# 1979 San Francisco Giants season

The 1979 San Francisco Giants season was the Giants' 97th season in Major League Baseball, their 22nd season in San Francisco since their move from New York following the 1957 season, and their 20th at Candlestick Park. The team finished in fourth place in the National League West with a 71–91 record, 19½ games behind the Cincinnati Reds.

## Offseason

* December 4, 1978: Max Venable was drafted by the Giants from the Los Angeles Dodgers in the 1978 rule 5 draft.
* December 5, 1978: Darrell Evans was signed as a free agent by the Giants.
* February 24, 1979: Bill Bordley was signed as an amateur free agent by the Giants.

## Regular season
### Season standings

vteNL West :
| Team | W | L | Pct. | GB | Home | Road |
| Cincinnati Reds | 90 | 71 | .559 | — | 48‍–‍32 | 42‍–‍39 |
| Houston Astros | 89 | 73 | .549 | 1½ | 52‍–‍29 | 37‍–‍44 |
| Los Angeles Dodgers | 79 | 83 | .488 | 11½ | 46‍–‍35 | 33‍–‍48 |
| San Francisco Giants | 71 | 91 | .438 | 19½ | 38‍–‍43 | 33‍–‍48 |
| San Diego Padres | 68 | 93 | .422 | 22 | 39‍–‍42 | 29‍–‍51 |
| Atlanta Braves | 66 | 94 | .412 | 23½ | 34‍–‍45 | 32‍–‍49 |

### Record vs. opponents

1979 National League recordvte 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 | 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 |
| Pittsburgh | 8–4 | 12–6 | 4–8 | 8–4 | 8–4 | 11–7 | 10–8 | 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 | 7–11 | 8–4 | 7–5 | — |

### Opening Day starters

* Vida Blue
* Jack Clark
* Darrell Evans
* Marc Hill
* Mike Ivie
* Bill Madlock
* Roger Metzger
* Billy North
* Terry Whitfield

### Notable transactions

* April 1, 1979: Joe Coleman was signed as a free agent by the Giants.
* April 21, 1979: Joe Coleman was released by the Giants.
* June 5, 1979: Scott Garrelts was drafted by the Giants in the 1st round (15th pick) of the 1979 Major League Baseball draft.
* June 13, 1979: John Tamargo was traded by the Giants to the Montreal Expos for a player to be named later and cash. The Expos completed the deal by sending Joe Pettini to the Giants on March 15, 1980.
* June 17, 1979: Dan Gladden was signed by the Giants as an amateur free agent.
* June 28, 1979: Bill Madlock, Lenny Randle and Dave Roberts were traded by the Giants to the Pittsburgh Pirates for Ed Whitson, Fred Breining, and Al Holland.
* June 28, 1979: Héctor Cruz was traded by the Giants to the Cincinnati Reds for Pedro Borbón.

### Roster
## 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 | Dennis Littlejohn | 63 | 193 | 38 | .197 | 1 | 13 |
| 1B | Willie McCovey | 117 | 353 | 88 | .249 | 15 | 57 |
| 2B | Joe Strain | 67 | 257 | 62 | .241 | 1 | 12 |
| SS | Johnnie LeMaster | 108 | 343 | 87 | .254 | 3 | 29 |
| 3B | Darrell Evans | 160 | 562 | 142 | .253 | 17 | 70 |
| LF | Terry Whitfield | 133 | 394 | 113 | .287 | 5 | 44 |
| CF | Bill North | 142 | 460 | 119 | .259 | 5 | 30 |
| RF | Jack Clark | 143 | 527 | 144 | .273 | 26 | 86 |

#### 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 |
| Mike Ivie | 133 | 402 | 115 | .286 | 27 | 89 |
| Larry Herndon | 132 | 354 | 91 | .257 | 7 | 36 |
| Roger Metzger | 94 | 259 | 65 | .251 | 0 | 31 |
| Bill Madlock | 69 | 249 | 65 | .261 | 7 | 41 |
| Marc Hill | 63 | 169 | 35 | .207 | 3 | 15 |
| Rob Andrews | 75 | 154 | 40 | .260 | 2 | 13 |
| Mike Sadek | 63 | 126 | 30 | .238 | 1 | 11 |
| Max Venable | 55 | 85 | 14 | .165 | 0 | 3 |
| Greg Johnston | 42 | 74 | 15 | .203 | 1 | 7 |
| John Tamargo | 30 | 60 | 12 | .200 | 2 | 6 |
| Héctor Cruz | 16 | 25 | 3 | .120 | 0 | 1 |
| Bob Kearney | 2 | 0 | 0 | ---- | 0 | 0 |

### 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 |
| Vida Blue | 34 | 237.0 | 14 | 14 | 5.01 | 138 |
| Bob Knepper | 34 | 207.1 | 9 | 12 | 4.64 | 123 |
| John Montefusco | 22 | 137.0 | 3 | 8 | 3.94 | 76 |
| John Curtis | 27 | 120.2 | 10 | 9 | 4.18 | 85 |
| Ed Whitson | 18 | 100.1 | 5 | 8 | 3.95 | 62 |

#### 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 |
| Ed Halicki | 33 | 125.2 | 5 | 8 | 4.58 | 81 |
| Phil Nastu | 25 | 100.0 | 3 | 4 | 4.32 | 47 |

#### 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 |
| Gary Lavelle | 70 | 7 | 9 | 20 | 2.51 | 80 |
| Tom Griffin | 59 | 5 | 6 | 2 | 3.91 | 82 |
| Greg Minton | 46 | 4 | 3 | 4 | 1.81 | 33 |
| Pedro Borbón | 30 | 4 | 3 | 3 | 4.89 | 26 |
| Randy Moffitt | 28 | 2 | 5 | 2 | 7.71 | 16 |
| Dave Roberts | 26 | 0 | 2 | 3 | 2.57 | 23 |
| Joe Coleman | 5 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0.00 | 0 |
| Ed Plank | 4 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 7.36 | 1 |
| Al Holland | 3 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0.00 | 7 |

## Awards and honors
### All-Stars

All-Star Game

## Farm system

| Level | Team | League | Manager |
| AAA | Phoenix Giants | Pacific Coast League | Rocky Bridges |
| AA | Shreveport Captains | Texas League | Andy Gilbert |
| A | Fresno Giants | California League | Jack Mull |
| A | Cedar Rapids Giants | Midwest League | Wayne Cato |
| Rookie | Great Falls Giants | Pioneer League | Ernie Rodriguez |