1979 Season

Baseball Player Won-Loss Records
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1979 Season

The 1979 Season as seen through the Prism of Player Won-Lost Records

This article takes a look at the 1979 season as measured by Player won-lost records.

The Best of 1979

I calculate Player won-lost records two ways: pWins, which tie to team wins and eWins, which control for context and the ability of one's teammates. For players with more pWins than eWins, their Player wins contributed to more team wins than one might expect; for players with more eWins than pWins, just the opposite is true: their Player wins translated into fewer team wins than expected. Or more briefly: a player with more pWins than eWins was better in context, a player with more eWins than pWins was worse in context.

The top 10 players in pWins above Positional Average and Replacement Level were as follows.


		pWins over Positional Average Top 10 Players						pWins over Replacement Level Top 10 Players
	Player	pWins	pLosses	pWOPA	pWORL		Player	pWins	pLosses	pWOPA	pWORL
1	Gorman Thomas	23.0	14.8	7.8	9.6	1	Gorman Thomas	23.0	14.8	7.8	9.6
2	Fred Lynn	22.3	14.2	7.8	9.5	2	Fred Lynn	22.3	14.2	7.8	9.5
3	Darrell Porter	19.0	12.4	7.0	8.5	3	Darrell Porter	19.0	12.4	7.0	8.5
4	Mike Schmidt	24.3	17.2	6.5	8.4	4	Mike Schmidt	24.3	17.2	6.5	8.4
5	Mike Flanagan	17.8	11.8	6.1	7.9	5	Mike Flanagan	17.8	11.8	6.1	7.9
6	Bobby Grich	20.1	15.2	5.6	7.3	6	Dave Winfield	26.9	19.8	5.4	7.6
7	Jim Kern	12.4	6.6	5.6	7.4	7	Dave Parker	25.0	18.0	5.4	7.5
8	J.R. Richard	20.1	16.0	5.4	7.5	8	J.R. Richard	20.1	16.0	5.4	7.5
9	Dave Parker	25.0	18.0	5.4	7.5	9	Jim Kern	12.4	6.6	5.6	7.4
10	Dave Winfield	26.9	19.8	5.4	7.6	10	Bobby Grich	20.1	15.2	5.6	7.3

The top 10 players in eWins above Positional Average and Replacement Level were as follows.


		eWins over Positional Average Top 10 Players						eWins over Replacement Level Top 10 Players
	Player	eWins	eLosses	eWOPA	eWORL		Player	eWins	eLosses	eWOPA	eWORL
1	George Foster	20.3	13.6	5.9	7.5	1	Fred Lynn	21.4	15.1	5.8	7.6
2	Fred Lynn	21.4	15.1	5.8	7.6	2	George Foster	20.3	13.6	5.9	7.5
3	Darrell Porter	18.3	13.1	5.6	7.2	3	Mike Schmidt	23.7	17.8	5.5	7.5
4	Mike Schmidt	23.7	17.8	5.5	7.5	4	Dave Winfield	26.7	20.0	5.2	7.5
5	Dave Winfield	26.7	20.0	5.2	7.5	5	Darrell Porter	18.3	13.1	5.6	7.2
6	Dave Concepcion	21.6	18.0	4.9	6.8	6	J.R. Richard	19.7	16.4	4.8	6.9
7	J.R. Richard	19.7	16.4	4.8	6.9	7	Dave Concepcion	21.6	18.0	4.9	6.8
8	Gorman Thomas	21.5	16.3	4.8	6.6	8	Gorman Thomas	21.5	16.3	4.8	6.6
9	Bobby Grich	19.5	15.7	4.6	6.3	9	Jim Rice	22.3	17.5	4.3	6.3
10	Tommy John	15.3	11.1	4.3	6.0	10	Bobby Grich	19.5	15.7	4.6	6.3

I take a look at some of the most interesting players of 1979 at the end of this article.

1979 Postseason

The 1979 postseason was my first crushing disappointment as a baseball fan. I was an 11-year-old fan of the Baltimore Orioles in 1979. My Orioles won 102 regular-season games, beat the California Angels 3-1 in the ALCS and led the Pittsburgh Pirates 3-1 in the World Series with the final two games of the Series being played in Baltimore. The Orioles proceeded to score 2 runs on 17 hits in the final three games of the Series and the Pittsburgh Pirates were World Champions. The song "We Are Family" still makes me scowl.

The top postseason performers in 1979, as measured by Player won-lost records, are presented next.

Player	Team	pWins	pLosses	pWORL
	1979 Postseason: Total

Dave Parker	PIT	1.8	1.0	0.9
Bert Blyleven	PIT	1.3	0.6	0.9
Willie Stargell	PIT	1.7	0.9	0.8
Tim Foli	NYN	1.7	1.2	0.7
Mike Flanagan	BAL	1.6	1.1	0.7
Bill Madlock	PIT	1.4	0.8	0.7
Scott McGregor	BAL	1.5	1.2	0.7
Phil Garner	PIT	1.6	1.1	0.6
Kent Tekulve	PIT	1.0	0.6	0.6
Don Robinson	PIT	0.7	0.3	0.4

Top postseason players by round were as follows.

Player	Team	pWins	pLosses	Net Wins
	1979 World Series

Dave Parker	PIT	1.2	0.7	0.5
Mike Flanagan	BAL	1.4	0.9	0.5
Bill Madlock	PIT	0.9	0.6	0.4
Bert Blyleven	PIT	0.6	0.3	0.3
Willie Stargell	PIT	0.9	0.7	0.2

Player	Team	pWins	pLosses	Net Wins
	1979 Postseason: League Championship Series

Willie Stargell	PIT	0.8	0.3	0.5
Phil Garner	PIT	0.6	0.1	0.4
John Lowenstein	BAL	0.6	0.2	0.4
Dave Parker	PIT	0.6	0.3	0.4
Doug DeCinces	BAL	0.7	0.3	0.4

Best of 1979 by Factor and Position

Next, let's look at the top players in various aspects of the game.

Best by Factor: Batting, Baserunning, Pitching, Fielding

There are four basic factors for which players earn Player won-lost records: Batting, Baserunning, Pitching, and Fielding. The top players in 1979 in wins over positional average (WOPA) by factor were as follows.


Batting
		Context-Neutral					Context-Dependent
	Player	eWins	eLoss	eWOPA		Player	pWins	pLoss	pWOPA
1	Dave Winfield	17.8	11.5	5.9	1	Fred Lynn	15.6	8.4	7.2
2	Fred Lynn	14.7	9.3	5.4	2	Gorman Thomas	16.4	10.0	6.4
3	Mike Schmidt	17.0	11.5	5.0	3	Dave Winfield	18.1	11.3	6.4
4	George Foster	13.8	8.8	4.7	4	Mike Schmidt	17.2	11.3	5.5
5	Dave Kingman	14.9	10.0	4.5	5	Darrell Porter	15.7	10.2	5.4
6	Jim Rice	15.7	11.3	4.4	6	Sixto Lezcano	14.1	8.7	5.4
7	Sixto Lezcano	13.6	9.2	4.4	7	George Foster	14.1	8.6	5.1
8	Gorman Thomas	15.3	11.1	4.2	8	Eddie Murray	16.5	11.5	5.1
9	Ken Singleton	15.2	11.1	4.2	9	Dave Parker	15.9	10.5	5.0
10	Don Baylor	16.9	12.8	4.0	10	Ken Singleton	15.6	10.7	5.0

Positional Average excludes pitcher offense


Baserunning
		Context-Neutral					Context-Dependent
	Player	eWins	eLoss	eWOPA		Player	pWins	pLoss	pWOPA
1	Ron LeFlore	2.8	1.4	1.4	1	Willie Wilson	2.7	1.2	1.5
2	Willie Wilson	2.7	1.3	1.3	2	Ron LeFlore	2.7	1.5	1.2
3	Jerry Royster	2.4	1.3	1.0	3	Jerry Royster	2.5	1.3	1.2
4	Ozzie Smith	1.8	0.8	1.0	4	Omar Moreno	2.7	1.6	1.0
5	Davey Lopes	1.9	1.1	0.8	5	Keith Hernandez	1.9	1.0	0.9
6	Amos Otis	1.6	0.8	0.8	6	Rodney Scott	2.1	1.2	0.8
7	Bump Wills	1.9	1.2	0.7	7	Amos Otis	1.6	0.8	0.8
8	Miguel Dilone	1.4	0.7	0.7	8	Lou Whitaker	1.7	0.9	0.8
9	Rodney Scott	2.0	1.4	0.6	9	Paul Molitor	1.9	1.3	0.7
10	Willie Randolph	2.0	1.4	0.6	10	Willie Randolph	2.0	1.4	0.7

Positional Average excludes pitcher offense


Pitching
		Context-Neutral					Context-Dependent
	Player	eWins	eLoss	Net eWins		Player	pWins	pLoss	Net pWins
1	Jim Kern	10.9	7.1	3.7	1	Jim Kern	12.2	5.8	6.4
2	J.R. Richard	17.7	14.2	3.6	2	Mike Flanagan	17.4	11.6	5.9
3	Tommy John	14.5	11.0	3.5	3	J.R. Richard	18.5	13.4	5.1
4	Mike Flanagan	16.0	13.0	2.9	4	Ron Guidry	15.7	10.6	5.1
5	Ron Guidry	14.5	11.8	2.6	5	Tommy John	15.2	10.2	5.0
6	Bruce Sutter	8.8	6.3	2.5	6	Aurelio Lopez	9.7	4.9	4.8
7	Nolan Ryan	15.7	13.4	2.3	7	Dennis Eckersley	15.7	11.3	4.4
8	Sid Monge	10.3	8.2	2.1	8	Kent Tekulve	9.3	5.4	3.9
9	Burt Hooton	11.2	9.1	2.0	9	Bruce Sutter	9.5	5.7	3.8
10	Kent Tekulve	8.4	6.3	2.0	10	Jim Slaton	12.9	9.2	3.7

Fielding by Position


Fielding, P
		Context-Neutral					Context-Dependent
	Player	eWins	eLosses	Net eWins		Player	pWins	pLosses	Net pWins
1	Tom Seaver	0.7	0.3	0.4	1	Burt Hooton	0.7	0.2	0.5
2	Rick Waits	0.6	0.3	0.3	2	Vida Blue	0.5	0.2	0.3
3	Burt Hooton	0.5	0.3	0.3	3	Jim Slaton	0.4	0.1	0.3
4	Ross Baumgarten	0.6	0.3	0.3	4	Jim Todd	0.4	0.1	0.3
5	Milt Wilcox	0.4	0.2	0.2	5	Joe Niekro	0.5	0.2	0.3


Fielding, C
		Context-Neutral					Context-Dependent
	Player	eWins	eLosses	Net eWins		Player	pWins	pLosses	Net pWins
1	Gary Carter	2.7	1.9	0.9	1	Rick Dempsey	2.2	1.4	0.8
2	Darrell Porter	2.0	1.3	0.7	2	Darrell Porter	2.1	1.3	0.8
3	Jim Sundberg	2.0	1.6	0.4	3	Gary Carter	2.7	1.9	0.8
4	Bob Boone	1.7	1.3	0.4	4	Butch Wynegar	2.2	1.6	0.6
5	Rick Dempsey	2.0	1.6	0.4	5	Johnny Bench	2.0	1.5	0.5


Fielding, 1B
		Context-Neutral					Context-Dependent
	Player	eWins	eLosses	Net eWins		Player	pWins	pLosses	Net pWins
1	Eddie Murray	2.3	1.7	0.6	1	Keith Hernandez	3.8	2.6	1.2
2	Keith Hernandez	3.5	2.9	0.6	2	Chris Chambliss	2.5	1.9	0.6
3	Carl Yastrzemski	1.4	1.1	0.3	3	Pat Putnam	1.9	1.3	0.6
4	Chris Chambliss	2.4	2.1	0.3	4	Mike Squires	1.4	0.9	0.5
5	Dan T. Meyer	0.3	0.1	0.2	5	Eddie Murray	2.3	1.8	0.4


Fielding, 2B
		Context-Neutral					Context-Dependent
	Player	eWins	eLosses	Net eWins		Player	pWins	pLosses	Net pWins
1	Willie Randolph	5.9	4.6	1.3	1	Lou Whitaker	5.5	3.6	1.9
2	Lou Whitaker	5.0	4.1	0.9	2	Willie Randolph	5.9	4.6	1.3
3	Rich Dauer	3.5	3.0	0.5	3	Manny Trillo	4.4	3.5	0.9
4	Rennie Stennett	3.4	2.9	0.5	4	Rennie Stennett	3.6	2.7	0.8
5	Ted Sizemore	5.5	5.0	0.4	5	Rich Dauer	3.6	2.8	0.8


Fielding, 3B
		Context-Neutral					Context-Dependent
	Player	eWins	eLosses	Net eWins		Player	pWins	pLosses	Net pWins
1	Buddy Bell	5.6	4.2	1.3	1	Buddy Bell	5.5	4.3	1.1
2	Ken Reitz	4.4	3.5	0.9	2	Mike Schmidt	5.6	4.8	0.9
3	Mike Schmidt	5.5	4.9	0.7	3	Sal Bando	3.5	2.8	0.7
4	Phil Garner	2.2	1.7	0.5	4	John Castino	3.8	3.1	0.7
5	John Castino	3.6	3.2	0.4	5	Phil Garner	2.3	1.6	0.7


Fielding, SS
		Context-Neutral					Context-Dependent
	Player	eWins	eLosses	Net eWins		Player	pWins	pLosses	Net pWins
1	Rick Burleson	7.0	5.8	1.2	1	Tim Foli	6.9	5.0	1.9
2	Dave Concepcion	7.1	6.1	1.0	2	Bucky Dent	6.9	5.0	1.9
3	Craig Reynolds	6.3	5.5	0.9	3	Dave Concepcion	7.2	6.0	1.2
4	Tim Foli	6.3	5.6	0.7	4	Larry Bowa	6.2	5.0	1.1
5	Ozzie Smith	7.4	6.7	0.7	5	Robin Yount	6.6	5.5	1.1


Fielding, LF
		Context-Neutral					Context-Dependent
	Player	eWins	eLosses	Net eWins		Player	pWins	pLosses	Net pWins
1	George Foster	5.4	4.2	1.2	1	Warren Cromartie	9.1	6.6	2.5
2	Willie Wilson	7.2	6.0	1.1	2	Willie Wilson	7.5	5.7	1.7
3	Jose Cruz Sr.	7.2	6.3	0.9	3	Ken Landreaux	3.9	2.4	1.5
4	Joel Youngblood	3.6	2.8	0.8	4	Ben Oglivie	4.4	3.3	1.2
5	Terry Whitfield	5.0	4.3	0.7	5	Jose Cruz Sr.	7.3	6.2	1.0


Fielding, CF
		Context-Neutral					Context-Dependent
	Player	eWins	eLosses	Net eWins		Player	pWins	pLosses	Net pWins
1	Amos Otis	5.8	4.7	1.1	1	Amos Otis	6.2	4.3	1.9
2	Andre Dawson	5.7	5.1	0.7	2	Gorman Thomas	5.6	4.0	1.7
3	Gorman Thomas	5.1	4.5	0.7	3	Terry Puhl	4.9	4.0	1.0
4	Lee Mazzilli	5.2	4.6	0.6	4	Garry Maddox	7.3	6.4	0.9
5	Tony Scott	5.9	5.4	0.6	5	Andre Dawson	5.8	5.0	0.9


Fielding, RF
		Context-Neutral					Context-Dependent
	Player	eWins	eLosses	Net eWins		Player	pWins	pLosses	Net pWins
1	Ellis Valentine	6.3	5.4	0.9	1	Ellis Valentine	6.9	4.9	2.0
2	Dave Winfield	7.8	7.1	0.6	2	Dave Parker	7.5	6.2	1.3
3	Bake McBride	6.5	5.9	0.6	3	Bake McBride	6.8	5.6	1.2
4	Dan Ford	5.2	4.6	0.6	4	Dwight Evans	6.5	5.6	1.0
5	Larry Murray	2.8	2.3	0.5	5	Dan Ford	5.2	4.5	0.7

Best by Position

Next, we look at 1979 Major-League leaders by position. The figures shown here only include Player decisions earned while playing this particular position.


Catcher
		Context-Neutral					Context-Dependent
	Player	eWins	eLosses	eWOPA		Player	pWins	pLosses	pWOPA
1	Darrell Porter	15.9	11.9	4.5	1	Darrell Porter	16.4	11.4	5.4
2	Gary Carter	15.5	12.8	2.8	2	Ted Simmons	14.5	10.6	3.9
3	Johnny Bench	14.7	12.0	2.8	3	Johnny Bench	15.0	11.7	3.4
4	Ted Simmons	13.8	11.3	2.6	4	Brian Downing	12.6	10.5	2.5
5	Brian Downing	12.5	10.6	2.2	5	Gary Carter	15.1	13.2	2.1


First Base
		Context-Neutral					Context-Dependent
	Player	eWins	eLosses	eWOPA		Player	pWins	pLosses	pWOPA
1	Keith Hernandez	20.4	15.3	3.7	1	Keith Hernandez	21.1	14.6	5.1
2	Eddie Murray	18.8	15.3	2.5	2	Eddie Murray	20.0	14.2	4.9
3	Willie Stargell	13.0	9.9	2.1	3	Willie Stargell	13.1	9.7	2.4
4	Cecil Cooper	16.3	13.5	2.0	4	Bill Robinson	4.9	2.3	2.4
5	Mike Ivie	9.2	7.2	1.2	5	Cecil Cooper	16.3	13.5	2.0


Second Base
		Context-Neutral					Context-Dependent
	Player	eWins	eLosses	eWOPA		Player	pWins	pLosses	pWOPA
1	Bobby Grich	19.4	15.8	4.3	1	Bobby Grich	20.1	15.1	5.6
2	Davey Lopes	21.3	18.2	3.5	2	Lou Whitaker	16.6	12.8	4.4
3	Willie Randolph	19.9	17.8	2.9	3	Paul Molitor	18.3	14.6	4.4
4	Lou Whitaker	15.7	13.7	2.7	4	Willie Randolph	20.3	17.4	3.7
5	Paul Molitor	17.4	15.5	2.6	5	Phil Garner	9.5	7.8	1.9


Third Base
		Context-Neutral					Context-Dependent
	Player	eWins	eLosses	eWOPA		Player	pWins	pLosses	pWOPA
1	Mike Schmidt	23.5	17.7	5.1	1	Mike Schmidt	24.2	17.0	6.6
2	Ron Cey	18.4	14.6	3.2	2	George Brett	20.3	16.2	4.0
3	George Brett	19.8	16.6	3.0	3	Larry Parrish	19.2	15.3	3.3
4	Larry Parrish	19.0	15.5	3.0	4	Bill Madlock	11.0	8.3	2.3
5	Buddy Bell	18.4	17.0	1.2	5	Ray Knight	17.9	15.0	2.3


Shortstop
		Context-Neutral					Context-Dependent
	Player	eWins	eLosses	eWOPA		Player	pWins	pLosses	pWOPA
1	Dave Concepcion	21.2	18.2	4.3	1	Dave Concepcion	21.6	17.9	5.0
2	Roy Smalley III	22.4	20.7	3.5	2	Tim Foli	18.2	15.2	4.1
3	Garry Templeton	22.0	21.2	2.4	3	Roy Smalley III	22.6	20.4	4.1
4	Toby Harrah	3.5	2.2	1.5	4	Garry Templeton	22.1	21.1	2.5
5	Tim Foli	16.8	16.6	1.4	5	Robin Yount	18.5	17.7	2.5


Left Field
		Context-Neutral					Context-Dependent
	Player	eWins	eLosses	eWOPA		Player	pWins	pLosses	pWOPA
1	George Foster	19.7	13.6	5.1	1	George Foster	19.3	13.6	4.3
2	Dave Kingman	21.7	17.2	3.4	2	Ben Oglivie	14.4	11.3	3.9
3	Jim Rice	18.2	15.1	2.5	3	Jose Cruz Sr.	23.0	19.3	3.1
4	Jose Cruz Sr.	22.3	19.3	1.8	4	Dave Kingman	21.3	17.2	2.7
5	Oscar Gamble	4.7	3.0	1.7	5	Oscar Gamble	5.2	3.0	2.6


Center Field
		Context-Neutral					Context-Dependent
	Player	eWins	eLosses	eWOPA		Player	pWins	pLosses	pWOPA
1	Fred Lynn	20.8	15.2	5.2	1	Fred Lynn	22.0	14.1	7.6
2	Gorman Thomas	20.7	16.1	4.2	2	Gorman Thomas	22.2	14.6	7.3
3	Amos Otis	19.5	16.3	2.9	3	Amos Otis	20.3	15.5	4.4
4	Lee Mazzilli	18.7	15.3	2.6	4	Andre Dawson	22.8	18.5	3.3
5	Ron LeFlore	15.7	14.0	1.4	5	Terry Puhl	15.3	12.3	2.4


Right Field
		Context-Neutral					Context-Dependent
	Player	eWins	eLosses	eWOPA		Player	pWins	pLosses	pWOPA
1	Dave Winfield	26.5	20.1	4.6	1	Dave Winfield	26.9	19.7	5.5
2	Dave Parker	24.0	19.0	3.4	2	Dave Parker	25.0	18.0	5.4
3	Sixto Lezcano	20.6	16.4	3.2	3	Sixto Lezcano	21.4	15.6	4.9
4	Ken Singleton	17.7	13.7	3.1	4	Ken Singleton	18.4	13.0	4.5
5	Jack Clark	19.1	15.1	2.7	5	Champ Summers	9.8	6.7	2.7


Starting Pitcher
		Context-Neutral					Context-Dependent
	Player	eWins	eLosses	eWOPA		Player	pWins	pLosses	pWOPA
1	J.R. Richard	18.1	14.4	3.8	1	Mike Flanagan	17.8	11.8	6.1
2	Tommy John	14.7	11.4	3.4	2	J.R. Richard	18.9	13.6	5.4
3	Mike Flanagan	16.3	13.3	3.1	3	Ron Guidry	15.4	10.7	4.9
4	Ron Guidry	14.3	11.8	2.5	4	Tommy John	15.4	10.7	4.8
5	Nolan Ryan	16.1	13.7	2.5	5	Dennis Eckersley	16.3	11.7	4.6
6	Burt Hooton	11.7	9.4	2.4	6	Jim Slaton	13.2	9.2	4.1
7	Dennis Eckersley	15.0	13.0	2.1	7	Mike Caldwell	13.3	9.4	4.0
8	Dennis Martinez	16.1	14.3	1.9	8	Bill 'Spaceman' Lee	14.3	10.9	3.4
9	Ken Kravec	15.4	13.6	1.9	9	Joe Niekro	17.4	14.1	3.4
10	Tom Seaver	12.6	10.8	1.9	10	Jerry Koosman	16.6	13.4	3.3


Relief Pitcher
		Context-Neutral					Context-Dependent
	Player	eWins	eLosses	eWOPA		Player	pWins	pLosses	pWOPA
1	Jim Kern	11.1	7.9	3.1	1	Jim Kern	12.4	6.6	5.6
2	Bruce Sutter	9.1	6.5	2.5	2	Aurelio Lopez	9.9	5.1	4.7
3	Sid Monge	10.6	8.4	2.1	3	Kent Tekulve	9.5	5.6	3.9
4	Kent Tekulve	8.6	6.5	2.1	4	Bruce Sutter	9.7	5.9	3.7
5	Tom Hume	4.7	2.9	1.7	5	Sid Monge	11.1	7.9	3.1
6	Ed Farmer	4.8	3.1	1.6	6	Don Stanhouse	6.7	4.2	2.4
7	Mike G. Marshall	9.8	8.1	1.6	7	Mike G. Marshall	10.2	7.7	2.4
8	Elias Sosa	6.7	5.2	1.5	8	Ed Farmer	5.1	2.8	2.3
9	Dick Drago	6.0	4.6	1.4	9	Mark Littell	6.3	4.0	2.2
10	Joe Sambito	8.0	6.5	1.4	10	Ron G. Davis	6.4	4.2	2.2


Designated Hitter
		Context-Neutral					Context-Dependent
	Player	eWins	eLosses	eWOPA		Player	pWins	pLosses	pWOPA
1	Don Baylor	8.7	5.2	3.4	1	Don Baylor	9.3	4.7	4.5
2	Jim Spencer	4.8	3.1	1.6	2	Cliff Johnson	8.4	5.6	2.6
3	Cliff Johnson	7.8	6.2	1.5	3	Darrell Porter	2.6	1.0	1.5

Finally, here are the best at three oft-forgotten positions that can nevertheless matter: pitcher offense, pinch hitting, and pinch running.


Pitcher Offense
		Context-Neutral					Context-Dependent
	Player	eWins	eLosses	eWOPA		Player	pWins	pLosses	pWOPA
1	Rick Sutcliffe	1.4	1.8	0.5	1	Rick Sutcliffe	1.6	1.5	0.8
2	Mike Krukow	1.0	1.2	0.4	2	Steve Carlton	1.8	2.1	0.7
3	Steve Carlton	1.6	2.4	0.4	3	Tom Seaver	1.1	1.3	0.5


Pinch Hitter
		Context-Neutral					Context-Dependent
	Player	eWins	eLosses	eWOPA		Player	pWins	pLosses	pWOPA
1	Del Unser	2.6	1.5	1.1	1	Del Unser	2.7	1.4	1.4
2	H. Pat Kelly	1.8	1.0	0.9	2	H. Pat Kelly	1.9	1.0	1.0
3	Denny Walling	2.4	1.5	0.9	3	Denny Walling	2.4	1.5	0.9


Pinch Runner
		Context-Neutral					Context-Dependent
	Player	eWins	eLosses	eWOPA		Player	pWins	pLosses	pWOPA
1	Miguel Dilone	0.8	0.4	0.5	1	Miguel Dilone	0.8	0.5	0.3
2	Matt Alexander	0.9	0.5	0.4	2	Matt Alexander	0.8	0.5	0.3
3	Tim Raines Sr.	0.2	0.0	0.2	3	Tim Raines Sr.	0.2	0.0	0.2

Noteworthy Players of 1979

For many seasons, the top 10 lists at the start of these articles contain mostly players in the Hall of Fame or at least players in the Hall of Merit. The 1979 season is an exception. Of the 14 players who show up on one or more of the four tables above, only three of them are in the Hall of Fame and only three are in the Hall of Merit.

Based on Player won-lost records, the story of the 1979 season appears to be somewhat unheralded players having career years. I take a closer look at five of these players next.

Gorman Thomas

As measured by pWins over either positional average or replacement level, Gorman Thomas has a case for having been the most valuable player in major-league baseball in 1979. Controlling for context, Thomas looks a little less impressive when looking at eWins, but still in the top 10 among major-league players in 1979.

The 1979 season was Thomas's best, but he had a solid 5-year prime from 1978 - 1982 for the Milwaukee Brewers which culminated with the only World Series appearance in Brewers history.

Gorman Thomas's career, as measured by Player won-lost records, is shown in the next table.

Season	Team	Age	Games	pWins	pLosses	pWOPA	pWORL	eWins	eLosses	eWOPA	eWORL
Gorman Thomas Basic Player Won-Lost Records
										Value Decomposition
1973	MIL	22	60	4.0	5.3	-1.5	-1.0	4.1	5.2	-1.3	-0.8
1974	MIL	23	17	2.1	1.4	0.7	0.8	2.0	1.6	0.3	0.5
1975	MIL	24	121	7.7	8.5	-0.9	-0.2	7.9	8.3	-0.5	0.2
1976	MIL	25	99	9.0	7.9	0.9	1.8	8.6	8.3	0.1	0.9
1978	MIL	27	137	16.3	13.8	2.3	3.8	16.7	13.4	3.1	4.5
1979	MIL	28	156	23.0	14.8	7.8	9.6	21.5	16.3	4.8	6.6
1980	MIL	29	162	19.9	18.1	1.5	3.3	20.0	18.1	1.7	3.5
1981	MIL	30	103	13.7	11.0	2.3	3.7	13.5	11.2	2.0	3.3
1982	MIL	31	158	21.3	17.4	3.7	5.5	20.7	17.9	2.7	4.4
1983	CLE	32	152	17.5	19.7	-2.5	-0.8	18.1	19.1	-1.2	0.5
1984	SEA	33	35	3.7	3.6	-0.1	0.3	3.5	3.8	-0.6	-0.2
1985	SEA	34	135	12.5	12.0	0.4	2.0	13.4	11.0	2.3	3.9
1986	MIL	35	101	6.2	8.0	-2.1	-1.3	7.0	7.3	-0.6	0.2
------	------	------	------	------	------	------	------	------	------	------	------
CAREER (reg. season)			1,436	156.9	141.6	12.6	27.3	157.0	141.5	12.8	27.6
			------	------	------			------	------
PostSeason (career)			17	1.5	2.0		-0.3	1.4	2.1		-0.5
			------	------	------		------	------	------		------
COMBINED			1,453	158.4	143.6		27.0	158.4	143.6		27.1

Fred Lynn

Fred Lynn ranks in the top two in each of the first four tables in this article, including number one in eWins over replacement level.

Fred Lynn's 1979 was not as extreme relative to every other season of his career as the other four players profiled here. But, as measured by Player won-lost records, 1979 was Lynn's best season, even slightly better than his Rookie-of-Year/MVP 1975 season. Through 1979, Fred Lynn's age-27 season, he had put up two MVP-caliber seasons in his five-year career, along with two other seasons that were at least All-Star level quality (1976, 1978). The future looked bright indeed. Unfortunately, Fred Lynn never had another season as good as his 1975 or 1979 season again. Nevertheless, he still had an excellent career.

Fred Lynn's career, as measured by Player won-lost records, is shown in the next table.

Season	Team	Age	Games	pWins	pLosses	pWOPA	pWORL	eWins	eLosses	eWOPA	eWORL
Fred Lynn Basic Player Won-Lost Records
										Value Decomposition
1974	BOS	22	15	1.9	1.5	0.4	0.5	2.0	1.4	0.7	0.9
1975	BOS	23	145	22.3	16.1	5.9	7.7	22.1	16.3	5.5	7.2
1976	BOS	24	132	17.2	15.8	1.0	2.6	18.2	14.8	3.2	4.8
1977	BOS	25	129	15.3	14.9	0.1	1.7	15.0	15.1	-0.3	1.2
1978	BOS	26	150	20.3	16.1	4.0	5.8	19.2	17.3	2.0	3.7
1979	BOS	27	147	22.3	14.2	7.8	9.5	21.4	15.1	5.8	7.6
1980	BOS	28	110	14.9	12.2	2.5	3.8	14.8	12.3	2.2	3.4
1981	CAL	29	76	8.4	10.0	-1.8	-0.8	8.9	9.5	-0.8	0.1
1982	CAL	30	137	18.6	14.8	3.7	5.2	18.4	15.0	3.3	4.8
1983	CAL	31	117	14.9	14.8	-0.0	1.3	15.3	14.4	0.6	1.9
1984	CAL	32	142	18.2	15.9	1.6	3.2	18.8	15.3	2.8	4.4
1985	BAL	33	124	14.7	13.7	0.7	2.1	14.7	13.7	0.7	2.0
1986	BAL	34	112	15.7	12.3	3.1	4.4	15.1	13.0	1.9	3.2
1987	BAL	35	111	11.9	12.6	-1.0	0.1	12.2	12.3	-0.3	0.8
1988	BAL	36	114	12.6	13.9	-1.6	-0.2	13.8	12.7	0.9	2.2
1989	DET	37	117	10.8	12.0	-1.5	-0.3	11.5	11.4	-0.2	1.0
1990	SDN	38	89	5.6	6.7	-1.4	-0.8	5.9	6.3	-0.6	-0.0
------	------	------	------	------	------	------	------	------	------	------	------
CAREER (reg. season)			1,967	245.7	217.4	23.7	45.8	247.3	215.8	27.2	49.3
			------	------	------			------	------
PostSeason (career)			15	2.1	2.1		0.2	2.3	1.9		0.6
			------	------	------		------	------	------		------
COMBINED			1,982	247.8	219.5		46.0	249.6	217.7		49.9

Darrell Porter

Darrell Porter ranks among the top five players in major-league baseball in 1979 in each of the first four tables of this article.

The 1979 season was Porter's best season by far. In fact, measured by pWins over replacement level, Porter's 1979 season was twice as good as his next-best season.

Even so, Porter had a respectable career. He made 4 All-Star teams, finished in the top 10 in MVP voting twice (including 9th in 1979), and was the starting catcher for three World Series teams.

Darrell Porter's career, as measured by Player won-lost records, is shown in the next table.

Season	Team	Age	Games	pWins	pLosses	pWOPA	pWORL	eWins	eLosses	eWOPA	eWORL
Darrell Porter Basic Player Won-Lost Records
										Value Decomposition
1971	MIL	19	22	1.7	1.7	0.0	0.2	1.7	1.7	0.1	0.3
1972	MIL	20	18	0.8	1.7	-0.8	-0.7	1.0	1.5	-0.6	-0.5
1973	MIL	21	117	11.4	8.9	2.9	3.9	11.1	9.2	2.3	3.4
1974	MIL	22	130	12.4	11.3	1.7	2.9	12.5	11.2	1.9	3.0
1975	MIL	23	129	12.4	10.7	2.0	3.1	12.6	10.5	2.5	3.6
1976	MIL	24	119	9.8	10.8	-0.4	0.6	9.6	11.0	-0.7	0.3
1977	KCA	25	130	11.2	10.1	1.2	2.3	11.1	10.2	0.8	1.9
1978	KCA	26	150	15.1	13.1	2.6	4.0	14.9	13.2	2.4	3.8
1979	KCA	27	157	19.0	12.4	7.0	8.5	18.3	13.1	5.6	7.2
1980	KCA	28	118	10.5	9.5	1.2	2.2	10.2	9.9	0.6	1.6
1981	SLN	29	61	6.0	4.6	1.5	2.1	5.4	5.2	0.3	0.9
1982	SLN	30	120	11.0	9.2	2.0	2.9	10.4	9.7	0.9	1.8
1983	SLN	31	144	13.4	11.7	2.0	3.1	13.5	11.7	2.0	3.2
1984	SLN	32	127	13.0	11.6	1.8	3.0	12.4	12.2	0.6	1.7
1985	SLN	33	83	7.5	5.9	1.7	2.4	6.8	6.6	0.4	1.0
1986	TEX	34	64	4.3	3.4	0.9	1.3	4.4	3.3	1.2	1.6
1987	TEX	35	80	3.4	2.4	1.0	1.4	3.0	2.7	0.4	0.7
------	------	------	------	------	------	------	------	------	------	------	------
CAREER (reg. season)			1,769	162.9	139.1	28.3	43.1	159.0	143.0	20.7	35.4
			------	------	------			------	------
PostSeason (career)			37	3.2	3.0		0.6	3.3	2.9		0.8
			------	------	------		------	------	------		------
COMBINED			1,806	166.1	142.1		43.6	162.3	145.9		36.2

Mike Flanagan

From 1968 - 1980, the Baltimore Orioles had at least one 20-game winner every season. Combined, the Orioles had nine pitchers who won 20 or more games a combined 22 times. Four of these pitchers combined to win a total of six Cy Young awards over these 13 seasons.

The 1979 season was Mike Flanagan's chance to join both of these groups: Orioles pitchers who won 20 games and Orioles pitchers who won a Cy Young award. It was, in fact, the only season in Flanagan's 18-year career in which he received even a single Cy Young vote. But, at least as measured by pWins (compared to either average or replacement level), Flanagan deserved his award.

Mike Flanagan's career, as measured by Player won-lost records, is shown in the next table.

Season	Team	Age	Games	pWins	pLosses	pWOPA	pWORL	eWins	eLosses	eWOPA	eWORL
Mike Flanagan Basic Player Won-Lost Records
										Value Decomposition
1975	BAL	23	2	0.4	0.7	-0.2	-0.2	0.6	0.5	0.1	0.1
1976	BAL	24	20	3.8	4.4	-0.6	-0.0	4.0	4.2	-0.2	0.3
1977	BAL	25	36	13.9	10.5	3.5	5.2	13.2	11.2	2.1	3.8
1978	BAL	26	40	16.6	15.4	1.1	3.1	16.6	15.4	1.2	3.1
1979	BAL	27	39	17.8	11.8	6.1	7.9	16.7	12.9	3.9	5.7
1980	BAL	28	37	14.3	12.6	1.8	3.4	13.4	13.5	0.0	1.6
1981	BAL	29	20	6.2	6.4	-0.1	0.8	6.3	6.3	-0.0	0.8
1982	BAL	30	36	14.4	12.2	2.5	4.1	13.7	12.9	1.1	2.7
1983	BAL	31	20	7.5	5.6	2.0	2.8	6.8	6.3	0.5	1.3
1984	BAL	32	34	12.8	13.1	-0.1	1.4	12.9	13.0	0.1	1.6
1985	BAL	33	15	4.0	5.3	-1.2	-0.6	4.1	5.2	-1.1	-0.6
1986	BAL	34	29	8.8	10.0	-1.1	0.1	9.4	9.4	0.1	1.3
1987	BAL	35	23	8.3	6.6	1.8	2.8	8.0	7.0	1.2	2.1
1988	TOR	36	34	11.4	11.5	0.0	1.5	10.4	12.5	-2.0	-0.5
1989	TOR	37	30	8.4	8.8	-0.2	0.9	8.4	8.8	-0.1	1.0
1990	TOR	38	5	1.2	1.4	-0.1	0.1	1.1	1.5	-0.4	-0.2
1991	BAL	39	64	4.1	4.3	-0.3	0.5	4.9	3.5	1.3	2.1
1992	BAL	40	42	0.9	1.3	-0.4	-0.2	0.9	1.3	-0.5	-0.3
------	------	------	------	------	------	------	------	------	------	------	------
CAREER (reg. season)			526	154.9	141.8	14.6	33.4	151.3	145.4	7.3	26.1
			------	------	------			------	------
PostSeason (career)			7	2.4	2.2		0.6	2.2	2.4		0.2
			------	------	------		------	------	------		------
COMBINED			533	157.2	143.9		34.1	153.4	147.7		26.4

Jim Kern

Jim Kern might be the best example of the theme of non-HOF-level players having career years. You probably have to be a pretty fanatic fan of a certain age, probably of at least the American League if not of one of Kern's teams (mostly the Indians and Rangers) to even recognize his name. His 1979 season was an excellent season: 13-5, 29 saves, 1.57 ERA in 143 IP, all in relief. Even in the fireman era, Kern's 1979 season stood out.

The next table shows the top 10 seasons by relief pitchers, sorted by pWins over replacement level (pWORL), earned as a relief pitcher.

Player	Season	Team	pWins	pLosses	pWOPA	pWORL
John Hiller	1973	DET	12.2	5.1	7.1	8.9
Willie Hernandez	1984	DET	9.8	3.1	6.4	7.7
John Smoltz	2002	ATL	10.3	4.0	6.0	7.6
Dan Quisenberry	1980	KCA	11.9	5.8	5.7	7.5
Jim Kern	1979	TEX	12.4	6.6	5.6	7.4
Keith Foulke	2000	CHA	9.1	2.9	6.1	7.4
Mariano Rivera	1996	NYA	9.6	3.6	5.9	7.2
Rich Gossage	1975	CHA	12.0	6.9	5.1	7.1
Blake Treinen	2018	OAK	9.3	3.5	5.7	7.0
Edwin O. Diaz	2018	SEA	9.1	3.3	5.7	7.0

At the time, Jim Kern's 1979 season was arguably the second-best season by a relief pitcher in major-league history. And it remains among the top five relief pitcher seasons 40 years later.

Elite Basestealers Passing in the Night

The 1979 season was the final season for St. Louis Cardinals great Lou Brock. Brock retired as the single-season and career record holders for stolen bases.

Unknown at the time, the 1979 season was also the first season for the player who would break both of those records: Rickey Henderson.

The next table compares the careers of Lou Brock and Rickey Henderson, as measured by Player won-lost records.

Age	Games	pWins	pLoss	pWOPA	pWORL	Games	pWins	pLoss	pWOPA	pWORL
	Lou Brock						Rickey Henderson
20						89	12.1	12.2	-0.4	0.7
21						158	26.6	20.5	4.7	6.9
22	4	0.1	0.5	-0.4	-0.4	108	18.0	13.4	3.9	5.6
23	123	11.4	14.0	-3.3	-1.9	149	22.1	19.0	2.2	4.1
24	148	17.7	16.7	-0.8	0.9	145	20.7	17.2	2.7	4.4
25	154	22.3	19.1	1.4	3.5	142	22.7	17.0	4.7	6.6
26	155	22.0	19.5	0.8	2.9	143	23.1	15.8	6.9	8.8
27	156	22.4	20.2	0.7	2.6	153	20.9	18.3	2.1	4.0
28	159	24.8	20.3	2.6	4.8	95	13.5	10.7	2.4	3.6
29	159	25.9	19.2	4.7	7.0	140	22.7	16.6	5.5	7.5
30	157	23.9	19.8	2.7	5.0	150	22.7	17.2	4.6	6.4
31	155	20.7	22.1	-3.8	-1.6	136	23.9	14.5	8.8	10.5
32	157	23.0	21.3	-0.0	2.1	134	19.5	15.1	4.0	5.6
33	153	19.5	18.9	-1.1	0.8	116	17.9	12.1	5.5	6.9
34	160	23.1	20.4	0.8	3.0	134	19.2	16.3	2.3	4.1
35	153	23.2	20.5	0.9	2.9	87	11.3	9.0	2.1	3.1
36	136	18.5	19.5	-2.0	-0.2	112	14.9	12.1	2.4	3.8
37	133	15.7	16.8	-2.3	-0.7	148	15.7	13.9	0.7	2.1
38	140	14.7	15.7	-2.1	-0.5	120	11.9	12.1	-0.5	0.7
39	92	7.9	11.3	-4.1	-3.2	152	18.3	18.4	-0.5	1.4
40	120	10.8	12.8	-2.9	-1.7	121	14.7	14.0	-0.0	1.3
41						123	14.0	14.3	-1.2	0.2
42						123	13.5	12.3	0.2	1.5
43						72	6.4	6.1	-0.0	0.6
44						30	1.9	2.0	-0.3	-0.1
------	------	------	------	------	------	------	------	------	------	------
CAREER RECORDS	2,614	347.6	328.7	-8.1	25.1	3,080	428.4	350.3	62.8	100.4

Article last updated: March 24, 2020

Wins over positional average and replacement level are calculated using data only for the 1979 season. Positional averages for starting pitching and relief pitching are calculated using single-year data for all starting pitchers and all relief pitchers.

All articles are written so that they pull data directly from the most recent version of the Player won-lost database. Hence, any numbers cited within these articles should automatically incorporate the most recent update to Player won-lost records. In some cases, however, the accompanying text may have been written based on previous versions of Player won-lost records. I apologize if this results in non-sensical text in any cases.

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