1979 Toronto Blue Jays season

The 1979 Toronto Blue Jays season was the franchise's third season of Major League Baseball. It resulted in the Blue Jays finishing seventh in the American League East with a record of 53 wins and 109 losses. The Blue Jays were the only American League East team to finish 1979 with a losing record and the loss total of 109 set the franchise mark. Attendance for the season decreased to 1,431,651.[1]

1979 Toronto Blue Jays
Major League affiliations
Location
Results
Record53–109 (.327)
Divisional place7th
Other information
Owner(s)Labatt Breweries,
Imperial Trust,
Canadian Imperial Bank of Commerce
General manager(s)Pat Gillick
Manager(s)Roy Hartsfield
Local televisionCBC Television
(Don Chevrier, Tony Kubek, Tom McKee)
CBFT
(Jean-Pierre Roy, Guy Ferron)
Local radioCKFH
(Early Wynn, Tom Cheek)
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Offseason
  • January 9, 1979: Mark Eichhorn was drafted by the Toronto Blue Jays in the 2nd round of the 1979 amateur draft (January). [2]
  • January 11, 1979: Rico Carty was signed as a free agent by the Blue Jays.[3]
  • March 17, 1979: Steve Luebber was signed as a free agent by the Blue Jays.[4]
  • March 25, 1979: Bobby Brown was selected off waivers by the Blue Jays from the New York Mets.[5]

Regular season

Following the team's poor performance, manager Roy Hartsfield was fired at the end of the season. One highlight of the season was the awarding of the American League Rookie of the Year Award to Alfredo Griffin.[6]

The end of the 1979 season marked a crossroads for the franchise. The first real talent from the minor leagues had made it to the major league roster. Such talent included pitcher Dave Stieb and third baseman Danny Ainge.[1]

Season standings
AL East W L Pct. GB Home Road
Baltimore Orioles 10257 0.642 — 55–24 47–33
Milwaukee Brewers 9566 0.590 8 52–29 43–37
Boston Red Sox 9169 0.569 11½ 51–29 40–40
New York Yankees 8971 0.556 13½ 51–30 38–41
Detroit Tigers 8576 0.528 18 46–34 39–42
Cleveland Indians 8180 0.503 22 47–34 34–46
Toronto Blue Jays 53109 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 —8–59–38–38–57–66–68–58–45–68–410–26–611–2
Boston 5–8—5–75–66–78–58–48–49–35–89–38–46–69–4
California 3–97–5—9–46–64–87–67–59–47–510–37–65–87–5
Chicago 3–86–54–9—6–63–95–85–75–84–89–45–811–27–5
Cleveland 5–87–66–66–6—6–66–64–98–45–88–47–55–78–5
Detroit 6–75–88–49–36–6—5–76–74–87–67–57–56–69–4
Kansas City 6–64–86–78–56–67–5—5–77–65–79–47–66–79–3
Milwaukee 5–84–85–77–59–47–67–5—8–49–46–69–39–310–3
Minnesota 4–83–94–98–54–88–46–74–8—7–59–410–34–911–1
New York 6–58–55–78–48–56–77–54–95–7—9–36–68–49–4
Oakland 4–83–93–104–94–85–74–96–64–93–9—8–52–114–8
Seattle 2–104–86–78–55–75–76–73–93–106–65–8—6–78–4
Texas 6–66–68–52–117–56–67–63–99–44–811–27–6—7–5
Toronto 2–114–95–75–75–84–93–93–101–114–98–44–85–7—

Opening Day starters

Notable transactions

Draft picks

Roster
1979 Toronto Blue Jays
Roster
Pitchers Catchers

Infielders

 Outfielders

Other batters

 Manager

Coaches

Game log
1979 Game Log 53–109 (Home 32–49, Away 21–60)
April 7–15 (Home 3–8, Away 4–7)
May 5–23 (Home 3–15, Away 2–8)
June 12–18 (Home 6–5, Away 6–13)
July 8–18 (Home 5–6, Away 3–12)
August 11–17 (Home 6–8, Away 5–9)
September 10–18 (Home 9–7, Away 1–11)

Player stats

Batting

Starters by position

Note: Pos = Position; G = Games played; AB = At bats; R = Runs scored; H = Hits; 2B = Doubles; 3B = Triples; Avg. = Batting average; HR = Home runs; RBI = Runs batted in; SB = Stolen bases

Pos Player G AB R H 2B 3B Avg. HR RBI SB
CRick Cerone13646947112274.2397611
1BJohn Mayberry13746461127221.27421741
2BDanny Ainge87308267371.2372191
3BRoy Howell13851160126284.24715721
SSAlfredo Griffin153624811792210.28723121
LFAlvis Woods13243657121244.2785366
CFRick Bosetti16261959161352.26086513
RFBob Bailor1304145095115.22913814
DHRico Carty13246148118260.25612553

Other batters

Note: G = Games played; AB = At bats; R = Runs scored; H = Hits; 2B = Doubles; 3B = Triples; Avg. = Batting average; HR = Home runs; RBI = Runs batted in; SB = Stolen bases

Player G AB R H 2B 3B Avg. HR RBI SB
Otto Vélez992744579210.28815480
Luis Gómez59163113970.2390111
Dave McKay47156193490.2180121
Joe Cannon61142143011.2111512
Tony Solaita36102142781.2652130
Bob Davis328961120.124180
Tim Johnson438661621.186060
Craig Kusick235431110.204270
Bob Robertson15291300.103110
Ted Wilborn22123000.000000
Bobby Brown4101000.000000
Pedro Hernández301000----000

Pitching

Starting pitchers

Note: G = Games pitched; GS = Games started; IP = Innings pitched; W = Wins; L = Losses; ERA = Earned run average; R = Runs allowed; ER = Earned runs allowed; BB = Walks allowed; K = Strikeouts

Player G GS IP W L ERA R ER BB K
Tom Underwood33322279163.691139395127
Phil Huffman31311736185.771301116856
Dave Lemanczyk22201438103.7165594563
Dave Stieb1818129.1884.3170624852
Jim Clancy121163.2275.5144393133
Butch Edge9951.2345.2332302419

Other pitchers

Note: G = Games pitched; GS = Games started; IP = Innings pitched; W = Wins; L = Losses; SV = Saves; ERA = Earned run average; R = Runs allowed; ER = Earned runs allowed; BB = Walks allowed; K = Strikeouts

Player G GS IP W L SV ERA R ER BB K
Balor Moore3416139.15704.8485757951
Jesse Jefferson341011621015.5175714543
Mark Lemongello1810831906.2964583440

Relief pitchers

Note: G = Games pitched; IP = Innings pitched; W = Wins; L = Losses; SV = Saves; ERA = Earned run average; R = Runs allowed; ER = Earned runs allowed; BB = Walks allowed; K = Strikeouts

Player G IP W L SV ERA R ER BB K
Tom Buskey4478.261073.4333302544
Dave Freisleben42912334.9557505335
Mike Willis1726.20308.442725168
Jackson Todd1232.10105.852621714
Tom Murphy1018.11205.40111186
Dyar Miller1015.100010.57181857
Jerry Garvin822.20102.78971014
Steve Grilli12.10000.000001
Craig Kusick13.20004.912200
Steve Luebber10000∞1110

Awards and honors

All-Star Game

Farm system
See also: Minor League Baseball
Level Team League Manager
AAA Syracuse Chiefs International League Vern Benson
A Kinston Eagles Carolina League Duane Larson
A Dunedin Blue Jays Florida State League Denis Menke
A-Short Season Utica Blue Jays New York–Penn League John McLaren
Rookie Medicine Hat Blue Jays Pioneer League Dennis Holmberg

[14]

Notes
  1. Diamond Dreams: 20 Years of Blue Jays Baseball, Stephen Brunt, p. 125, Penguin Books, ISBN 0-14-023978-2
  2. "Mark Eichhorn: Career Statistics". Baseball Reference. Retrieved February 16, 2018.
  3. Rico Carty at Baseball Reference
  4. Steve Luebber at Baseball Reference
  5. Bobby Brown at Baseball Reference
  6. Diamond Dreams, p. 136
  7. Tony Fernández at Baseball Reference
  8. Craig Kusick at Baseball Reference
  9. https://www.baseball-reference.com/draft/?query_type=franch_year&team_ID=TOR&year_ID=1979&draft_type=junreg
  10. Ron Shepherd at Baseball Reference
  11. Ron Romanick at Baseball-Reference
  12. Andre Robertson at Baseball-Reference
  13. Blue Jays All-Stars | bluejays.com: History
  14. Johnson, Lloyd, and Wolff, Miles, ed., The Encyclopedia of Minor League Baseball, 2nd and 3rd editions. Durham, North Carolina: Baseball America, 1997 and 2007
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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.
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