# 1979 Cleveland Indians season

The 1979 Cleveland Indians season was the 79th season for the franchise, the 65th as the Indians and the 48th season at Cleveland Stadium. They improved upon their 69–90 campaign from the previous season, but missed the playoffs for the 25th consecutive season, finishing the season at 81–80.

## Offseason

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

## Regular season
### Season standings

vteAL East :
| Team | W | L | Pct. | GB | Home | Road |
| Baltimore Orioles | 102 | 57 | .642 | — | 55‍–‍24 | 47‍–‍33 |
| Milwaukee Brewers | 95 | 66 | .590 | 8 | 52‍–‍29 | 43‍–‍37 |
| Boston Red Sox | 91 | 69 | .569 | 11½ | 51‍–‍29 | 40‍–‍40 |
| New York Yankees | 89 | 71 | .556 | 13½ | 51‍–‍30 | 38‍–‍41 |
| Detroit Tigers | 85 | 76 | .528 | 18 | 46‍–‍34 | 39‍–‍42 |
| Cleveland Indians | 81 | 80 | .503 | 22 | 47‍–‍34 | 34‍–‍46 |
| Toronto Blue Jays | 53 | 109 | .327 | 50½ | 32‍–‍49 | 21‍–‍60 |

### Record vs. opponents

1979 American League recordvte 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.
* July 18, 1979: Mike Stanton was signed as a free agent by the Indians.

### Opening Day Lineup

Opening Day Starters :
| # | Name | Position |
| 11 | Toby Harrah | 3B |
| 27 | Jim Norris | DH |
| 25 | Bobby Bonds | RF |
| 29 | Andre Thornton | 1B |
| 35 | Gary Alexander | C |
| 22 | Ted Cox | LF |
| 18 | Duane Kuiper | 2B |
| 21 | Tom Veryzer | SS |
| 20 | Horace Speed | CF |
| 40 | Rick Wise | P |

### Roster
## Player stats
### Batting

Note: G = Games played; AB = At bats; R = Runs scored; H = Hits; 2B = Doubles; 3B = Triples; HR = Home runs; RBI = Runs batted in; AVG = Batting average; SB = Stolen bases
| Player | G | AB | R | H | 2B | 3B | HR | RBI | AVG | SB |
| Gary Alexander | 110 | 358 | 54 | 82 | 9 | 2 | 15 | 54 | .229 | 4 |
| Dell Alston | 54 | 62 | 10 | 18 | 0 | 2 | 1 | 12 | .290 | 4 |
| Bobby Bonds | 146 | 538 | 93 | 148 | 24 | 1 | 25 | 85 | .275 | 34 |
| Wayne Cage | 29 | 56 | 6 | 13 | 2 | 0 | 1 | 6 | .232 | 0 |
| Ted Cox | 78 | 189 | 17 | 40 | 6 | 0 | 4 | 22 | .212 | 3 |
| Paul Dade | 44 | 170 | 22 | 48 | 4 | 1 | 3 | 18 | .282 | 12 |
| Bo Diaz | 15 | 32 | 0 | 5 | 2 | 0 | 0 | 1 | .156 | 0 |
| Mike Hargrove | 100 | 338 | 60 | 110 | 21 | 4 | 10 | 56 | .325 | 2 |
| Toby Harrah | 149 | 527 | 99 | 147 | 25 | 1 | 20 | 77 | .279 | 20 |
| Ron Hassey | 75 | 223 | 20 | 64 | 14 | 0 | 4 | 32 | .287 | 1 |
| Cliff Johnson | 72 | 240 | 37 | 65 | 10 | 0 | 18 | 61 | .271 | 2 |
| Duane Kuiper | 140 | 479 | 46 | 122 | 9 | 5 | 0 | 39 | .255 | 4 |
| Rick Manning | 144 | 560 | 67 | 145 | 12 | 2 | 3 | 51 | .259 | 30 |
| Jim Norris | 124 | 353 | 50 | 87 | 15 | 6 | 3 | 30 | .246 | 15 |
| Ron Pruitt | 64 | 166 | 23 | 47 | 7 | 0 | 2 | 21 | .283 | 2 |
| Dave Rosello | 59 | 107 | 20 | 26 | 6 | 1 | 3 | 14 | .243 | 1 |
| Horace Speed | 26 | 14 | 6 | 2 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 1 | .143 | 2 |
| Andre Thornton | 143 | 515 | 89 | 120 | 31 | 1 | 26 | 93 | .233 | 5 |
| Tom Veryzer | 149 | 449 | 41 | 99 | 9 | 3 | 0 | 34 | .220 | 2 |
| Team Totals | 161 | 5376 | 760 | 1388 | 206 | 29 | 138 | 707 | .258 | 143 |

### Pitching

Note: W = Wins; L = Losses; ERA = Earned run average; G = Games pitched; GS = Games started; SV = Saves; IP = Innings pitched; H = Hits allowed; R = Runs allowed; ER = Earned runs allowed; BB = Walks allowed; K = Strikeouts
| Player | W | L | ERA | G | GS | SV | IP | H | R | ER | BB | K |
| Larry Andersen | 0 | 0 | 7.56 | 8 | 0 | 0 | 16.2 | 25 | 14 | 14 | 4 | 7 |
| Len Barker | 6 | 6 | 4.92 | 29 | 19 | 0 | 137.1 | 146 | 79 | 75 | 70 | 93 |
| David Clyde | 3 | 4 | 5.91 | 9 | 8 | 0 | 45.2 | 50 | 33 | 30 | 13 | 17 |
| Victor Cruz | 3 | 9 | 4.23 | 61 | 0 | 10 | 78.2 | 70 | 41 | 37 | 34 | 40 |
| Wayne Garland | 4 | 10 | 5.23 | 18 | 14 | 0 | 94.2 | 120 | 70 | 55 | 34 | 40 |
| Don Hood | 1 | 0 | 3.68 | 13 | 0 | 1 | 22.0 | 13 | 9 | 9 | 14 | 7 |
| Sid Monge | 12 | 10 | 2.40 | 76 | 0 | 19 | 131.0 | 96 | 37 | 35 | 64 | 108 |
| Mike Paxton | 8 | 8 | 5.92 | 33 | 24 | 0 | 159.2 | 210 | 118 | 105 | 52 | 70 |
| Paul Reuschel | 2 | 1 | 7.94 | 17 | 1 | 1 | 45.1 | 73 | 43 | 40 | 11 | 22 |
| Dan Spillner | 9 | 5 | 4.62 | 49 | 13 | 1 | 157.2 | 153 | 82 | 81 | 64 | 97 |
| Rick Waits | 16 | 13 | 4.44 | 34 | 34 | 0 | 231.0 | 230 | 123 | 114 | 91 | 91 |
| Sandy Wihtol | 0 | 0 | 3.38 | 5 | 0 | 0 | 10.2 | 10 | 4 | 4 | 3 | 6 |
| Eric Wilkins | 2 | 4 | 4.39 | 16 | 14 | 0 | 69.2 | 77 | 41 | 34 | 38 | 52 |
| Rick Wise | 15 | 10 | 3.73 | 34 | 34 | 0 | 231.2 | 229 | 111 | 96 | 68 | 108 |
| Team Totals | 81 | 80 | 4.57 | 161 | 161 | 32 | 1431.2 | 1502 | 805 | 727 | 570 | 781 |

## 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 |