1979 Cleveland Indians season

1979 Cleveland Indians
Major League affiliations
American League (since 1901)
Eastern Division (since 1969)
Location
Cleveland Municipal Stadium (since 1932)
Cleveland, Ohio (since 1901)
Other information
Owner(s)	Steve O'Neill
General manager(s)	Phil Seghi
Manager(s)	Jeff Torborg, Dave Garcia
Local television	WJKW
Local radio	WWWE
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Offseason

• October 3, 1978: Larvell Blanks and Jim Kern were traded by the Indians to the Texas Rangers for Len Barker and Bobby Bonds.^[1]
• December 5, 1978: Carmen Castillo was drafted by the Indians from the Philadelphia Phillies in the 1978 minor league draft.^[2]
• December 6, 1978: Cardell Camper was traded by the Indians to the Philadelphia Phillies for Joe Charboneau.^[3]

Regular season

Season standings

AL East	W	L	Pct.	GB	Home	Road
Baltimore Orioles	102	57	0.642	—	55–24	47–33
Milwaukee Brewers	95	66	0.590	8	52–29	43–37
Boston Red Sox	91	69	0.569	11½	51–29	40–40
New York Yankees	89	71	0.556	13½	51–30	38–41
Detroit Tigers	85	76	0.528	18	46–34	39–42
Cleveland Indians	81	80	0.503	22	47–34	34–46
Toronto Blue Jays	53	109	0.327	50½	32–49	21–60

Record vs. opponents

1979 American League Records Sources:
Team	BAL	BOS	CAL	CWS	CLE	DET	KC	MIL	MIN	NYY	OAK	SEA	TEX	TOR
Baltimore	—	8–5	9–3	8–3	8–5	7–6	6–6	8–5	8–4	5–6	8–4	10–2	6–6	11–2
Boston	5–8	—	5–7	5–6	6–7	8–5	8–4	8–4	9–3	5–8	9–3	8–4	6–6	9–4
California	3–9	7–5	—	9–4	6–6	4–8	7–6	7–5	9–4	7–5	10–3	7–6	5–8	7–5
Chicago	3–8	6–5	4–9	—	6–6	3–9	5–8	5–7	5–8	4–8	9–4	5–8	11–2	7–5
Cleveland	5–8	7–6	6–6	6–6	—	6–6	6–6	4–9	8–4	5–8	8–4	7–5	5–7	8–5
Detroit	6–7	5–8	8–4	9–3	6–6	—	5–7	6–7	4–8	7–6	7–5	7–5	6–6	9–4
Kansas City	6–6	4–8	6–7	8–5	6–6	7–5	—	5–7	7–6	5–7	9–4	7–6	6–7	9–3
Milwaukee	5–8	4–8	5–7	7–5	9–4	7–6	7–5	—	8–4	9–4	6–6	9–3	9–3	10–3
Minnesota	4–8	3–9	4–9	8–5	4–8	8–4	6–7	4–8	—	7–5	9–4	10–3	4–9	11–1
New York	6–5	8–5	5–7	8–4	8–5	6–7	7–5	4–9	5–7	—	9–3	6–6	8–4	9–4
Oakland	4–8	3–9	3–10	4–9	4–8	5–7	4–9	6–6	4–9	3–9	—	8–5	2–11	4–8
Seattle	2–10	4–8	6–7	8–5	5–7	5–7	6–7	3–9	3–10	6–6	5–8	—	6–7	8–4
Texas	6–6	6–6	8–5	2–11	7–5	6–6	7–6	3–9	9–4	4–8	11–2	7–6	—	7–5
Toronto	2–11	4–9	5–7	5–7	5–8	4–9	3–9	3–10	1–11	4–9	8–4	4–8	5–7	—

Notable transactions

• June 5, 1979: Von Hayes was drafted by the Indians in the 7th round of the 1979 Major League Baseball Draft. Player signed August 24, 1979.^[4]
• July 18, 1979: Mike Stanton was signed as a free agent by the Indians.^[5]

Roster

1979 Cleveland Indians
Roster
Pitchers 42 Larry Andersen 39 Len Barker 32 David Clyde 23 Víctor Cruz 17 Wayne Garland 44 Don Hood 43 Sid Monge 48 Mike Paxton 41 Paul Reuschel 37 Dan Spillner 36 Rick Waits 56 Sandy Wihtol 33 Eric Wilkins 40 Rick Wise		Catchers 35 Gary Alexander 16 Bo Díaz  9 Ron Hassey 44 Cliff Johnson Infielders 31 Wayne Cage 22 Ted Cox 11 Toby Harrah 18 Duane Kuiper 12 Dave Rosello 29 Andre Thornton 21,15 Tom Veryzer		Outfielders 30 Dell Alston 25 Bobby Bonds 00 Paul Dade 21 Mike Hargrove 28 Rick Manning 27 Jim Norris 13 Ron Pruitt 20 Horace Speed		Manager  1 Dave Garcia 10 Jeff Torborg Coaches  4 Dave Duncan (Bullpen)  1 Dave Garcia (Third Base)  2 Chuck Hartenstein (Pitching) 24 Joe Nossek (First Base)

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
1B	Thornton, AndreAndre Thornton	143	515	120	.233	26	93
RF	Bonds, BobbyBobby Bonds	146	538	148	.275	25	85

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

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
Clyde, DavidDavid Clyde	9	45.2	3	4	5.91	17

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
Barker, LenLen Barker	29	137.1	6	6	4.92	93

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
Cruz, VíctorVíctor Cruz	61	3	9	10	4.23	63
Andersen, LarryLarry Andersen	8	0	0	0	7.56	7

Awards and honors

• Andre Thornton, Roberto Clemente Award

All-Star Game

Farm system

Level	Team	League	Manager
AAA	Tacoma Tugs	Pacific Coast League	Gene Dusan
AA	Chattanooga Lookouts	Southern League	Woody Smith
A	Waterloo Indians	Midwest League	Cal Emery
A-Short Season	Batavia Trojans	New York–Penn League	Tom Trebelhorn

^[6]

Notes

1. Larvell Blanks page at Baseball-Reference
2. Carmen Castillo page at Baseball-Reference
3. Joe Charboneau page at Baseball-Reference
4. Von Hayes page at Baseball Reference
5. Mike Stanton page at Baseball Reference
6. Johnson, Lloyd, and Wolff, Miles, ed., The Encyclopedia of Minor League Baseball, 3rd edition. Durham, North Carolina: Baseball America, 2007

References

• 1979 Cleveland Indians team page at Baseball Reference
• 1979 Cleveland Indians team page at www.baseball-almanac.com