1979 Montreal Expos season

1979 Montreal Expos
Major League affiliations
National League (since 1969)
Eastern Division (since 1969)
Location
Olympic Stadium (since 1979)
Montreal (since 1969)
Other information
Owner(s)	Charles Bronfman
General manager(s)	John McHale
Manager(s)	Dick Williams
Local television	CBC Television (Dave Van Horne, Duke Snider) Télévision de Radio-Canada (Jean-Pierre Roy, Guy Ferron)
Local radio	CFCF (English) (Dave Van Horne, Duke Snider) CKAC (French) (Claude Raymond, Jacques Doucet)
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Offseason

• November 28, 1978: Duffy Dyer was signed as a free agent by the Expos.^[1]
• December 4, 1978: Ken Macha was drafted by the Expos from the Pittsburgh Pirates in the 1978 rule 5 draft.^[2]
• December 7, 1978: Stan Papi was traded by the Expos to the Boston Red Sox for Spaceman Bill Lee.^[3]
• December 8, 1978: Mike Hart was traded by the Expos to the Texas Rangers for Jim Mason.^[4]
• December 9, 1978: Randy St. Claire was signed by the Expos as an amateur free agent.^[5]
• December 14, 1978: Sam Mejías was traded by the Expos to the Chicago Cubs for Jerry White and Rodney Scott.^[6]
• March 30, 1979: Mike Garman was released by the Expos.^[7]
• March 31, 1979: Pepe Frías was traded by the Expos to the Atlanta Braves for Dave Campbell.^[8]

Regular season

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	—

Opening Day lineup

• Andre Dawson, CF
• Rodney Scott, 2B
• Warren Cromartie, LF
• Ellis Valentine, RF
• Tony Pérez, 1B
• Gary Carter, C
• Larry Parrish, 3B
• Chris Speier, SS
• Steve Rogers, P

Notable transactions

• June 13, 1979: The Expos traded a player to be named later and cash to the San Francisco Giants for John Tamargo. The Expos completed the deal by sending Joe Pettini to the Giants on March 15, 1980.^[9]
• July 20, 1979: The Expos traded a player to be named later and cash to the Detroit Tigers for Rusty Staub. The Expos completed the deal by sending Randy Schafer (minors) to the Tigers on December 3.^[10]

Youppi!

Youppi!, a creation of Acme Mascots, Inc. (a division of Harrison/Erickson, Inc.), was commissioned by Expos vice-president Roger D. Landry. Originally leased by the team in 1979, the mascot was eventually purchased by the Expos and represented the team.

Roster

1979 Montreal Expos
Roster
Pitchers 42 Bill Atkinson 22 Stan Bahnsen 35 Woodie Fryman 48 Ross Grimsley 34 Bill Gullickson 20 Bob James 37 Bill Lee 43 Rudy May 29 Dale Murray 46 Dave Palmer 45 Steve Rogers 21 Scott Sanderson 36 Dan Schatzeder 27 Elías Sosa		Catchers  8 Gary Carter  5 Duffy Dyer 47 John Tamargo Infielders 57 Randy Bass  7 Tony Bernazard 30 Dave Cash 14 Tommy Hutton 31 Ken Macha 12 Jim Mason 15 Larry Parrish 24 Tony Pérez 19 Rodney Scott 25 Tony Solaita  4 Chris Speier  6 Rusty Staub		Outfielders 49 Warren Cromartie 10 Andre Dawson 17 Ellis Valentine 18 Jerry White Other batters 32 Tim Raines		Manager 23 Dick Williams Coaches 16 Felipe Alou  2 Jim Brewer 58 Pat Mullin 40 Norm Sherry  9 Vern Rapp  1 Ozzie Virgil

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	Carter, GaryGary Carter	141	505	143	.283	22	75
1B	Perez, TonyTony Perez	132	489	132	.270	13	73
2B	Scott, RodneyRodney Scott	151	562	134	.238	3	42
SS	Speier, ChrisChris Speier	113	344	78	.227	7	26
3B	Parrish, LarryLarry Parrish	153	544	167	.307	30	82
LF	Cromartie, WarrenWarren Cromartie	158	659	181	.275	8	46
CF	Dawson, AndreAndre Dawson	155	639	176	.275	25	92
RF	Valentine, EllisEllis Valentine	146	548	151	.276	21	82

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
Cash, DaveDave Cash	76	187	60	.321	2	19
White, JerryJerry White	88	138	41	.297	3	18
Hutton, TommyTommy Hutton	86	83	21	.253	1	13
Dyer, DuffyDuffy Dyer	28	74	18	.243	1	8
Mason, JimJim Mason	40	71	13	.183	0	6
Macha, KenKen Macha	20	36	10	.278	0	4
Tamargo, JohnJohn Tamargo	12	21	8	.381	0	5

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
Rogers, SteveSteve Rogers	37	248.2	13	12	3.00	143
Lee, BillBill Lee	33	222	16	10	3.04	59
Sanderson, ScottScott Sanderson	24	168.0	9	8	3.43	138
Schatzeder, DanDan Schatzeder	21	162.0	10	5	2.83	106
Grimsley, RossRoss Grimsley	27	151.1	10	9	5.35	42

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
Palmer, DavidDavid Palmer	36	122.2	10	2	2.63	72

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
Bahnsen, StanStan Bahnsen	51	3	1	5	3.15	71
Fryman, WoodieWoodie Fryman	44	3	6	10	2.79	44
Atkinson, BillBill Atkinson	10	2	0	1	1.98	7

Awards and honors

• Dick Williams, Associated Press NL Manager of the Year

All-Stars

1979 Major League Baseball All-Star Game

Farm system

Level	Team	League	Manager
AAA	Denver Bears	American Association	Jack McKeon
AA	Memphis Chicks	Southern League	Billy Gardner
A	West Palm Beach Expos	Florida State League	Larry Bearnarth
Short-Season A	Jamestown Expos	New York–Penn League	Pat Daugherty
Rookie	Calgary Expos	Pioneer League	Bob Bailey

Notes

1. Duffy Dyer at Baseball Reference
2. Ken Macha at Baseball Reference
3. Stan Papi at Baseball Reference
4. Jim Mason at Baseball Reference
5. Randy St. Claire at Baseball Reference
6. Sam Mejías at Baseball Reference
7. Mike Garman at Baseball Reference
8. Dave Campbell at Baseball Reference
9. John Tamargo at Baseball Reference
10. Rusty Staub 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.
• 1979 Montreal Expos at Baseball Reference
• 1979 Montreal Expos at Baseball Almanac