0
0
0
0
0
0
0
0
0

10.1
10.0
9.0
4.2
0.1
5.0
4.2
8.2
9.1

2.61
1.80
5.00
0.00
108.00
5.40
3.86
1.04
2.89

10
8
14
1
3
4
56
5
4

10
4
4
2
0
3
4
4
10

3
2
5
0
4
3
2
1
3

10
4
4
2
0
3
4
4
10

TOTALS

4

3

24

7

0

3

0

62.0

3.34

54

41

23

41

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Copyright © 2004 Pinstripe Press. All Rights Reserved.
All essays researched and written by Michael Aubrecht.
This site is not affiliated with or endorsed by the Pittsburgh Pirates.