1979 Chicago Cubs season

1979 Chicago Cubs
Major League affiliations
National League (since 1876)
Eastern Division (since 1969)
Location
Wrigley Field (since 1916)
Chicago (since 1870)
Other information
Owner(s)	William Wrigley III
General manager(s)	Bob Kennedy
Manager(s)	Herman Franks, Joey Amalfitano
Local television	WGN-TV (Jack Brickhouse, Lou Boudreau)
Local radio	WGN (Vince Lloyd, Lou Boudreau)
Stats	ESPN.com BB-reference
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The 1979 Chicago Cubs season was the 108th season of the Chicago Cubs franchise, the 104th in the National League and the 64th at Wrigley Field. The Cubs finished fifth in the National League East with a record of 80–82.

Offseason

• October 26, 1978: Rudy Meoli was released by the Cubs.^[1]
• February 23, 1979: Manny Trillo, Greg Gross, and Dave Rader were traded by the Cubs to the Philadelphia Phillies for Barry Foote, Ted Sizemore, Jerry Martin, Derek Botelho, and Henry Mack (minors).^[2]
• March 20, 1979: The Cubs traded a player to be named later to the Detroit Tigers for Steve Dillard. The Cubs completed the deal by sending Ed Putman to the Tigers on March 24.^[3]

Regular season

On May 17, the Phillies beat the Cubs 23-22 at Wrigley Field in ten innings with a 30-mph wind blowing out to left field.^[4]

Season standings

NL East	W	L	Pct.	GB	Home	Road
Pittsburgh Pirates	98	64	0.605	—	48–33	50–31
Montreal Expos	95	65	0.594	2	56–25	39–40
St. Louis Cardinals	86	76	0.531	12	42–39	44–37
Philadelphia Phillies	84	78	0.519	14	43–38	41–40
Chicago Cubs	80	82	0.494	18	45–36	35–46
New York Mets	63	99	0.389	35	28–53	35–46

Record vs. opponents

1979 National League Records Sources:
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	8–10–1	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	7–11–1
Pittsburgh	8–4	12–6	4–8	8–4	8–4	11–7	10–8–1	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	11–7–1	7–11	8–4	7–5	—

Notable transactions

• May 23, 1979: Ray Burris was traded by the Cubs to the New York Yankees for Dick Tidrow.^[5]
• June 26, 1979: Bobby Murcer was traded by the Cubs to the New York Yankees for Paul Semall (minors).^[6]
• August 17, 1979: Ted Sizemore was traded by the Cubs to the Boston Red Sox for a player to be named later and cash. The Red Sox completed the trade by sending Mike O'Berry to the Cubs on October 23, 1979.^[7]

Roster

1979 Chicago Cubs
Roster
Pitchers 34 Ray Burris 35 Doug Capilla 36 Bill Caudill 46 Dave Geisel 38 Willie Hernández 30 Ken Holtzman 39 Mike Krukow 47 Dennis Lamp 40 Lynn McGlothen 49 Donnie Moore 48 Rick Reuschel 33 George Riley 42 Bruce Sutter 41 Dick Tidrow		Catchers  9 Tim Blackwell  8 Barry Foote  7 Bruce Kimm Infielders 22 Bill Buckner 29 Steve Davis 11 Iván DeJesús 15 Steve Dillard 20 Mick Kelleher 12 Steve Macko 16 Steve Ontiveros 17 Kurt Seibert  6 Ted Sizemore		Outfielders 26 Larry Biittner 32 Miguel Diloné 24 Ken Henderson 10 Dave Kingman 28 Jerry Martin 32 Sam Mejías  7 Bobby Murcer 25 Scot Thompson 27 Mike Vail Other batters 18 Gene Clines 45 Karl Pagel		Manager  5 Joey Amalfitano  3 Herman Franks Coaches  5 Joey Amalfitano  2 Peanuts Lowrey  4 Mike Roarke  1 Cookie Rojas

Player stats

Batting

Starters by position

Note: 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	Foote, BarryBarry Foote	132	429	109	.254	16	56
2B	Sizemore, TedTed Sizemore	98	330	82	.248	2	24
CF	Martin, JerryJerry Martin	150	534	145	.272	19	73

Other batters

Note: 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
Dillard, SteveSteve Dillard	89	166	47	.283	5	24
Diloné, MiguelMiguel Diloné	43	36	11	.306	0	1

Pitching

Starting pitchers

Note: G = Games pitched; IP = Innings pitched; W = Wins; L = Losses; ERA = Earned run average; SO = Strikeouts

Player	G	IP	W	L	ERA	SO

Other pitchers

Note: G = Games pitched; IP = Innings pitched; W = Wins; L = Losses; ERA = Earned run average; SO = Strikeouts

Player	G	IP	W	L	ERA	SO
Caudill, BillBill Caudill	29	90	1	7	4.80	104
Riley, GeorgeGeorge Riley	4	13	0	1	5.54	5

Relief pitchers

Note: G = Games pitched; W = Wins; L = Losses; SV = Saves; ERA = Earned run average; SO = Strikeouts

Player	G	W	L	SV	ERA	SO
Tidrow, DickDick Tidrow	63	11	5	4	2.72	68
Burris, RayRay Burris	14	0	0	0	6.23	14
Capilla, DougDoug Capilla	13	0	1	0	2.60	10
Geisel, DaveDave Geisel	7	0	0	0	0.60	5

Farm system

Level	Team	League	Manager
AAA	Wichita Aeros	American Association	Jack Hiatt
AA	Midland Cubs	Texas League	Randy Hundley
A	Quad Cities Cubs	Midwest League	Jim Napier
A-Short Season	Geneva Cubs	New York–Penn League	Bob Hartsfield
Rookie	GCL Cubs	Gulf Coast League	Ken Rudolph

LEAGUE CHAMPIONS: Quad Cities

Notes

1. Rudy Meoli at Baseball Reference
2. Manny Trillo at Baseball Reference
3. Ed Putman at Baseball Reference
4. "Box Score of Game played on Thursday, May 17, 1979, at Wrigley Field". Retrieved October 13, 2009.
5. Ray Burris at Baseball Reference
6. Bobby Murcer at Baseball Reference
7. Ted Sizemore at Baseball Reference

References

• Johnson, Lloyd; Wolff, Miles, eds. (1997). The Encyclopedia of Minor League Baseball (2nd ed.). Durham, North Carolina: Baseball America. ISBN 978-0-9637189-8-3.

External links

• 1979 Chicago Cubs season at Baseball Reference