# 1979 Montreal Expos season

The 1979 Montreal Expos season was the 11th in franchise history. The team finished second in the National League East with a record of 95–65, 2 games behind the first-place Pittsburgh Pirates. The 1979 season was the Expos first winning season in franchise history (and it would be the most wins they would have in a season in the team's history before they relocated).

## Offseason

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

## Spring training

The Expos held spring training at City Island Ball Park in Daytona Beach, Florida. It was their seventh season there.

## Regular season
### Season standings

vteNL East :
| Team | W | L | Pct. | GB | Home | Road |
| Pittsburgh Pirates | 98 | 64 | .605 | — | 48‍–‍33 | 50‍–‍31 |
| Montreal Expos | 95 | 65 | .594 | 2 | 56‍–‍25 | 39‍–‍40 |
| St. Louis Cardinals | 86 | 76 | .531 | 12 | 42‍–‍39 | 44‍–‍37 |
| Philadelphia Phillies | 84 | 78 | .519 | 14 | 43‍–‍38 | 41‍–‍40 |
| Chicago Cubs | 80 | 82 | .494 | 18 | 45‍–‍36 | 35‍–‍46 |
| New York Mets | 63 | 99 | .389 | 35 | 28‍–‍53 | 35‍–‍46 |

### 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 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.
* 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.

### 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.

### Game log

1979 Game Log: 95–65 (Home: 56–25; Away: 39–40) :
April: 14–5 (Home: 10–1; Away: 4–4)
#DateOpponentScoreWinLossSaveAttendanceRecordStreak :
May: 15–10 (Home: 7–2; Away: 8–8)
#DateOpponentScoreWinLossSaveAttendanceRecordStreak :
June: 14–12 (Home: 9–3; Away: 5–9)
#DateOpponentScoreWinLossSaveAttendanceRecordStreak :
July: 14–16 (Home: 8–10; Away: 6–6)
#DateOpponentScoreWinLossSaveAttendanceRecordStreak :
August: 15–11 (Home: 10–3; Away: 5–8)
#DateOpponentScoreWinLossSaveAttendanceRecordStreak :
September: 23–11 (Home: 12–6; Away: 11–5)
#DateOpponentScoreWinLossSaveAttendanceRecordStreak :
Legend:        = Win        = Loss        = Postponement Bold = Expos team member :

## 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 | Gary Carter | 141 | 505 | 143 | .283 | 22 | 75 |
| 1B | Tony Perez | 132 | 489 | 132 | .270 | 13 | 73 |
| 2B | Rodney Scott | 151 | 562 | 134 | .238 | 3 | 42 |
| SS | Chris Speier | 113 | 344 | 78 | .227 | 7 | 26 |
| 3B | Larry Parrish | 153 | 544 | 167 | .307 | 30 | 82 |
| LF | Warren Cromartie | 158 | 659 | 181 | .275 | 8 | 46 |
| CF | Andre Dawson | 155 | 639 | 176 | .275 | 25 | 92 |
| RF | Ellis 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 |
| Dave Cash | 76 | 187 | 60 | .321 | 2 | 19 |
| Jerry White | 88 | 138 | 41 | .297 | 3 | 18 |
| Rusty Staub | 38 | 86 | 23 | .267 | 3 | 14 |
| Tommy Hutton | 86 | 83 | 21 | .253 | 1 | 13 |
| Duffy Dyer | 28 | 74 | 18 | .243 | 1 | 8 |
| Jim Mason | 40 | 71 | 13 | .183 | 0 | 6 |
| Tony Solaita | 29 | 42 | 12 | .286 | 1 | 7 |
| Tony Bernazard | 22 | 40 | 12 | .300 | 1 | 8 |
| Ken Macha | 20 | 36 | 10 | .278 | 0 | 4 |
| John Tamargo | 12 | 21 | 8 | .381 | 0 | 5 |
| Randy Bass | 2 | 1 | 0 | .000 | 0 | 0 |
| Tim Raines | 6 | 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 |
| Steve Rogers | 37 | 248.2 | 13 | 12 | 3.00 | 143 |
| Bill Lee | 33 | 222.0 | 16 | 10 | 3.04 | 59 |
| Scott Sanderson | 24 | 168.0 | 9 | 8 | 3.43 | 138 |
| Dan Schatzeder | 21 | 162.0 | 10 | 5 | 2.83 | 106 |
| Ross 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 |
| David Palmer | 36 | 122.2 | 10 | 2 | 2.63 | 72 |
| Rudy May | 33 | 93.2 | 10 | 3 | 2.31 | 67 |

#### 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 |
| Elias Sosa | 62 | 8 | 7 | 18 | 1.96 | 59 |
| Stan Bahnsen | 51 | 3 | 1 | 5 | 3.15 | 71 |
| Woodie Fryman | 44 | 3 | 6 | 10 | 2.79 | 44 |
| Bill Atkinson | 10 | 2 | 0 | 1 | 1.98 | 7 |
| Dale Murray | 9 | 1 | 2 | 1 | 2.70 | 4 |
| Bob James | 2 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 13.50 | 1 |
| Bill Gullickson | 1 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0.00 | 0 |

## 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 |